Valley Christian pulls out win over Mitty
High school football: Quarterback Jakson Berman’s late sneak sealed victory for the Warriors.
Valley Christian was far from precision-like, but the Warriors found a way to win on their Senior Night.
Quarterback Jakson Berman iced the 19-10 victory over Archbishop Mitty with a sneak across the goal line late in the fourth quarter.
Cristian Rubalcava ended the West Catholic Athletic League game moments later with an interception.
Mitty (0-1) had kept the score tight throughout in its first game under new coach Danny Sullivan, forcing turnover after turnover against an opponent that had dominated the Monarchs in recent seasons.
Will Cuddie’s second field goal of the game, a 31-yarder in the third quarter, gave Valley Christian (11) the lead for good, 12-10. Cuddie also put the Warriors, ranked fourth by the Bay Area News Group, in front at halftime, 9-7, when he split the uprights from 44 yards out.
— Darren Sabedra NO. 13 WILCOX 48, MILPITAS 14 >> Junior running back Luther K. Glenn scored three more touchdowns for Wilcox, bringing his total to seven in two games, as the Chargers raced past Milpitas.
Wilcox improved to 2-0 and Milpitas slipped to 0-2 in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League-de Anza Division standings. Wilcox led 28-0 at the half and 42-7 after three quarters.
Glenn scored on runs of 60 and 45 yards in the first half, then added a 35-yard score after intermission. Daniel Escorza scored two rushing TDS, and Andrew Palacios ran for close to 100 yards and one TD. Quarterback Jason Guerrero scored on a 2-yard run.
“We played well,” Wilcox coach Paul Rosa said. “We got the run game going early.” — Mike Lefkow
NO. 15 MENLO-ATHERTON 21,NO. 23 SACRED HEART
PREP 38, NO. 20 KING’S ACADEMY 31 >> The first time Noah Short touched the football in competitive action this season, the King’s Academy star raced the opening kickoff 87 yards into the end zone. “That always sets you back on your heels a bit,” Sacred Heart Prep coach Mark Greib said.
After a positive COVID test on its coaching staff, King’s Academy’s originally scheduled season opener last week was canceled. The Knights also lost 10 days of practice, coach Pete Lavorato said.
“You tell the kids to work out, but it’s not the same as a coach yelling at you to run hard,” Lavorato said. “Our kids played our heart out. If someone told me it would be 31-31 with 3 minutes to go, I’d have been happy.”
It took a touchdown drive in the final three minutes for Sacred Heart to finally put away the King’s Academy.
The ball was back in the hands of senior quarterback Teddy Purcell after his King’s Academy counterpart
Antonio Gonzalez connected on a 25-yard touchdown pass to even the game with about 3 minutes to go.
Purcell scrambled 16 yards and across midfield, where rushes from seniors Beck Anderson and Jonathan Martinez put Sacred Heart into the red zone. With less than a minute remaining, Purcell found Anderson in the end zone for a 16-yard score, the decisive strike in a 38-31 win.
— Evan Webeck
SOUTH BAY CUPERTINO 20, MONTA VISTA 15 >> Cupertino bounced back from a season-opening loss last week to Lynbrook to beat its crosstown rival. Ricky Hernandez scored on two short touchdown runs and Harry Singh turned a screen pass from Tyler Saw into a 53-yard touchdown play to account for Cupertino’s TDS. The Pioneers also got strong defensive efforts
from inside linebacker Edward Wilson and outside linebackers Kushal Sankla and Shawn Felisilda to contain Monta Vista’s wing triple-option. “It’s always good, especially when you beat the rivals,” longtime Cupertino coach Chris Oswald said. “We laid such an egg last week. It was unbelievable. To bounce back was great.”
— Darren Sabedra
FREMONT-SUNNYVALE 34, LYNBROOK 7 >> Fremont’s defense was relentless attacking the Lynbrook quarterback, tallying seven sacks, leading the way to a decisive first win of the season. Firebirds coach Rob Swartz said that junior outside linebacker Lenny Sinapati and senior defensive and offensive tackle Nicholas Massey were the standouts of the game. “I think he’s one of the best outside linebackers in the Bay Area,” Said
Swartz about Sinapati. “He was really a dominant force out there on defense tonight.” Senior running back and defensive back Ivan Valladarez was a major contributor in the first half, compiling over 100 rushing yards on offense and returning an interception for a touchdown on defense.
— Brendan Cross
LELAND 24, SANTA TERESA 22 >> Junior quarterback Nathan Wright threw three touchdown passes and Cade Whitson chipped in with a 37-yard field goal for Leland. The Chargers scored all 24 points in the first half while improving to 2-0 in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s Mt. Hamilton Division. Santa Teresa is 0-2. “We’re more of a run team, though it didn’t show tonight,” Leland coach Kelly King Jr. said. “They stifled our run.” Santa Teresa scored the game’s first nine points before Leland put up 24 unanswered. Wright threw touchdown passes to Sid Thadani, Noor Haroon and Corbin Yates. Leland’s offense in the second half was stymied by four turnovers. Santa Teresa closed to 24-22 in the third quarter but couldn’t keep the momentum in the final period. “Our defense played well in the fourth quarter,” King said.
— Mike Lefkow
LIVE OAK 35, OVERFELT 8 >> Live Oak coach Mike Gemo commended quarterback Caleb Ojeda and running back Mosiah Saulala, who scored on a long touchdown, for their ability to run the ball. “It was a good game,” Gemo said about his team’s blowout win. “We put the team away like we were supposed to.”
— Mike Espinosa
SILVER CREEK 28, LINCOLN 27 >> It was a tight game from start to finish as each team scored a touchdown in every quarter, but Silver Creek’s defense held against a late fourth-quarter two-point conversion attempt by Lincoln to earn the team’s first win of the season. Raiders coach Aaron Noriega said that his defense needed to regroup quickly after the Lions pulled within one. “It’s basically, what team wanted it more, when it comes down to something like that,” Noriega said. “When you’re in a tight game like that, you have to fight.” Senior running back and linebacker Elijah Thomas propelled the scoring, accounting for three touchdowns, including two rushing touchdowns and an 80-yard pick-six. — Brendan Cross