Saint Mary's Wins Regional Football Title

Saint Mary's College High posted a decisive 49-21 victory over Fortuna High Saturday to clinch the championship in their division of the large North Coast Section (NCS).

The fifth-seed Panthers from Saint Mary's rebounded after trailing the second-seed Huskies 14-7 in a powerful offensive turnaround led by seniors Ian Bonde, Liam Godfrey and Lorenzo Logwood, according to a report on the game carried by the San Jose Mercury News website.

The Panthers under coach Keith Minor went into the 1 p.m. championship game at Humboldt State University with a 9-4 record versus Fortuna's 10-2 record. The game had been scheduled for a week earlier but was postponed due to weather and bad road conditions.

It was Saint Mary's first NCS football title, the Mercury News article said. The NCS is one of 10 regions for high school athletics in California, and schools within each region compete in separate divisions arranged according to school size.

Saint Mary's, located on the Albany-Berkeley border, competes in Division IV, one of six NCS football divisions.

The post-season playoffs for the Division IV NCS title began with 13 of this year's winning high school teams. The Panthers trounced Ft. Bragg 48-13 in the first round, overpowered St. Helena 24-7 in the quarterfinals and defeated tough opponents from San Marin 35-29 in the semi-finals. 

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