SANTA CLARA – Pittsburg coach Victor Galli must’ve experienced flashbacks walking back and forth along the sideline Friday night at Wilcox.
The No. 3-ranked Pirates escaped with a 31-26 victory after recovering an onside kick in the final minute of a physical contest quite reminiscent of a matchup between the teams in 2019.
“This was almost like déjà vu the other way around,” said Galli, who trailed 31-14 in the fourth quarter at home two years ago before scoring a trio of unanswered touchdowns to pull off the improbable comeback.
In this similar scenario, Wilcox (1-3) found itself behind 31-13 after the first snap of the fourth quarter, a 3-yard TD run by Khamani Blakney on a keeper off the wildcat formation.
It was the only score out of the locker room for the Pirates (2-1), who led 24-13 at intermission but struggled to regain most momentum that produced points off each first-half possession.
Culprits included a holding call that negated a 61-yard TD run by Blakney, plus a pair of mishaps on fourth-and-one situations resulting in a turnover on downs plus a punt after a false start.
“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, let them hang around and they made plays,” Galli said. “It was scary.”
Wilcox coach Paul Rosa credits a change in mindset from his defense for the second-half turnaround.
“We just became a little bit more aggressive to everything,” Rosa said. “We were scared of their big-play ability in the beginning and once you’re down you just have to take some chances.”
It didn’t hurt that do-it-all senior Luther Glenn – after the Pirates faced their biggest deficit at the beginning of the fourth quarter – took the ensuing kickoff to the house.
The two-way player also finished with 86 yards on 21 carries, including a 1-yard TD to cap a 15-play, 70-yard drive comprised entirely of runs in the first half.
“We can’t simulate what they do in practice with our guys,” said Galli, whose team after the opening kickoff couldn’t stop a nine-play, 67-yard drive that also didn’t require a pass and concluded with a 17-yard touchdown by Wilcox junior Andrew Palacios. “Getting off the football the way they do and the quick-hitting run plays, they were grinding pretty good.”
Pittsburg also dominated in the trenches, meaning it didn’t need to rely solely on quarterback Jaden Rashada, a four-star recruit in the class of ‘23.
Charles Brown Jr. shined in the first half with eight carries for 118 yards, finding the end zone on a 32-yard burst in the first quarter. He also caught a 34-yard touchdown off a wheel route midway through the second quarter to make it 21-13 after a Wilcox botched a handoff.
“The fumble was big,” Galli said, “because we weren’t stopping them.”
Then, with Brown battling cramps, Blakney – who sat out this spring to concentrate on baseball – turned into next-man-up with 18 carries for 99 yards in the second half, not to mention a 36-yard catch to extend his TD drive.
“He’s a top baseball prospect and when this season is said and done there will be a lot of people throwing some football scholarships at him, too,” Galli said. “He’s a phenomenal prospect that can play any position.”
Rashada, who rushed out to SFO for a redeye flight in order to catch Saturday’s “White Out” game at Penn State, finished 12 of 21 for 194 yards and a pair of TDs – the aforementioned plus a 9-yard corner route to Rashid Williams.
But the bulk of the work belonged to his running backs.
“They make our offense unpredictable,” Rashada said.
Yet, going into its bye week, Pittsburg knows there’s still work to do.
“We’re not where we should be,” Rashada added. “But we definitely have the potential.”
Meanwhile, Wilcox amassed 193 yards on the ground in the first half, but could only muster 5 yards after intermission with a couple of false starts derailing drives.
“If we get behind the chains with penalties, it’s not our game, that’s not our style,” Rosa said.
It didn’t help that Pittsburg recorded a pair of interceptions courtesy of Robin Boyd Jr. and Zack Card.
Forced to open up late, Wilcox quarterback Armand Johnson connected with senior Charlie Carlson three times in the fourth quarter for 103 yards, producing a dramatic 45-yard TD with 61 seconds left.
It was a case of déjà vu, almost.
After a grueling preseason slate, the Chargers are set to open play in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division next week at Los Gatos.
“One, I think we learned that we can play with mostly everybody,” Rosa said. “We can hang, but the other thing is we’re also not good enough to overcome a bunch of mistakes. But that’s why we play these games. You wouldn’t learn that if you just won a bunch of games by 40. Hopefully it pays off for us.”
