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| South City quarterback Elijah Avegalio (left) looks for an opening as the El Camino defense, including Jovaughn William (4), looks to pull him down in the Bell Game, April 17, 2021. Photo by John Baker. |
What was either the longest high school football season in modern times or the shortest, depending on your definition, came to an end on Saturday as El Camino defeated South San Francisco High 49-12 in the 59th edition of the local rivalry known as the Bell Game.
With both schools only playing their fourth contest because of a truncated schedule (and one mutual opponent dropping its team), the number of games played was the fewest since at least the 1960s. But considering the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the 2020 football season to spring 2021 and these teams had started practicing in February 2020, the 14 months together meant these playing units have had more time together than most.
“Everybody’s just happy the seniors had a season,” said El Camino coach Archie Junio. “It was definitely tougher this year. We lost a lot of people to COVID, with people not wanting to come out. Mentally it was one of the toughest years, but as far as appreciation, it’s probably one of the best we've had.”
Saturday’s win was the Colts’ third straight Bell Game triumph, although the Warriors still lead the all-time series, 47-12. Prior to 2018, South San Francisco had won 14 straight.
South City’s last win overall remains a one-point squeaker in the 2017 Bell Game, and the Warriors have lost 24 in a row. But first-year South City Coach Dion Evans, who said he only had 15 players suited up on Saturday, said seeds have been planted to grow success on B Street.
“There’s a wave of players, because I’m coming back, I’m not going to abandon them,” said Evans, the Warriors’ fourth coach in as many seasons. “As a man and a football coach, this is very tough to deal with.”
The outcome of the game was never much in doubt. South City started with the ball, but the second play from scrimmage resulted in El Camino’s Elijah Vazquez picking off an errant pass at the 32-yard line and running it back left to put the Colts up 7-0 after the extra point.
“I was supposed to read the second guy on the right, I peek over … I looked back at the QB, and the ball was right in my face,” Vasquez said. “I took the ball and hauled ass to the end zone.”
South City punted on its next possession, then the Colts scored on theirs with a four-yard Jared Turcios run. The Warriors punted again on their next turn, but Toby Woodworth took the punt back 91 yards on the right to put El Camino up 21-0 after a quarter.
“It started the Bell Game off right,” Vasquez said. “We were tired of losing after all those (14 straight) years and wanted our respect.”
South City (0-4) looked to make a game of it on the next possession, when Elijah Avegalio hooked up with Carlos Marquez on a 28-yard touchdown pass on the left side.
But El Camino (2-2) got three more touchdowns in the second quarter: a nine-yard Jovaughn Williams run, a 40-plus-yard fumble recovery by Joey Pierotti, and an 18-yard pass reception from quarterback Vasquez to Woodworth. The Colts led 42-6 going into the break.
“We tried not to pass as much as we could have,” Junio said. “I know they’re our rival, but I still wanted to be classy. I respect them as a group and I respect coach Dion for what he’s doing.”
With a running clock in the entire second half, both sides only got one score: Noel Valdez scored on a seven-yard run five minutes into the third quarter for El Camino and Carlos Garcia ran the ball in three yards for a South City touchdown with 8:38 left in the game.
In total, the Warriors tallied only 127 yards of net offense, 65 on the ground (led by Avegalio’s 43 net rushing yards, which were offset by about another 40 fumble yards) and 62 in the air. The Colts tallied 208 yards on the ground, paced by 121 yards from Williams, and 40 via the pass.
“We knew that El Camino was a better team right now,” Evan said. “We told (the Warriors) that El Camino was a better team right now, but they could fight and score.”
Practice for the fall season starts in about six weeks, pandemic permitting.
