Riordan Stuns McClymonds With Late Comeback

He had missed a couple of open receivers, his teammates had failed to haul in some open passes, and he threw an interception into double coverage in the end zone.

But in the final nine minutes, he more than made up for those missteps, leading a pair of touchdown drives as the Crusaders rallied for a 35-34 win in a much-anticipated season opener in West Oakland.

“When you get down into those moments, it’s not so much about the scheme, it’s about the connection you have with your guys and knowing that they have your back and you have their back,” said Mitchell, who completed 24 of 37 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns.

His 16-yard touchdown pass to Cynai Thomas with 6:05 left made it a one-score game, and he found Thomas down the seam on a 40-yard touchdown with 43 seconds remaining, setting up Jeremiah Jones to run in the go-ahead two-point conversion. A fourth down tackle by Skylar Tiatia with 10 seconds left sealed the game.

“We don’t win that game last year,” head coach Adhir Ravipati said. “This is part of our growth process. I know everyone on the outside looks at us and says whatever, but you have to learn how to win.”

Riordan (1-0) led 14-0 after a quarter, but let McClymonds (0-1) take an 18-14 lead into halftime after allowing the Warriors to march 70 yards in three plays in the final minute of the second quarter, capped off by Rahsjon Duncan’s 31-yard scamper down the sideline on a screen pass.

Kiyo Venson’s 21-yard touchdown run on a double reverse put the host Warriors back on top with 6:18 left in the third quarter, and they took a two-score lead on Desmond Sparks’ 1-yard plunge with 9:25 left.

Sparks, who spent most of the night lined up at receiver, moonlighted at quarterback for one play after Berell Staples suffered cramps. Staples, playing his first game for the Warriors after two years at Edison-Stockton, completed 15 of 18 passes for 215 yards and a pair of scores. The junior also ran nine times for 58 yards.

“He played a hell of a game,” head coach Michael Peters said of Staples, who had lived in Oakland prior to the start of his high school career.

Staples’ ability to extend plays was pivotal as the home side rallied from the early deficit. On the drive that gave McClymonds a 34-20 lead, he converted two third downs and a fourth down, eluding defenders to complete a pair of passes to Venson and one to Duncan.

It wasn’t enough to finish the Crusaders off, though. Mitchell connected twice with Judge Nash to take Riordan across midfield before throwing his first touchdown to Thomas and Losipini Tupou and Lopeti Malupo combined to stop Dominic Davis on third down with just under four minutes remaining to force the Warriors to punt for just the second time all night.

Needing to go 82 yards in the final 2:50, it was Mitchell’s time to shine. His 22-yard pass to Chris Lawson took Riordan down to the 25, and after holding and false start penalties took the visitors back to the McClymonds 40, he unleashed a perfect ball to hit Thomas in stride.

“We thought we had a deep shot there, and Coach made the audible,” Thomas said. “The initial call was a run play, and he saw the leverage and liked it.”

Jones, who had two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown on the night, ran in the conversion out of a tight formation, and the fourth down stop by Tiatia, playing his first game since injuring his ACL and MCL 11 months earlier, sealed the game and put an end to McClymonds’ 34-game home winning streak. It was the Warriors’ first home loss since Aug. 31, 2018, a defeat at the hands of a Liberty team that featured recent Detroit Lions fourth-round draft pick Sione Vaki.

Jones’ 7-yard touchdown run capped off an opening drive that started with a 34-yard catch-and-run by sophomore Wesley Winn, and after the Warriors turned it over on downs at the Riordan 40, he scored from four yards out with 2:12 left in the first quarter. Staples’ 25-yard run on the opening play of the second quarter set up a 1-yard Davis touchdown run to get McClymonds on the board, and the Warriors trailed 14-12 after Sharky Tamale took a short Staples pass for a 41-yard score down the right sideline. Tamale, a senior who’s drawing recruiting interest as a linebacker, also ran 22 times for 103 yards.

The Warriors couldn’t bookend halftime with scores, though, thanks to John Tofi Jr.’s fumble recovery on a ball that junior linebacker Owee Angeles knocked out. That set up a short field for Mitchell, whose pass for Winn on fourth-and-3 was tipped by Ugene Jackson but fell right into Jones’ waiting hands for an 11-yard touchdown.

McClymonds needed just five plays to answer, with Staples’ 24-yard pass to Sparks setting up Venson’s touchdown, and Davis’ interception in the end zone sent the Warriors into the final quarter with the lead.
The 16-play, 80-yard drive that followed Davis’ interception gave the home side a two-score lead with 9:25 to go, but it wasn’t enough to finish off Mitchell and his loaded receiver corps.

“Our numbers are down this year, and we couldn’t even run our offense in the fourth quarter with receivers cramping up,” Peters said. “I’m proud of what I’ve seen, though. We’re here to compete at the top. We’re just a little school in West Oakland that’s here to compete.”

Winn opened his sophomore year by catching seven passes for 87 yards, Thomas caught seven for 95 and Washington commit Chris Lawson had six catches for 68 yards. His younger brother, Israel, lined up alongside Isaiah Grant as one of two freshmen on Riordan’s defense.

McClymonds faces a second consecutive WCAL foe next week with a visit to St. Francis (1-0). The Lancers returned home happy after a trip to San Diego, beating Helix 35-14. Riordan heads back on the road with hopes of avenging last season’s home loss to St. Bonaventure (2-0) in a game that the Seraphs will host on Friday night at Ventura College.