“Do you believe in miracles?…Yes!”
The iconic call of the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team might be a bit of a stretch as an analogy to the 2024 Wilcox Chargers football team. For one thing, the No. 1 seed Chargers were certainly not underdogs heading into Saturday’s CCS Championship Game against No. 7 seed Palma. However, the way Wilcox looked going into halftime, struggling on both sides of the ball and trailing 20-7, they quite simply looked just as overmatched as Team USA was supposed to look against the USSR.
Not only was Palma up 13, but they were set to receive the second half kickoff. The mood in the Chargers supporting section at halftime was understandably somber.
After a failed onside kick attempt to start the half, the only logical thought was that the score was soon to be 27-7 Palma.
But then all of a sudden, despite looking dead in the water, Wilcox came to life.
The Chargers defensive line stuffed Palma on both third, and fourth and one. Taking over at their own 47, the Chargers offense immediately drove down and scored. Brayden Rosa took the snap from under center, faked a handoff and then broke through the line into the second level of the defense, cut to the outside, shedding tackler after tackler as he made his way down the sideline. Rosa would finally get tackled at the 4-yard line. One play later sophomore Elijah Vallejo was into the endzone, cutting the deficit to six at 20-14.
The Chargers defense then forced a quick three and out, getting the ball back to the offense. After a nice 20-yard punt return from Rosa, the senior then needed just one more touch of the ball to take it 46-yards to the house and a 21-20 lead.
Still just midway through the third quarter, the Wilcox defense electrified the crowd again. A leaping interception by cornerback Jeremiah Arevalos kept the momentum on the Chargers sideline. The Wilcox offense would take over and methodically march down the field. Vallejo capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run, increasing the lead to 28-20.
Palma’s ensuing drive would carry over into the fourth quarter and end with another interception by Arevalos. Now midway through the fourth quarter, Wilcox seemed to have the game secure. Unfortunately for Chargers fans the offense stalled and their punt attempt saw the snap go flying over the punter’s head and into the endzone. The Chieftains recovered for a touchdown. A two-point conversion pass attempt would be broken up, by who else, but Brayden Rosa, keeping the Chargers lead intact at 28-26.
With less than half a quarter remaining in the game, the Chargers offense put the nail in the Palma coffin with one of their patented, systematic drives, capped off with Rosa’s second touchdown of the game, a fourth-and-goal play from the one-yard line with 51 seconds remaining. A successful extra point put the Chargers up two scores at 35-26 and the championship was theirs to celebrate.
“It feels great, it never gets old obviously,” said Wilcox Head Coach Paul Rosa with a big smile when asked how it feels to be a champion again. “[Championships] are hard to get, you have to win three games against three really good teams and we had some major adversity, so I tip my cap to all the guys that stepped up. It’s not just the 22 starters, it’s everybody.”