High School

Thanksgiving Game at Kezar Stadium; Balboa survives 35 penalties, upstart Washington to win Turkey Day Classic

California touchdown leader Mekai Smith adds six more touchdown in game that features 15 touchdowns, 45 penalties, eight turnovers in a 210-minute championship game

Mitch Stephens

Mekai Smith off to the races for one of his six touchdowns, leading Balboa to a 54-42 San Francisco Section championship win over Washington at legendary Kezar Stadium on Thanksgiving
Mekai Smith off to the races for one of his six touchdowns, leading Balboa to a 54-42 San Francisco Section championship win over Washington at legendary Kezar Stadium on Thanksgiving / Photo by Ernie Abrea

SAN FRANCISCO — Flag football has been so well received by the San Francisco Section that they evidently decided to play two championship flag games Thursday at Kezar Stadium. 

One was official — in the early morning with Lowell scoring all its points after halftime in a resounding 20-0 win over Galileo — and the second occurred with Balboa’s wild 54-42 triumph over upstart Washington in the traditional tackle game. 

Yes, the 101st SFS tackle championship took a resounding 3 hours and 30 minutes due largely to 45 penalties — 35 by the winning team as Balboa, behind six touchdowns from state-leader Mekai Smith, won its second straight championship and 12th overall in flag-fest fashion. 

While some of the players’ legs were cramping up from the end-to-end action, some of the ref's shoulders and forearms surely got a workout with all the flag tossing. 

“It was a long game,” Smith said. “But we got it done.” 

Smith, a rugged and fleet 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior, scored on runs of 31, 23, 28, 3 and 16 yards and added his best work on a 77-yard kickoff return for touchdown, breaking a half-dozen tackles along the way. He also added three two-point conversions. 

Smith finished with 19 carries for 294 yards. Dynamic teammate sharing an undynamic last name — Joseph Smith (no relation) — added 13 carries for 133 yards and touchdowns of 46 yards (run) and 40 yards (reception). 

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Balboa's Joseph Smith rushed for 133 yards and scored touchdowns of 40 and 44 yards as the Buccaneers piled up more than 500 yards en route to its second straight San Francisco Section title. / Photo by Ernie Abrea

All told, the Buccaneers (10-2), the defending state 7-A champion, piled up more than 500 yards to go with eight touchdowns, but gave back a preposterous 294 via penalties, including one remarkable/unremarkable stretch of three consecutive too-many-men on-the-field calls. 

How is that even possible? 

One way or another, Balboa found a way to hold off the very pesky and determined Eagles (8-4), under first-year coach Ja Vaughn Shannon and staff, making their first Turkey Day Game since 2011. They’ve had only one winning season since, but since Shannon took over in April, bringing off two brothers, his dad, an uncle and cousin, Washington has been the talk of San Francisco. 

Even after they were pummeled 54-6 by Balboa in early Oct. 

But behind 252 yards passing and five touchdown passes from gritty senior quarterback Roy Mertz, two each to Medhi Reed, who was everyone in all phases, and Isaiah Deshay and one to Samuel Robinson, the Eagles cut off 36 points off of the first defeat. 

And after recovering its third onside kick with 7:29 remaining, they had a legitimate shot to win the game. 

But Balboa’s defense stiffened down the stretch, while getting interceptions from Syrus Siga and Jamil Butler to seal it. Tlaloc Solano and Navi Uhatafe each had three of Balboa’s nine sacks and Naioa Cassidy added two. 

“Hats off to the Washington coaching staff for changing things up from the first time and their players doing a real good job,” Balboa coach Fred Velasquez said. “We made the adjustments and got the job done. … Mertz is one of the best quarterbacks to come out of the (Academic Athletic Association) and he lit us up pretty good.” 

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Washington's Max Corral returned the opening kickoff 65 yards, setting the tone for a while back-and-forth 101s San Francisco Section championship. / Photo by Ernie Abrea

But after his first touchdown, an 18-yarder to Robinson to take a 6-0 lead, Washington watched Balboa rattle off 24 straight. 

Reed, who besides six catches for 101 yards, had an interception, fumble recovery and onside kick recovery, tried a 45-yard field goal that was blocked and recovered 35 yards the other direction. 

Mekai Smith tied the game at 6-6 with his 31-yard touchdown. 

More Smith-and-Smith led to a 12-6 Balboa lead when Joseph ran for 35 yards, setting up Mekai’s 24-yard touchdown. 

Midway it was 18-6 on a 31-yard touchdown from Mekai Smith and after a blocked punt by David Lee, Joseph Smith was wide, wide, wide open on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Rylen Thien-Jones. That made it 26-6 and the route appeared to be on. 

Not so fast. 

The Eagles, who fought back from a 27-7 deficit to win their semifinal game 42-35 over Lincoln, closed to 26-14 when Mertz faked a punt from his own 47, rolled left and threw clear across the field when Smith somehow grabbed it away from two defenders, escaped and raced down the right sideline for a 53-yard touchdown. 

“(Reed) is just a special, special talent with a big heart and motor,” Shannon said. “I told you we play to the very end.” 

Two penalties on Balboa made it an easy decision to onside kick the ball, and Reed recovered, setting up a 4-yard TD run by Nathan Gomes, making it 26-21. 

Mekai Smith then seemed to give Balboa back all the moment, with his kickoff return for touchdown and his two-point conversion made it 34-21 with 3:48 left in the half. 

Washington didn’t flinch, drove the length of the field and got a 13-yard touchdown pass from Mertz to Deshay, making it 34-28. At halftime. 

There was plenty of action to fill most games, let alone 24 minutes. 

When Balboa took the second-half kickoff and traveled 65 yards in 12 plays, capped by a MeKai Smith 3-yard TD, the Buccaneers surely would break Washington’s spirit, leading 40-28 midway through the third. 

Not so. Mertz to Delshay again, this a beautiful 28-yard strike, made it 40-34. 

When Joseph Smith sprinted for a 46-yard touchdown sprint and Mekai followed with a two-point conversion to go up, Mekai went for a 16-yard scorer early in the fourth, to go up 54-35 with 9:50 left in the fourth, for sure the Eagles would fold. 

Nope. 

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Washington's Nathan Gomes rushed for a four-yard touchdown, the Eagles' only non-passing touchdown of the day during a 54-42 loss to Balboa in the 101st San Francisco Section title game at historic Kezar Stadium / Photo by Ernie Abrea

Mertz drove the Eagles down to the 3 and on a 4th-down toss, he found a leaping Reed in the middle of the end zone, to close to 54-42 with 7:29 remaining. 

When the Eagles recovered the onside kick, a miracle seemed in order. 

Balboa, which had outscored league opponents, 287-19, just had too much. Even with all those penalties. 

Asked if Thanksgiving dinner was going to be tastier after such a hard-entered win, Mekai Smith said, “I’m going straight to sleep,” he said. “Back back is killing me.” 

Can only imagine how the Eagles felt. 

“We’re drained because it’s all over,” Shannon said. “We’ll reload and be ready for next season.” 

Balboa, which now enters the CIF Northern California Bowl championships, will go after a third state title. 

Joseph Smith, who said about half of the Washington team were his friends, said it was a friendly competition but glad his team could pull through. He was expecting a more lopsided win, but all that matters is that the Buccaneers advanced. 

“It’s a championship game and we’re a championship team so you know everyone is going to give us their ‘A’ game,” he said. “The season has been a little up and down for me, but now it’s time to get another ring.”

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Mitch Stephens
MITCH STEPHENS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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