Prep football: Marin Catholic falls as challenging slate continues

Marin Catholic High football coach Mazi Moayed can barely remember the last time one of his teams started the season winless after two games.

But then again, nobody can ever remember the Wildcats playing such a rugged non-league schedule.

The Wildcats came up empty again in the second of a four-game murderer’s row as visiting St. Mary’s (Stockton) scored 28 unanswered points in the middle quarters to dispel MC’s early lead and pull away for a 35-22 victory on a warm Saturday in Kentfield.

The game was actually not that close.

The Wildcats scored eight of their points in the final 19 seconds long after the game was decided.

“We’re getting inconsistent play from just about everybody on the offensive side of the ball,” Moayed said. “We’re making far too many errors and you just can’t do that against a very good team like St. Mary’s.”

The Wildcats showed some progress on offense after slapping a goose egg on the scoreboard in their opener against Inderkum last week.

But still, quarterback Caedon Afsharipour and the MC offense stuttered far more often than it flowed.

Afsharipour was decidedly better than in a rough season debut. He completed 13 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. But on the downside of his outing were three interceptions and four sacks. The Wildcats have allowed nine sacks in two games.

“We’ve got to stop killing ourselves,” Afsharipour said. “Everybody on this offense can be better and I certainly can be better, too. But I have a lot of faith and belief in the guys on this team. I know we’re going to get it figured out.”

The Wildcats (0-2) seemed to click on the “figure it out” equation on their second possession Saturday.

Afsharipour engineered an eight-play, 78-yard scoring drive — capped when Jarred Geissberger took a direct snap from center and ran for an 8-yard touchdown and MC’s first points of the season.

St. Mary’s, however, answered immediately with a 68-yard scoring drive to tie the score at 7-7.

But the Wildcats never blinked.

Four plays after the ensuing kickoff, Braiden Bachich-Dixon, running a deep post, snagged a perfectly thrown dart from Afsharipour and raced 67 yards for a touchdown and the Wildcats were up by seven points again.

Unfortunately for Marin Catholic, however, that was the beginning of the end.

The Rams (2-1) scored touchdowns on four of their next five possessions.

Three of the touchdowns were passes from St. Mary’s quarterback Jaden Galvan, two times connecting with receivers wide open behind the MC secondary.

“We definitely had some errors in the secondary today,” Moayed said. “We’re going to have to do a better job back there.”

On a brighter note, the Wildcats notched their first interception of the season late in the third quarter when Chase Merrick cashed in on tip-drill practice by picking off a deflected pass.

While St. Mary’s was pulling away, MC’s offense chilled to near frozen after Bachich-Dixon’s long touchdown catch.

The Wildcats’ next six possessions ended in a punt, interception, interception, interception, lost fumble, and punt.

St. Mary’s running back Landon McClendon led all ball-carriers with 84 yards on 18 carries. Afsharipour led the Wildcats with 42 yards on 13 carries.

MC’s Bachich-Dixon led all receivers with five catches for 116 yards.

St. Mary’s 35. Marin Catholic 22

non-league

St. Mary’s  0  21  7  7  –  35

Marin Catholic  7  7  0  8  –  22

SCORING SUMMARY

MC – Geissberger 8 run (Carroll kick)

SM – McClendon 3 run (Sanchez kick)

MC – Bachich-Dixon 67 pass from Afsharipour (Carroll kick)

SM – Huerta 18 pass from Galvan (Sanchez kick)

SM – Moore 69 pass from Galvan (Sanchez kick)

SM – McClendon 3 run (Sanchez kick)

SM – Gayles 24 pass from Galvan (Sanchez kick)

MC – Safety, bad snap through end zone

MC – Bachich-Dixon 6 pass from Afsharipour (no conversion attempt)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – SM: McClendon 18-84, Galvan 1-(minus-10), Moore 3-3, Fullard 8-24, Gayles 1-0, Hernandez 1-10, Bedford 2-(minus-4), bad snap 1-(minus-17). Totals: 34-90. MC: Conroy 6-28, Afsharipour 12-34, Geissberger 5-1, Serafin 1-3, bad snap 1-(minus-7), Bachich-Dixon 1-8. Totals: 26-67.

PASSING – Galvan 13-20-1 202, Karagounis 0-1-1 0. Totals: 13-21-2 202. MC: Afsharipour 13-23-3 214.

RECEIVING – SM: Huerta 5-62, Moore 4-77, Gayles 4-63. Totals: 13-202. MC: Geissberger 1-6, Storms 4-45, Baker 2-48, Bachich-Dixon 5-116, Serafin 1-(minus-1). Totals: 13-214.

Records – St, Mary’s 2-1, Marin Catholic 0-2.