SANTA CLARA — Maulidi Saleh started to his left and rapidly progressed upfield on the kick return. As defenders began to cut off his access to the sideline, Saleh cut back across the field and followed a convoy of black-and-gold blockers. After 70 yards of running and juking and sprinting, the junior was in the endzone and Wilcox had another touchdown in their 38-14 win over Hollister.
“I saw an open hole and used my speed and leverage, and my mind was all mixed up and wondering, ‘Where should I go?’” Saleh said. “Luckily, I found the right hole to go through and I got a touchdown out of it.”
Those splashy plays by Saleh punctuated what was otherwise a very methodical veer attack by the Chargers. Outside of a 30-yard run by Andrew Palacios, most of his 11 first-half carries went for three, four or five yards and kept the clock and chains rolling. His score on the first drive came behind his left guard and punched in a one-yard score.
Hollister had early success throwing short passes to the speedy and elusive Isaiha Molina, who could rack up yards in open space and finished the game with 89 yards on eight receptions. Most of his yardage came after the Haybalers’ quarterback faked Abel Galindo faked a handoff and rolled to one side of the field or the other.
“If you don’t get there on the run, you’re not gonna be able to stop the run, but if you oversell on that, you’re gonna be late to the boot,” Wilcox coach Paul Rosa said about Hollister’s play-action attack. “That’s how the play is designed and Hollister does a really good job of running it.”
But the lack of a running game and some untimely fumbles kept the Haybalers out of the endzone. Part of that should be credited to Charger defensive linemen like Frankie Togai and Anas Ahmed, two ruthless defenders who took up residence in the visiting backfield. The Chargers held the Haybalers’ top two rushers to under 50 total yards on a combined 19 carries.
Sandwiched in-between Palacios’ touchdown and Saleh’s punt return score was a 54-yard bomb from Armand Johnson to Saleh. The junior receiver caught the lofted pass in stride and then shook off the trailing tackler to get into the endzone. Wilcox finally got on the board with a half-minute left in the half, when they turned a Chargers fumble into a one-yard touchdown by Michael Reyes.
The third quarter put any doubts as to who the victor would be. After giving up that one score, the Wilcox offense got it right back early in the third with a play action pass to Ri’yon Cooper for a 30-yard touchdown.
“We knew that we were only hurting ourselves in that first half,” Palacios said. “We knew that if we didn’t make mistakes in the second half, we’d come out on top.”
When Hollister tried to answer, an alert 15 made a play on the Baler’s favorite rollout play and snatched an interception in the flat. He didn’t stop running until he had traversed 52 yards of open grass for a touchdown and a 35-7 lead. Joining in the pick-fest was the coach’s son Brayden Rosa, who ended another Hollister drive with an athletic play in space.
After senior kicker Anthan Wingate hit an impressive 40-yard field goal, both offenses began to run the clock down in a game that was basically over with a quarter to go. The offensive lines made it possible, as Wilcox’s blockers in particular opened holes almost at will. Justin Hylkema at left tackle was a notable standout.
Hollister’s speedy Diego Villapando churned out yards in his fourth quarter action, while Palacios was effectively spelled by a number of Wilcox ball-carriers. Whether it be Elijah Walker, who ended with 52 yards, or any of the other backs, the Wilcox offense pounded on to the tune of around 190 rushing yards.
The Chargers will try to repeat or better their performance next week at Leland, while Hollister will play their first home game against Valley Christian of the WCAL.
Source: www.mercurynews.com