‘Unexplainable’: Five third-quarter turnovers turn Valley Christian’s win over Wilcox into a rout

SAN JOSE In a decade as the head football coach at Wilcox Paul Rosa had never seen anything like it Mike Machado addressing his victorious Valley Christian organization afterward lost count Was it five turnovers they forced Six Seven Things got out of hand in a hurry Friday night as Valley Christian started its football season with a - rout of Wilcox in a lopsided episode of what is becoming a traditional Week meeting between South Bay powers The Warriors - entered the championship No in the Bay Area News Group s preseason rankings with the Chargers - one spot behind at No For a half it had all the makings of a marquee matchup Wilcox lost a fumble on its first play of the second half and Valley Christian was off to the races The teams went into the locker room separated by only a field goal but played the whole fourth quarter under a running clock The Warriors turned a - advantage at halftime into a - lead by the end of the third quarter Unexplainable Rosa explained Wilcox High quarterback Kai Imahara runs for yards before being tackled by Valley Christian High's June Serrano in the third quarter of their football meeting in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group The Chargers ran plays from scrimmage in the third quarter and turned the ball over five times Led by its powerful front seven Valley Christian converted each turnover into seven points a - margin in the quarter and finished the tournament with seven total takeaways In a field position match that changes everything Machado disclosed They can t establish field position because we re taking the ball away The good thing is offensively we finished Every time we got it we put points on the board Sophomore quarterback Rome Leota-Pritchard needed to complete only six of his passes to throw for a pair of touchdowns and yards He connected on a -yard strike to Lasavion Carr for their only touchdown of the first half and discovered Jesse D anna for a -yard amount that made it - midway through the third Senior running back Ekiah Mclemore carried the ball times for yards including twice into the end zone It wasn t until the second half that any other athlete took a handoff and when junior Divine John got his chance he broke away for a -yard touchdown scamper that made it - Valley Christian High quarterback Rome Leota-Pritchard looks for an open receiver in the second quarter of their football contest against Wilcox High in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group We set up one with the other that s football Machado noted of his offense which needed only plays from scrimmage to put up yards and six touchdowns If you can run the ball and they have to commit more guys to the box you have a chance to throw the ball And that s what we did The Warriors defense gave their offense the ball in Wilcox territory three times and scored six points themselves on a pick-six from sophomore linebacker Mike Synegal After their fumble to start the second half the Chargers started their next drive with three straight pass plays and Synegal took the third yards to the house After leaving last season s playoff opener injured junior quarterback Kai Imahara completed seven of his pass attempts for yards in his first contest back under center for the Chargers The bigger question for Rosa was how to replace his youngest son Brayden in their split-back veer system Wilcox High's Myles Cheney catches a pass for a gain of yards in the first quarter of their football tournament against Valley Christian High in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Without Brayden Rosa the Bay Area News Group s Santa Clara County participant of the year last season Wilcox employed a four-headed running meeting that manifested promise totaling yards but couldn t overcome its trouble holding onto the ball Imahara kept the ball times for yards and junior Elijah Vallejo carried it times for yards eventually scoring the Chargers only touchdown of the encounter on a fourth-down run from the -yard line with to play that cut the deficit to - Wilcox methodically marched down the field on on its first drive of the challenge running the ball times on plays while eating up almost the entire first quarter and opened a - lead But Leota-Pritchard determined Carr on the first play of the second quarter and the Warriors never trailed again Related Articles Duece Jones-Drew carries shorthanded De La Salle past Florida powerhouse Lakeland Pittsburg shows explosiveness and specific inexperience in season-opener vs Granite Bay Acalanes beats Mitty dedicates high school football season to late teammate This is for Amin High school football Friday s Week scores Saturday s schedule In historic home football championship Bellarmine conclusively ends long losing streak It was special They re inevitably really tough on defense We play them the first contest of the year ever year and it s invariably a dogfight But that s why we play them We want to see where we re at Rosa explained Unfortunately we saw where we were in the present day in the second half It wasn t good The win was Valley Christian s seventh in nine meetings between the teams since They won last year s Week matchup too but went on to finish - in the WCAL while Wilcox advanced to the -A NorCal finals To turn the ball over like that I know that s not who they are Machado revealed Our guys got the benefit of what was going on tonight and took advantage of it But going forward I think you ll see them like you inevitably do in a race for the championship of that league Valley Christian Head Coach Mike Machado talks to the band after winning their football match - against Wilcox High in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Wilcox High Head Coach Paul Rosa talks to the unit after their - loss to Valley Christian in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Valley Christian High's Ekiah McLemore runs for yards in the second quarter of their football contest against Wilcox High in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group After making a reception Valley Christian High's Riley McElvane gets past Wilcox High's Isiaiah Arevalos for the first down in the first quarter of their football contest in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Valley Christian High's Riley McElvane reaches for a pass in the second quarter of their football tournament against Wilcox High in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Valley Christian High's Colton Hider runs for yards before being tackled by Wilcox High's Isiaiah Arevalos Wilcox High's Nicolas Hernandez and Wilcox High's Santino Barragan in the second quarter of their football match in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Wilcox High Head Coach Paul Rosa watches the group warm up before their football meeting against Valley Christian in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Valley Christian High's Colton Hider right leads the company in the cheer after winning their football match - against Wilcox High in San Jose Calif on Friday Aug Doug Duran Bay Area News Group