Beckman Coach Marcello Giuliano talks to his players after the win in the championship game at Brea Olinda. (PHOTO: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
It was a memorable night for Beckman’s football team, which captured the program’s first CIF title with a 30-24 victory over Brea Olinda in the Division 8 championship game Friday night in Brea.
The Patriots, coached by Marcello Giuliano are now setting their sights on a state title. Beckman (11-3) hosts CIF Division 10 champion Hillcrest (9-5) Saturday at 6 p.m. in the CIF Division 4-A South Bowl Game at Tustin.
Beckman enters the game with a 10-game winning streak. It will be the first appearance in the state championships for the Patriots football program.
“The title is amazing and I am trying to remind myself to enjoy it even as we prepare for the next game, and there will be a time to reflect on how meaningful this is for the school,” said Giuliano, who celebrated his first CIF title in his first championship coaching appearance.
“More than that, however, I just keep thinking about the fact that we were 1-3 to start the year and at that time there weren’t a lot of believers outside our locker room. This group never wavered and they used that adversity to grow and harden themselves as a unit. That says a ton about these young men and that makes it even sweeter to me.”
Giuliano said he has a lot of respect for Hillcrest, from Riverside. Hillcrest defeated Tahquitz 63-24 in the CIF final last Saturday.
“They are fast, really well-coached, and aggressive in all phases of the game,” he said. “Their schemes and athletes present enough of a challenge in themselves. However, the major challenge is that they put a lot of pressure on their opponents to execute flawlessly on every play, and when there’s a mistake they capitalize with takeaways and explosive plays. You literally cannot have any lapses in focus and that’s hard on players at any level.”
Beckman is led by quarterback Noah Nam who has completed 174 of 289 passes for 2,327 yards and 23 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 332 yards on 66 carries and eight touchdowns.
Top running backs have been Makhi Czaykowski with 1,636 yards rushing on 199 carries and 20 touchdowns and Aidan Tran with 499 yards on 82 carries and three touchddowns.
The Patriots top receivers have been Czaykowski with 46 catches for 716 yards and nine touchdowns, Julian Rosa with 31 catches for 489 yards and five touchdowns, Sawyer Nickelson with 28 catches for 429 yards and four touchdowns, Tran with 24 catches for 260 yards and two touchdowns and Zak Hazboun with 21 catches for 254 yards and three touchdowns.
The leading tacklers have been Nathan Garcia with 131 total tackles, Tran with 85 (nine tackles for a loss), Nickelson with 84 and Hazboun with 71. Xavier Musselman-Cano has also stood out with nine interceptions.
Looking ahead to the game, Giuliano said:
“I think the key to the game for us is the consistent focus on every guy doing his job on every play: ball handling and coverage in the kick game, blocking and route assignments of offense, and option responsibility on defense. We have to win more of those battles than they do in order to be successful.”
The winner of Saturday’s game advances to the state final next weekend vs. the winner of the El Cerrito (11-2) at Menlo-Atherton (7-6) North bowl game. Days and locations will be announced Sunday.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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