M-A rallies for CCS title

The Central Coast Section Open Division I championship game Friday night at Independence High School didn’t start the way Menlo-Atherton (11-2 overall) drew it up. Entering as the No. 2 seed, falling behind by 21 points to No. 1 Wilcox (12-1) in the opening 13 minutes seemed like a death knell.

Then the M-A Bears — amid a mystical season where they seem to find an answer to every situation — came roaring back to a 33-28 victory to capture their second CCS Open Division I title in three years.

The secret to their success?

“Faith,” Heimuli said. “That’s what we had. Coming in, we knew we were the underdog. Our team came out and not only played for four quarters, we played for the entire 48 minutes.”

There was a sense of the miraculous as well, as the Bears — trailing 28-14 at the half — turned to freshman quarterback Matt MacLeod in the second half. MacLeod hadn’t played a varsity down all season. But he had the magic touch in becoming the fifth M-A player to quarterback the team this season, completing 10 of 17 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown.

“He stepped up and I think he made a name for himself in M-A history,” M-A head coach Adhir Ravipati said.

Sophomore wide receiver Troy Franklin delivered the decisive score, though, running a reverse-style pitch route for a 17-yard score with 3:33 remaining in regulation to give the Bears their first lead.

M-A’s ground game found its legs in the late going. The Bears opened the second half relying heavily on the pass. It ultimately pushed the Wilcox defense back. And when Ravipati sensed the Chargers were getting tired, M-A pounced with the rush.

And Franklin’s cutback dance to the end zone — evading three tacklers in the backfield — was surely the highlight.

“The ball was pitched back behind me so I had to stop and come back for it,” Franklin said. “I saw No. 5 (senior linebacker Isaiah Flores) and had to get past him … then I cut back through the middle and saw it from there — all green.”

M-A benefited from seven Wilcox turnovers, including two consecutive fumbles to start the fourth quarter. The Chargers seemed to have the game in hand heading into the final 12 minutes, up 28-14 with possession at their own 17. But facing third-and-3, the ball was stripped by Heilumi to give M-A possession at the 23.

MacLeod then connected with receiver Jake Wang for a 22-yard pickup to the 1. Senior running back Deston Hawkins then scored on a 1-yard run to cut the lead to 28-21 with 8:36 to play.

Two plays into Wilcox’s next possession, the turnover bug bit again. This time the fumble gave M-A the ball at the Chargers’ 45. And MacLeod led the march, completing consecutive passes of 8, 4 and four yards. Then after missing the mark on second down to force third-and-6 from the 29, the freshman was forced out of the pocket and frantically threw on the run to junior receiver Justin Anderson, who was wide open inside the 10 and fought his way across the goal line for the score.

However, M-A missed the point-after try, leaving Wilcox out front 28-27.

Nothing the mighty M-A defense couldn’t fix, forcing a three-and-out to set up the game-winning drive.

“We did about everything we could to lose that game,” Ravipati said. “But our kids played with a lot of heart. … Our guys made plays; their guys made plays. And in the end we were able to make one more than they did.”

Wilcox jumps on top early

M-A started making plays in the first half though. Sure, the Bears spotted Wilcox 21 points. But boy did they wake up in a hurry.

Wilcox came out dialed from the opening possession, getting off the ball on quick snaps to jump on top of M-A. The Chargers took advantage of a Bears fumble on the game’s first play from scrimmage, turning it around and cueing up their first drive from the M-A 19-yard line. Four plays later, Wilcox ran a misdirect draw with the M-A defense chasing to the outside while Chargers running back Paul Rosa took a 6-yard touchdown run up the gut to give Wilcox a 7-0 lead.

After an M-A three-and-out, Wilcox got pinned to its own 4-yard line but was able to chew up the yardage. Chargers quarterback Alex Adame hit Flores with a 21-yard pass to get out of peril, setting in motion a nine-play, 96-yard scoring drive. Wilcox running back Gabe Herrera had ground gains of 31, 19 and 15 yards before diving in for a 2-yard score to up the lead to 14-0.

Flores starred on defense for the Chargers, getting in on two sacks of M-A quarterback Jack Alexander to force another three-and-out. Wilcox took over at the M-A 38 and again mounted a scoring drive, including two third-down conversions, the latter of which was a 20-yard pass from Adame to Rosa to the M-A 3. Herrera scored on the next play with a 3-yard run to give the Chargers a 21-0 lead with 11:25 remaining in the half.

The comeback

Then the tide turned in a hurry. M-A took over at its own 26 and hit Wilcox with a one-two punch, starting with a 30-yard sweep by senior De’Marshaun Payton, followed by a 44-yard ramble by senior Jaeden Barker to find the end zone, closing the deficit to 21-7.

It took M-A just three plays to get the ball back as Heimuli came up with a dynamic interception. On third down, Adame sent a pass over the middle, but Heimuli timed the fastball with a leap and batted it straight up in the air, then came down with the INT to advance it to the Wilcox 17.

Alexander and Franklin then connected for an equally dynamic touchdown pass on a lofty 17-yard throw to the back corner, where Franklin got his back to the defender, left himself just enough room as he left his feet to haul it in, then swiped a foot in the end zone to deliver the score, making it 21-14.

It was the only pass Alexander completed in the half, though Ravipati was adamant following the game he did not want the story to be MacLeod alone, commenting on the strong character of Alexander and the job he did to get the team into halftime reinvigorated.

Wilcox got back on track just before the break though, as Adame found a wide-open Rosa downfield for a 41-yard touchdown with 1:53 remaining in the half.

But the M-A defense went on lockdown in the second half. Heimuli rose to the occasion, doing what great players do. And while MacLeod’s performance was the stuff of legend, Heimuli’s output was undoubtedly an MVP performance.

“Daniel is Daniel,” Ravipati said. “He’s a great football player. If (University of Alabama head coach) Nick Saban thinks you’re a great football player, I’ll take his opinion over mine. … But I was impressed with all our guys tonight.”