Woodside blows away Cougars

"[The emphatic win] was really important," Jacks said. "We have to prove something. We had to prove we're not just a 'B' league team."

Woodside (11-0) captured the Peninsula Athletic League's Ocean Division, which doesn't garner a lot of respect in CCS. Anyone watching Saturday night had to be impressed by the Woodside performance on both sides of the ball.

Six touchdowns

When Jacks wasn't rushing for touchdowns of 42, 60, 3, 1, 7 and 3 yards, quarterback Julian Edelman and fullback Mike Nizuk were gouging the Evergreen Valley defense. Edelman rushed for 96 yards on just six carries, including an impressive 37-yard scoring jaunt. Nizuk added 102 yards on 11 carries.

The Woodside defense, meanwhile, was busy shutting down the Cougars offense. Evergreen Valley had a grand total of 99 yards of offense and just seven first downs.

"On the offense, scoring is what you try to do," said Woodside coach Steve Nicolopulos. "On defense, how you score is by shutting out the other team."

Evergreen Valley (7-4) took the opening kickoff and after picking up an initial first down, thanks in part to a Woodside face mask penalty, the Cougars were forced to punt. The Wildcats needed only four plays to go 71 yards, with Jacks breaking off a 42-yard touchdown run.

First four carries

Three minutes later, Jacks found the end zone again. He took a pitch left, turned the corner and went down the left sideline untouched for a 60-yard touchdown. Jacks accumulated 118 yards and two touchdowns on his first four carries.

"He doesn't surprise me," Nicolopulos said. "There's nothing he does that surprises me. What a great pleasure to have a great kid and a great athlete.

But Tyreece wasn't the only one (that had a good game). The offensive line played well and [Edelman] had a very good game running the ball."

If Edelman wasn't the team's quarterback, he would make a fine running back. With Woodside leading 28-0 late in the second quarter, Edelman took a snap and headed down the line on an option play. He decided to keep the ball, turned upfield, hurdled over a would-be tackler near the sideline, cut back to the middle of the field and went into the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown.

Woodside put the icing on the cake on the first play of the fourth quarter, this time with defense. The Evergreen Valley quarterback dropped back and fired a pass over the middle. Linebacker Jim Moors batted the ball in the air, pulled it down for the interception.

But he wasn't done. He picked up some blocking and went 66 yards the other way for the final score of the night.

The Wildcats have come a long way since last year's volatile season that saw the team embroiled in turmoil. Nicolopulos gives the players the credit for turning things around this year.

"It says a lot about these kids," Nicolopulos said. "I think the kids are the ones that went ahead and turned things around. There isn't one kid that's a selfish player."

With the win, the Wildcats move into the semifinals next weekend against No. 5 Terra Nova, which beat No. 4 Aptos 3-0 in overtime Friday night.

"We have two more games we have to win," Nicolopulos said. "This is only the first step."