By Tony Ciniglio Staff Writer
The CIF State Bowl frenzy. The buildup. The big-game atmosphere at Home Depot Center.
The Serra football team has been here before, but never in a way quite like this.
Serra is making its third CIF State Bowl appearance in four seasons but has had to shake off two regular-season losses, overcome an injury to its top offensive playmaker and fight through an extended schedule that included last weekend's inaugural Southern California Regional finals.
But here Serra is once again, still standing in the last week of a long and fruitful season with an opportunity most schools can only day-dream about.
"This is Week 16 of our NFL season," Serra coach Scott Altenberg said, laughing. "It's been ridiculous, man. It's like we're slugging through the NFC North.
"But it's been fun. We're having a blast. Especially having a couple of losses early, we're really enjoying this right now. It's crazy, this little run we're having."
Serra (13-2) will play Oakdale (14-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center in the CIF State Division II Bowl.
Serra won the 2009 Division III bowl in a thrilling 24-20 decision over Marin Catholic, but faltered in a rainy 2010 Division II bowl that resulted in a 48-20 loss to Folsom.
Serra beat Huntington Beach Edison 28-10 last week to punch its return ticket to Home Depot Center.
"This will be our third time through it, and what I learned is that the game after the CIF final
is a hard game," Altenberg said. "We did not play well against Marin Catholic. And we definitely did not play well against Folsom.
"I think the Edison game was the first time we played well the week after winning CIF. It's a tough deal."
Those past Serra bowl teams were led by the likes of Robert Woods, Marqise Lee and George Farmer and featured Cavaliers teams that had gone unbeaten in the regular season and through the playoffs.
This is a new generation of Cavaliers, who have had to overcome their share of regular-season adversity to uphold the recent legacy.
"We've had a great run," Altenberg said. "First with Robert, Marqise and George. And now to be without those guys and still doing it, just amazing.
"And those teams hadn't had to take a loss and continue on. They were unbeaten until the state game. This team has been resilient. They have had to come back. That's what is special about this team."
Serra has rattled off nine consecutive victories since consecutive losses to Narbonne and Chaminade.
Altenberg said the team's resiliency has been the standout factor.
"Our team has been like that all year," Altenberg said. "We lost those two games, and both we felt like we could've won. And we could've easily phoned it in from there, but we didn't. We played real hard.
"Those other teams did not have have to come back from a heartbreaking loss. This is why this year's team is one of my favorites. Coming back is not easy. You just don't know how a team will respond."
The past three weeks have felt like a championship game each time out.
Serra ended Lompoc's 32-game winning streak in the CIF Southern Section Western Division semifinals, avenged its regular-season loss to Chaminade in the Western final and then overcame a talented and disciplined Huntington Beach Edison in the CIF State Regional Division II bowl last week.
"Look at the games we've played in a row and it's been great defenses every time out. Bam, bam, bam," Altenberg said. "Edison's line was huge and their defense was so good.
"But our kids like playing the tough teams we've played. We've played six or seven really tough teams and we're still standing, which is amazing. Look at what Long Beach Poly's doing right now. If Narbonne had won, we would've played 60 percent of the bowl schedule. It's crazy."
Serra has been doing it with an unyielding defense and a timely offense.
Altenberg rotates 17 players who log significant minutes on defense, and they are all elite-level players, hard-hitting and swarming to the ball who can change the flow of a game by forcing a turnover or coming up with a big stop.
The Serra tandem of Malik Roberson and Marques Rodgers held down the fort when star Anterio Bateman went down with what was thought to be a season-ending injury.
Bateman, however, made a triumphant return last week in a limited role. He caught a 12-yard screen pass to open the game and finished with two catches for 14 yards and one carry for 2 yards.
"He was probably in there for 10-15 plays, and we had him open for a touchdown on one play but the line did not protect there," Altenberg said. "It's cool he gets a chance. It's a neat kind of thing because he thought his season was over."
The journey has seemed rather improbable for Serra. Altenberg admitted he thought playing in the CIF State Bowl was a lofty goal at the beginning of the season.
"I thought we had the talent for it, but with our schedule, I did not think it was feasible," Altenberg said about this year's preseason bowl outlook. "We're so young in spots, and I thought we would be taking in water early and struggling a bit.
"I was just hoping we'd be able to come back for the CIF title."
Altenberg said Serra is establishing such a reputation that national powerhouse Concord De La Salle called, trying to set up a nonleague game.
"It was like, `Oh we have arrived.' It was like, `Thank you. We're honored.' But the answer is `No'," Altenberg said, with an extra emphasis on the no.
