Los Gatos stopped a decisive two-point conversion against visiting Wilcox in overtime that resulted in a 21-20 victory Friday night. Los Gatos (8-4) advances to the championship game against St. Francis (7-5), a 41-7 winner against Aragon.
“I was really proud of our defense especially,” Los Gatos coach Butch Cattolico said. “I thought when Brent McCoy came up and stopped their quarterback short of the goal [on the two-point conversion] was one of the big plays.”
With the score tied 14-14, the game went into overtime where Los Gatos running back Joey Wood ran for a touchdown on the first play, putting the Wildcats up 21-14.
Following Wood's touchdown, Wilcox was faced with a 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line down 21-14. Junior Delshawn Mitchell responded with his third touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run and Chargers coach Dan Brown decided to go for the 2-point conversion and the win.
Wilcox quarterback Kenny Dipko, who ran the triple option so expertly all night, kept the ball this time and plunged through the middle, coming up just inches short of the goal line, and the Wildcats escaped with the CCS Divison II semifinal victory.
A fumble recovery on Wilcox's 19-yard line by Los Gatos linebacker Teva Brender allowed the Wildcats to eventually tie the game late. Facing a third-and-10 from the 19, Wildcat quarterback Nick Bawden hit wide receiver Kyle Kevorkian on a slant and the senior made a spectacular catch, wedging the ball through his legs to take the ball down to the 3. Wood scored two plays later on a one-yard dive and Logan Chapman's extra point made it 14-14 with 1:42 left. Wilcox had a chance to win in regulation with a 47-yard field goal, but the attempt came up just short and the game went into OT.
“Our defense came up huge. It helped us out of many situations," Chapman said. "There were so many turnovers and they provided a lot of support for us.”
A win looked promising for Wilcox however in the third quarter with an explosive 78-yard touchdown reception by Mitchell along with a dive for a two-point conversion that upped the score to 14-7 with 5:10 left to go. It was the second passing connection for the normally run-dominant Chargers, as Mitchell got open in the left seam on both occasions.
The first half of the game -- just like the second half -- was close, with both teams only scoring once. Wilcox opened the first half with an impressive 34-yard touchdown run by Mitchell. Although Los Gatos was able to block the PAT, Wilcox took the lead with 5:37 on the clock, 6-0. The Wildcats came back with a 1-yard touchdown run by Bawden, giving Los Gatos a 7-6 lead at halftime.
