M-A exacts revenge against Milpitas

No. 2-seed M-A (9-2 overall) exacted its revenge Saturday at Salinas High School, picking up where it left off amid its apparent season of destiny after a two-week layoff, taking down No. 7 Milpitas 45-28. It marks the second time in three years the Bears have eliminated the Trojans (6-5) from the CCS playoffs.

“This was a revenge game,” M-A quarterback Jack Alexander said. “They knocked us out last year. So, this win is a little bit of payback.”

It wasn’t always pretty. In fact, M-A squandered opportunity after opportunity through the first half, including the Trojans wriggling out of two offensive possessions started inside their own 1-yard line.

It didn’t help M-A racked up 145 yards in penalties throughout, including a roughing the passing penalty — in Milpitas’ end zone — that nullified a pick-6 by Bears cornerback Justin Anderson on the Trojans’ first possession of the night.

But this all proceeded a brilliant opening possession by M-A, during which Alexander commanded four straight pass plays, connecting for completions of 11, 24, 12 and 20 yards, to lead the Bears on a game-opening four-play, 62-yard scoring march.

“We wanted to throw the ball early to try to get them out of the box,” M-A head coach Adhir Ravipati said. “We wanted to stretch them sideline to sideline and attack them underneath, and we were able to do that.”

All four completions were on slant plays, culminating in a 20-yard strike to sophomore Troy Franklin who got a step up the left side in a 1-on-1 matchup and hauled in a sharp over the shoulder strike.

“The wide receivers ran beautiful routes and I hit them in stride,” Alexander said. “That (scoring pass) wasn’t even a long throw, it was a slant. But that’s the beauty of our offense.”

The tempo didn’t persevere, but Alexander’s precision was still apparent. The junior was 12-of-19 passing for 225 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

Each of his four scoring passes were to different targets, as he added a 68-yard touchdown to Anderson with 4:16 remaining in the first quarter to up the lead to 14-0; a 9-yard strike to Jake Wang with 4:41 left in the opening half to put the lead at 21-7 going into the break; and a 26-yard screen to senior Jaeden Barker with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter to go up 35-14.

M-A outgained Milpitas 396-245 in total yards. When the Bears’ defensive second team entered to start the fourth quarter, the Trojans had 157 offensive yards.

“Overall, I was happy with the way we played,” Ravipati said. “Defensively we played really well, and offensively we were able to control the line of scrimmage.”

What was on track to turn into a laugher got bogged down near the end of the first quarter with an outbreak of M-A miscues. With the Bears leading 14-0, Milpitas took over at its own 38. What looked to be a harmless three-and-out saw the resulting punt nullified on a flag for roughing the kicker. The penalty advanced Milpitas to midfield, where it was forced to punt again four plays later.

M-A took over at its own 12, but Alexander was intercepted on first-down by junior Josue Torres. Deep in M-A territory, Milpitas came up short on third-and-8 from the 20, but a Bears defensive holding penalty moved the chains. Three plays later, Trojans quarterback Jacob Vargas scored on a 1-yard sneak to cut the lead to 14-7.

The Bears responded with a big answer, as Anderson returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards to the Miplitas 3. On the Bears’ next play, though, Barker coughed up the ball, giving the Trojans possession inside their own 1. Consecutive offside penalties by M-A moved the ball to the 10 before Milpitas had to punt. The Bears took over at their own 40 and used nine plays to score on another Alexander TD pass, making it 21-7 at the half.

While the game maintained its off-kilter tempo through the second half, M-A scored on each of its first four possession following the break. A Milpitas three-and-out put M-A at the Trojans’ 44, and a 39-yard rush by running back Deston Hawkins set up a 1-yard score by the senior two plays later.

An interception by M-A sophomore Skyler Thomas gave the Bears back possession at their own 13. M-A faced just one third-down on the 10-play drive, and turned that third-and-goal from the 26 into a screen from Alexander to Barker that developed into a score for a 35-7 lead.

Milpitas returned the ensuing kickoff for a score as senior Jacob Romero went 86 yards to the end zone. But M-A scored twice more in the fourth quarter, starting with Barker highlighting a five-play drive with a 46-yard run to the Milpitas 8, setting up Hawkins for an 8-yard scoring run.

M-A nabbed another interception on the following drive, as senior Malik Johnson grabbed his first pick of the year near midfield. The senior transfer now has two career interceptions, including one last year as a junior at St. Francis.

“Loved it,” Johnson said. “That was my first interception. It was fantastic.”

Bears kicker Anthony Waller capped M-A’s scoring by drilling a 45-yard field goal with 5:03 remaining in regulation.

Milpitas added two touchdowns inside the final 2:20, with Romero scoring on a 1-yard blast to make it 45-21. Then after the Trojans recovered on onside kick, junior backup quarterback Jovin Beccerra hit senior Israel Gil with a 35-yard scoring pass on a gem of a spiral.

Still, M-A’s stern defensive front of senior defensive tackle Noa Ngala, and senior defensive ends Ioane Masuisui and David Tafuna were in the Milpitas backfield all night long.

“We felt like if we stopped them up front, the game was ours,” Johnson said. “And we were able to do that.”

With the win, M-A now advances to the Open Division I semifinals to face No. 3 Palo Alto. Venue, date and start time are yet to be determined.