OAKLAND – Cynai Thomas blasted out of his release as the outside receiver on the wide side of the field and charged toward the end zone. After getting deep downfield, the 6-foot-3 Archbishop Riordan receiver cut inside, dusted the defensive back, and then hauled in the 40-yard touchdown pass to put Riordan in a position to win the game.
“This year’s Riordan isn’t quitting on anything,” Thomas said on Friday night. “We’re going to find a way to scratch and claw and fight our way to victory.”
After airing it out for most of the second half, Riordan then went old-school on the two-point conversion, running Jeremiah Jones behind two fullbacks and a pair of tight ends to give the visiting Crusaders a 35-34 come-from-behind victory at McClymonds.
“Year three to year four is when you really expect a program to make a jump, and I think tonight is showing that we’re starting to do that,” third-year Riordan coach Adhir Ravipati said.
Thomas caught six passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns. The first of the TDs came with six minutes remaining in a show of supreme athleticism. He jumped over a McClymonds defensive back for a 16-yard touchdown to start the rally from down 14 in the fourth quarter.
“I’m proud of my team and coaches,” longtime McClymonds coach Michael Peters said. “But I mean, we had them on the ropes, and we’ve got to finish them (off).”
Lawson was part of a well-balanced attack that featured Wesley Winn (84 yards) and Washington commit Chris Lawson (79 yards).
Riordan needed every yard against its battle-tested foe, which went toe-to-toe with the West Catholic Athletic League powerhouse despite suiting only 19 varsity players while facing a team whose roster stretched from end zone to end zone on the opposing sideline.
For the third year in a row, McClymonds opened the season against a WCAL opponent. But neither Bellarmine team from the previous two seasons could boast the sheer talent that Riordan brought across the Bay Bridge.
Mike Mitchell Jr. – as gifted a passer as there is in the Bay Area – threw for 31 touchdowns a season ago. The junior quarterback has future college wideouts like Lawson and Power-4 blockers such as Tommy Tofi in front of him for another season.
That overwhelming talent showed early.
The San Francisco private school jumped out to a 14-0 lead behind two Jones touchdown runs. Tofi and fellow four-star Peter Langi blew open holes as he rushed for 77 yards – showing nary a sign of rust for a team that had its scrimmage canceled a week ago.
But after Riordan’s star-studded core – returning from a team that went 7-4 and reached the CCS Division I playoffs – threw the first punch, McClymonds retooled roster hurled a haymaker of its own.
McClymonds then ran off 18 unanswered points via a Dom Davis two-yard run, a winding 44-yard score by Sharky Tamale (88 rushing yards) on a screen pass, and then a 30-yard strike to Rahsjon Duncan with three seconds remaining in the half.
On multiple occasions, new McClymonds quarterback Berell Staples flashed the kind of elite arm talent that the Oakland Athletic League’s perennial champion has lacked in recent seasons.
He threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns and completed 17 of 20 passes. Like his counterpart Mike Mitchell Jr. – who was 26-36 for 295 yards and three touchdowns – Staples had knack for extending plays outside of the pocket before unleashed a dart downfield for a first down.
“I saw heart today,” Peters said. “I saw that kid play with heart, and I love what I saw from him.”
After entering the second half with his team trailing 18-14, Mitchell threw a touchdown pass to Jones for a 20-18 advantage. McClymonds answered with a nifty 21-yard Kyle Vincent wide receiver reverse play for a touchdown.
When Desmond Sparks punched in a fourth-down touchdown with 9:25 left in the game, the “Mackhouse” rocked and several alumni on the home sideline loudly declared that victory was certain.
Michell and company said, “Not so fast.”
Thomas and Mitchell linked up for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to snatch victory away from McClymonds and start the season with a gritty victory.
“The adversity we’ve been through has helped us grow, and helped us come back from deficits like that,” Mitchell said.
Neither team’s path gets any easier next week. McClymonds heads south to Mountain View for a showdown with another WCAL stalwart in St. Francis, and Archbishop Riordan travels down to Ventura to face powerhouse St. Bonaventure.
The Crusaders are ready for the challenge.
“We’re not ducking any smoke” Thomas said. “And we’re gonna try do what we have to do to win.”
