Friday night’s epic victory over the Los Gatos Wildcats sent the Wilcox Chargers sideline and grandstands into a frenzy. Chargers quarterback Kai Imahara took one final kneel down right as the rain started to fall, but nothing was going to dampen the celebration on this night. Last season the Chargers lost twice to Los Gatos, including a 49-14 thumping in the playoffs. The Chargers were hungry for payback and they got it done with a 19-14 victory.
Wilcox scored first as they marched down the field, an 80-yard, 14-play drive finished off by a 9-yard touchdown run by Brayden Rosa. The senior two-way star would finish the night with an unbelievable game, carrying the ball 23 times for 128 yards and all three touchdowns.
While Rosa will get the majority of the accolades in this one, and rightfully so, the run-dominant offense also featured two incredibly impressive plays in the passing game that were critical completions.
On the opening possession, Imahara found his receiver Justin Forster on a deep out route on a second-and-eight play that took the ball from the Wilcox 43 down to the Los Gatos 28. It was yet another tremendous throw by Imahara rolling hard to his left and torquing against his body to deliver a perfect throw to Forster who had just a half step on his defender.
“Kai is just that guy, he’s worked hard all year for this,” said Forster on Imahara. “He’s an amazing quarterback.”
Late in this game, it looked as if the Chargers would be able to seal the win without needing their quarterback to throw. Leading 13-7, Wilcox took possession of the ball and controlled it for eight minutes before scoring another touchdown, going up 19-7 with just 5:03 left on the clock. The Wilcox ground game, led by Rosa, but featuring Imahara and Elijah Vallejo, was seemingly picking up 7-10 yard chunks every carry.
“It was great,” said Wilcox left tackle Jacob Smith on how fun that drive was to block. “That’s what our offense is all about. Shoutout to the rest of the O-line. It’s not just one side, it’s a five-person thing. Our backs help us out. They work, they understand how to read our blocks.”
“We talk about doing things like that all the time, but they are really hard to do, especially against a good team,” remarked Wilcox Head Coach Paul Rosa on that dominant drive. “Especially not making a mistake, any time you have a penalty or put the ball on the ground, it will mess that up.”
Even with all that success on the ground, the Chargers would end up needing one more big completion. After Los Gatos managed to score quickly to pull back within five, a false start penalty on Wilcox impeded their ability to run out the clock. Facing a fourth-and-six situation near midfield, Rosa and the Chargers decided against punting the ball away with a little over two minutes remaining and instead went for the win.
Imahara took the snap from center, dropped back and hit receiver Semaj Clark down the seam for a 30-yard gain that clinched the victory. Clark had a defender draped all over him but still managed to keep possession as he was tackled.
“Just hold onto the ball,” laughed Clark when asked what was going through his mind as he was being tackled. “Don’t let them hit it out.”
Clark secured the catch and the Chargers secured the League Title.