SAN MATEO — Patrick Walsh always has a plan, a theme, a way to make things fun and interesting for his Serra football team.
The Padres had no game to prepare for this past week, their work in the Central Coast Section playoffs finished when they routed Wilcox for the Open Division championship two weekends ago.
The running-clock rout, Serra’s eighth such blowout during a 12-0 season, clinched the San Mateo powerhouse’s third consecutive trip to the state’s Open Division championship game. The matchup became official on Sunday when the California Interscholastic Federation matched the Padres against Southern California heavyweight Mater Dei.
The game will be played on Dec. 9 at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.
Serra is 0-2 in its previous Open championship game appearances, both defeats by lopsided margins, to Mater Dei two years ago and St. John Bosco last season.
After last year’s game, Walsh made headlines when he was asked on the field whether he wanted to bring his team to the Open title game again. He ultimately concluded, “At this point doing this two years in a row now it’s almost like we have no chance.”
Last week, the Bay Area News Group caught up with the longtime coach. Walsh knew what his dominant team, maybe the most dominant team in CCS history, would face to finish the season. But he isn’t looking at the picture through the emotional lens that greeted him moments after Bosco routed his undefeated 2022 team, 45-0.
“What I’ve learned is to spend 100 percent of the time on things that I/we can control,” Walsh said. “Time spent on things out of our control is a total waste of time and adds anxiety and worry and things like that. Since we are in this position, we are utilizing this time efficiently and enjoying it. That’s the goal. We’ve earned three more weeks together, which is exceptional.”
The CCS’s new playoff format for its top division, modeled after the neighboring North Coast Section’s, meant top-ranked Serra needed to win only two games to capture its fourth consecutive section crown. The Padres routed Salinas 47-7 on Nov. 11 and Wilcox 63-27 on Nov. 17.
With no game last week, Walsh got creative.
He gave his starters time off from football activities, and they installed the program’s base offense and defense for players returning next season and the 20-plus kids promoted from the junior varsity and freshmen teams.
“We’re using this time to improve 2024,” Walsh said. “Obviously, the 2023 team is senior-heavy.”
The coach also had some fun, splitting his 12-player captains’ council into two groups and having them select teams for the program’s first Turkey Bowl scrimmage on Thanksgiving morning.
“We had what we call a ‘Bottom of the Fire’ draft,'” Walsh said.
Bottom of the Fire is the term the coach uses to describe players who are on the scout team and don’t start.
“That’s where we believe the true heat and strength of a team comes from,” Walsh added. “Not necessarily the starters, but the entire breadth of the roster. The kids are the head coaches of the teams. They’re going to call the plays. They’re responsible for installing our offense and defense this week. We’re going to have headsets and then we’re going to have a prayer service and feast after the scrimmage.
“The enthusiasm and the bonds that are being created beyond what we’ve already done have just been absolutely spectacular. It’s been the best week of the year. I pulled all the senior starters aside and I said, ‘When guys like James Outman and Creighton Felise and Nio Mafi and Tom Brady text us, people care about Serra football.’
“My message to them was when you are those guys, you’re going to care about Serra football, so you have an opportunity now as arguably one of the best teams to ever play at this school, you have an opportunity to inject what you know into the next generation of Serra, which is 2024 and beyond.”
Asked later how the Turkey Bowl went, Walsh wrote, “The game was fantastic.”
On Friday, Walsh held a watch party at his home, streaming high school games across the state, including Mater Dei’s 35-7 rout of Bosco in the Southern Section Division I championship game.
Now, Serra will set its sights on another swing at one of Southern California’s superpowers, an opponent once again loaded with top college prospects and transfers.
The Padres are no doubt the Kings of Northern California, having opened this season as they did last year, with victories over Folsom and De La Salle.
Heavily favored in every game since playing De La Salle, Serra will be a heavy underdog again when it faces Mater Dei.
Does Serra feel any different this time, given that many of its players have experienced two previous state Open games?
“That makes a huge difference,” Walsh said. “What I am excited about is the opportunity to go back with these guys because they want to be there. This is something that they have been talking about. I’ve had to stop them talking about it, to be honest. They talked about state championship and getting another crack at Mater Dei and Bosco again like in June or September.
“They have set this path for themselves and I’ve always said, for this year I am going to follow this team. The coaching staff is going to follow this team because of the experience and everything. This is where they want to go. This is where they want to be and that’s where we are.”