SAN JOSE — All Gators are huge. However some Gators are larger than most.
Sacred Coronary heart Prep led Burlingame 7-3 within the CCS Division IV championship sport at San Jose Metropolis School and was threatening to open up a much bigger lead. Sensing a chance, Burlingame elected to go for a fourth-and-1 at its personal 38-yard line.
However destiny intervened within the type of Aseli Fangupo. After Burlingame bobbled the snap, the Gators’ 5-foot-10, 275-pound defensive deal with scooped up the ball and rumbled 29 yards for a landing, escorted down the sphere by his ecstatic teammates.
As he slid down into the tip zone in type, Fangupo had modified the sport for good. His momentum-flipping play gave SHP a 14-3 lead, and the Gators by no means trailed afterward en path to a 21-10 title sport win.
Sacred Coronary heart Prep lineman Aseli Fangupo #68 picks up a Burlingame fumble and runs 36-yards for a landing within the CCS Division IV championship sport, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at San Jose Metropolis School. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
“Aseli, everything he gets is so great,” stated SHP coach Mark Grieb. “You couldn’t ask for a better human in terms of a leader, a guy who cares and loves his teammates and works his butt off every single day. At times, he is our team, but he’ll never say it. He’s a humble guy, and just works hard. So I’m so happy for him.”
SHP (7-6) was granted a chance after an up-and-down common season with the No. 3 seed within the D-IV bracket. The Gators took full benefit of it with double-digit wins over The King’s Academy, Branham and Burlingame to win their first part title since 2021.
In that 12 months’s championship sport, a win over Homestead, Fangupo compelled a fumble and rumbled down the sphere, however he didn’t discover the tip zone. In his senior 12 months, he ensured that his profession would finish with a landing subsequent to his identify.
“This time, when I saw the ball, I was able to waddle down there into the end zone,” Fangupo stated. “When that gap opens, my eyes get bright, but I know my teammates are right behind me, and thanks to them, I’m able to make plays like that.”
Sacred Coronary heart Prep lineman Aseli Fangupo #68 picks up a Burlingame fumble and runs 36-yards for a landing within the CCS Division IV championship sport, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at San Jose Metropolis School. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
Sacred Coronary heart Prep scored first early within the sport. The Gators compelled a punt on Burlingame’s first drive and parlayed good discipline place right into a 7-yard TD run by Maxime Morelle.
Burlingame (8-5) countered with a 10-minute drive that reached SHP’s 1-yard line. However a false begin penalty backed the Panthers up, and so they in the end needed to accept a discipline purpose.
“It was a good football game,” stated Burlingame coach John Philipopoulos. “The reality is two or three plays really dictated the outcome of the game, and unfortunately, Sacred Heart Prep was on the positive end of those two or three plays. The hardest part to handle is (they were) self-inflicted wounds in some regards.”
The Panthers had a robust response in retailer after Fangupo’s scoop and rating. Two performs later, Luke Levitt discovered a streaking Jake Flood open over the center for a 44-yard landing, closing the hole to 14-10.
Burlingame’s Jake Flood #3 scores untouched towards Sacred Coronary heart Prep within the CCS Division IV championship sport, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at San Jose Metropolis School. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
However Sacred Coronary heart Prep demonstrated some quick-strike functionality as effectively. On the following play from scrimmage, Sasha Bamdad stretched out a run play to the sideline and ran 63 yards for a solution.
“It feels great,” Grieb stated. “I feel really happy for these kids who work so hard all year. A lot of kids work hard and don’t get the reward of winning a section championship. But these guys never gave up. It’s tough when people are saying stuff about you, especially the day and age we live in, where they hear so many things so quickly. The guys they play against, and people online saying stuff. So it was nice that they’ve been able to redeem themselves.”
SHP craved a championship after slotting into the D-IV bracket. However as with many groups this time of 12 months, the Gators are additionally grateful for the chance to be collectively for one more week.
“We didn’t even know if we were going to get in,” Fangupo stated. “However proper once we bought in, we knew we had been going to attempt to make a run, and the outcomes present proper now.
“It’s all about simply taking part in for one more week. That’s our motto. We don’t actually care about attending to the championship. We’re simply going to go one sport at a time. We knew we had been actually blessed to get a second likelihood, so we had been simply going to take each alternative we will.”
Sacred Coronary heart Prep head coach Mark Grieb is doused because the Gators win the CCS Division IV championship, defeating Burlingame, 21-10, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at San Jose Metropolis School. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
Sacred Coronary heart Prep celebrates their CCS Division IV championship, defeating Burlingame, 21-10, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at San Jose Metropolis School. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
Sacred Coronary heart Prep’s Greg Gamitian #9 appears for a gap speeding towards Burlingame within the CCS Division IV championship sport, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at San Jose Metropolis School. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
Sacred Coronary heart Prep’s Maxime Morelle #46 scores a landing towards Burlingame within the first quarter of the CCS Division IV championship sport, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at San Jose Metropolis School. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
Burlingame’s Lucas Kirk #4 picks up yards earlier than tackled by Sacred Coronary heart Prep’s Elliot Spieker #33 within the second half of the CCS Division IV championship sport, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at San Jose Metropolis School. (Karl Mondon/Bay Space Information Group)
