St. Francis rushing attack too much for Riordan in crucial WCAL showdown
Kingston Keanaaina rushes for 133 yards and three touchdowns in close victory
St. Francis used its dependable ground game to defeat Archbishop Riordan 27-20, establishing the Lancers as the West Catholic Athletic League’s second-best team behind Serra.
“Kingston Keanaaina ran it really well, and our O-line blocked it really well up front,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said Friday night to the Bay Area News Group. “We went to a jumbo set up front, and we ran some wildcat and threw different stuff.”
On 25 carries, Keanaaina rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns as St. Francis defeated Riordan for the 14th time in a row. Last Saturday, the Crusaders were defeated 53-7 by Serra.
After Riordan sophomore quarterback Mike Mitchell Jr. rushed for a six-yard touchdown in the first quarter, Keanaaina tied the game at 7-7 with a 10-yard run.
Mitchell threw a 40-yard pass to Cynai Thomas with about three minutes left in the second quarter to give Riordan a 14-7 lead.
Mitchell threw for 202 yards on 19 of 27 attempts. His touchdown pass tied Jim Freitas’ 1974 WCAL record of 17 touchdown passes thrown.
St. Francis’ Christopher Han kicked a short field goal at halftime to cut Riordan’s lead to 14-10.
On the first drive of the third quarter, Keanaaina ran for a 39-yard touchdown to put St. Francis ahead 17-14, and Han added a 35-yard field goal to give the Mountain View school a six-point lead.
Junior quarterback Aaron Knapp threw for 207 yards and connected with wideout Perrion Williams (four catches for 92 yards) to keep the offense balanced.
Riordan running back Charlie Johnson, who rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries, tied the game at 20 apiece with a two-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
Keanaaina scored his final touchdown from three yards out, giving St. Francis a lead they would not relinquish.
A defense led by the Cahoon brothers, Jackson and Chase, at linebacker, Afoa Tuua on the line, and Mack Mrowka in the secondary kept Riordan’s prolific offense out of the end zone for the next seven minutes.
“It was really just a true team game where everyone stepped up,” he said.
St. Francis will finish the regular season at San Jose City College against Bellarmine, while Riordan will travel to Kezar Stadium to face crosstown rival Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Both St. Francis and Riordan are locked into the Central Coast Section’s Open/Division I bracket and could face off in the postseason.
“That’s what WCAL football is,” said Calcagno. “You run the gauntlet, and then in the playoffs, you’re probably going to run a couple, and sometimes all three, opponents being from the WCAL.”
