FOOTBALL: M-A Stuns Bearcats

The Score: Menlo-Atherton 34, San Mateo 6

The Star: M-A quarterback Uilifeleti Fonua was absolutely on point, completing 13 of 15 passes for 137 yards. The junior also managed two touchdowns — one by air and another on the ground.

The Turning Point: Exiting the locker-room, M-A held a slight 7-0 lead over San Mateo. But bad decision-making early in the second half doomed San Mateo's chances for victory. On its first drive of the third quarter, San Mateo failed to get a first down attempting a fake punt, granting the visitors pristine field position and eventually seven more points. M-A never looked back.

The Quote: "They're gonna be dangerous in the (Peninsula Athletic League) if they play like this." — San Mateo coach Jeff Scheller, on the previously winless Menlo-Atherton squad.

What's Next? San Mateo kicks off its PAL Ocean Division season by hosting 0-4 Woodside on Oct. 8. M-A looks to ride its newfound momentum against The King's Academy in its PAL Bay opener.

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A mere two weeks ago, the San Mateo High football team was undefeated, while Menlo-Atherton was struggling mightily in the young season.  

How so much can change in two weeks.

In the teams' final tune-up match before the start of league play, previously winless Menl0-Atherton prevailed 34-6 at San Mateo on Friday afternoon. 

The game marked the first victory for M-A's first-year head coach, Sione Taufoou.

"I know there is a lot of talent on this team. It's just a matter of us putting it together and playing as a team … not as individuals," Taufoou said. "Our kids are hungry, they want to win some games."

Both teams entered today's contest coming off one-sided defeats in their last game. San Mateo (2-2) fell 50-29 against Terra Nova, while M-A (1-3) lost 17-0 at Jefferson.

"We gave them too many opportunities," said San Mateo coach Jeff Scheller, referring to a handful of mistakes throughout Friday's game. "I told the guys, 'If you give a team like this an opportunity to gain momentum, then you're in trouble.'"

San Mateo squandered a chance to score early in the second quarter by fumbling inside the M-A 10-yard line. Then with less than a minute left in the half, M-A quarterback Uilifeleti Fonua found Devonte Piper three straight times out of the shotgun, taking the ball to the San Mateo three-yard line.

One play later, Fonua was into the end zone on a keeper.

"That's exactly what we needed," Fonua said. "The win felt good for us. During the bye week, we made sure our attitudes were set straight."

After taking a 7-0 lead into the locker-room, M-A handed San Mateo plenty of trouble, outscoring the hosts 27-6 in the second half. M-A continuously capitalized on muffed punts and turnovers.

San Mateo also played the second half without star running back and linebacker George Naufahu, who exited during the opening half due to an ankle sprain.

"Injuries are injuries … they're gonna happen, and we need other guys to step up," Scheller said. "It hurts our mentality, but we have other guys. (Naufahu) is one guy. He's a significant player, but we should have other guys ready to step right in. And it didn't happen."

The mistakes started immediately for San Mateo, when on its first drive of the second half, Michael Latu fell short of the first down on a fake punt, placing the ball on the Bearcat's 23-yard line.

Two plays later, M-A scored again off Piper's 10-yard run.

"We had a great talk in the locker room," San Mateo quarterback Chris Zografos said. "We tried to keep our heads up after they scored that second touchdown. But we need to stay together. Because we weren't on the same page in the second half."

Things continued to get worse for San Mateo as its already weakened running game suffered another blow as Moto Filikitonga was injured on the next drive. That possession was capped by a muffed punt, once again giving M-A possession in scoring range.

This time, Fonua hooked up with Stas Della Morte for a seven-yard score.

On San Mateo's next drive Zografos floated a 34-yard pass to Alex Strathearn (108 yards, four receptions), moving the Bearcats into M-A territory. But on the ensuing play, Austin Clarence registered an interception.

M-A capitalized as Taylor Mashack scored on a two-yard run.

"Not to take anything away from them, but we made a lot of mistakes," Scheller said.

M-A tallied its final score with Charles Washington's 10-yard touchdown run.

"We worked a lot these last two weeks," Bears running back Cameron Moody said. "This has given us a lot of motivation — we needed this. This gives us hope and confidence going into the next game."

Though San Mateo's Latu managed to get his team on the scoreboard with a one-yard run in the final minutes of play, the touchdown was hardly a consolation in the midst of San Mateo's second straight loss.

"We made mistakes and they took advantage of that," Latu said. "We knew they were gonna be hungry. Like us, they came off a big loss."

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Menlo-Atherton 34, San Mateo 6

M – 0  7  20  7 – 34

S – 0  0  0   6 – 6

M — Fonua 3 run (Falkenhagen kick)

M — Piper 10 run (Falkenhagen kick)

M — Della Morte 11 pass from Fonua (Falkenhagen kick)

M — Mashack 2 run (kick failed)

M — Washington 10 run (Falkenhagen kick)

S —Latu 1 run (kick failed)

RUSHING:  M-A: Moody 9-46, Sakalia 5-33, Mashack 5-49, Fonua 3-6, Washington 3-28, Nascimento 1-2, Piper 2-5. Totals 28-169.  SM: Filikitonga 14-48, Naufahu 4-19, Latu 4-8, Collins 4010, Vimahi 2-6, Jackson 4-25, Zografos 2-minus-13, Garcia-Rodela 1-11. Totals 35-114.

PASSING:  M-A: Fonua 13-15-0-137.  SM: Zografos 13-27-1-196.

RECEIVING:  M-A: Della Morte 4-21, Culhane 3-13, Moody 2-26, Piper 3-67, Klein 1-10.  SM: Ho 3-54, Latu 2-5, Asuncion 3-24, Strathearn 4-108, Filikitonga 1-5.

FUMBLES/LOST:  M-A: 1/1.  SM: 3/1

RECORDS: Menlo-Atherton 1-3.  San Mateo 2-2.