Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — With injuries mounting in his offensive backfield, St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin was forced to make a change this week, and it worked to near perfection.

Senior Tyler Hinrichs switched to running back for Saturday afternoon’s North Coast Section Division-6 playoff showdown with San Rafael and scored four touchdowns to lead the Crusaders to a 42-20 win.

The victory sets up a semifinal showdown against Big 4 rival Fortuna next weekend in a game that North Coast fans won’t want to miss after the two schools shared this year’s conference title.

But it looked far from certain for much of Saturday’s game.

The Crusaders and Bulldogs were tied 14-14 at halftime after an injury sidelined St. Bernard’s quarterback Trenten Hagler in the second quarter.

Hagler would return to the game, and that, coupled with a inspirational performance by Hinrichs and many of his teammates, paved the way to a dominating second-half performance that sends the Crusaders marching on.

“It was a great battle,” Tomlin said. “Every playoff game is going to be that way, and I thought our guys put in a really gut-check performance.

“(What impressed me) was just the team effort, and it started earlier in the week.”

With the injuries mounting in the backfield — including senior Riley Nantz and freshman Bryce Pancoast, neither of whom are expected back this season — Tomlin approached Hinrichs at practice to suggest the change, and the senior team captain and receiver was more than happy to do what was needed.

“We’ve lost so many running backs, and I asked Tyler if he would play running back, and he said ‘yes, I’ll do anything for the team,’” Tomlin said. “Just his willingness to make that move for the team …”

And it worked.

Hinrichs, who is also one of the best kickers in the NCS right now, scored two TDs in each half, as the St. Bernard’s ground attack wore down the Bulldogs.

He finished the game with 136 yards rushing on 32 carries and also had three receptions for 41 yards, as well as completing one pass for 41 yards. 

For good measure he also nailed all six of his PAT attempts.

The Crusaders received the ball to start the second half and they took full advantage with a momentum-grabbing 76-yard drive capped by a two-yard Hinrichs scoring run that gave them a lead they would not relinquish.

On the third play of the ensuing San Rafael drive, junior linebacker Robert Sirrine intercepted the ball to give the home team possession again with good field position, and seven plays later Hinrichs scored his fourth TD of the day to put St. Bernard’s up 28-14.

As you would expect from any playoff team, however, the Bulldogs refused to go down easily and would answer with a 44-yard TD reception by by Anderson Alvarez early in the fourth quarter to make it a one-possession game again.

But that was the end of the scoring for the visitors, and the Crusaders would quickly pull away again when Hagler completed a TD pass to Kuron Devlin, who took it 82 yards to the end zone to reestablish a two-score lead.

The Crusaders would add to their tally on their next possession, when Garrett Shanahan scored on a one-yard TD run with 55 seconds remaining in the game.

There were several standouts for the hosts, including Hagler and a new-look three-man defensive line.

“That was an amazing tough effort,” Tomlin said of the junior quarterback after his return to the field.

Switching from a four-player defensive front to a three-player unit of Kohlton Hall, Josh Tinkham and Jahseree Bailey also paid dividends, and the trio enjoyed another strong day.

Two starting freshmen — linebacker Miles Sirrine and safety Maddox Boham — also impressed, much as they have been doing all year.

“They really stepped up,” Tomlin said of the young duo.

But it was Hinrichs who really set the tone for his teammates in arguably their biggest game of the season.

“That was an historic effort by Tyler Hinrichs,” Tomlin added. “He stepped up and put the team on his back.”

As the top seeds in the bracket, the Crusaders will get to host next week’s game against the No. 4 Huskies, who pulled away in the second half of their playoff opener against Petaluma on Friday night on the way to a 42-23 win.

The two schools have entertained us with some thrilling battles in recent years and split their two conference showdowns during the regular season, with each posting a home victory.

Saturday’s big showdown will also feature two of the best football coaches in the H-DNL and arguably two of the best in any sport.

“I’ve said it many times, I have all the respect in the world for coach Benbow and his program,” Tomlin said. “We’ve had some epic battles.”

But the most important thing for both teams is that they get to continue their season.

“The biggest thing is we get to play for another week,” Tomlin said. “Everyone wants to play on Thanksgiving weekend, that’s the goal.”