The CIF State Bowl frenzy. The buildup. The big-game atmosphere at Home Depot Center.
The Serra football team has been here before, but never in a way quite like this.
Serra is making its third CIF State Bowl appearance in four seasons but has had to shake off two regular-season losses, overcome an injury to its top offensive playmaker and fight through an extended schedule that included last weekend's inaugural Southern California Regional finals.
But here Serra is once again, still standing in the last week of a long and fruitful season with an opportunity most schools can only day-dream about.
"This is Week 16 of our NFL season," Serra coach Scott Altenberg said, laughing. "It's been ridiculous, man. It's like we're slugging through the NFC North.
"But it's been fun. We're having a blast. Especially having a couple of losses early, we're really enjoying this right now. It's crazy, this little run we're having."
Serra (13-2) will play Oakdale (14-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center in the CIF State Division II Bowl.
Serra won the 2009 Division III bowl in a thrilling 24-20 decision over Marin Catholic, but faltered in a rainy 2010 Division II bowl that resulted in a 48-20 loss to Folsom.
Serra beat Huntington Beach Edison 28-10 last week to punch its return ticket to Home Depot Center.
"This will be our third time through it, and what I learned is that the game after the CIF final
is a hard game," Altenberg said. "We did not play well against Marin Catholic. And we definitely did not play well against Folsom.
"I think the Edison game was the first time we played well the week after winning CIF. It's a tough deal."
Those past Serra bowl teams were led by the likes of Robert Woods, Marqise Lee and George Farmer and featured Cavaliers teams that had gone unbeaten in the regular season and through the playoffs.
This is a new generation of Cavaliers, who have had to overcome their share of regular-season adversity to uphold the recent legacy.
"We've had a great run," Altenberg said. "First with Robert, Marqise and George. And now to be without those guys and still doing it, just amazing.
"And those teams hadn't had to take a loss and continue on. They were unbeaten until the state game. This team has been resilient. They have had to come back. That's what is special about this team."
Serra has rattled off nine consecutive victories since consecutive losses to Narbonne and Chaminade.
Altenberg said the team's resiliency has been the standout factor.
"Our team has been like that all year," Altenberg said. "We lost those two games, and both we felt like we could've won. And we could've easily phoned it in from there, but we didn't. We played real hard.
"Those other teams did not have have to come back from a heartbreaking loss. This is why this year's team is one of my favorites. Coming back is not easy. You just don't know how a team will respond."
The past three weeks have felt like a championship game each time out.
Serra ended Lompoc's 32-game winning streak in the CIF Southern Section Western Division semifinals, avenged its regular-season loss to Chaminade in the Western final and then overcame a talented and disciplined Huntington Beach Edison in the CIF State Regional Division II bowl last week.
"Look at the games we've played in a row and it's been great defenses every time out. Bam, bam, bam," Altenberg said. "Edison's line was huge and their defense was so good.
"But our kids like playing the tough teams we've played. We've played six or seven really tough teams and we're still standing, which is amazing. Look at what Long Beach Poly's doing right now. If Narbonne had won, we would've played 60 percent of the bowl schedule. It's crazy."
Serra has been doing it with an unyielding defense and a timely offense.
Altenberg rotates 17 players who log significant minutes on defense, and they are all elite-level players, hard-hitting and swarming to the ball who can change the flow of a game by forcing a turnover or coming up with a big stop.
The Serra tandem of Malik Roberson and Marques Rodgers held down the fort when star Anterio Bateman went down with what was thought to be a season-ending injury.
Bateman, however, made a triumphant return last week in a limited role. He caught a 12-yard screen pass to open the game and finished with two catches for 14 yards and one carry for 2 yards.
"He was probably in there for 10-15 plays, and we had him open for a touchdown on one play but the line did not protect there," Altenberg said. "It's cool he gets a chance. It's a neat kind of thing because he thought his season was over."
The journey has seemed rather improbable for Serra. Altenberg admitted he thought playing in the CIF State Bowl was a lofty goal at the beginning of the season.
"I thought we had the talent for it, but with our schedule, I did not think it was feasible," Altenberg said about this year's preseason bowl outlook. "We're so young in spots, and I thought we would be taking in water early and struggling a bit.
"I was just hoping we'd be able to come back for the CIF title."
Altenberg said Serra is establishing such a reputation that national powerhouse Concord De La Salle called, trying to set up a nonleague game.
"It was like, `Oh we have arrived.' It was like, `Thank you. We're honored.' But the answer is `No'," Altenberg said, with an extra emphasis on the no.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/preps/ci_22166594/high-school-football-serra-revels-playoff-run
Source: The Daily Breeze - Tony Ciniglio