SANTA CLARA – The Central Coast Section Division II football semifinal between St. Ignatius and host Wilcox entered the final quarter with the outcome in doubt.
Who was going to make a game-winning play?
Enter Andrew Palacios.
The junior running back saw a slight opening on the left side as he took a handoff behind the line of scrimmage. He bolted through the hole and sprinted 74 yards for the decisive touchdown in a 20-13 Wilcox victory.
“My line blocked great right there, it was open, and I just took off,” Palacios said about the play that occurred with 8 minutes, 17 seconds left. “I just tried to go as fast as I could to get the touchdown.”
“The backer jumped a different way for the first time, and (Palacios) made a really good cut,” Wilcox coach Paul Rosa said. “Our center (Angelo De Los Santos) made a great block, cutting the other backer off, which sprung (Palacios).
“He’s one of the harder workers that I’ve ever had as a coach. He’s in the weight room all the time,” said Rosa about Palacios.
Wilcox (8-4), the No. 3 seed, will play No. 4 seed Menlo in the Division II championship game next week. Menlo defeated No. 1 seed San Benito 45-35 on Friday night.
The Chargers had a hard time finding any consistency offensively Friday night as they committed four turnovers (including three fumbles lost). But the Wilcox defense shut out St. Ignatius after the 4:32 mark of the second quarter and limited the Wildcats (5-7) to 26 total yards rushing in the game.
“Our defense stepped up big-time,” Rosa said. “I was proud of our guys, how they just hung in there and kept playing even when bad things were happening.”
At the beginning of the game, it looked as if Wilcox could build a big lead. After a three-and-out by St. Ignatius (which included a sack by Wilcox’s Aliejah Diaz), the Chargers’ Luther Glenn took his team’s first offensive play 42 yards for a touchdown. Glenn and Palacios both topped 100 yards rushing in the game (Palacios had a game-high 109, Glenn had an even 100).
But Wilcox committed its first turnover when a bouncing punt hit a Chargers’ player in the back and St. Ignatius recovered the ball. The Wildcats’ passing attack then ramped up, and the new drive ended with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Mac McAndrews to Shane Crispen. But a high snap on the PAT resulted in a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, and Wilcox held onto a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Wilcox took a 13-6 advantage in the second quarter when quarterback Armand Johnson fooled the defense with a great fake handoff before taking the ball himself 36 yards into the end zone. But the PAT kick hit the right crossbar.
St. Ignatius didn’t take long to tie the score. McAndrews sent a long pass down the left sideline to Crispen, who hauled it in and sprinted for a 78-yard touchdown with 4:32 remaining in the half.
The third quarter saw the teams trade interceptions on the first two drives of the half, then St. Ignatius’ Conor Lund recovered a fumble on Wilcox’s next possession. A pair of three-and-outs followed in the scoreless period.
But after a St. Ignatius 26-yard field goal attempt was wide left early in the fourth quarter, Palacios’ touchdown run broke the tie. Another pair of three-and-outs followed before St. Ignatius began its final drive of the game.
McAndrews helped produce two first downs for the Wildcats, one with his arm and one with his legs, as St. Ignatius approached midfield with less than two minutes remaining in the game. But Wilcox’s Jeramiah Lewis produced a huge sack with 1:49 to go, forcing a third-and-long situation. Two incompletions sealed the Wildcats’ fate.
Crispen caught four passes for a game-high 111 yards in the game. McAndrews completed 15 of his 24 pass attempts for 233 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Source: www.mercurynews.com