SANTA CLARA — All it took was one play for No. 11 Wilcox to establish dominance.
The Chargers had won their last three games by a combined total of 85 points. Things had been going well for Wilcox.
They couldn’t have started out any better on Friday night against Sacred Heart Prep. Opening their first drive on the 30-yard line, the Chargers snapped the ball to quarterback Kai Imahara, who faked an option handoff and bolted around the left side.
Seventy yards of swift running later, Wilcox had a 7-0 lead. Imahara’s long sprint set the tone for the rest of the matchup, which the Chargers won 35-7.
Wilcox’s Kai Imahara (11) runs for a 70-yard touchdown against the Sacred Heart Prep Gators in the 1st half at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group)
“It is nice when you score on the first play,” said Wilcox coach Paul Rosa. “It gets your guys going. Our quarterback made a good read and popped one.”
Sacred Heart Prep (3-5, 0-3 PAL Bay) had a response in the early going. The Gators mounted a 13-play drive, advancing all the way to the Wilcox 1-yard line. But on fourth-and-goal, Greg Gamitian was stuffed at the goal line by the Chargers’ defense.
SHP wouldn’t score until there was 3:19 remaining in the game.
“Tough day,” said Gators coach Mark Grieb. “We couldn’t really answer. Then we get all the way down to the one and can’t get in. So that was frustrating.”
Sacred Heart Prep’s Greg Gamitian (9) runs for yardage toward the end zone against the Wilcox Chargers in the 1st half at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group)
Wilcox was charged up by the momentum-flipping stop. But though its offense got out of the shadow of its own goal line with a 20-play drive, the Chargers ultimately turned the ball over on downs in plus territory.
Yet a quick three-and-out gave Wilcox the ball back, and this time, the Chargers took advantage. Five consecutive rushing attempts later, Wilcox was back in the end zone thanks to a 2-yard TD run by Brayden Rosa.
“That was huge,” coach Rosa said of the fourth-down stop. “Especially being fourth and less than a yard, that’s tough to stop. It was funny, though, because we had worked on that over and over in practice this week, because we weren’t very good at it. So it came up. I’m like, ‘I hope it pays off,’ and it did.”
Wilcox essentially sealed the game with one more score before the half. Another clock-churning drive, this one just 10 plays long, ended with Jeiman Delos Santos’ 3-yard rushing score.
Wilcox’s Alessandro Martinez (22) celebrates after sacking Sacred Heart Prep’s Nico Pollioni (4) in the 2nd half at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group)
With the way the Chargers chew up the clock, 21 points was essentially insurmountable.
“It keeps our defense off the field for most of the game, especially if we’re rolling,” coach Rosa said. “It’s tough on other teams, because you’ve got to get your nose in there every single play, and sometimes kids don’t want to do that all day.”
“They’re good at what they do,” Grieb said. “It’s always hard to adjust to the speed of how they run the option. And obviously, we weren’t ready for it.”
Wilcox didn’t leave anything to chance in the third quarter. After Elijah Vallejo snagged an interception to set the Chargers up at the minus-40, Brayden Rosa eluded several would-be tacklers near the line of scrimmage before picking up speed and scampering 60 yards to the end zone on the second play of the drive.
On the next SHP drive, Vallejo was back around the ball, snatching another pick on the first play of the Gators’ initial series. Imahara then completed back-to-back passes to Justin Forster, the second going for a 16-yard touchdown.
Wilcox’s Brayden Rosa (2) celebrates after scoring a 60-yard touchdown against the Sacred Heart Prep Gators in the 2nd half at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group)
That score, which came with 5:41 left in the third quarter, ensured that the fourth quarter would be a quick one in Santa Clara.
“You’ve got to credit them,” Grieb said. “They’re well coached and disciplined, and they play really hard. Their scheme is tough to defend. Obviously, we’re not the only ones that have a hard time with it.”
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Next up for Wilcox is a date with Los Gatos. The two powers in the PAL Bay have been on a collision course — both teams are 3-0 in league play and have been dominating Bay Division opponents left and right. The No. 6 Wildcats shut out Menlo School 38-0 on Friday night.
“It’s a big matchup,” coach Rosa said. “They’re really good. We’re getting better every week. I think we should be able to hang in there, and it should be a good game.
“For the past, probably, I don’t know, eight years, the title was won by either us or them. They’ve won the last few, so that’d be nice to get them once.”
Wilcox head coach Paul Rosa looks on against the Sacred Heart Prep Gators in the 2nd half at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group)
Wilcox’s Elijah Vallejo (14) celebrates after intercepting a pass intended for Sacred Heart Prep in the 2nd half at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Thien-An Truong for Bay Area News Group)
