A victory at a place they call The Pit brought only so much satisfaction to Serra on Friday night.
The deal looked signed and sealed when junior running back Anterio Bateman broke away for a 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but it only set the stage for the Cavaliers holding on for a 21-14 Mission League victory over St. Paul.
Bateman rushed for 213 yards on 19 carries - 170 of those yards in the second half - but Serra (6-2, 3-0) had to hold on after building a big lead for the second consecutive week.
"Right now, this is who we are," Serra coach Scott Altenberg said.
"We're so young, we keep tripping over ourselves. We just had a lot of opportunities to put that away and we didn't. I know as the teams get better and better, we're going to get punished for it."
Serra had four sacks, two interceptions and limited the Swordsmen (6-2, 1-2) to 40 yards rushing, but still found itself reeling as St. Paul quarterback Paul Telles led a furious rally with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes.
Telles passed for 255 yards, but after a 4-yard scoring pass to tight end Tyler Carrillo with 1:12 left, St. Paul simply ran out of time after it couldn't recover an onside kick.
Telles passed for 185 of his yards in the second half.
"We're wearing down and we're subbing a lot, so I don't understand it," Altenberg said. "We've got to play more of a complete game."
"We're sputtering through this right now and that's frustrating. We got the win and that's important. For a young team to win on the road in this league is doing something."
It could have been a different story because after taking a 14-0 halftime lead, Serra lost a fumble on the second play of the second half, then watched St. Paul march to the Serra 28-yard line.
But on fourth down, linebacker Kris Cooper picked off a deflected pass and returned it 14 yards.
"That's my second one on the season, so I'm just trying to get myself in position to make more plays like that for the team," Cooper said. "It is a big win here at St. Paul because it's a hard place to win."
Serra opened the scoring in the first quarter. Set up by Raymond Ford's 30-yard punt return, it took only four plays to go 32 yards with quarterback Jalen Greene scrambling for a 16-yard touchdown run.
With 1:22 left in the second quarter, Serra faced third-and-22, but Greene got time in the pocket and passed over the middle to Terrance Harvey for a 39-yard scoring pass.
In the third quarter, after Patrick Wooten intercepted a pass on a fake punt, Bateman took a handoff and headed right, then cut back and speed to the end zone for a 75-yard score.
From there, St. Paul pushed back and Telles passed to running back Michael Ortega for a 33-yard score to pull within 21-7 with 6:29 left.
"We just have to get on the same page, from the safeties to the linebackers to the line," Cooper said. "It's not conditioning. We run twice a day.
"We're not losing focus at all. We've just got to execute.
Greene didn't play in the fourth quarter. On the final play of the first half, he injured his wrist on a scramble. Junior Ryan Barbarin took over.
Serra rushed for 258 yards and Bateman was a constant threat, but the Cavaliers also dropped passes, including one that went for an interception.
"Our guys have to learn this is a four-quarter game and the mistakes we made, two potential touchdowns dropped, and then countless bonehead plays - that's our youth," Altenberg said. "We came away from The Pit with a win and that makes me happy, but we've got to get better."
The deal looked signed and sealed when junior running back Anterio Bateman broke away for a 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but it only set the stage for the Cavaliers holding on for a 21-14 Mission League victory over St. Paul.
Bateman rushed for 213 yards on 19 carries - 170 of those yards in the second half - but Serra (6-2, 3-0) had to hold on after building a big lead for the second consecutive week.
"Right now, this is who we are," Serra coach Scott Altenberg said.
"We're so young, we keep tripping over ourselves. We just had a lot of opportunities to put that away and we didn't. I know as the teams get better and better, we're going to get punished for it."
Serra had four sacks, two interceptions and limited the Swordsmen (6-2, 1-2) to 40 yards rushing, but still found itself reeling as St. Paul quarterback Paul Telles led a furious rally with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes.
Telles passed for 255 yards, but after a 4-yard scoring pass to tight end Tyler Carrillo with 1:12 left, St. Paul simply ran out of time after it couldn't recover an onside kick.
Telles passed for 185 of his yards in the second half.
"We're wearing down and we're subbing a lot, so I don't understand it," Altenberg said. "We've got to play more of a complete game."
"We're sputtering through this right now and that's frustrating. We got the win and that's important. For a young team to win on the road in this league is doing something."
It could have been a different story because after taking a 14-0 halftime lead, Serra lost a fumble on the second play of the second half, then watched St. Paul march to the Serra 28-yard line.
But on fourth down, linebacker Kris Cooper picked off a deflected pass and returned it 14 yards.
"That's my second one on the season, so I'm just trying to get myself in position to make more plays like that for the team," Cooper said. "It is a big win here at St. Paul because it's a hard place to win."
Serra opened the scoring in the first quarter. Set up by Raymond Ford's 30-yard punt return, it took only four plays to go 32 yards with quarterback Jalen Greene scrambling for a 16-yard touchdown run.
With 1:22 left in the second quarter, Serra faced third-and-22, but Greene got time in the pocket and passed over the middle to Terrance Harvey for a 39-yard scoring pass.
In the third quarter, after Patrick Wooten intercepted a pass on a fake punt, Bateman took a handoff and headed right, then cut back and speed to the end zone for a 75-yard score.
From there, St. Paul pushed back and Telles passed to running back Michael Ortega for a 33-yard score to pull within 21-7 with 6:29 left.
"We just have to get on the same page, from the safeties to the linebackers to the line," Cooper said. "It's not conditioning. We run twice a day.
"We're not losing focus at all. We've just got to execute.
Greene didn't play in the fourth quarter. On the final play of the first half, he injured his wrist on a scramble. Junior Ryan Barbarin took over.
Serra rushed for 258 yards and Bateman was a constant threat, but the Cavaliers also dropped passes, including one that went for an interception.
"Our guys have to learn this is a four-quarter game and the mistakes we made, two potential touchdowns dropped, and then countless bonehead plays - that's our youth," Altenberg said. "We came away from The Pit with a win and that makes me happy, but we've got to get better."
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Source: Phil Collin, Staff Writer, Daily Breeze