Patterson can’t stop Grant’s explosive offense, falls in D-III section semifinal
Despite deep playoff runs the past few seasons, a trip to the section championships has been hard to come by for the Patterson High football team.
The only time the Tigers played for a blue banner was 15 years ago, a 24-6 loss in the 2007 Division V title game.
After Friday night’s 80-44 loss to Grant High in the Sac-Joaquin Section D-III semifinals, the Tigers’ next championship appearance will be postponed at least one more year.
“We just compared it to a heavyweight slugfest, championship-type boxing match,” Patterson coach Rob Cozart said. “Each team was throwing punches. They landed a few more than we did.
The second-seeded Tigers (10-2) found themselves in a 16-point hole quickly. The third-seeded Pacers scored on two of their first three possessions, going for two-point conversions each time.
In fact, they didn’t attempt an extra-point kick all game. After each touchdown, a successful two-point conversion followed.
Patterson scored its first points on a 38-yard Christian Casillas field goal.
Grant had explosive plays all night.
In addition to converting all but one of the Pacers’ two-point conversions before his backup came in, Kyrell Goss-Pruitt returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, and caught two touchdown passes.
Kingston Lopa returned an interception 99 yards and Semaj Mafu-Hart scored on runs of 61 and 68 yards.
“They are explosive,” Cozart said. “You can’t scheme 6-foot-5. You can’t scheme 4.3 (speed). All you can do is … control the controllables. All you can do is just coach effort. We could not slow them down. They are extremely talented.”
The Tigers’ second quarter was their best.
Senior running back Lolo Mataele rushed for an 8-yard score and quarterback Max Medina threw for two touchdowns — an 11-yard pass to Mataele and a 9-yarder to Donjhae Hardin.
The freshman played with poise after throwing two interceptions in the first quarter. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns.
Patterson went into halftime trailing 48-24. The Tigers were unable to cut into the Pacers’ lead in the second half. Though they scored their share of points, the Grant offense was too much in the third and fourth quarters.
Friday’s game was the first section semifinal in Patterson since 2010 and the community came out in droves.
“We don’t probably travel that many people if we have to go … on the road,” Cozart said. “Our program can feel the support when things don’t go right, and hear the roar of the crowd when things do go right. It’s just a different feeling when you’re at home.”
Mataele did it all for the Tigers, showing why Cozart and the team relied on him more as the season went on. He rushed for 215 yards on 24 carries, ran for a touchdown, caught a touchdown, recovered a fumble and housed an 85-yard interception return for a third-quarter pick-6.
He played until he physically couldn’t play anymore.
“That guy embodies everything that we do within our program,” Cozart said glowingly of his star running back and linebacker. “He’s just unbelievably talented, a hard worker, a good person and leader. He is what our program is based on. When we say, ‘We are Patterson,’ Lolo is Patterson.
“Whoever offers this kid at the next level is getting a hidden gem. As soon as somebody pulls the trigger and offers this kid, they are going to love him for four or five years. He’s a dude and we are gonna miss him big time.”
Cozart goes into the offseason with anticipation for the future.
Medina will only grow from the experience and the team had a large number of sophomores and juniors who got their first varsity experience this season.
“I would never say we overperformed. I think that this team probably just grew up faster than what most people thought it would,” Cozart said. “We have youth. We’ve got playmakers. We’ve got leadership. We’ve got experience. We’ve got size. This is a good, good group. We’re excited about the future, for sure, but we’re excited about being able to celebrate this season.”
Grant advanced to play fourth-seeded Christian Brothers in next week’s championship game.
This story was originally published November 19, 2022 at 7:47 AM.
