SAN JOSE – One Friday night each year, Archbishop Mitty High is allowed to bring temporary lights to its campus football stadium and snarl traffic along Mitty Way.
The excitement is palpable, the atmosphere electric, and Father Jack Russi Field is packed deep.
For a Mitty team coming off a 40-point loss to Valley Christian, the buzz of a true home game was exactly what the Monarchs needed in a showdown with West Catholic Athletic League rival St. Francis.
Despite being undersized in comparison to the Lancers, Mitty conceded nothing, but that only took the Monarchs so far. Enthusiasm and intensity wasn’t enough to contain Kingston Keanaaina.
The St. Francis senior rushed for 319 yards on 29 carries, and scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion in the Lancers’ 30-27 come-from-behind victory.
“He’s a quiet, driven kid,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “But there’s a lot going on in there that you don’t see.”
Keanaaina looked like he could do whatever he wanted. He scored one touchdown on a 75-yard run. But it wasn’t just the yards, it was his ability to find a gap, burst through it, and leave broken tackles in his wake that was so impressive.
“He’s the best running back I’ve seen in all my years of coaching in this area,” Mitty coach Danny Sullivan said.
Having a weapon like Keanaaina gave St. Francis some comfort even after Mitty (3-2 overall, 0-2 WCAL) took a 20-15 third-quarter lead on Jonah Kroenung’s 7-yard touchdown pass down the middle to tight end Owen Harrington.
However, a turnover soon switched the momentum and Keanaaina and the Lancers (4-1, 2-0) took full advantage.
With 3:42 left in the third quarter, St. Francis nose tackle Judah Reed leveled Mitty’s Lazaro Faraj-Washington with a vicious hit, knocking the ball loose. Teammate Jayden Lewis recovered at the Monarchs’ 28.
After two handoffs to Keanaaina, quarterback Aaron Knapp dashed left on a naked bootleg to score from 10 yards and Keanaaina’s conversion game put the Lancers in front for good, at 23-20. A 9-yard quick out from Knapp to Perrion Williams extended it to 30-20 after a Mitty punt.
Mitty (3-2, 0-2) was able to draw closer on a drive that featured the superb decision making of Kroenung on the option. The Monarchs’ QB ran for 94 yards on 16 carries and completed 11 of 20 passes for 111 yards. Faraj-Washington took a lot hits from defenders confused by the trickery, but had 122 yards rushing of his own on 17 carries and scored his sixth and seventh touchdowns of the season.
St. Francis had only to kill the final 5:39 to earn the victory and did exactly that, with Keanaaina carrying on five consecutive plays among his 10 fourth-quarter carries, to enable the Lancers to run out the clock.
“You don’t want to hand it to him every play,” Calcagno said. “But you could, right?”
With 912 yards rushing already this season, Keanaaina said he’s still learning.
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“The past two weeks, my coaches told me I need to slow down by being more patient,” Keanaaina said. “I’ve been watching a lot of (former Pittsburgh Steelers’ star) Le’Veon Bell. He was a patient running back.”
Patience is one thing, but brute strength is another. Keanaaina said he believes he can break any tackle. And he’s usually right.
“That’s the mindset you have to have as a running back, to be able to know that you’re one play away, one move away, from putting your team up,” he said. “I felt like I was wearing them down, but I feel like I was wearing myself down as well. It was just a long game.”
The Mitty fans got the performance they wanted, and left feeling entertained, if not drained, though Sullivan was not willing to claim a moral victory.
“The reason we play is to win the game,” Sullivan said. “We know we’re pretty good, even though we did lose. Now, the question is how do we pick ourselves up and get ready for next week?”