In the News: South City Warriors Gunning for CCS Football Title

South City Warriors gunning for CCS football title
Team back in CCS finals for first time since 1989

 

By Nathan Mollat, Daily Journal staff

 

Nov 25, 2023

 

When Kolone Pua was not offered the head football coaching job at South City in 2019, he decided to follow former South City head man Jay Oca to Capuchino, becoming the Mustangs’ defensive coordinator.

 

But he was watching the South City program from afar and it hurt him. Not only did he feel out of place at Capuchino, but he saw a once proud program with a rich football tradition devolve into a laughingstock.

 

The Warriors, who played in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division in 2013, saw a steady slide into the the PAL’s lowest division, the Lake. Adding to the malaise was a 26-game losing streak from 2018 until the first two weeks of the 2022 season.

 

And then the ultimate indignation: South City failed to field a team for the 2021 season because of a lack of interest.

 

“When they kept losing, I felt bad for [the South City kids],” said Pua, who has deep roots in the South City football community.

 

When former head coach Dion Evans was let go in 2021, Pua said he saw an opportunity to get back on the South City sideline. When he inquired about the opening, he was told the plan was to lure Frank Moro out of retirement. Pua figured he’d rejoin his former head coach.

 

It wasn’t all easy sailing.

 

“The (players) didn’t know football too well (to start the 2022) season. I told Moro, ‘These guys are lost,’” Pua said. “But I can’t really blame (the kids). They didn’t learn much (the previous two seasons).

 

“It was slow, but we started to win some games last year and the attitude of the team turned around.”

 

A year later, Pua — along with sons Nono and Kolson-Ethan as his offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, and his former boss Moro — is now leading the Warriors into their first Central Coast Section championship game since winning the 1989 Division II North title, 31-12 over Carlmont.

 

South City (11-1), seeded third in the CCS Division V bracket and riding a 10-game winning streak, will take on No. 4 Santa Teresa (6-6) at 7 p.m. Saturday at MacDonald High School in San Jose.

 

The Warriors punched their ticket to the championship game with a dramatic 11-9 win over No. 7 Leland last week in a game that saw South City score the winning touchdown on an Elijah Fields 1-yard plunge with 10 seconds left.

 

The wet conditions blunted the Warriors’ speed, which may be their best weapon. Fields, who finished the game with 109 yards rushing, found himself between the tackles instead of outside the tackles.

 

“He kept getting wider (on sweeps) than turning upfield,” Pua said. “I’m praying it’s not going to rain too much Saturday.”

 

Saturday’s forecast calls for no rain.

 

“It’s going to be cold,” Pua said. “We like it when it’s cold. We call it our 12th guy.”

 

While the Warriors’ offense has put up an average of 28 points per game this season, it has been their defense that has carried them. They have given up double digits just three times this season, with Capuchino being the only team to score more than 20 points against South City in a 21-0 win.

 

The Warriors have posted five shutouts this season, including a 14-0 decision over Silver Creek in the first round of CCS, and during their 10-game winning streak have allowed a total of 35 points.

 

The Warriors will have their hands full with Santa Teresa, however. The Saints have had three of their best seasons ever under head coach Steve Papin, who spent the 2019 season at Menlo-Atherton, leading the Bears to the PAL Bay Division title and a CCS appearance.

 

M-A let him go after one season and he took over the Santa Teresa program prior to the 2021 season.

 

Papin has led the Saints to at least the CCS semifinals in all three of his seasons. They will be appearing in their second-straight CCS championship game. Santa Teresa captured the CCS Division IV title in 2022, advancing all the way to the CIF 6-AA state championship game, where they were denied a state title, 7-0, by Classical Academy-Escondido.

 

The Saints finished third in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mount Hamilton Division this season, which is equivalent to the PAL’s Bay Division. In the playoffs, the Saints have beaten a pair of PAL El Camino squads — Los Altos 37-15 in the first round, before needing overtime to get past top-seeded Woodside 27-20 in a semifinal game.

 

Santa Teresa is scoring an average of just 16 points per game, while giving up 21.

 

“They run the same offense as Leland (which also plays in the Mount Hamilton Division),” Pua said. “They like to pass a lot and then run option. They’re big up front. We just have to attack.”