SAN JOSE – After two straight successful comebacks against higher-seeded opponents, Christopher’s playoff run came to an end in the Central Coast Section Division II championship game Saturday night.
The eighth-seeded Cougars were stymied by an outstanding defensive effort and lost to second-seeded Soquel 28-0 at San Jose City College.
“We’ve faced Live Oak, Mitty, Menlo. We’ve faced some great football teams all year. This, by far and away, is the best football team we’ve seen,” said Christopher coach Darren Yafai, who is stepping down after three seasons as the Cougars’ coach. “We’ve never seen … as ferocious a pass rush. They don’t need to blitz at all. Their front four is incredible.”
The Knights (11-2) sacked Christopher quarterback Jaxen Robinson four times and limited the Cougars (11-2) to 102 total yards. They also caused three turnovers.
Soquel coach Dwight Lowery pointed out his defense’s play, as his team won the first CCS football title in school history.
“There was a lot of times, especially in the first half, when we were shooting ourselves in the foot offensively,” said Lowery, whose squad held a 7-0 halftime lead. “Our defense has just responded all year long. We’ve got a lot of talent, we’ve got guys that play fast, we’ve got guys that can make plays all three levels, we’ve got good leadership.”
The first half was dominated by the defenses; Soquel had a slim yardage lead 77-55. “Our defense stiffened,” said Yafai about the first half.
The only score before halftime was a 14-yard touchdown run by Braylon Noble with 3 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first quarter. But on the first drive of the second half, Soquel’s Jordan McCord produced perhaps the key play of the game, a 67-yard touchdown run.
“The killer was that big long run,” Yafai said.
Lowery was very aware of what Christopher had achieved in the last two weeks. In the first round against No. 1 seed Archbishop Mitty, Christopher came back from a nine-point deficit in the last half of the fourth quarter to win 33-28. In the semifinals against No. 5 Menlo, Christopher rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to win 21-17.
“We knew that they were a team that wasn’t going to give up,” Lowery said. “They play well for their coach, they play well for each other.”
Soquel lengthened its lead to three touchdowns on another rushing score by Noble, this time for 30 yards with 2:54 left in the third quarter. The final touchdown was a 1-yard run by Tyreis Lundy with 7:02 remaining in the game. The Knights also helped themselves with no turnovers in the game.
William Rizqallah had a good rushing game for Christopher with a team-high 61 yards on 12 carries. Lundy led all ballcarriers with 68 yards.
Defensively, the Cougars’ Aaron Davis-Beckford and Rizqallah had sacks in the game.
Christopher started the season with nine straight wins before a 28-24 loss to Live Oak on Nov. 3. But the Cougars then charged through the playoffs to make their first CCS title game since 2021.
In 2017, Christopher won the Division IV championship.
Source: www.mercurynews.com