Almaden Resident

Sports

Chargers, Mustangs win CCS football bid

By Dick Sparrer

The Leland football team had already wrapped up the championship in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, but the Chargers added an exclamation point to that accomplishment last week--and it was a rather big one, indeed.

The Chargers clinched a 7-0 league season with an impressive 38-22 win at Silver Creek last Thursday afternoon.

Everything was pushed up a day because of the Friday school holiday for Veteran's Day, so the Chargers had a short week to prepare for the final league test.

It didn't seem to hurt them one bit.

Leland jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half and never looked back on its way to claiming a key win as the Chargers head into the Central Coast Section playoffs.

Leland will be joined in the playoffs by its neighbor, Pioneer. Just a few hours after the Chargers were beating the Raiders, the Mustangs were nailing a clutch 35-24 victory down the freeway a ways at Piedmont Hills.

Pioneer needed the win to be sure of a place in the playoffs, and the Mustangs did it in impressive fashion--jumping out to a big lead, then holding on for the win over the Bucs.

Pioneer, now 5-5 for the year after a 4-3 finish for a third-place tie in the Mt. Hamilton Division, advances to the CCS Medium School Division playoffs. The Mustangs face a tough first-round test, visiting No. 2 seed Los Gatos (8-2) on Nov. 17, 7 p.m. The Wildcats finished second in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's De Anza Division. The winner will face the Mountain View (6-4)-Leigh (8-2) winner on Thanksgiving weekend.

The Chargers, meanwhile, will open the playoffs at home on Saturday. Leland, 8-2 for the year, will host Alisal (7-3) on Nov. 18, 1 p.m., in a first-round game. The winner will advance to a semifinal game a week later against the Piedmont Hills (5-5)-San Benito (8-2) winner. San Benito in the No. 1 seed in the division.

Leland earned its place in the playoffs by winning the championship in the Santa Teresa Division, matching its 2004 performance in the same circuit.

Adam Ondi ran for 216 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Chargers to the win over the Raiders.

Ricky Battipede gave the Chargers the early lead in the game with a 31-yard field goal, and Leland upped its cushion to 10-0 before the end of the first period when Lance Gemette raced 31 yards for a touchdown and Battipede kicked the extra point.

Leland went up 17-0 when Ondi scored his first touchdown on an 11-yard run in the second quarter, Battipede converting.

Silver Creek scored before the half to cut the lead to 17-7, but the Chargers answered right back in the third on another Ondi touchdown, this one a 16-yard run. Battipede's kick made it 24-7.

Creek scored again, but this time Leland answered with two scores. Gemette ran one in from three yards out and Josh Carroll scored on a 2-yard run. Battipede converted after each score, and the Chargers held a commanding 38-14 years.

The Raiders would score one last time, but it was too little too late for Silver Creek.

Later the same day, Pioneer claimed the huge victory at Piedmont Hills. The Pirates would have tied Leigh for second place with a win, and the Mustangs would have fallen into a fifth-place tie with Live Oak. Since Lincoln (4-3) does not compete in the CCS playoffs, instead keeping its Thanksgiving Day date with San Jose Academy in the Big Bone game, the fifth-place team in the Mt. Hamilton Division would have earned a playoff berth, but that would have gone to Live Oak by virtue of the Acorns' 15-14 win over Pioneer earlier this year.

The Mustangs, though, made all of that academic. Pioneer opened up a 28-12 lead by the third quarter, then held off a late surge by the Pirates to claim the win that clinched a playoff berth for the Mustangs.

After a scoreless first quarter, Shane Murray gave Pioneer the lead. Murray, who finished the night with 183 yards on 19 carries, scored on a 14-yard run and Kyle Burchfiel kicked the first of his five extra points.

Piedmont scored before Steven Lopes blasted in from 15 yards out for the Mustangs. Lopes had a big night with 97 yards on 16 tries.

The Pirates answered again to cut the lead to 14-12 at intermission, but Pioneer answered with two scores to open the second half. Lopes blasted over on a 1-yard run and Murray broke one 35 yards for a score to up the Mustangs' lead to 28-12.

The Bucs scored twice to trim the lead to 28-24, but then Marquee Heffner broke Piedmont's back with a 78-yard touchdown run. Heffner had a huge night in the win, carrying 16 times for 237 yards.

Quarterback Chris Foley ran the offense for the Mustangs, but with the running game going so well he only had to go to the air five times--completing passes to Lopes for 15 yards and Matt Montelongo for eight.

Burchfiel, along with kicking the five extra points that proved critical for the Mustangs, was the Pioneer defensive leader with 13 tackles and two pass interceptions. Joe Alise got in on 12 stops for the Mustangs and Jesse Herrera finished with 11. Alise also recovered a fumble.

Murray, Lopes and Jason Wetzel were in on eight tackles each in the win, Daniel Montesano had seven and Nico Pagan and David Figueroa had six apiece. Heffner, David Barnes, John Patten, Russell Marrone, Stanley White, Enrique Martinez and Jose Mendez were also in on tackes.

Patten and Wetzel each blocked Piedmont extra point attempts, and Montelongo ran back three kick-offs for 53 yards.