COSTA MESA – The College of San Mateo football dynasty added another chapter to the history book.
The Bulldogs captured their second straight state title, their third over the past four years, with a narrow 28-27 victory over Golden West College on Saturday in the 2025 3C2A State Championship final at Orange Coast College's LeBard Stadium.
CSM appeared on its way to another easy state title game victory after building up a 21-7 halftime advantage and went into the fourth quarter with a lofty 28-7 lead.
But Golden West's offense and defense both came alive sending the Bulldogs against the ropes. The Rustlers limited CSM on offense by forcing three punts in the fourth while Golden West rallied for a pair of late touchdown runs and a 44-yard touchdown reception by JD Alicea from quarterback Kauna'oa Kamakawiwo'ole with just 33 seconds remaining in the contest that got Golden West within a point at 28-27.
Rustlers' head coach Nick Mitchell elected to roll the dice on a potential go-ahead two-point conversion rather than kicking a game-tying PAT. On the play, Kamakawiwo'ole rolled right out of the pocket towards the sideline but his hurried pass to Ayden Goodwin near the end zone fell incomplete to set off a San Mateo celebration.
Golden West's onside kick after the play was recovered by the Rustlers, but the ball failed to advance 10 yards, giving possession to the Bulldogs. CSM kneeled the ball down on the next play to run out the clock and secure the Bulldogs' state championship victory.
Seventh-year San Mateo head coach Tim Tullock can now stake claim to state titles in 2025, 2024, and 2022. He was proud of his team's effort not only in today's game, but throughout the season.
"I'm thankful for the staff, thankful for the players," said Tulloch. "They worked so hard. It's been a long year with a lot of adversity thrown our way. Our staff and our players stuck together. Those guys representing blue and white right now, no one knows how hard they worked. And I'm just fortunate to be their coach."
"That's a tough football team," Tulloch said of Golden West. "Coach Mitchell does a great job. We knew they were going to fight down until the end. We knew they weren't going to roll over.
"Our guys fought to the last play. And that's why we're here. Our kids have that heart and soul, that's what this program is built on. Blue-collar tough, guys that fight until the end."
The Bulldogs got out to an early lead thanks 20-yard touchdown run by Dominick Gonzalez at the 3:07 mark in the first quarter. After Golden West tied up the game with the first of three TD runs by Aaron Mitchell, CSM went on to score 21 unanswered points.
Kavon Collins scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Luke Alexander, RJ Whitten turned in a Pick-6 interception return 28 yards for a touchdown, and Malakhi DeMoss closed out an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 22-yard TD run to go ahead 28-7 in the third.
DeMoss led the Bulldogs with 92 yards on 24 carries. Gonzalez ran 11 times for 74 yards while Alexander completed 8 of 11 passes for 84 yards with a TD and 2 interceptions.
CSM was outgained on offense by a 445-239 yards margin, but the defense made up for it by coming up with four interceptions and a pair of sacks.
Whitten grabbed a pair of INTs, Jeramiah Lewis led the defense with 8 tackles, and Trevon Watson added 6 tackles.
San Mateo closed the season with a 12-1 overall record, won its fourth straight Bay 6 League title, and made their sixth consecutive appearance in the Northern California championship game.
