Serra football coach says it’s a ‘humbling honor’ being chosen for state’s top title game
When Patrick Walsh took over the Serra High football program 21 years ago, it wasn’t the powerhouse that it is today. Sure, Tom Brady played for the Padres in the 1990s. But the team wasn’t contending for league and upper-level section championships in those days.
But Walsh, a De La Salle product who knows a thing or two or three about winning and motivating, gradually molded the San Mateo school’s football team into his style. The coach filled it with enthusiasm and energy and the brotherhood and spirituality that he mentions whenever he can.
Sunday, Walsh’s program reached a new height when the California Interscholastic Federation chose Serra — not Walsh’s alma mater, De La Salle — to represent Northern California in the Open Division state championship game. The Padres will face Mater Dei-Santa Ana on Dec. 11 at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.
Serra won the Central Coast Section Division I title Friday, prevailing in a rematch against St. Francis, 16-12, after St. Francis beat Serra 44-21 on Nov. 6.
For Walsh, a driving force in the “Let Them Play” movement last winter that led to a spring season for athletes across the state, the invitation to the state’s top game both humbled and honored him.
“I see this as almost a 20-year journey if you look at it that way,” Walsh said. “But more on a micro-level, it’s a two-year journey in the sense that it’s unbelievable where I was and where we were as a program in the fall of 2020 to this is just an incredible story, to be honest with you.
“When I was going through my panic attacks and pain and misery and trying to figure out what to do with my life, really, in November, December of ’20, I was as worried for the fall of ’21 as I was for getting anything in at all for the kids in ’20 or ’21.
“I knew if that if we got something that we could potentially have some form of normalcy, as a high school football season can be, in the fall of 2021. To be playing in arguably the highest level of high school football in the country is a real humbling honor for all of us here at Serra.”
Serra’s invitation came at the expense of De La Salle, which won the North Coast Section Open Division title and has a 10-2 record.
Brian Seymour, the CIF’s associate executive director, said Serra was selected because it has a win over St. Francis and De La Salle has a loss to St. Francis.
De La Salle will play host to Folsom in the Division I-AA regional game Friday night, with the winner facing Cathedral Catholic of San Diego or Lutheran of Orange for the 1-AA state title on Dec. 10 at Saddleback College. De La Salle routed Folsom 31-10 on Oct. 8, and Cathedral Catholic 49-21 on Sept. 17.
“It’s nice to have a game this week and not have another bye,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “That’s a positive. The ability to be playing at this time of year is always a good thing. In that regard, it’s a blessing.”
Serra will have two weeks to prepare for Mater Dei, which as always has dozens of top college recruits. The Monarchs plowed through a schedule that included Servite (twice), St. John Bosco and Centennial-Corona.
Walsh has guided Serra to three previous state championship games, winning the 2-AA title over Cajon in 2017 and losing to Corona del Mar for the 1-A championship in 2019 and Sierra Canyon in the 2-A final in 2016.
“I’ve always looked at the state championship system as, if you’re in it, gravy to an already great season,” Walsh said. “It just so happens that there is a lot of gravy on this one.”
Walsh declined to comment about a violent hazing incident within the Mater Dei program that became public last week when the Orange County Register broke the story.
“It’s not my or anyone at Serra’s vantage point to comment on it at all,” Walsh said. “It will be unfair to all parties involved.”
The seriousness of the issue didn’t affect the team Friday as Mater Dei beat Servite to win the Southern Section Division I title, the team’s 11th victory without a loss this season.
Mater Dei has scored 504 points this season and allowed 145.
Walsh doesn’t have to be reminded that his team will be a decisive underdog. It’s a role he couldn’t remember playing.
“In terms of being in a game where the other team clearly has more talent, I would say no, probably never,” Walsh said. “I think anyone that played Mater Dei this year could say the something. What do they have, 30, 40 Division I players on their roster? The only good news is they can only play 11 of them at a time. Can’t play all 40 of them.
“But as I stand here today, 30 minutes after getting the announcement,” Walsh added, “I have an overwhelming sense of humility that the Serra Padres are playing in the biggest game in arguably the nation, and I think is something that we should all be proud of.”
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