It will be a clash of two programs who have each reached CIF title games in the past two seasons on Friday night when Wilcox makes the trek from Santa Clara to the hostile confines of Pirate Stadium at Pittsburg.
Conventional wisdom in the East Bay Area has always been that you need to be able to throw the ball in order to defeat the always-aggressive Pittsburg defense, and while senior Geremy McCollough certainly proved capable of that last week for Wilcox, the Chargers will still rely on their veer option run game, even without a healthy Paul M Rosa, who did not play last week against Leland due to a groin issue.
Linebacker Roan Poulivaati and defensive back Aaron Ah-Sing pulled double-duty last week, shouldering the load in the offensive backfield as well for Wilcox (2-1). Meanwhile, Pittsburg (3-1) got a big performance in the backfield last week from senior Avant Muldrow, who made the most of 11 carries, rushing for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Jerry Johnson also threw for three scores last week as the Pirates reeled off 56 straight points after spotting Bishop O'Dowd an early 10-point lead.
Both teams have won two straight games following losses to high-profile WCAL opponents. For Wilcox, a season-opening loss to Valley Christian has been followed by convincing wins over San Benito and Leland, while Pittsburg shook off a loss to Serra to rout Wooster-Reno and O'Dowd. The Pirates also beat St. Mary's-Stockton in their opening game.
This is the first ever meeting between these programs.
