Jackson Richardson and Jake Morrison stood over a free kick for Archie Williams right at the edge of the 18-yard box in the North Coast Section Division II championship game against Granada in Livermore on Friday night.

Morrison moved first, running past the ball, then Richardson struck it cleanly past Granada’s outstretched goalkeeper into the upper, far corner of the net, scoring the eventual game winner in the 69th minute of a 3-2 victory.

“To me just the technique and execution of the shot — it had so much pace on it,” Archie Williams coach Rene Ayala said of Richardson’s winner. “Usually when you hit a shot with that much pace, it’s going to go way over the bar. … The keeper did all he could. He was there. It was just a perfect strike.”

No. 4 seed Archie Williams (13-4-5) took down No. 2 Granada (15-8-1) and secured its first section title since a victory over Marin Academy in the D-III playoffs in 2022. The Peregrine Falcons fell to eventual champ Terra Linda in the D-III quarterfinals in 2023, then bowed out to Ukiah in last year’s D-III final.

The victory was especially sweet for a team that has now made five consecutive finals since last year’s MCAL playoffs but had tasted tough defeats in each of the prior four.

“For me, that was the most satisfying part of the night, just to see these boys celebrate a championship,” Ayala said. “They worked so hard. They made three finals last year and came away empty handed. They made the MCAL final this year and came away empty handed. … We felt like we a had a huge monkey on our back. I think of all of that, just the journey itself, just makes it so much sweeter. I’m so happy and elated and relieved because these boys deserve to be feeling what they are feeling tonight.”

The Peregrine Falcons trailed 1-0 for most of the first half but scored a pair of quick goals just before the break to take a 2-1 lead. Morrison took a long throw-in into the box for Archie Williams in the 39th minute. The ball popped out to Sean Chamberlin, who promptly put it into the back of the net and got Archie Williams back on level terms at 1-1.

Within a minute or two later, in first-half stoppage time, the Peregrine Falcons were back at it again. Archie Williams left back Isaac Terry played a long ball to Willy Finley. The ball soared over the right back and Finley collected it, making a move around the central defender before putting it past the goalie for a 2-1 lead.

Granada appeared to tie the game in the 49th minute but the linesman had raised his flag for offside. The Matadors equalized in the 55th minute.

“They got momentum it seemed like,” Ayala said of Granada. “They were on the front foot but no one was clearly dominating possession.”

Richardson’s winner was set up by Chala Rosenthal, who was fouled just outside the 18-yard box.

“The player that made the difference was Chala,” Ayala said. “He was the difference maker tonight in the midfield, up top. Just his work rate, his ability to have the ball stick to his foot. I thought that was the difference in the game, just giving us that energy.”

The game was a far cry from the previous meeting between the two teams — a 6-4 victory by Granada at San Rafael High’s inaugural Mission City Invitational back in December. The Matadors bolted out to a 5-0 lead at the half before the Peregrine Falcons stormed back to make a game of it.

“It was a tale of two halves for sure,” Ayala said of the earlier meeting. “That was the worst half I’ve ever been a part of. Being able to come back and put four on them in the second half gave us confidence. We kind of drew on that but we had some amnesia about the first half.”