Extra Points: Prep Football Week in Review

Cruising through some notable performances in San Mateo County high school football action:

Most Satisfying Win – Mills: No team was happier or took a bigger sigh of relief over the weekend than the Vikings, who snapped the county’s longest losing streak at 12 games with a 15-12 win over Harbor in Santa Cruz. Mills, which hadn’t won since the final game of the 2009 season, forced four turnovers in the second half – all inside its 30-yard line – and limited the hosts to 111 total yards. The Vikings managed just 94 yards of their own, but 59 of them came on the go-ahead drive early in the third quarter that culminated in a 4-yard TD run by quarterback Harshall Lal, his first of the year.

Best Comeback – Serra: Faced with their first adversity of the season, the visiting Padres responded with a fourth-quarter comeback and eventually prevailed 34-28 in an overtime thriller over Encinal of Alameda. Trailing 28-21 early in the fourth quarter, Serra (3-0) rallied to pull even behind Joey Erdie’s 23-yard TD pass to Zach Mitchell with 4:52 left. Encinal, a North Coast Section power, got the ball first in overtime, but Serra’s Peter Tuipulotu tipped a pass and Tyson Terreos came down with the interception. Then on Serra’s possession, Eric Redwood rushed for a game-winning 6-yard TD, leaving the Padres unbeaten heading into the WCAL season for the first time since 2004.

Feeling Good in the North: Football in northern San Mateo County has taken a big dip in recent years, but for at least one weekend Capuchino, El Camino and South San Francisco all joined Mills in the win column. The head-turner was Capuchino, which went 2-7 last year with wins over Mt. Eden and Mills. The Mustangs streaked to a 35-14 win over Harker, forcing five turnovers and scoring the most points since their 2010 opener. Just how rare is it for rivals Capuchino and Mills to win on the same weekend? That feat hadn’t happened for nearly three years, since Oct. 10, 2008.

Run, Run, Run – South San Francisco, Aragon and Burlingame: These three teams turned to imposing rushing attacks to pocket healthy non-league wins. South San Francisco (32-22 over Mountain View) and Aragon (34-8 over Lincoln-San Jose) amassed close to 400 yards apiece on the ground. Burlingame, a 35-7 winner at Gunn, raced to a 35-0 lead behind five rushing TDs from four different players.

Scoring Machine – Sequoia’s Josh Lauese: In the Cherokees’ first game without injured starting QB James Beekley, Lauese provided plenty of playmaking ability. The senior running back scored all four of his team’s TDs in a 27-18 road win over a Pinole Valley team that was 11-1-1 and an NCS semifinalist last year. He totaled 158 rushing yards.

Spreading the Wealth – Aragon: Not only have the 2-0 Dons looked revived with a pair of blowout wins, but they’re receiving scoring production from up and down their roster. Aragon’s five TDs against Lincoln-San Jose came from five different players: Dominic Proia, James Egan, Aldo Severson, Marcell Jackson and Victor Jimenez. Moreover, nine different Dons have accounted for the team’s 12 TDs this season.

Fit to Be Tied – San Mateo and Woodside: The teams’ 21-21 draw in a non-league game at Woodside marks the first intra-county tie since El Camino and Mills knotted at 36 in a PAL Lake game in 2009. Both the Bearcats and the Wildcats got a big boost from playmakers on the defensive side of the ball. San Mateo’s Andrew Ho and Woodside’s Brian Clifford hauled in two interceptions apiece. Ho also had a 38-yard TD reception from Trevor Brill with about 3 minutes left to make it 21-all. The other most recent ties involving local programs are Sequoia and Pinole Valley (28-28) last year and Burlingame and Terra Nova (0-0) in 2007.

Jack of All Trades – El Camino’s D.J. Peluso: The senior workhorse had his fingerprints all over the Colts’ 15-6 win at Lincoln-San Francisco. Peluso, a running back/defensive back, accounted for all but one of his team’s points. He had a 40-yard interception return for a TD, ran for a two-point conversion and had a 13-yard TD reception. Peluso also rushed 20 times for 121 yards as 2-1 El Camino won its second straight.

Defensive Enforcers – Sacred Heart Prep’s Luke Thomas and South City’s Tavita Faaiu: These two senior defensive linemen played a big role as their teams improved to 3-0. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Thomas motored to seven tackles and 2 ½ sacks as Sacred Heart Prep won 34-13 at Los Altos. South City’s Faaiu, a 6-3, 230-pounder, registered 3 ½ sacks and a forced fumble in the 10-point home win over Mountain View.