CCS football (continued from previous page)
David Bernal/isiphotos.com
Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan (left) is congratulated by head coach David Shaw after Hogan was named the MVP of the Pac-12 Championship Game, leading the Cardinal to a 27-24 victory over UCLA last Friday at Stanford Stadium.
Stanford football (continued from previous page)
with current radio analyst Todd Husak as his quarterback. The Cardinal is still looking for its first Rose Bowl since 1972, when the late Don Bunce led Stanford past Michigan. “Before you’re aware of any other bowl game there’s the Rose Bowl,” Stanford linebacker Shayne Skov said. “The Rose Bowl is the premiere bowl game. I grew up watching it.” Cardinal linebacker Trent Murphy said this game was the goal from the moment he committed to Stanford. “We wanted to win title and go to bowl games,” Murphy said. “This was our mission statement from the beginning.” Stanford (11-2) qualified for the Rose Bowl game when it shut out No. 17 UCLA in the fourth quarter en route to a 27-24 victory in the Pac-12 championship game at Stanford Stadium last Friday night. Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan posed for pictures with some kids on the way to the locker room. Chase Thomas was one of several players to clinch a rose in their mouth. As quick as he is, Stepfan Taylor was nearly the last one into the locker room. This was something special. “It’s really special,” Shaw said. “It’s the goal and the goal doesn’t change. It’s about trying to play our best football. Two years in a row we have been one game away and we lost to Oregon twice. We knew this year it was going to come down to beating Oregon up there. We had to beat Oregon to get over the hump. That was the signature game for us.” The Bruins (9-4) took a 24-17 advantage into the fourth quarter and Stanford was showing no signs it would be able to stop Johnathan Franklin, who finished with 194 rushing yards. He was held to 29 yards in the final period, but did not touch the ball in UCLA’s final 13 plays. The Cardinal defense held the Bruins on their final possession, forcing a 52-yard field goal that
went wide, clinching the conference title. “It’s been a pretty good month,” Hogan said. “We’ve been playing well and the guys around me made it easier, We knew we had to stay calm and play our style. We kept at it, pounded the ball, got field position, got the touchdown to tie it and then Jordan made a great kick.” Jordan Williamson made two nice kicks in the contest, sending a 37yard attempt between the goal posts at the end of the first half to give the Cardinal a 17-14 edge at halftime, and then nailing a 36-yard attempt with 6:49 remaining to play that turned out to be the game winner. “Jordan has a lot of confidence,” Shaw said. “He’s strong enough to kick it from 60 yards out and all we ask is that he’s smooth and consistent.” Williamson kicked the game-winner against the Ducks in overtime to propel Stanford into the title game. Taylor had 78 yards to bring his career total to 4,212 rushing yards and eclipse Darrin Nelson’s all-time Stanford career record (4,169, 197781). Hogan, named the game’s MVP, added 47 important rushing yards and scored a touchdown for Stanford. He also threw for 155 yards and a 26-yard touchdown pass to Drew Terrell, tying the game early in the fourth quarter. “It’s been our goal since I’ve been here,” Terrell said. “When I got here, the standard was to win the Pac-12 championship. It was something we had to believe.” Wisconsin reached the Big 10 title game despite going 4-4 in conference. Both Ohio State and Penn State, which finished 1-2 in the Leaders Division, were ineligible for the postseason. Following Stanford’s 2001 trip to the Seattle Bowl, Willingham left for Notre Dame and Stanford’s success left with him. The Cardinal floundered through three coaches and seven consecutive losing seasons. Those days seem like ancient history now that Stanford qualified for its fourth straight bowl game — and third straight BCS game — and Hogan will be the third different quar-
David Shaw a finalist for coach of year
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tanford football coach David Shaw was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, as announced Monday by the Football Writers Association of America. Balloting by the FWAA will be conducted through Dec. 8. The winner will be announced Dec. 13 and officially presented with the award Jan. 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Shaw has led the 11-2 Cardinal this season to its 13th alltime conference championship and first Pac-12 Championship, sending Stanford to the 99th Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO. On the way to his second straight Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors, Shaw’s Cardinal has defeated five ranked opponents — most this year in the FBS. Stanford has recorded regular-season victories over the Associated Press’ No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation for the first time in school history and the first time in the FBS since Miami in 2000. Stanford has played its best down the stretch, defeating four straight ranked teams in November. N
