San Marin was outplayed by Marin Catholic (MC) on Thursday, Oct. 23 with a score of 7 to 21. This highly anticipated football game filled the stands, attracting at least 1,000 fans.
Before the game, San Marin’s varsity football team was hoping for the best outcome.
“We like to call this our state game. It’s just that it’s a huge rivalry game and we take it very seriously and especially going into this new [Redwood Empire – Adobe] league… We want to win,” senior safety Nick Rosiak said prior to the game.
Senior running back Jonah Lozano agreed that beating MC on home turf was the most important game of their season.
“This is my last time playing MC. It’s my senior year and I just don’t wanna do anything else but beat them at our house,” Lozano said.
With kickoff at 7 p.m., the Mustangs tried to keep their rivals from breaking their winning streak. Within four minutes, Marin Catholic scored their first touchdown of the night, setting their momentum for the rest of the game. Again, at the beginning of the second quarter, Marin Catholic scored another touchdown. San Marin responded with their own touchdown at the end of the first half, with Marin Catholic leading the halftime scoreboard at 14-7.
After a slow start to the third quarter, the Mustangs had an opportunity to score when they intercepted a pass from Marin Catholic. They were unable to convert in the red zone and were forced to turn over the ball to Marin Catholic. After this failed attempt, Marin Catholic scored their final touchdown of the night in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs still put up a fight, with the defense constantly trying to keep the score from increasing. When the clock ran out for the final time that night, the score was San Marin 7, Marin Catholic 14.
Junior corner Ryan Houlahan reflected on the game the next day.
“It’s frustrating that we lost. We came out slow, but then we had a chance to tie it up in the third quarter and then we had the two-yard line and couldn’t punch it in. And then, after that, it kind of fell apart,” Houlahan said. “We missed tackles and dropped passes.”
Senior center Seth Myers responded similarly.
“We’re gonna get some surprises, we’re gonna get something new. They threw something new at us and we made adjustments and in the end, it was working. I think the team just kind of picked it up a little too late… I think every week there’s room for improvement.”
Mistakes are a part of growth, which the team learns from every game. Currently, they are fourth in the Redwood Empire – Adobe League and have made the NCS playoffs for a chance at the state championship.
