Vanderbilt-bound QB Mitchell leads No. 11 Riordan to ninth straight win; Sets up WCAL title game with Serra

Fourth-year starter accounts for all five touchdowns in rout of Mitty on Senior Day

Riordan junior quarterback Mike Mitchell leads the handshake line after a stirring 27-21 home win over Serra in 2024; Riordan will face Serra again next week with the West Catholic Athletic League title on the line after beating Mitty 37-7 on Saturday. / Photo: Matt Solorio

The dream season continued for Riordan’s football team on Saturday and their seniors on Senior Day took center stage. 

Vanderbilt-bound quarterback Mike Mitchell, a model of consistency throughout a brilliant four-year career, completed 14 of 20 passes for 324 passes and accounted for all five touchdowns in another rousing 37-7 West Catholic Athletic League home victory over surprising Mitty. 

Two of his touchdowns were passes to Oregon State-bound receiver Cynai Thomas (42 and 24 yards), another to Harvard-bound Judge Nash (46 yards) and a 54-yard fourth TD to Utah commit Perrion Williams. 

Besides majestic TD tosses all, Mitchell added a nifty 15-yard score off a scramble just before halftime as the Crusaders improved to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in WCAL play. 

The victory sets up a championship showdown Friday in a rare night game at Serra (6-3, 6-0). 

Riordan, which has outscored its six WCAL opponents by a 278-88 count, is ranked 11th in the state overall by High Schools On SI. 

Mitty, which got a 1-yard touchdown plunge late in the first quarter by Lazaro Faraj-Washington, dropped to 5-4 and 3-3. It was the fourth straight win for Riordan in the series and fifth in six years. Before that, Mitty had won 14 of 16. 

Clearly, the Crusaders have turned their program around since Adhir Ravipati took over in 2022. Since then, Riordan has gone 26-16 for a program that didn’t have a winning season for seven straight years starting in 2016.  

Mitchell has been there every step of the way since Ravipati took over and the combination of his experience, football IQ and big, accurate arm gives the Crusaders a leg — and arm — up on the competition. 

His 42-yard touchdown pass to Thomas and 54-yarder to Williams were pretty, giving the Crusaders a 14-0 lead with 4:48 left in the first quarter. 

Mitty, under sixth-year coach Danny Sullivan, showed no backdown, traveling 18 yards capped by Faraj-Washington’s 11th touchdown of the season to cut the lead in half. 

But Riordan responded immediately, with Mitchell scrambling right and looking like he might run, instead firing a strike to Thomas all alone in the middle of the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown, making it 21-7 with 9:10 left in the half. 

Mitchell then provided the backbreaker with 2:05 left in the half after a couple of penalties pushed the ball back to the 15. Again,moving out of the pocket to his right, the 6-foot, 195-pounder looked for an open receiver and then scooted outside of containment, before tip-toeing down the right sideline into the end zone, making it 28-7. 

His best throw of the day happened midway through the third from midfield, firing a beautiful high bomb that Nash grabbed perfectly in stride in the end zone, making it 34-7. It was Nash’s team-high 15th TD catch of the season. Thomas caught No. 11 and 12. 

Conor Wallace closed the scoring with a 27-yard field goal with 5:07 left in the third quarter. 

The Crusaders drove into the red zone in the final two minutes, but took a knee to finish off the impressive win.

Serra 39, Bellarmine 7: Everyone got into the act for the Padres' sixth straight win though junior QB Caleb Bandel was most impressive with six completions in seven attempts for 130 yards and a 44-yard touchdown to Charles Walsh. Tight end Jace Cannon also caught a 29-yard TD from freshman William Orr, while three different Padres rushed for touchdowns: Iziah Singleton, Malakai Taufoou and Andrew Takapautolo. Eleven different Serra players carried the ball, five caught passes and 13 made tackles. Riordan defeated Serra last season 27-21, ending a eight-game losing streak to the Padres, who had won those eight by a a combined 352-45 count.