Jonathan Hawthorne
Campolindo coach Kevin Macy, far right, speaks to a very jubilant team and supporting student section after the Cougars’ dramatic NCS championship victory.
Clock G Strikes Midnight
Storybook seasons for a trio of NorCal football teams come to bittersweet ends at CIF bowl games By Chace Bryson | Editor
riffin Piatt tracked the rainbow pass as it sailed through the air en route for the corner of the end zone. The Campolindo High safety with 12 interceptions on the season arrived at Washington Union-Fresno receiver Deontay Greenbery at the same time as the ball did. He leapt. Piatt got both hands on the ball, but when he landed atop of the Panthers receiver in the Home Depot Center end zone, it was Greenberry who had full possession. It was a touchdown for the the future Notre Dame receiver, and a lead that Washington would never relinquish in the California Interscholastic Federation Division III state championship bowl game. “That was an amazing play,” Piatt said of Greenberry’s catch. “I thought I had the interception, but he made a great play.” Those types of jump balls and near-plays had
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bounced the way of the Cougars all season long in what had become a fairy tale-like season. So perhaps it was a shock to the team’s collective system when they didn’t see Piatt jump up with the ball. And then, on the very next possession, Washington Union scored again and had a commanding 14-0 lead. And if there were some in attendance who wondered at that point if Campolindo really belonged on that stage, well, they probably hadn’t seen the Cougars play over the previous five weeks of the season. The resilient nature of Campolindo was never better on display than in the North Coast Section playoffs in which it erased a 21-0 deficit to defeat Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa 35-24 in the semifinals, and then won it’s first NCS championship in 25 years when it beat Marin Catholic-Kentfield 20-18 on a 21-yard field goal as time expired. Needless to say, this team doesn’t blink at 14-0 deficits. A touchdown pass from Brett Stephens to Mason Windatt with 44 seconds left in the game made the
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