Perfect 10: 76ers improve to 10-0 with title clincher
SAN JOSE >> Before the game Friday night, Steve Papin was nervous. The Independence football coach wanted his undefeated team to remain under the radar as it prepared for a perfect finish to the regular season.
Well, the 76ers are far from under the radar now.
They played a flawless first half on their home field while building a four-touchdown advantage and never looked back, clinching the outright Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division championship with a 47-20 victory over Overfelt.
Had the Royals won, the teams would have finished tied atop the standings.
Dylan Oliver, a transfer from Del Mar, scored on a 5-yard run in the first half and on an 80yard kickoff return and a 20-yard run in the second half, spinning through and speeding past the defense much of the game.
Not to be outdone, quarterback Jordan Ausbie ran for one touchdown and connected with Jesse Lopez from 61 yards out on another as Independence ran its record to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in league.
The game ended with Papin, in his fifth season at Independence, getting doused with ice water from the Gatorade bucket and Queen’s “We Are The Champions” blaring over the loudspeakers.
“Came out fired up and ready to go, knew 10-0 was on the line,” said Papin, whose team figures to be the No. 1 seed in the Central Coast Section Division IV playoffs. “Overfelt is a great team, coached by a good coach. Good players. They’re 8-1 for a reason.”
Overfelt is now 8-2 after Independence took command by scoring on each of its four firsthalf possessions for a 27-0 halftime lead.
“They’re well-coached,” Overfelt coach Carlo Maningo said. “They’re big. They’re physical. They’re fast. We just didn’t match their intensity in the beginning.”
Overfelt scored the first touchdown of the second half on a 2-yard run by Ulysses Alvarado, cutting the deficit to 27-6, but Oliver immediately answered.
He grabbed the ball on the ensuing kickoff at the 20 and let his speed takeover, accelerating until he crossed the goal line.
“I just had to put my team in a better position to get the win,” Oliver said. “We had to go 10-0. I knew if we scored one more time, we could put the game away. That’s exactly what we did.”
On its next series, Independence faced third-and-14 from its 39.
The 76ers dialed up a deep pass and Ausbie executed it perfectly, hitting Lopez in stride for a touchdown that pushed the lead to 40-6 with 4:22 left in the third quarter.
“I knew we needed a pass play,” Ausbie said. “I was just looking and there was no safety. I trust my receivers and knew it was one-on-one, so I just hit him with the throw. Just happened to get a touchdown off that.”