Cardinal Newman advances to NCS title game with 29-28 win over Rancho Cotate

Cardinal Newman’s stirring tale of recovery and resilience lives another week, by the slimmest of margins.

Barely more than six weeks after the Tubbs Fire destroyed much of their campus — and the homes of five varsity football players — the Cardinals teetered on the brink of elimination Friday night. But quarterback Beau Barrington connected with wide receiver Kyle Carinalli on a 42-yard touchdown with 1:32 left to give the Cardinals a riveting 29-28 victory over rival Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park and send them into next week’s North Coast Section Division 3 championship game.

Carinalli — who lost his family home in the fire, as did Barrington — caught a short pass and used a burst of speed to outrace several Rancho Cotate defenders to the end zone.

“I was so excited watching him run,” Barrington said. “I knew as soon as he took off he was going to score.”

The second-seed Cardinals (10-2) will face the winner of Saturday’s semifinal between top-seeded Marin Catholic and No. 4 Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland.

Cardinal Newman's Kyle Carinalli is congratulated after his game-winning touchdown reception late in 4th quarter of Newman's 29-28 win over Rancho Cotate in NCS Division 3 semifinal game in Santa Rosa, Calif., on Friday, November 24, 2017. less Cardinal Newman's Kyle Carinalli is congratulated after his game-winning touchdown reception late in 4th quarter of Newman's 29-28 win over Rancho Cotate in NCS Division 3 semifinal game in Santa Rosa, Calif., ... more Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Cardinal Newman advances to NCS title game with 29-28 win over Rancho Cotate 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

“We didn’t play great,” Cardinal Newman head coach Paul Cronin said, “but we fought and fought and fought. ... When you get slapped in the mouth, you have two choices: Stay down or get back up. You’ve got to respect our resilience.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Rancho Cotate wide receiver Jalen Ward dashed past the secondary and caught a 71-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Simmons. Ward ran parallel to the goal line and waited several seconds before stepping into the end zone. He was called for an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty, which turned the extra point into a 35-yard kick. Rancho Cotate (10-2) missed, and that point proved to be decisive.

Cardinal Newman, ranked No. 14, trailed throughout the first half and deep into the third quarter before a raucous, capacity crowd at Santa Rosa Junior College. The Cardinals tied it at 15-15 and then again at 22-22 on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Barrington to Nikko Kitchen.

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This was the third game between the two teams in 33 days. Cronin and his counterpart, Gehrig Hotaling, hastily arranged a game Oct. 23, to get their players back on the field two weeks after the North Bay wildfires began. The Cougars won 41-28.

Then, on Nov. 4, Cardinal Newman struck back in a regularly scheduled game, winning 34-27 to earn the North Bay League title in the only regular-season loss for Rancho Cotate, ranked No. 15.

Friday night’s game unfolded in the wake of an extraordinary season for Cardinal Newman. More than six weeks after the fire tore through Santa Rosa, the football players and their classmates remain in a state of flux.

Principal Graham Rutherford hopes to reopen the campus in early January, launching the spring semester with 22 portable classrooms to replace those lost in the fire. In the meantime, fall-semester classes proceed with students separated by grade level at four parishes in the area (one in Windsor, one in West Santa Rosa, one in Rohnert Park and one in Cotati).

It took time for the team to regain its bearings, but the Cardinals coasted past Kennedy-Fremont in the first round and Encinal-Alameda in the quarterfinals. Now, they stand one step from an NCS title.

“For the school as a whole, football is one of the few rallying points,” Rutherford said. “People can come and feel like they’re part of something, because we don’t really have that ability right now to bring everybody to one site. …

“For a lot of people this is entertainment that just feels better. It’s very personal, because you know these people. The players have worked for it, and I admire the resilience and work that’s gone into it.”

Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick