Prep football: San Marin wins first section title since 2001

San Marin’s football players and coaches have another reason to be thankful this holiday weekend after the Mustangs achieved a goal they’ve been working toward collectively for the past four years — the North Coast Section crown.

In what was expected to be a battle of strength vs. finesse, the top-seeded Mustangs showed their defense had enough muscle to stifle the Del Norte Warriors’ powerful running game — and enough finesse from the offense to light up the scoreboard.

After neither team gained much ground on their opening drives, the game seemed to be setting up for a close matchup where the first team to blink would come up short. The second-seeded Del Norte Warriors blinked first and the Mustangs won 36-0 to capture the NCS Division V championship, the program’s first NCS title in 20 years.

“There are no paper champions at this time of season,” San Marin co-coach Cory Boyd said. “The game has to be played on the field. The kids really took that to heart and executed the game plan. The result was we earned that title today.”

San Marin must now wait for a decision this weekend from the selection committee to see if the Mustangs will get the chance to play in the Northern California championships.

“For us to shut out a powerful opponent, I think the committee members are going to take a look at that, so that makes me pretty hopeful,” Boyd said.

Friday’s matchup on paper suggested a Del Norte squad (10-2) that could dominate the game on the ground. The boys from Crescent City came to Novato riding a 10-game winning streak, including a six-win run to claim the Humboldt-Del Norte League title. The Warriors posted two wins over St. Bernard’s, which pushed San Marin in a 26-25 playoff game last week, as well as a victory over the MCAL’s Archie Williams, and a playoff win last week over Miramonte.

The only blot against San Marin (12-1) this season is a 21-14 loss to Marin Catholic, which is vying for a NCS Division IV title against Cardinal Newman on Saturday.

“We had a really good defensive game plan that was executed really well,” Boyd said. “We knew how important field position would be with a team that’s really good at controlling the clock and running the ball. I’m just really proud of our special teams units in terms of controlling field position. That helped us a lot.”

The Mustangs needed just two plays on their second drive, highlighted by Justin Guin’s 67-yard breakthrough run to give San Marin a 6-0 lead with 6:12 left in the first quarter. No one expected at the time that Guin’s first score would be the winning touchdown. He finished with 144 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries to outgain Del Norte’s entire offense.

“Guin is the kind of player you get once every five years,” San Marin co-coach Dominic DiMare said. “We got another big game from him. In workouts and during the season, he’s a leader and the team follows him.”

The Mustangs also got strong efforts from quarterback Joey Cook and his receiving corps. Cook completed 14 of 20 passes for 181 yards, spread to Andy Garcia (5 catches for 94 yards), Frankie Quinci (3 for 24 yards), and four others. During the game, Guin surpassed 2,000 yards for this season.

After the initial touchdown, the ball just seemed to bounce right for the Mustangs — literally. The Warriors struggled to control kick returns, which as often as not turned into wild scrambles for control after the ball hit a Del Norte player in the helmet.

“Sometimes you get the good bounces, and we definitely had that tonight, but all the credit goes to the kids who played,” Boyd said. “I think we really fought hard in the face of a phenomenal opponent.”

The Warriors killed their own momentum to a degree, as they were called for false starts eight times in the game. Those 40 penalty yards took a big bite out of the 110 total yards gained by the Del Norte offense.

“We made mistakes,” admitted Del Norte coach Nick White. “The penalties pushed us back and now we’re fighting upfield. It could have been nerves, I don’t know. It was such a big game.”

San Marin’s defense, anchored in part by Dominic Mancuso, forced four Del Norte fumbles, two of which led to scoring drives for the Mustangs.

“I was kind of nervous at the beginning because this is the championship game, of course, but then once I got that first hit, I was pumped up,” said senior Nathan Burger, who was in on several tackles.

After the Mustangs stripped the ball from the Warriors’ Caleb Dodson in a scrum, the Mustangs started their next drive in Del Norte territory. Quarterback Joey Cook immediately launched a 43-yard pass to Andrew Abell that almost went for a touchdown. Cook soon found junior Ben Langford in the end zone for a 18-yard scoring pass that gave the Mustangs a 15-0 lead in the second quarter.

“That fumble recovery was a huge turning point,” DiMare said. “When we had the momentum, it never shifted from us the entire game.”

San Marin’s defense reined in the Warriors, allowing the Mustangs to start their next drive from within Del Norte territory again on their next possession. A 40-yard drive ended with Garcia celebrating in the back of the end zone after catching an 11-yard pass from Cook for a 22-0 Mustangs lead heading into the break.

Guin ran the final 30 yards of a 47-yard, six-play effort for his second touchdown of the game as San Marin took a 29-0 lead in the third quarter.

Mistakes and San Marin’s defense actually pushed Del Norte back 3 yards on the Warriors’ next possession. A bad snap to the punter left an opening for Mustangs junior Jacob Pearce, who roared in to make the tackle. The Mustangs took over the ball 22 yards from the goal line, and Guin needed just two carries to cover the distance for the final touchdown of the game in the third quarter, forcing a running clock.

“We made too many penalties, too many mistakes on offense and defense,” White said. “You’re not going to win a game like that. We played our worst game of the season tonight.”

The Mustangs, meanwhile, played one of their best games of the season.

“It doesn’t feel real. Four years ago we were freshmen and didn’t win a single game,” Burger said. “Now we’re here and 12-1 and could be going to State. This was our goal. Going through that, we have a fantastic connection on this team. We have a great family here.”

DiMare added, “I’m very proud of the work these kids put in.  From the spring season — the COVID season  — and through this season, we’ve been like a family. We stayed together and we worked hard together. This is the fruits of our labor.”

San Marin 36, Del Norte 0

NCS Div. 5 Championship Game

Del Norte 0 0 0 0 — 0

San Marin 6 16 14 0 — 36

SCORING SUMMARY

SM — Guin 67 run (Kick wide)

SM — Hughes 18 FG

SM — Langford 18 pass from Cook (Kick fail)

SM — Garcia 11 pass from Cook (Hughes kick)

SM — Guin 1 run (Hughes kick)

SM — Guin 16 run (Hughes kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — DN, Dodson 13-62, Loftin 9-31, Desolemni 3-9, Hunte 1-5, Maxwell 2-3. Totals 28- 110. SM, Guin 16-144, Gendel 5-10, Cook 2-9, Hirschfeld 2-1. Totals 25-164.

PASSING — DN, Maxwell 0-6-0 0. SM, Cook 14–20-0 181.

RECEIVING — SM, Garcia 5-94, Abell 1-33, Quinci 3-24, Langford 1-18, Orth 3-10, Guin 1-2. Totals 14-181.

Records: San Marin 11-1, Del Norte 10-2.