The last time San Mateo defeated its biggest rival in the Little Big Game, members of SMHS’s current freshman class were still in diapers.
For the first time since 2009, The Paw is back at San Mateo. The Bearcats reclaimed the prize in front of a raucous home crowd with a punishing running attack, stingy defensive play, and opportunism on both sides of the ball.
San Mateo’s offense started strong, with 151 yards and all 17 points in the first half. Burlingame received the opening kickoff, and drove 38 yards down to the San Mateo 34-yard line. In what would become a pattern for the Panthers, they moved the ball well, but were stymied by a physical Bearcat defensive front when it mattered, turning the ball over on downs.
From there, the Bearcats marched down the field for their first touchdown of the game, a 79-yard, 14-play drive. San Mateo controlled the line of scrimmage, and junior Xavier Zaragoza capped a strong series by punching the ball in for a one-yard touchdown behind a monster block by Fone Fakava.
Zaragoza was more than capable filling in for Emmanuel Fitzgerald, grinding out 85 yards in his first game as the feature back.
Burlingame answered back, taking the kickoff deep into Bearcat territory and eventually squeaking into the endzone for the score. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 7-6 in favor of San Mateo.
After a failed onside kick by the Panthers, San Mateo put together another strong drive, Zaragoza battering Burlingame defenders and breaking out for his two longest runs of the game. The Bearcats would settle for a Jack Neciuk field goal, however, and a 10-6 lead.
With San Mateo kicking off after a personal foul on the field goal, San Mateo’s coaching staff showed the same opportunism as their players on the field, dialing up an onside kick, which San Mateo recovered.
Four plays later, Matthew Radulovich was in the end zone for the Bearcats. Quarterback Cameron Palma’s only completion of the game went for 25 yards and put the Bearcats up 17-6.
That was the score at the half, but not before a promising Burlingame drive ended with a clutch interception by San Mateo defensive back Felipe Sorbara.
The story of the second half was the Bearcat defense. Desperate to get something going on offense, the Panthers tried different personnel packages, including swapping out quarterbacks between Eddie Gill and Luke Levitt.
On their second possession of the third quarter, Burlingame finally broke through with a 60-plus yard drive. The conversion made the score 17-14, and it was as close as the Panthers would get.
After the teams traded punts, the San Mateo defensive front–on the field for so much of the second half–came up with their signature play. With Burlingame driving in the fourth quarter, Jordan Lichaa broke through to sack Luke Levitt and force a punt on the ensuing 4th down, ending Burlingame’s last real threat of the game.
The Bearcats’ final possession of the game ate up much of the remaining clock before a Fone Fakava punt with 13 seconds left to play. Burlingame heaved a last-second pass toward the end zone, but Felipe Sorbara was on the spot again to snag the game-ending interception, his second of the contest.
