SAN FRANCISCO — Mikatoa Scanlan was exhausted, spending the time in between plays huffing air with hands on hips. 

But with Archbishop Riordan needing a stop, the beefy 280-pound defensive tackle jumped in front of and intercepted a screen pass to end Archbishop Mitty’s potential game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter. Riordan’s offense scored the insurance touchdown two plays later to clinch the West Catholic Athletic League victory.

In a game in which Riordan and Mitty spent 48 minutes making play after play after play, trading touchdowns on Riordan’s senior day, it was only fitting that a Crusader senior was the one who clinched the San Francisco school’s 56-42 win. 

“Even though we gave up a lot of points in the first half, we still fought to the end of the game,” Scanlan said. 

Riordan’s program, now winners of three straight, won’t get any time to rest after the exhausting victory. A trip to San Mateo and back-to-back CCS Division I champion Serra looms on Saturday.

“They’ve got a lot of ballers on that team,” Riordan quarterback Mike Mitchell said about the Crusaders’ next opponent. 

Mitty entered Saturday having been on the losing side in two of its previous three games, both losses blowouts to WCAL schools. Meanwhile, Riordan had defeated its last two opponents by double-digits.

But for the first half, the teams could not have been more even.

After a 35-35 tie at halftime, the final two quarters were dominated by defense. Mitty got the ball to start the second half and took a 42-35 lead on a 10-yard pass to receiver Toju Maku.

After forcing Riordan to a punt, the Monarchs had a chance to take control.

“Offensively, we create issues for our opponents,” Mitty coach Danny Sullivan said. “But with how talented they are on the other side, they make you have to be perfect.” 

As the San Jose school drove downfield, the Crusaders came up with a turnover as they forced a fumble on a 15-yard run to keep the deficit at seven.

Riordan tied the game on an 11-play drive that Charlie Johnson finished with a four-yard TD run late in the third quarter. Johnson ran for 246 yards on 26 carries. 

After a Mitty interception, a Riordan fumble and a Mitty punt, Riordan finally broke through.

Running behind a gigantic offensive line featuring studs such as Peter Langi and Tommy Tofi, Johnson crashed into the end zone on a four-yard run to give Riordan a 49-42 lead with 2:21 left.

On the next drive, Scanlan picked off the pass, Johnson got his fourth rushing TD, and Riordan came away with the thrilling victory. 

“Our line works so hard,” Johnson said. “They’re the hardest workers on the team.”

Riordan ending the game with a great defensive play was a plot twist, given the wild first half.

Johnson capped a nine-play drive to start the game with a short-yardage touchdown. Mitty answered right back with a six-play series, all runs, that finished with Elijah Bautista running into the end zone from 12 yards out on a jet sweep around the right side.

“I tell everyone I think that’s one of the best and most underrated coaching staffs in the section and probably Northern California,” Riordan coach Adhir Ravipati said of Sullivan’s program.  

Mike Mitchell, Riordan’s superb sophomore quarterback with offers from Pac-12 schools, threw a 65-yard screen pass to Chris Lawson, another great college football prospect who made multiple defenders miss on his way to the end zone. 

“They should give him his fifth star,” Mitchell said about the four-star receiver who finished the day with 115 yards and three total TDs. 

Mitty responded with two minutes to play in the first quarter when tight end Caden Allard hauled in a 40-yard touchdown on fourth down to tie the game at 14-14. On Riordan’s next play, Allard put his team on top 21-14 when he intercepted a screen pass and returned it 13 yards for the TD.

That was one of the few great defensive plays of the first half, and Riordan quickly responded by embarking on a nine-play TD drive Lawson punctuated with a 20-yard touchdown to tie the game.

Following the only other defensive stand of the first half, Lawson returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown that gave Riordan a 28-21 lead with 9:26 to play in the first half.

Mitty didn’t seem phased, though. The Monarchs continued to rely on A.J Cenizal, who ran for 174 yards, as it marched downfield on a seven-play drive, and wide receiver Billy Hutton cut the deficit to one point when he ran free down the seam and caught a 38-yard touchdown.

Riordan went ahead 35-28 on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Judge Nash, and Mitty scored on a Jonah Kroenung run on a QB sweep from two yards out to tie the game at 35-35 going into halftime. 

Riordan came out of the halftime locker room as a different team, one that hit hard, filled gaps and forced turnovers. 

Its coach believed that the team overcoming a challenge for the first time in weeks should bode well for the program as it faces Serra, a behemoth that has not lost to a WCAL school since 2021. 

“Did we play our cleanest football? No,” Ravipati said. “But I think it was good that our kids saw some adversity and that they had to battle through it.”