MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - In a battle of run-first offenses, Wilcox and St. Francis combined for 11 rushing touchdowns and 78 points. The stronger team came out on top, however, as junior Darrell Page led his team with five rushing touchdowns in St. Francis’ 51-27 win over Wilcox in the opening round of the CCS Open Division II playoffs.
The last team the teams met was during the second round 2015 Open Division II playoffs, where St. Francis junior Cyrus Habibi-Likio ran for 258 total yards and four touchdowns. On Friday night, Page ran for 199 yards and five scores, matching the St. Francis record for most touchdowns scored by a single player in a game and moving him into second place on the team’s list for most rushing yards in a season with 1,676 yards.
The Lancers’ first drive started – and ended – with a 45-yard Page run to put the home team ahead 7-0 at 9:27 of the first quarter. The Chargers were unable to respond on offense, but a defensive line led by senior Michael Dinwiddie, juniors Jacob Alvarado and Robert Padilla, and sophomore Roan Poulivaati held the Lancers to a field goal at 4:29. Quarterback David Hernandez brought the Chargers to midfield at the end of the quarter, but a sack by Joshua Pakola and Opeti Fangupo forced the visiting team to punt to end the quarter.
Ten seconds into the quarter, Lancer quarterback Reed Vettel completed a 36-yard pass to Evan Williams to bring the team across midfield. At 10:11, coach Greg Calcagno opted to gamble on 4th-and-three at the Chargers 39, and a completed pass to Pakola kept the offense moving.
“We knew coming out of the gates that the Chargers had nothing to lose,” said Williams. “We just wanted to keep our momentum going and take control of the game.”
Following passes to Maurice Wilmer II and Lucas Andrighetto, Page would end the drive on a five-yard touchdown run at 7:40 in the second quarter. On the ensuing Chargers possession, head coach Paul Rosa found his offense to be stuck within his own 30 on fourth-and-one. Nonetheless, Rosa called timeout to devise a trick play that sent running back Gabe Herrera off on a 72-yard touchdown run, with six minutes remaining in the first half.
“We were really shocked by the level of play coming out of the Lancers early,” said Rosa. “But I was proud to see our guys respond.”
The Lancers came back with a methodical approach, with passes to Williams and Wilmer and runs by Page marching St. Francis back into the red zone. Page would hammer home his third touchdown run on the night 3:57 left before halftime, putting the Lancers ahead 24-7. St. Francis would regain possession at its own 14 with just over two minutes to play in the half, and Page’s fourth touchdown run of the night gave the Lancers a 31-7 lead at the end of the half.
Quarterback Reed Vettel ended the game passing for 188 yards on 11 completions and 14 attempts; the Lancers would not pass for the entirety of the second half. Junior Evan Williams gained 106 yards on four receptions.
The Chargers combined for 113 total yards in the first half, with the majority coming off of Herrera’s 72-yard run in the middle of the second quarter.
At the start of the third, however, the Chargers began to find their rhythm. Poulivaati recovered a Lancer fumble at midfield, and a 45-yard pass from Hernandez to Ryan Cooper Jr. brought the Chargers to the SF 2. The younger Rosa would finish the drive on a four-yard touchdown run to bring the Chargers closer at 31-14. The Lancers would reply with an 80-yard drive, during which Page would run for the first 20 yards and finish the drive with a 60-yard sprint for his fifth touchdown of the night.
“I think I definitely filled my role, but everyone else did too," Page said. "I gotta give it to my line, give it to our fullbacks Opeti [Fangupo] and Nick [Robinson], give it to our defense who put us in this position, juniors Malik Johnson and Evan Williams on the pass coverage and sophomore Mose Vavao on the line, these are just a few of the guys who are up-and-coming, these are the guys who will keep our team moving forward.”
Towards the end of the third quarter, a turnover on downs gave the Lancers a short field and set up a touchdown run for Nick Robinson at 3:13. A pass interference call on a deep Chargers lob late in the quarter brought the ball to the SF 4, and a run by Herrera would chip away at the Lancer lead as they trailed 45-20 at the end of the third quarter.
At the start of the fourth quarter, junior Thomas Whitenight began his night with an 80-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 51-20; he would end the night with 120 rushing yards on 4 carries. Herrera would tack on a 25-yard touchdown run to inch the Chargers closer at 51-27, but the score would remain until the end of the game.
St. Francis ended the night with 346 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. Wilcox would post 357 total yards, with Hernandez passing for 76 yards on 7 completions and 10 attempts, and 281 yards gained and four touchdowns on the rush (Herrera 168-15 3 TD, Rosa 93-12 1 TD, Hernandez 17-11).
St. Francis will move on to the second round of the CCS Open Division II playoffs as they play either Westmont or Aragon on the road next week.
“To all those who said I made history, I say we all made history,” said Page. “But our story isn’t over yet.”
