SAN JOSE — Apparently, there isn’t anything Rashaan Fontenette cannot do on a football field.
With a trip to the Central Coast Section Open Division II championship game on the line, the Oak Grove standout caught three touchdown passes, rushed for two touchdowns and had a big sack, leading the second-seeded Eagles to a 42-23 victory over Valley Christian on Friday night.
Oak Grove (10-2) advances to play top seed St. Francis in the final next Saturday at 7 p.m. at San Jose City College, a matchup between two of the section’s storied programs.
“Fontenette is a special player,” Oak Grove coach Jay Braun said. “I said that Day 1. We’re just fortunate that he is here at Oak Grove, and that he has turned out to be the young man that he is. I am proud of his character more than anything. He is very humble, always thanks his opponents, thanks his lineman.”
Valley Christian, the third seed, beat Oak Grove 24-0 in September and led the Eagles by 10 points in the first half Friday.
But Fontenette and Co. would not be denied.
Fontenette caught a touchdown pass just before halftime to cut Valley Christian’s lead to three and then caught another touchdown pass from Tyler McGovern on the first series of the third quarter to give Oak Grove the lead.
“We were down but we weren’t out,” said Fontenette, who finished with 132 yards rushing. “We knew we were going to comeback.”
After falling behind in the third quarter, Valley Christian caught a break when a punt hit an Oak Grove player near midfield, keeping the ball in the Warriors’ possession.
Javon Sturns turned the gift into a 23-21 lead with an 8-yard run.
But the advantage was brief. Jacob Harvey returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, and Oak Grove did not look back.
Now the Eagles get another crack at St. Francis, which beat Oak Grove 28-13 to open the season.
“We’ve reached our goal, which is we’ve been wanting to play St. Francis,” Braun said. “We’re going to get that next week. We’re excited.”
Valley Christian struck first when Isaiah Rodriguez scooped up a fumble and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown.
But Oak Grove answered on its next series with a heavy dose of Enrique Rivera. With Fontenette on the sideline getting taped, Rivera had runs of 12 and 28 yards and a 17-yard reception that moved Oak Grove to the Valley Christian 13.
A penalty eventually moved the ball back to the 16. But that only set the stage for McGovern to scramble right and hit Fontenette over the middle. The Oak Grove standout then spun to avoid a defender and dashed into the end zone to tie the score 7-7.
Valley Christian reclaimed the lead, 14-7, on Morian Walker Jr.’s 18-yard run and widened it to 17-7 when Bailey Schroeder kicked a 36-yard field goal with 1:25 left in the half.
But Oak Grove seized the momentum before the teams went to the locker rooms, driving 58 yards to pull to within 17-14.
McGovern’s 28-yard pass to Drue Hemingway gave the Eagles a first down at the Valley Christian 25. Moments later, McGovern threw a fastball to Fontenette from 6 yards out for the touchdown.
Valley Christian 7 “‚10 “‚6 “‚0–23
Oak Grove 7 “‚7 “‚14 “‚14–42
VC — Rodriguez 21 fumble return (Schroeder kick)
OG — Fontenette 16 pass from McGovern (Dominguez kick)
VC — Walker Jr. 18 run (Schroeder kick)
VC — Schroeder 36 FG
OG — Fontenette 6 pass from McGovern (Dominguez kick)
OG — Fontenette 15 pass from McGovern (Dominguez kick)
VC — Sturns 8 run (kick failed)
OG — Harvey 95 kickoff return (Dominguez kick)
OG — Fontenette 18 run (Dominguez kick)
OG — Fontenette 59 run (Dominguez kick)
Records — Valley Christian 8-4; Oak Grove 10-2.
ST. FRANCIS 41, WILCOX 21
Cyrus Habibi-Likio rushed for 250 yards and four touchdowns in 17 carries to lead St. Francis into the CCS Open Division II final. Kamalii Akina connected on a 54 yard touchdown pass to Darius Thomas, and Patrick Calcagno recovered two fumbles for St. Francis.
Wilcox 7 0 “‚ 7 “‚7–21
St. Francis 13 “‚0 “‚21 “‚7–41
W — Saulus 9 run (Revoredo kick)
SF — Habibi-Likio 76 run (Ogren kick)
SF — Habibi-Likio 7 run (kick failed)
SF — Habibi-Likio 10 run (Ogren kick)
SF — Thomas 54 pass from Akina (Ogren kick)
W — Hern 41 pass from Andrade (Revoredo kick)
SF — Habibi-Likio 63 run (Ogren kick)
SF — Garald 1 run (Ogren kick)
W — Finefeuiaki 9 pass from Andrade (Revoredo kick)
Records — Wilcox 9-3; St. Francis 11-1.
