SANTA CLARA – Wilcox could’ve folded after dropping four out of five games to open the season.
That seems like a distant memory.
The Chargers haven’t lost since the end of September. This includes Saturday night’s 35-21 victory over visiting Manteca to claim the NorCal Division 2-A title.
“That’s a testament to these guys hanging in there when we were down,” Wilcox coach Paul Rosa said. “Being 1-4 was rough at that time, but now it’s kind of worth it, right?”
The Chargers (10-4) ripped off a ninth-straight triumph with a tried-and-true formula of toughness in the trenches combined with an opportunistic defense.
The reward is a trip next weekend to Orange County for a noon matchup against Scripps Ranch of San Diego (13-1) in the CIF state final.
“It feels like I’m on top of the world right now,” said Wilcox senior Pace Nelson, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound defensive end who recorded two sacks.
It’s the second NorCal title in four seasons for the Chargers, who claimed a state 3-A championship in 2018 on the very same field.
“It never gets old, I’ll tell you that,” Rosa said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game and they proved how good they were, for sure. But it feels great to win a game like that, especially because that game could’ve gone either way a bunch of times.”
He added: “It was going to be one of those games of who can make the least amount of mistakes and who can make the big play when it counted.”
Wilcox was the first to blink.
Manteca (10-4) rode its three-star recruit, Blake Nichelson, early and often. The 6-2, 205-pound junior found the end zone from 5 yards barely two minutes into the game, then the Buffaloes recovered a muffed pooch kick.
Considering that Nichelson finished with 32 carries for 340 yards and three touchdowns, that could’ve spelled doom.
“I was not expecting him to be that big and run that hard,” Wilcox senior Luther K. Glenn said. “Shoutout to him and his team. He’s going to be great.”
Manteca nearly reached the red zone before a holding penalty forced it to turn to the air, resulting in an interception by Christopher Sargent, who wasn’t fooled on a trick play.
“That was huge, for sure,” Rosa said. “Because if they go up 14 it’s a totally different game.”
Wilcox didn’t allow any more points the rest of the first half, thanks to a third-down sack by Nelson that forced a punt and an interception by Mitchell Gonzalez.
That allowed the Chargers to hustle into intermission up 14-7 after touchdown runs by Andrew Palacios and Glenn of 19 and 4 yards, respectively.
“We responded after we got hit,” Nelson said. “They came out hard, we came out hard, but we know how to respond and that’s how you get the dub.”
That resilience was tested in the second half as Manteca refused to go away.
On the first snap of the second half, it took 10 seconds for Glenn to sprint 65 yards to pay dirt.
“I just keep telling people he’s different because he’s so strong and fast, but he’s also slippery,” Rosa said. “You can’t really see it until you watch him live, but he’s just so hard to tackle.”
Yet, the Buffaloes responded with a 67-yard TD run by Nichelson.
Wilcox quarterback Armand Johnson then engineered an 11-play drive that included a fourth-down completion and culminated with a 14-yard keeper to go up 28-14 with 3:46 left in the third quarter.
“He made some great throws tonight,” Rosa said of his QB. “And we knew we were going to throw the ball more. If they’re going to load the box, you’ve got to make some plays in the passing game.”
But after a touchback, Manteca handed it off once again to Nichelson. The result? An 80-yard touchdown to make it a one-possession game once again.
When Glenn was tackled for a 4-yard loss on the next snap, things didn’t look good. Except, immediately after Johnson dropped back and hit Glenn for an 84-yard touchdown pass over the middle during which he stiff-armed the last defender.
Glenn finished with 21 carries for 167 yards, plus four catches for 112 yards.
“Just shoutout to my coach and shoutout to my quarterback for seeing I was open,” Glenn said. “That stiff arm, I’ve been watching a lot of Derrick Henry and it just showed right now.”
Trailing 35-21 with 2:31 left in the third quarter, the Buffaloes embarked on a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ate up nearly seven minutes off the clock and ended in a turnover on downs.
Wilcox proceeded to run out of most of the remaining time, then celebrated its second NorCal title in four seasons.
“The road to state, that’s always been our goal,” Glenn said. “And now it’s happening.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com