All the talk about the new competitive equity system through which the Milpitas Trojans have advanced to the CIF Division 5-A Championship Game has ignored one thing: They’ve won four straight thrilling games to get there.
As it turned out, it seems the goals of the competitive equity system have been met as all four of the playoff games the Trojans have played have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including back-to-back overtime wins in the CCS Division IV semifinals and championship. Last week, they followed it up with a trip to Fresno County, returning home with their second NorCal title in program history after a 26-19 defeat of Caruthers.
For all the crazy twists and turns the games have taken, such as a missed extra point and a stop on a two-point conversion deciding games in consecutive weeks, the one constant for Milpitas (8-6) has been Josue Torres. While head coach Kelly King has had all sorts of outstanding players over his years leading the team, it would be hard to find a more durable workhorse than Torres, who ran 40 times for 331 yards in the section championship victory over Branham.
The Reseda Regents, who will take the field as visitors on Saturday night, have a much more varied attack. Sophomore running back Kaden Jones has averaged 5.8 yards per carry on the season, rushing for a season-high 127 yards in a Sept. 20 win over Canoga Park, but it’s the ability to spread the ball out through the air that has made Reseda (11-3) a potent offensive team. Quarterback Trent Butler has distributed the ball well between his top three targets in Mario Martinez (47 catches-767 yards), Dranel Rhodes (35-959) and sophomore Jason Wagner Jr. (34-510). Wagner Jr. has been the possession receiver, Rhodes has been the deep threat and Martinez has done a little bit of everything.
