Valley Christian beats St. Francis 16-13 in overtime to end season
Tears of joy for Los Gatos as the Wildcats end with undefeated season
Valley Christian beat St. Francis 16-13 in a road overtime thriller, highlighted by a fade route touchdown catch by sophomore wide receiver and four-star recruit Jurrion Dickey that ended it.
Valley coach Mike Machado said that aside from Dickey, the defense stepped up in the win.
“As big as St. Francis is, defensively, our guys did a great job, especially up front,” Machado said.
It was the second touchdown of the night from junior quarterback Jakson Berman to Dickey, as they also began the scoring about halfway through the first quarter with a 4-yard touchdown.
The Lancers could only manage a 24-yard field goal in the first half from junior kicker Matthew Karic as the Warriors entered the locker room with a 7-3 halftime edge,
Both teams punted backand-forth until late in the fourth quarter when the Lancers took a 10-7 lead on a 6-yard rushing touchdown from junior running back Camilo Arquette.
The Warriors, needing a score, tied the game at 10 on their next drive with a 29yard field goal from junior middle linebacker and kicker Will Cuddie.
In overtime, St. Francis could not reach the end zone in its possession, settling for a 25-yard field goal from Karic that gave the Lancers a 13-10 lead.
Then it was Valley’s turn. On second and goal, Berman found Dickey, who leaped in the end zone to get the advantage on the defender who had his back to the ball in one-on-one coverage for the game-winning touchdown.
“The good thing about having a guy like Dickey is that matchups really aren’t a concern,” Machado said.
Seconds later, Dickey was mobbed by his teammates in the end zone in jubilation, putting an exclamation point on a 3-1 spring season for Valley Christian.
LOS GATOS 45, PALO ALTO 7 >> Los Gatos, playing on its home field, completed an unbeaten season with a victory over Palo Alto. When it was over, there were tears of joy as a season nobody knew would happen and what to expect had reached the finish line. “Our kids played with a lot of emotion tonight,” Krail said. “It’s not often as a football team that you know it’s your last game. When you go to the playoffs, you never know. Tonight we knew and that weighed heavy on some of the seniors, which was great. We kind of embraced it, and it was a lot of fun.” Los Gatos threatened to knock out Palo Alto in the first quarter, just as it did to Mountain View two weeks ago. The Wildcats led 9-0 and were about to score again when a fumble near the goal line gave possession to Palo Alto. The Vikings drove for a touchdown to cut the deficit to two. But this Los Gatos team is too good to allow one momentum shift to derail a perfect season. The Wildcats quickly answered with another touchdown and went on to complete a 5-0 spring and what will be remembered as a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division championship. PROSPECT 32, DEL MAR 20 >> The Panthers, playing on the road, prevailed 32-20 to complete a 5-0 spring and league championship. Sophomore Zachary Crochiere threw two touchdown passes, both to junior Andre Jackson, and junior Ethan Horio ran for a TD and passed for another to lead the way. Del Mar finished 2-2 overall, 2-1 against West Valley opponents.
All of Prospect’s wins were within the league.
LOS ALTOS 21, FREMONTSUNNYVALE 14 >> Los Altos broke a three-game losing streak with a season-ending victory on the road. The Eagles finished 2-3. Fremont ended the spring 1-4. Los Altos scored first on a 6-yard run by Mingaang Park to take a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter. Fremont answered with Lenny Sinapati’s 5-yard touchdown run to tie the score 7-7. Los Altos scored the next two touchdowns — on a 67-yard reception by Cole Rafferty and Zach Fagin’s reception on a pass from Dre Caputo, who had replaced an injured Park. Sinapati’s second TD, also on a 5-yard run, made it 21-14 with just under eight minutes to play. Los Altos coach David DeGeronimo complimented the play of linebacker David Arista. “In his last game as a senior, (he) was all over the field,” the coach said, noting a tackle for loss and a “huge hit” on fourth down that sealed the victory.
— Darren Sabedra
NO. 13 WILCOX 25, MOUNTAIN VIEW 7 >>
Tied 7-7 after one quarter, Wilcox broke the game open early in the second quarter and scored 18 unanswered points to earn a victory over Mountain View. Wilcox scored the bulk of its points in the second quarter — 12 total — and added one more touchdown in the third quarter to round out the game’s scoring. Sophomore running back Daniel Escorza scored two touchdowns for Wilcox while his brother, senior linebacker Brian Escorza, shined on defense. Senior wide receiver Angelo Yslava and junior running back Luther Glenn scored Wilcox’s other touchdowns. Mountain View will finish its season with an even 3-3 record and Wilcox improved to 5-1 with the victory.
— Sofia Scekic
NO. 25 OAK GROVE 26, LELAND 9>> Oak Grove dominated behind a four-rushing touchdown performance from senior running back Elias Herrera, who finished with 166 yards in 20 carries. “We are really going to miss our senior class,” coach Marcus Reese said. “It really took great leadership from our seniors to be able to continue to train with the season in doubt. This will be a season we all remember forever.” Leland, a young team, got on the board with a five-yard rushing touchdown from running back Mark Eby, who also ran for over 100 yards. Senior Connor Hattery, in for his first start at quarterback, threw for over 100 yards for Leland. “I think we played well at times for a young team with only three senior starters,” coach Kelly King Jr. said. “I think the shortened season and only having two weeks to prepare due to COVID made this year hard on all teams. I think it is important that we remember that it’s April and everyone was fortunate to get on the field and compete.” Isaac Morales had 10 tackles, including four for loss with a sack, to lead Oak Grove’s defense. Devyn Parker intercepted two passes for the winning side.
— Shayna Rubin
LIVE OAK 41, LINCOLN-SAN
JOSE 6 >> The Acorns got all their senior players involved in a landslide win over Lincoln-san Jose. Live Oak took a 28-0 lead at the half on the backs of three seniors. Senior defensive end Logan Wiemann rushed for a threeyard touchdown. Senior running back Mosiah Saulala rushed for two touchdowns and senior Xavier Catano rushed for one touchdown. Running back Jake Enderle rushed for a 10-yard touchdown with the fourth quarter winding down with a failed two-point attempt. “Just a team win,” Live Oak coach Mike Gemo said. “Everybody got to play and all the seniors played and enjoyed their last game.”
— Shayna Rubin
SANTA TERESA 13, OVERFELT 0 >> Santa Teresa ended its shortened spring season with a home shutout win against Overfelt. Saints head coach Ajene Palmer said that his team played well throughout the game. “We had to fight a little lull, but then we closed it out,” Palmer said. “Keeping that zero on their side is always a good feeling.” Senior quarterback Gabriel Lopez scored the only touchdown of the game on a quarterback sneak. Palmer said Lopez got them down the field with his legs so he let him finish the drive off. Defensively, Palmer said there were too many standouts to name, but he singled out senior middle linebacker Gabriel Tapia, who had many key tackles and an interception. Santa Teresa ends its season at 2-2 while Overfelt finished 1-4.
— Brendan Cross