On a rainy Friday night in South San Jose, the Leland football team's running game was shut down by the Aragon defense as the visiting Dons posted a 35-21 win in the first round of the CCS Division II playoffs. The Aragon defense, led by defensive lineman David Manoa, who was credited with 21 tackles, put a stop to the Charger offense for most of the game.
With the victory, the fifth-seeded Dons (8-3) move on to face top-seeded St. Francis, while the season ends for the fourth-seeded Chargers (6-5).
“I am extremely proud and extremely happy," Aragon coach Steve Sell said. "This was a quality win against a quality team."
The strength of Aragon’s offensive and defensive lines became apparent early on as the Dons scored a touchdown just four minutes into the game on a 20-yard run by Marcel Jackson. Leland tried to establish a running attack behind star seniors Jack Pizzo and Kenny Portera, but the defensive line, led by Manoa, was more than up to the task.
“Our whole defensive line really stepped it up," Aragon running back Rodolfo Hernandez said, "and Manoa definitely played a huge role in that."
The Chargers broke through with Portera catching a stellar 26-yard pass from quarterback Matt McLaughlin that set up a one-yard touchdown run by the senior tailback to make it 7-7. However, the Dons proved to be equally effective on offense as they were on defense, handing off the ball to their own star running back Kyle Kaye, who after three separate attempts and three different plays, managed to run the ball into the end zone from five yards out with 4:07 left in the first half to put Aragon back on top, 14-7.
Kaye added to the lead with a 25-yard touchdown reception from junior quarterback Nat Blood to make it 21-7 with 3:49 left in the third quarter as the Aragon defense continued to shut Leland down.
“We were intense throughout and started to get hot at just the right time,” Manoa said of the Aragon defensive line.
J.D. Elzie scored both of his touchdowns in the second half, as he raced 80 yards for a score to increase the lead to 28-7 with 2:13 left in the third quarter.
Leland made a game of it in the fourth quarter as Portera scored the second of his two touchdowns on an 18-yard run to bring Leland to within 28-14. Then after Leland stopped Aragon, McLaughlin connected with Portera on a five-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 28-21 with 6:17 to play.
However, the Aragon defense once again stepped up to the challenge, and a 17-yard touchdown pass from Blood to Elzie with 1:45 sealed the victory for the Dons.
The loss marks the end of a successful season for the Chargers, who began the season 0-2 but won six of their next seven games to seize control of second place in the challenging BVAL-Mount Hamilton Division.
“The loss is disappointing, but it is still one of the most fun seasons I have played in the four years I have played football,” Leland OL Cal Cannestra said.
