Walnut Creek, Calif.- What started out as a back and forth shootout ended in a second half blowout for Newman in a 54-28 road win.  The Cardinals battled the rain and the Knights in the NCS Semi-Finals and its was the dominance of the offensive line that led the way.

Los Lomas took the opening kick off and had a play ready and it worked.  A deep out and up that caught the Newman defense off guard.  The result was an 86 yard TD and a quick 7-0 lead .

The Cardinals came right back with a long long drive, mixing in pass and run.  A few tough runs by Zachary Homan, as the Knight stacked the box and a big third down pass to Santiago Adan for 20 yards.  The drive was capped with QB Wyatt Knechtle hitting Jonah Bertoli at the 5, with Bertoli shaking the defender and stepping into the corner of the end zone.  The PAT was not good and it 7-6 Los Lomas still in the first quarter.      
 

The Knights drove the length of the field, mostly on the ground on their next possession and made ita 14-6 score.  Newman missing a few key starters on defense and it showed.

Then the Newman offensive line began to dominate and wear down the Knight's front four.  Give Homan some room and he knows what to do.  Zack broke off some long runs and scored   
from 35 yards out to make it 14-12.  

Then the the knight's had to punt going 3 and out and the Pancake Platoon went back to work.  This time Jamari Gentry found the goal line, taking a toss and rocketing around the corner for 29 yards and the first Newman lead of the night at 19-14.  Back came the Knights working the ground and the air, a 30 yard pass setting up a Dylan Morse 4 yard scoring strike to make it 21-19.

As the half was winding down, the Cardinals offensive line continued to dominate.  More long runs and another touchdown burst by Homan through a huge hole put Newman back on top.  After the TD Homan took a pitch out on a 2-pt PAT attempt and threw to a wide open Jonah Bertoli for a 27-21 lead. Looked like that is how the half would end but Newman forced a quick punt, used a timeout and got the ball back with just under a minute to go.    No Problem! The Cardinals marched down the field and scored again as the clock read :06.  Homan doing the honors giving CN tons of momentum heading to the intermission.

The halftime rushing totals for Homan were staggering - 246 yards and 3 TDs.  The game was still fairly close but like last week's game vs American Canyon that would change in the second half.  

On their second possession in the 3rd, Newman QB Jayson Colter handed off to Homan for back to back 36 yard runs. The offensive line was blowing up the Los Lomas D-Line.  Gentry scored again for his second TD of the night and the rout was on.  

The defense began to smother Los Lomas and the Knights could not stop the Newman ground attack.  Jasper Kemp had a nice interception to stall one drive, 
Matthew Hilden came up with a huge 4th down stop  to end another. 

Homan ripped off a 25 yard TD Run for his 4th of the evening, then subs began to come in and they kept the pressure on.    

Ma' tai Fa' agata made a couple of long runs including a touchdown, Kyle Stoesser had a sack on defense as the Cardinals rolled on to a 26 point victory. Newman is now 11-1 on the year.

"I'm very proud of our defense with several key players injured and we had guys playing multiple positions, some on defense for the first time this season." Exclaimed Head Coach Richard Sanchez.   "Jasper Kemp made a key play with a pick-off and our younger players stepped up getting some valuable playoff experience." 

Zack Homan broke his own school rushing record with 27 carries and 381 yards!  As a team Newman rushed for an astounding 571 yards.  The Pancake Platoon is on a roll. 

Now the stage is set is set for an NCS re-match with Marin Catholic, (11-1), this time in Division 3 as both teams moved up a level.  San Rafael HS will host again this year Saturday night at 7 PM.  

"Playing Marin Catholic for the NCS Championship again is an honor, They have a tremendous program and we will need to play our best to come out on top." Coach Sanchez continued. "They have set the standard in the North Bay and we will work hard and be ready for a great battle."