Trojans survive M-A’s upset bid
Milpitas gets all it can handle against defending section champions but remains unbeaten
MILPITAS >> Until Friday night, nobody had pushed Milpitas all season. The Trojans rolled over 10 opponents and got another victory by forfeit.
Win No. 12 wasn’t that easy. In a surreal fourth quarter that kept going and going as officials kept time on the field because the scoreboard malfunctioned, Menlo-Atherton rallied from 19 points behind to give itself a chance in this Central Coast Section Open Division I semifinal.
But it was not to be for the team that beat Milpitas in the Open I final last season.
Milpitas survived on its home field 33-20, securing the victory when Ioane Vete recovered a bizarre fumble in the end zone in the waning seconds. The topseed Trojans (12-0) advance to the championship game next weekend against second-seed Salinas, which cruised past Los Gatos.
Vete’s touchdown was the third of the night for the Milpitas defense, to go along with a safety, as the Trojans found a way to overcome a tough game on offense.
“We got ourselves in some adversity, and we were able to pull it together as a team,” said Tariq Bracy, who returned an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter.
The game was mostly clean on the field. But outside the locker rooms afterward, players from both sides had to be separated after engaging in an altercation. Both teams said no punches were thrown — just words and machismo.
M-A coach Adhir Ravipati said he planned to address the incident with his players and suspects Milpitas will do the same after his conversation with Trojans coach Kelly King.
“There is no place for that,” Ravipati said. “It was a good game, a hard-fought game and should have sat between the lines and ended there. We have a lot of respect for them. They’re a great team. I know after last year, talking to their kids and their coaches, they have a lot of respect for us. It shouldn’t have ended that way. We’ll make sure it gets taken care of.”
On the field, the game was nothing like Milpitas’ previous 10, although it looked that way when Tuni Faletau Fifita returned an interception 46 yards for a touchdown three plays in.
After that, the rest of the half was mostly a defensive bonecrusher. The score stayed 7-0 until Menlo-Atherton (7-5) drove 99 yards in the closing minutes for a tying touchdown.
That possession started after the teams traded turnovers on consecutive plays. Vete’s fumble recovery on a punt return gave Milpitas the ball at the M-A 29. On the next play, Gary Carter intercepted a pass to set up M-A’s length-of-the-field march to even the score.
Pass plays of 22 and 17 yards from Miles Conrad to Spencer Corona and a 35-yard completion to Deston Hawkins moved M-A to the 14. From there, Conrad connected with Corona near the right sideline, and the receiver broke free to reach the end zone.
That touchdown aside, the story of the first half was M-A’s defense, which held Milpitas to 13 yards rushing and zero passing.
Milpitas needed one play after halftime to top its first-half yardage total. The Trojans reclaimed the lead on their second possession of the third quarter when TyRee Bracy rolled left and threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to his twin brother, Tariq.