SAN JOSE - Senior Nolan Berry's one-yard scoring run on third and goal capped a 70-yard drive with five minutes left in the game, giving Westmont (7-1, 5-0 BVAL-ST) a key 10-0 win over a stubborn Leland (0-8, 0-5) team which was looking for a huge upset.
The Warriors proved that defense wins championships, blanking the Chargers and moving one step closer to the CCS playoffs.
It was a defensive struggle throughout the whole game. Leland did open the game with a promising offensive drive into Westmont territory, but had the ball stripped, and turned it over to Westmont. On the next series, after making two tackles in a row, Chargers linebacker junior Max McCash suffered a sprained shoulder joint, and was out for the rest of the game. McCash is the leader of the defense, leading the team with 54 tackles on the season. At the end of the first quarter, Berry broke through the Chargers’ defense for a 54-yard run, setting up shop for the Warriors inside the ten-yard line. However, Leland prevented Westmont from scoring a touchdown, and junior Cameron Rottler kicked a short field goal to put up the first points of the game, making it 3-0 in favor of Westmont.
The second and third quarters were all about the defense, with no points scored on either side, and things stayed that way until Berry capped the game-clinching drive. Berry, Westmont’s primary running back, had himself a day, with 20 rushes for 137 yards and a touchdown. However, Leland’s strong defensive efforts should not go unnoticed, as Westmont had averaged over 30 points a game coming into the season.
Leland running back, sophomore Kyle Anderson, was on fire this season with 885 yards and nine touchdowns coming into the game, but Westmont’s stifling defense stuffed him all night long, as Anderson only mustered up 61 rushing yards on the night.
Despite the loss, Leland head coach Mike Ward was impressed with his team’s efforts in the game.
“We were fantastic. You see an L in the paper tomorrow morning, but you see ten to nothing against a team that was averaging over thirty points a game, had beaten everybody they’d seen in conference, and some of them pretty handily, but that coach that I respect a lot said that we play everybody tough," Ward said. "We really do, and we don’t lay down, and that just shows the heart and the character of these kids, and the future is very bright. Our JV is 6-2, our varsity won’t lay down to anybody, and all but six kids are coming back next year, so you can’t do anything but look up. I want to get these seniors a win, I want to get two wins this year, and we've got two more chances, including Homecoming, which is big for the student body.”
On the other sideline, Westmont head coach Mark Kaanapu felt great about the win, but also wanted to credit the Chargers for their tough defensive effort.
“Any time that you’re playing a team on the road, and you’re a playing a traditional power like Leland that has a tradition of winning, and also a great reputation of playing really tough football, and tonight, they came at us, and they did some things to us defensively that made it really difficult for us to move the football, and you could just see it in the score. Ten to nothing.” Coach Kaanapu said. “It was a defensive struggle on both ends, and our kids rose to the challenge and our defense played really sound and solid football, and that’s why we came out with the victory tonight.”
Next week, the Chargers will look forward to carry the defensive momentum in order to earn their first win at home against struggling Ann Sobrato (1-6, 1-3). Meanwhile, the Warriors will be back at home facing Independence.
