The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.
CSM defensive tackle Ezra Funa, right, celebrates with assistant coach Jason Hardee during the California Community College Athletic Association Northern California football championship game Saturday at College Heights Stadium. Photo by Ronald Rugel Photography.
When it comes to this time of the season, the only thing that matters is: win and advance.
So it doesn’t matter that the College of San Mateo offense scored the least amount of points since a 27-14 win at Diablo Valley Oct. 18, and the defense gave up the most points since a 49-14 win over Foothill Oct. 26.
The only thing that mattered was the scoreboard that showed top-seeded CSM 27, No. 2 Modesto 22. With the win, the Bulldogs secured their third straight Northern California regional title at College Heights Stadium on the CSM campus Saturday afternoon.
“They just want to win and they’re selfless,” CSM head coach Tim Tulloch said as the Bulldogs advance to the California Community College Athletic Association championship game, which they will host, next Saturday. The last time CSM hosted the state championship game, the Bulldogs dismantled Riverside 55-0 in 2022 to win their first-ever state title.
The win also avenges the only loss of the season for CSM (11-1), when the Bulldogs dropped a 23-20 decision to the Pirates Sept. 21.
“We’re a different team than we were back there,” CSM defensive lineman and co-captain John Gayer said. “We’ve grown a lot as a team and we’re clicking on all cylinders.”
While Tulloch has been one to always want to see improvement from week to week, playing in a state semifinal game, it’s all about making the plays when it counts. While the Bulldogs never trailed in the game, Modesto (9-3) showed it deserved to be in the Nor Cal title contest just as much as CSM. The Pirates ran more plays than CSM (69 to 61) and outgained CSM 375 to 337.
“They’re a great team,” Tulloch said of the Modesto. “They have some playmakers. Their quarterback is dynamic.”
But CSM has its own playmakers. And while it’s certainly more than one on each side of the ball, there were two Bulldogs who shined brightly Saturday — Gayer and running back Lolo Mataele, who both had record-setting days.
Matalele rushed for a game-high 147 yards on 29 carries. It’s the fifth time Mataele has gone over 100 yards rushing and the the fourth time in the last six games.
Additionally, he scored three touchdowns to give him 14 on the season, breaking the record set by George Nafahu of 13 in 2013.
“We lean on guys like Lolo when we need it,” Tulloch said. “Any time you can lean on him, it helps you take control of the game and keep [the ball] from them.”
But Mataele really ate in the second half. After rushing for just 44 yards on 10 carries in the first half, he had 19 carries for 103 yards in the final two quarters.
“We wanted to finish the game strong,” Mataele said. “[The coaching staff] wanted to run the rock more (in the second half).”
Meanwhile, Gayer had a huge day on defense. While Modesto quarterback Luke Weaver had success throwing the ball — he completed 24 of 38 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns — the Bulldogs got their pound of flesh. CSM notched nine sacks and Trevon Walker got his second interception against Weaver. He had one in the game in September, as well.
Of those nine sacks, Gayer was credited with 4 1/2, giving him 14 for the year and setting a new single-season sacks record. John Langridge set the previous record of 12 1/2 back in 1993.
“That’s why he’s MVP of the (Bay 6) conference,” Tulloch said. “Him missing last year with injury … he learned the game. He sat in with our coaches for a year.”
Nehamaiah Musika added a trio of sacks, while Ezra Funa had one and Watson shared one with Gayer.
Despite all that, the Bulldogs had to weather a Pirates’ squad that never conceded. Modesto took the opening kickoff and moved down to the CSM 43-yard line before back-to-back sacks from Gayer and Funa forced the Pirates to punt.
CSM took over and promptly marched 61 yards on seven plays, mixing run with the pass. Quarterback Dom Ingrassia, who finished 15-for-21 passing for 164 yards, was 3 for 3 on the drive, hitting Hassan Mahasin for 8 yards, Nico Caruso for 23 down to the Pirates’ 26 and 9 more to Mahasin.
Mataele took it from there. On second down at the 17, he went for 6 yards and a first down at the 11. On the next play, he went around left end, getting a kick-out block from Soa Takeifanga, and went into the end zone untouched for a 7-0 CSM lead.
When the Bulldogs stopped Modesto on downs at the CSM 9-yard line, all the momentum was in the Bulldogs’ favor.
But Modesto slowly moved the pendulum back to the middle. The Pirates forced a CSM punt after failing on fourth and proceeded to drive 85 yards on 12 plays. Weaver completed passes of 17 and 24 yards on the drive and finished it off with a bootleg around the right side from a yard out to tie the game at 7-all early in the second quarter.
The teams exchanged punts before CSM embarked on a 59-yard scoring drive, with Mataele capping it with a plunge into the end zone from 3 yards to give the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead at halftime.
CSM pushed its advantage to 10 points, 17-7, when Dieter Kelly booted a 48-yard field to cap the first drive of the second half, but the Pirates answered with a Manuel Duran 38-yard field goal and then forced the Bulldogs to punt on the ensuing possession.
Then the Pirates hit the Bulldogs with the big play. Weaver found receiver Joey Stout on a sideline route. Although he looked hemmed in along the sideline, he got the corner, tip-toed down the line and went 64 yards for the score.
The Pirates, however, missed the extra point and still trailed 17-16 with 2:24 left in the third quarter.
But the Bulldogs went back to work.
“We don’t get fazed by the big plays,” Gayer said. “We’re not going to get down.”
Said Tulloch: “You tip your cap to them. They made a play. This game is going to be a back-and-forth fight. … You just have to weather the storm.”
CSM responded by moving from its own 28 to the Modesto 21 before the drive stalled and the Bulldogs settled for a 38-yard field goal from Kelly to extend the lead to 20-16.
Then it was CSM to come up with the big play. On the Modesto’s next play from scrimmage, Gayer came off the left edge untouched, blasting Weaver with a blind side strip-sack that was recovered by Funa at the Pirates’ 14.
Three plays later, Mataele was into the end zone for his third of the game and record-setting 14th of the season.
More importantly, it put the Bulldogs up 27-16 with 11:07 to play.
Watson came up with the interception at the Bulldogs’ 15 to thwart a Modesto scoring threat, but the Pirates did get into the end zone with 1:39 to play, going 91 yards on nine plays, cutting the deficit to 27-22.
But CSM recovered the onside kick, ran out the clock and turned their attention to next Saturday’s state title game.
So that means the Bulldogs weren’t satisfied with Saturday’s win.
“It won’t matter if we don’t win next week,” Mataele said. The Bulldogs will host the state’s top-ranked team, Mt. San Antonio College, which beat Riverside 37-35 for the Southern California title.
Added Tulloch: “We ain’t done yet. We haven’t won anything. This is a stepping stone to our goal. … The ultimate goal is to win the whole thing.”