Woodside parties like it’s 1999

The work of dismantling visiting Aragon in a Thursday night showdown at Bradley Field shows just how far the Woodside football program has come. It is the Wildcats’ second Peninsula Athletic League title in four years, but this one coming in the “B” league Ocean Division is a sign the program is still on the rise after running the table in the “C” league PAL Lake Division in 2022.

Previous to that, Woodside hadn’t won a league title since its Ocean Division crown during an undefeated 13-0 season in 2004 when a kid named Julian Edelman was a senior.

“It’s just crazy, because I never thought we were going to be one of the best,” Woodside senior Manny Navarro said. “We worked hard for this. It’s just crazy to me.”

It also marks the first time Woodside has defeated Aragon since 1999, the year after current Dons head coach Ash Parham graduated.

The Wildcats (4-0 PAL Ocean, 9-0 overall) didn’t waste any time putting their stamp on their Ocean Division coronation, opening the game with a two-play, 70-yard, quick-strike scoring drive. Senior running back Daniel Torres swept the right side for 15 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Then quarterback Charlie Dalrymple hit sophomore Kolby Nelson in stride on a wheel route off the right side, and Nelson sprinted up the right sideline for a 55-yard touchdown less than a minute into the game.

“It’s a testament to our confidence and our belief in what we’re doing here,” Andrews said of Woodside’s consistently fast starts this season. “And sometimes we like to come out and just step on the gas and see what happens.”

Dalrymple went on to complete 6 of 11 passes for 158 yards and a career-high three touchdown passes.

“It’s uncharacteristic, but we’ve always had the potential and the capabilities for it,” Andrews said. “We just thought we had some good looks and good opportunities to do it more today.”

Woodside forced a punt and took over midway through the first quarter, but faced third-and-7 from its own 24 before going large again. This time it was Torres sweeping around the right side, and the senior stutter-stepped before hitting the corner, then exploded for a 76-yard scoring run, putting the Wildcats up 14-0 with 3:59 to go in the first.

Torres finished with just three carries for a game-high 108 yards, the Woodside rushing leader’s second 100-yard performance of the year.

“He’s been a real game-changer for us,” said Navarro, Woodside’s senior guard. “All the running, me blocking for him, getting all those touchdowns, it feels good.”

With Woodside celebrating its Senior Night, plenty of sophomores got in on the action as well.

Return man JJ Lange has been money on special teams all season, and the sophomore set up Woodside for its final touchdown of the half with a big 27-yard punt return, fielding a hard, ground-ball punt through the middle, accelerating into the handle to fly up the gut to Aragon’s 23-yard line. The Wildcats responded with a four-play scoring drive, as Dalrymple overcame another third-down look by airing it out to Nelson on a cross over the middle for a 24-yard score, as the sophomore’s second TD of the game gave the Wildcats a 21-0 cushion.

But Woodside didn’t stop there. Aragon took over at its own 20 with 2:01 to play in the half but advanced it across midfield as junior quarterback Isaiah Johnson completed a 30-yard pass to senior Charlie Wilcox, and a 25-yarder to junior Oliver Amaro.

But the Dons ultimately turned the ball over on downs, with Woodside taking over at its own 34 with 25 seconds on the clock. Opting not to run out the clock, Damrymple flipped the field with a 30-yard pass to junior James Yauch, moving to Aragon’s 31-yard line. As it turned out, that was in kicker Manuel Navarro’s range, as the senior punctuated the lopsided half with a booming 48-yard field goal, sending the Wildcats into the break leading 24-0.

“Everyone was just so excited,” Lange said. “We know Manny can do that. He’s always capable of doing that. But just the fact that we took those extra three points, it just meant so much, because every single point matters in this game.”

Johnson finished 12-of-23 passing for 153 yards for the Dons.

“He does a great job keeping us alive,” Parham said. “He’s a big-play guy. Maybe a little bit too much sometimes looking for the big play ... but great kid, super athletic, and just has a bright future ahead of him tonight.”

Aragon managed just 23 rushing yards throughout, including a mere 7 yards on the ground in the first half.

“We’re pretty young on the interior (line),” Parham said. “We have pretty good tackles, but our interior guys are pretty young. We’re starting a freshman ... two sophomores on the interior. So, it’s hard to get them on the same page and get going.”

Woodside put the game away in the opening half of the third quarter. Aragon went three and out to open the second half, and Lange broke a punt return for a score, sprinting 53 yards to the end zone for his fourth TD return of the season.

“I had the ball and then I drifted back because there was a guy that was on my outside, so I had to get around him,” Lange said. “And then once I saw that, I saw the hole and just cut inside and it all like that — touchdown.”

The Wildcats got the ball back on a turnover on downs at Aragon’s 39-yard line, setting up Dalrymple for the hat trick. Facing third-and-8 from the 25, the senior found junior Grady Furtado on a button hook, and Furtado dodged a tackle and strutted into the end zone for the game’s final score to tap the running clock with 5:10 to play in the third period.

“It’s our rivalry week (next week),” Parham said. “So ... we pulled some guys a little bit earlier just to save them for next week and get after it.”

Aragon (1-3, 4-5) travels to rival Hillsdale for the Battle of the Fleas rivalry finale Friday at 7 p.m.

Woodside already defeated its Redwood City Rumble rival Sequoia last week to claim “the Log” trophy. Plenty of emotion will be riding on the Wildcats’ regular-season finale Friday at Milpitas, however, as the PAL Ocean champs are one win away from a perfect 10-0 regular season.