A Week in Sports: March 22-27

Football

Keirr Stewart eludes several Dragon defenders. (Image via Dennis Mockel)

Bishop O'Dowd (1-1) raced out to a 20-0 first quarter lead against Encinal (0-2) and didn't letup until halftime. The Dragons defeated the Jets 41-7 last Friday, scoring all of their points before halftime. Encinal senior Keirr Stewart went over 100 yards receiving and added a fourth quarter touchdown catch. O'Dowd quarterback ​Jesse Madden, grandson of John Madden ​accounted for five total touchdowns.

Sophomore Nah'shon Vick-Geeston hauled in a huge 25-yard catch in the fourth quarter. "It felt pretty good," said Vick-Geeston of his first varsity catch. A few plays later, junior quarterback Garett Deatherage found Stewart in the endzone.

"It meant a lot to put something up on the board last night," said Deatherage. "It just showed us that we can't give up."

The Jets roster is riddled with freshmen and sophomores, many getting their first taste of varsity football. Facing a shortened season with a depleted roster, standout Keirr Stewart knows one of his many roles this year is to train up Encinal's younger players

"I'm the anchor of the team," said Stewart. "If I quit, they quit. I've been working with the young guns for quite some time now, so they understand how I get down."

Encinal (0-2) travels to Hayward (0-1) on April 2.

Baseball

Junior Jacob Baca moves in from 3rd base. (Image via Bobby Locklear)

The Jets went 1-2 this week, splitting a series between Mt. Eden and falling to Castro Valley 14-7. A 17-13 win against Mt. Eden saw the Encinal come back from an 8 run 1st inning deficit. Junior David Costa went 3-for-5 with a HR and 3 RBIs in his first game back from injury.

"Coach said get going," said Costa. "And we did exactly that."

The Jets comeback was their largest of the season.

"Our team was super resilient," said coach Trevor Sampson. "We found a way to grind out a huge team victory."

Encinal (3-3) faces Hayward (1-3) on March 31.

Softball

Junior Bella Morales winds up against San Lorenzo. (Image credit via Rafael Arredondo)

The Lady Jets went 1-1 this week, losing 8-5 to Piedmont before bouncing back to beat San Lorenzo 16-1 on Friday. Junior Madeline Leung went 2-for-2 with 5 RBIs and junior Bella Morales racked up 5 strikeouts in only 3 innings pitched.

"Not a bad day for everyone," said junior Stella Cashin. "We did what we were supposed to do."

Encinal (2-2) visits Mt. Eden on March 31.

Track and Field

Senior Cole Cleminshaw competes in the 300 meter hurdles. (Image via C.Penalver)

Encinal participated in a quad-meet against Tennyson, Mt. Eden, and Hayward on March 24.

Senior Cole Cleminshaw and Sophomore Aiden Letson finished 1st and 3rd in the 300 meter hurdles. Led by the Odour brothers, the men's 4x400 relay teams finished 1st and 2nd. Junior Asia Lyons-Mason finished 3rd in both the 100 meters and 200 meters.

The Jets next meet is on April 7.

Men's Golf

Freshman Josh Howard taps in a putt at Corica Golf Course (Image via Enoch De Leon)

The Jets lost their first home match of the season to Castro Valley 202-157.

Senior David Pearson was Encinal's top performer, shooting 35 on the 9-hole course)

Encinal (0-2) plays at home again on April 6.

Cross Country

Encinal runners take off at the Hayward race. (Image via C.Penalver)

The Jets faced Piedmont, Alameda and Mt. Eden at a meet in Hayward on March 27.

On the men's side, Ben Wilson-Ripsom, Erwin Radnaasuren, and Diego Cerna finished 5th, 9th and 10th respectively out of a field of 45 runners. On the women's side, Isabela Macias-Fraser and Tessa Vasquez finished 5th and 6th respectively out of a field of 30 runners.

Cross country has its last meet of the season om April 10.