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ATHERTON — As seventh-graders, Thomas Hardy and J.P. Frimel watched the 2014 Central Coast Section Open Division title game from the stands at San Jose City College.
Sacred Heart Prep put an exclamation on its perfect season with a 14-0 victory over Bellarmine in the first-ever meeting between the schools.
Saturday afternoon in Atherton, it was part deux.
Hardy recorded two sacks, Frimel caught an 11-yard touchdown on the game’s opening drive and fourth-seeded SHP cruised to a 27-7 triumph against No. 5 Bellarmine in the opening round of the CCS Division II playoffs.
“There’s a lot of history there,” Hardy said. “That game (in 2014), we shocked the world when we beat Bellarmine. They kind of had that sour taste in their mouth coming back for us, and we were just hungry for more.”
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In his third year at the helm, SHP coach Mark Grieb joined the staff as an assistant the following season in 2015.
In preparation for this game, the brief history between these two programs didn’t elude his attention.
“It came up,” Grieb said. “We talked a little bit during our team dinner. I know it was on guys’ minds, but the other thing that came up is this is a new group, a new situation. Obviously that game had a lot more at stake being a championship game. Personally, I didn’t focus on it that much at all.
“I just looked at it like, ‘Hey, this is our first playoff opponent.’ And our goal is to play one more week, be together one more week. And we accomplished it.”
The Gators (8-3) found the end zone on a trio of methodical drives that required 15, 12 and 17 plays.
Grieb, though, left more impressed with the effort from the defense, which fell 22.7 seconds shy of a shutout after a 30-yard touchdown pass from Bellarmine sophomore Wade Smith to junior Nicho Domine.
“We felt like coming into the game that we were going to be able to move the ball and have some success on offense,” he said. “But the defense was really impressive. They just rose to the occasion.”
The Bells (3-8) were sacked four times and intercepted twice by SHP’s Everett Banks and Cav Williams.
“Everyone just doing their job, hitting their lanes, getting their guy,” Hardy said. “We were not getting blown back at all, we were keeping our ground and getting all that pressure on the quarterback.”
The first turnover eventually turned into a 1-yard TD run by Tevita Moimoi — his 16th of the year. The 6-foot, 220-pound running back paved the way 20 carries for 81 yards, plus two catches for 38 yards.
Whenever the Gators needed a clutch play, it was junior quarterback Teddy Purcell to the rescue as he continually extended each scoring drive.
“Teddy is a great quarterback and I’ve said from very early on in the season and I’ll continue to echo it,” Grieb said of Purcell, who finished 10-of-15 for 141 yards. “He played big today.”
SHP kicker Ronan Donnelly booted a 42-yard field goal as time expired to end the first half, with the Gators up 17-0 at intermission.
After forcing a three-and-out to open the second half, SHP embarked on a 17-play, 88-yard drive that ate up over 10 minutes off the clock and for all intent and purpose put the game out of reach on a 5-yard fly sweep by Wilson Weisel with 15.5 seconds left in the third quarter.
Two weeks earlier, the Gators lost 21-14 at Burlingame. It was a blip on the radar that appears to have reinvigorated SHP, which bounced back with a 49-14 rout of Valparaiso neighbor and rival Menlo School before setting its sights on Bellarmine.
“I think our mentality has been throughout the season you get better, but through the playoffs you’ve got to step it up even more,” Frimel said. “After the Burlingame loss, we started treating the Valpo week like it was the beginning of playoffs. We needed to get better each and every day and work twice as hard.”
Its next text is No. 1 Los Gatos (10-1) on the road in next week’s semifinals.
“I watched their game last night, so I have an idea what we’re in for,” Grieb said.
