Harvard Struggles but Still Has Enough to Win Santa Fe League

Rich Montanio decided that ignorance would work to his advantage on Friday night.

The Chaminade High coach knew there was a coin toss going on in the end zone while he was preparing his team for a Santa Fe League championship game against Harvard at Pierce College.

If Chaminade were to defeat Harvard, the two would join Bell-Jeff in a tie for first place. The flip was to decide the order of the league’s playoff teams in the Desert-Mountain Conference.

Not only did he not want to know, he didn’t want Harvard to know, either. “That’s all I need is for Harvard to know they just flipped for third place,” he said. “The last thing we want is for them to have even more motivation.”

Montanio shouldn’t have worried. Harvard Coach Gary Thran didn’t want to know either. So, with little incentive, Harvard went out and logged a very uninspired 16-7 victory to seal the league championship. Harvard played as if it had known the outcome of the flip. The Saracens won the toss and would have entered the playoffs as the first-place team even if they had lost.

“It wasn’t exactly our best game of the season, that’s for sure,” Thran said.

Chaminade, which would have finished second had they won fell to third with the loss.

Harvard running back Andy Bell gained 120 yards on 21 carries and scored a touchdown. He now has 1,521 yards on the season, 53 yards ahead of Crespi’s Russell White and tops in the Valley. Crespi plays tonight.

Despite having a fine game, Bell wasn’t exactly doing somersaults afterward.

“Maybe if we had played a little better tonight, I’d feel happier about everything,” he said. “ I’m worried about this team.”

The Saracens (9-1 overall, 6-0 in league) will enter the playoffs next week as the No. 2-ranked team in the conference. They are currently ranked sixth in The Times’ Valley poll.

Not only is Harvard now going to the playoffs as a first-place team, it’s also going as a team with a mission. Last season Harvard advanced to the championship game before losing to Leuzinger.

“Our goal this season has been to get back to it and win it this time,” Thran said. “Everyone is looking forward to it.”

But judging by Harvard’s performance against Chaminade, the Saracens’ road back to the championship may be a long one.

Their unimpressive victory came against the most average team in the Valley.

Chaminade entered the game with a 4-4-1 record and had been outscored, 161-158. Not only that, but the Eagles’ offense was averaging 244.7 yards a game, while their defense was giving up 244.0.

Not much went right for Harvard in the early going.

On its first drive, Bell fumbled at the Chaminade four yard line and the Eagles recovered in their end zone.

Quarterback Mike Patterson added another turnover in the second quarter when he fumbled at midfield.

Throw in standout kicker Dominic Sandifer’s missed extra point and hooked 34-field goal attempt and it was enough to make anyone scratch his head and say, “Huh.”

That’s what Thran did.

Fullback Alex Huh proceeded to carry the ball 17 times for 111 yards. Huh’s rushing, coupled with Bell’s performance, was still barely enough.

Chaminade’s Sean Burwell, who gained 96 yards on 19 carries, scored on a one-yard run late in the third quarter to cut the difference to 13-7.

Sandifer, however, connected on a 28-yard field goal with 5:35 left in the game to ice it.

The only scoring in the first half came with 25 seconds left in the second quarter, when Patterson hit receiver Steve McRae with a 15-yard touchdown pass.