The early-season matchup between East San Jose neighbors Evergreen Valley and Independence had typically been a foregone conclusion. The teams had met in each of the last four years, and save for a close call in 2016, the 76ers have dominated the rivalry, including a 43-0 beatdown last year.
That changed in the blink of an eye on Friday as the Cougars pulled out a 16-8 road win, taking a two-score lead into halftime and holding on late.
“Evergreen Valley doesn’t have much of a football culture, if any at all,” second-year head coach Gabe Resendez said. “This win has kids around the halls talking about our program, and it’s a testament to the work we’ve put in since January.”
It was a landmark victory for a program that had won four games in each of the past two years, which had been a major step forward. Before back-to-back 4-6 seasons, the Cougars hadn’t even won three games since a six-win campaign since 2012. The last time Evergreen Valley reached the playoffs was 2004, when the team was quickly bounced in the first round by a Woodside team quarterbacked by Julian Edelman.
Not only did the Cougars send shockwaves around the 408 area code with the win, they did it with two linemen out injured. Jordan Pitt had 114 all-purpose yards before suffering an injury of his own, breaking his arm. At this point, the Cougars don’t know if his injury will be season-ending, but the earliest possible window he could be back on the field would be late October.
As valuable as Pitt was offensively, it was the defense that wrote the script for Evergreen Valley in the victory. Andy Huoch had eight tackles and Nick Ramirez recovered a fumble to go with three sacks in a collective effort to shut down an offense that had averaged 39.3 points per game last year. Yes, the 76ers graduated nearly all of their offensive weapons from last year, but Independence has been one of the more consistent programs in San Jose for decades while Evergreen Valley usually isn’t even an afterthought.
Sleeping giant awakened in Santa Cruz?
With a six-win season as the high-water mark this decade and just one playoff appearance since winning a section title in 2007, the Santa Cruz football program has taken a backseat while the school has flourished across other sports. A season-opening win over Gilroy, a team two divisions higher in the PCAL, may be a sign that the Cardinals are back.
Dillon Danner threw for two touchdowns as Santa Cruz took down a Mustang team that had delivered a fierce beating when the teams clashed in the 2017 postseason, the only playoff game the Cardinals have competed in this decade. While it’s just one game, and though early-season games can certainly be fluky, there’s a very real possibility that a program that’s produced NFLers such as Super Bowl champion Brendon Ayanbadejo may be rearing for a return to its glory days.
Explosive Mitty turning heads
It was widely speculated that Mitty would be much stronger than last year’s outfit with a healthy Shamir Bey back on the field, allowing Reymello Murphy to return to wide receiver, but few could have expected the Monarchs to drop 47 points on a defensive-minded Palma program to open the season. In recent years, Mitty’s had stellar playmakers, but a lack of size in the trenches has proven fatal against the top teams in the WCAL. A strong showing this week against Marin Catholic, led by USC-bound defensive tackle Jamar Sekona, would give reason to believe the Monarchs have both the high-flying speedsters and the strong linemen needed to fight for a title in the Bay Area’s most prestigious league.