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The St. Bernard’s Crusaders fell just short in their bid for a North Section championship in football with a 42-20 loss to Miramonte in the Division-5 final at Acalanes High School in Lafayette on Saturday night.

Matadors quarterback Carson Blair threw four touchdown passes in the win as Miramonte secured a ninth all-time section championship.

No. 1 seed Miramonte opened up a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter when Blair completed a 40-yard TD pass to Andrew Bjornson.

The No. 2 Crusaders gave themselves some hope late in the first half.

They opened their account when sophomore quarterback Trenten Hagler combined with senior receiver Aaiden Burris on a 68-yard TD pass to pull within two scores with five minutes remaining in the half.

The SB defense than came up with a big goal-line stand right before halftime and the Crusaders trailed 21-6 at the interval.

The momentum continued to swing in the Crusaders’ favor at the start of the third quarter, when they recovered an onside kick, and they would make it count barely a minute later when Wyatt Simoni scored on a 13-yard TD run to cut the deficit to 21-12.

However, the Matadors responded with 21 unanswered points to stretch the lead to 30 and there was no way back for St. Bernard’s after that.

Hagler threw a second TD pass in the final minute of the game, connecting with Quentin Ikeya on a four-yard score.

Injuries didn’t help matters for the Crusaders, who lost two linemen — Land Ford and Hunter Floyd — to injuries in the first half.

The Crusaders close out the season with a record of 9-4.