The Moreau Catholic Mariners football team punched their ticket to their first ever California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division 7-AA Championship Bowl game in school history by beating the Leland Chargers of San Jose 42-11 on Dec. 6 at home in the 7-AA regional finals.
No football team from the city of Hayward has ever advanced to the state championship game, let alone win the NCS title, which Moreau did earlier on Nov. 29.
“Going to the first ever CIF State Championship in the city of Hayward is great… because we’re representing the whole city,” said Mariner head coach Keith Minor. “This feeling is incredible.”
Mariners starting quarterback Jeremiah Charles finished with 278 yard passing on a perfect 10/10 pass attempt ratio with a total of four touchdowns. Moreau wide receiver Jalen Arnold finished with four receptions for 64 yards and two touchdowns. Jameson Ransburg finished with two receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
“We knew what the goal was and we prepared all week in practice for this game,” said Charles. “We came out here tonight and got the job done.”
Striking first on the opening drive of the game, Arnold scored a touchdown to give the Mariners an early 7-0 lead. The Chargers settled for a field goal after a failed third and goal conversion to make it a 7-3 game with three minutes left in the opening quarter. Before the first quarter ended, Ransburg ran 80 yards for another Mariners touchdown to make it 14-3.
Moreau had the ball to start the second quarter as tight end Miles Moore caught a long reception to set up first and goal. Jayden Bryant rushed for a touchdown to make it 21-3 with 9:30 remaining in the first half. Ransburg caught a long pass from Charles downfield to score another touchdown giving Moreau a 28-3 lead. Moreau’s defense played exceptional all night by stopping Leland’s attempt to get their ground game going and shutting down their pass attempts.
After an interception by Arnold, who also plays free safety, the Mariners took over with the ball at the Leland 30 yard line. Arnold caught a pass to the four yard line to set up first and goal. Peyton Collins scored a touchdown on the next play to make it a commanding 35-3 Moreau lead closing the second quarter heading into halftime.
“I believe Jalen Arnold is the best wide receiver in Northern California,” said coach Minor. “His stats prove it and he’s an extremely efficient player.”
Leland received the second half kickoff, but their quarterback was picked off by Arnold at the Leland 43. Arnold later scored a touchdown to make it 42-3 with 8:19 remaining in the third quarter. The Chargers scored their first and only touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter when Wyatt Markos scored on first and goal from the five yard line, followed by a successful two point after attempt to make the final score 42-11.
“To make history tonight feels amazing,” said Arnold. “The legacy I want to leave behind is that anybody can do anything if they put their mind to it.”
Arnold was recently named Western Alameda County Conference Foothill Division offensive player of the year, first team all-league receiver, and second team all-league defensive back. He now has 20 total touchdowns, 1,492 yards receiving on 64 total receptions this season. Currently, Arnold has multiple college offers to play college football including an offer from Division I school Montana State University and St. Norbert University in De Pare, Wisconsin.
Senior Mariners quarterback Charles is now 150/231 pass attempts and 2,761 passing yards. He has commanded the Moreau offense all season and willed his way to be one of the best quarterbacks in CIF play.
“It was a real good feeling as the clock ticked to all zeros tonight and we knew we punched our ticket to the CIF State Championship,” added Charles.
Just three years after taking over the program, Mariners head coach Keith Minor made history by not only taking the Mariners to their first ever state title in school history, but also the first ever CIF State Championship appearance in the history of the entire city of Hayward. After starting the season 1-3 overall, Moreau Catholic is now 10-4 overall and 5-1 in league looking to finish the season bringing home the Division 7-AA CIF State Championship title to mark the name in the record book making history.
The Mariners play the Lindsay Cardinals of Lindsay, California, who are 10-5 overall and 3-4 in league, on Friday, Dec. 13 in Fullerton at the Fullerton Union High School Stadium for the CIF state title.
To read about the team’s NCS win, tricityvoice.com/moreau-catholic-wins-ncs-championship/
