File photo – Wyatt Simoni tan for two touchdowns at De Anza on Saturday.

By Ray Hamill — If recent meetings between St. Bernard’s and San Marin in the North Coast Section football playoffs are any indication, you can expect a fun game on Friday night.

The Crusaders are one of three H-DNL teams that will play on the road against a No. 1 seed in their bracket this week, but that won’t bother a team that has matched up effectively against the Novato school over the past few years.

“We feel like every time we play San Marin it’s going to be a great battle,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “They have tremendous players and they’re well coached.”

The Crusaders will carry plenty of momentum into the Division-5 semifinal after a stellar defensive performance at De Anza in their playoff opener on Saturday night.

The Crusaders won the game 51-25, with defense and special teams rising to the challenge on the road against a higher seed.

“Defensively that was our best performance of the year,” Tomlin said. “Our defense has really impressed the last two weeks. We were really physical and stopped their running game.”

SB gave up just six points against Eureka in their regular season finale and have now won two straight games for the first time all season.

Defensive lineman Lane Ford had a big impact and finished with nine tackles, a very high number for a lineman.

Special teams also played a major role in Saturday’s win.

Grant Omey recovered the ball in the end zone for one of their seven touchdowns after a high snap on a De Anza punt attempt sailed over the punter’s head.

Even more impressively, Tyler Dimmick returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown just as the home team was beginning to mount a comeback.

“Dimmick got us the momentum right back,” the head coach said. “He’s just been an amazing weapon for us on special teams this year.”

The TD was the third on the season on a kickoff return by the standout senior, who is now second in the NCS in kickoff return average (37.7 yards).

File photo – Tyler Dimmick

Omey also had a 48-yard TD reception from quarterback Drew Sisemore to open the scoring, while Wyatt Simoni added a touchdown run in each half.

Sisemore also completed an 18-yard TD throw to Owen Shanahan, while Lawrence Renner added a 50-yard TD run on his only carry of the night.

Renner is closing out the season well after playing a major role at linebacker in the win over Eureka.

Kicker Esteban Cervantes Perez-Estrada added a 28-yard field goal just before halftime to give the visitors a 24-7 lead at the break.

Friday’s game at San Marin kicks off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on MIX 95.1 FM and streamed through the NFHS Network.