How South San Francisco went from not having a varsity team to winning the CCS Division V championship
CCS Division V football championship: Two years after not having a varsity team, South San Francisco wins section title
SAN JOSE, Calif. — South San Francisco, which had no varsity football team two years ago, won the Central Coast Section Division V championship over Santa Teresa 13-7 on Saturday at newly opened MacDonald High School.
“A great win,” SSF coach Kolone Pua said. “These guys persevered. I’ve been telling them all year that we can make history.”
The Warriors played the same way they have all season, with a physical style both offensively and defensively.
South City ran 67 plays from scrimmage, 55 of which were on the ground and used a throwback full-house T-formation with two tight ends for a significant portion of the game, compared to Santa Teresa’s 38 total plays.
“That was the hardest-hitting game I’ve ever been around,” he said.
The defense has been the most important factor in the team’s success. South San Francisco (12-1) has given up 80 points in 13 games this season, averaging 6.2 per game.
Six points were allowed in the final five regular-season games. The opposition has scored a total of 16 points in three playoff games, with the seven allowed in the championship game coming from a blocked punt recovered in the end zone.
Santa Teresa (6-7), the defending CCS Division IV champion, also prevented a crucial extra point in its semifinal victory over Woodside. At the start of the second quarter, they broke through to block a South City punt and scored in the end zone to take a 7-0 lead.
The Warriors responded with a 77-yard drive that ended with fullback Marcus Mercurio scoring on a 3-yard run. The conversion attempt was fumbled, giving Santa Teresa a 7-6 lead at halftime.
South City received the kickoff in the second half and drove 74 yards in 15 plays, with Mercurio scoring on another 3-yard run.
South City chewed another chunk of time off the clock after Santa Teresa went three-and-out, and that’s pretty much how it went the rest of the way.
The Saints total offense was split evenly, with 65 yards rushing and 65 yards passing. Their defense held firm. Tevita Pekipaki and Jaikob Wright both had sacks. Santa Teresa focused on star running back Elijah Fields, who took several hard hits and had to work hard for 79 yards on 21 carries.
Mercurio, on the other hand, had his best game of the season, rushing 23 times for 105 yards and both touchdowns as South City amassed 208 yards rushing and 251 yards total offense.
“No fear,” Mercurio said. “I knew my teammates were on my side. We altered history and established a family.”
South San Francisco had a long tradition of football excellence, something the working-class community was proud of. “South San Francisco The Industrial City,” the large letters on San Bruno Mountain read, are visible for miles north on 101.
That’s what made it so difficult for so many people when the football program tanked, going 0-24 in the three seasons preceding 2021, when the school could only field a junior varsity team.
Former coach Frank Moro returned to the varsity ranks last year, leading the Warriors to a 6-4 record in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Lake Division, a bottom-tier “C” division.
Moro delegated head coaching duties to Pua, a former South City player and assistant coach, this season. And Pua made it a family affair, with his two sons, Kolson Pua on defense and Kolone Isaac Pua on offense, serving as coordinators.
The CCS championship was the school’s third, following CCS Division II-North championships in 1981 and 1989. The 12 wins set a new school record, surpassing the 11-0 team from 1989.
SSF will be promoted to the PAL El Camino Division next season. But first, the team will wait for the CIF seeding meeting on Sunday to find out who it will face in a NorCal regional game.