terback. “We know we can compete with anybody,” Shaw said. “We play with a chip on our shoulder and part of that was to prove we’re not a oneman organization. We’re a team. We’ll have more great players leave this year and we expect to be good again next year.” With Hogan improving to 4-0 as a starter, all against ranked opponents, the future looks as good as the present for Stanford. “It’s been unbelievable, this ride,” said Hogan. “We knew we were capable of it. It’s a great journey . . . I’m happy to go to Pasadena.” N
The championship game matched the best offense against the best defense. “When you have a defense, you’re always in the game,” said Lavorato. “We’ve kind of been known as a team that scores a lot of points, but not this season.” This season was all about not letting the opponents score. In fact, the Gators had three shutouts in their first five games, during which they outscored the opposition by a combined 180-9. So, what made this SHP different than in years past? “The chemistry of this team,” said Lavorato. “We started with 33 guys, but we always had five guys hurt, it seemed. Every game we dressed 26-28. But, every kid could play. We had guys who stepped up.” For example, when junior linebacker Sean Mayle suffered a concussion in the Valparaiso Bowl in the regular-season finale, sophomore J.R. Hardy came in and played the final three CCS playoff games. When senior linebacker Trevor Ruegg went down with an injury, junior Ricky Grau stepped in. The Gators also had to fill a big hole when junior tight end/linebacker Mark Hardy missed the entire season following an operation. “We lost kids, but we had other kids right behind them who contributed,” explained Lavorato. “This is a great group of kids. It’s been fun working with this group. . . . I don’t know if anybody really thought we were going to be as good as we are. I didn’t even think that.” As the season progressed, however, so did Lavorato’s impression of his team as it allowed no more than 28 points in a single game and gave up 20 or more only twice. Five times SHP held opponents to single-digit scoring. The Gators wrapped up things up with their victory over rival Menlo (10-3), which was making its second title-game appearance since 2009 after winning 10 games for the first time since joining the CCS. Sacred Heart Prep got two interceptions from senior Jack Del Santo, the second coming 1:14 left in the game, to seal the victory. Menlo came into the game having
scored 580 points this season. Junior quarterback Jack Heneghan had thrown 33 touchdown passes with only three interceptions, operating out of Menlo’s wide-open run-and-shoot offense. Sacred Heart Prep, meanwhile, had allowed just 122 points for an average of 10.1 per game. Heneghan did get his 34th touchdown pass of the season, an eightyarder to Matt Bradley on a thirdand-3 situation in the second quarter. That held up for a 7-0 halftime lead on a night where the rainy weather played a big factor in the game’s outcome. Heneghan, however, wound up just 6-of-20 passing for 68 yards with three interceptions. Five of the six interceptions he threw this season came in the two losses to the Gators. Sacred Heart Prep bounced back from an unproductive first half to tie the game at 7 following a 65yard drive. The Gators ran the ball 13 times, with sophomore Ben Burr-Kirven finishing it off with a one-yard run with 5:33 left in third quarter. The game remained that way until Sacred Heart Prep put together another impressive drive, marching 73 yards on 13 plays, all runs, with senior quarterback Kevin Donahoe finishing it off with an 11-yard touchdown run. The extra point was missed, giving Menlo hope. The Knights got one last chance late in the fourth quarter when Bradley broke through the line and threw Burr-Kirven for a three-yard loss on a fourth-and 3 from the Menlo 7. Menlo took over with 2:13 left to play. Heneghan connected on back-toback passes, threw an incomplete, but the Knights picked up five yards when the Gators were caught offsides. After an incomplete pass that was nearly picked off by SHP’s Patrick Tinsley, Heneghan ran eight yards for a first down at the Gators’ 49. With time running out, Heneghan overthrew his receiver and Del Santo was there to pick it off. He made a nice, long return deep into Menlo territory before Donahoe took a few knees to run out the clock. “I was just thankful we didn’t turn the ball over in the second half,” Lavorato said. “I was really proud of the guys. Our whole offensive line played so great in the second half.” N
SHP senior Andrew Segre (34) rushed for 141 yards to pace the Gators past Menlo, 13-7, in the CCS Division IV title game. ÜÜÜ°*> Ì " i°V ÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ iVi LiÀÊÇ]ÊÓä£ÓÊU Page 31