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SAN JOSE — The Valley Christian football players refused to say goodbye and part ways Saturday night during a double-overtime thriller at Independence High.
In must-win mode after an earlier result in the Central Coast Section playoffs, the second-needed Warriors needed to avenge a loss to West Catholic Athletic League rival St. Francis, the No. 1 seed in Open Division II bracket.
It took a muffed punt, an interception and two fumble recoveries in the fourth quarter — including one by a 5-foot-9, 180-pound nose guard — a 55-yard catch with time running out in regulation, then a blocked extra point after trading four touchdowns in overtime.
After all of that, Valley Christian kicker Lucas Ramirez split the uprights for a 31-30 triumph in a championship game that lived up to the hype.
“If these guys learn anything from this great sport in their high school years, it’s that when you walk on the field exhaust all your resources,” Valley Christian coach Mike Machado said. “When you walk off, know that you gave it your all and you’re leaving everything on the field.”
A loss would’ve ended the season for the Warriors (11-2), who qualified for a NoCal bowl game after claiming the seventh section title in school history and second in the past three years.
St. Francis (11-2) entered with enough power points for one of the remaining two bids to CCS runners-up, with the matchups announced Sunday.
It’s an eerily familiar script for the Lancers, who a year ago lost on the same field, by the same score while vying for the same trophy. That version bounced back to claim NorCal and state titles.
This year’s outright WCAL champion understands the mountain it must climb.
“That’s the good thing, because we’re not done,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “We’re not happy right now, but it’s OK. We’ve got to remember this feeling and try to not have it the next two weeks.”
Two months ago, Valley Christian couldn’t find the end zone during a 7-3 loss at St. Francis.
It took fewer than 4½ minutes to achieve the feat in the rematch, with no fair-catch interference called on a muffed punt recovered on the edge of the red zone. Three plays later, Valley Christian junior Isaiah McElvane crossed the goal line on a 13-yard sweep for an early 7-0 lead.
The Lancers didn’t wait long to answer, with a 56-yard bomb to wide receiver Evan Williams shifting field position. On the next snap, 5-foot-10, 235-pound running back Opeti Fangupo rumbled his way 18 yards to tie the game midway through the first quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out, St. Francis took over in enemy territory and a 24-yard slant to Williams on fourth down moved the ball inside the red zone, where Fangupo plowed his way in from 2 yards out to move ahead 14-7 on the first play of the second quarter.
Williams also caught a 43-yard slant and go from quarterback Ryan Daly in the opening series of the third quarter to set up a 34-yard field goal that made it 17-7, not to mention a pair of fade throws in each overtime for touchdowns.
“He’s pretty unbelievable,” said Calcagno of Williams, who finished with six catches for 133 yards. “He’s our guy and we throw it up to him and he finds ways to make plays every single week.”
The stretch of 17 unanswered points for the Lancers ended with 1:12 left in the third quarter, as Ramirez kicked a 25-yard field goal at the conclusion of a 13-play drive to get within 17-10.
That set up the stage for a wild finish.
Fangupo piled up 114 yards on 27 carries, but he wasn’t on the field for either fumble in the fourth quarter as the two-way player rotated in and out.
The first fumble proved harmless as St. Francis outside linebacker Joshua Pakola, a Stanford commit, forced an intentional grounding, then recorded a one-armed sack with a defender draped all over him.
After the teams traded punts, the Lancers looked in prime position to run out the clock as Colorado commit Maurice Wilmer intercepted a pass just past midfield with 7:18 left. But, three plays later, on a quarterback draw, Valley Christian senior Enrique Nava came out of nowhere to pop the ball loose and the nose guard fell on the fumble.
“This whole season I’ve just been trying to fight for my brothers, and every play that was my goal,” Nava said. “So I don’t give up on any play, I see the quarterback running and my urge is to tackle him and win this game. Nothing was going to stop me. So I jumped on that ball and ran to the sideline with my brothers.”
“Our defense led us all year long,” Machado said. “They’ve been consistent through and through and they were great tonight taking on that load of muscle and power that St. Francis comes at you with. They kept us in the game, they gave us a chance to get things done.”
With the Lancers in need of another stop, Pakola picked up a 5-yard sack after he was brought down to the ground on the rush.
It wasn’t enough.
Valley Christian quarterback Cory Taylor snapped a short hitch to wide receiver Deven Vanderbilt, who slipped inside before breaking the other way and out-sprinting the defense for a stunning 55-yard touchdown with 3:57 left to tie the game at 17-all.
“I was just trying to make a play for my team, not trying to give up,” Vanderbilt said.
On the play, Wilmer suffered an apparent leg injury and needed to be helped off the field, with no immediate update on his status available after the game.
Interceptions by Valley Christian’s Kavir Bains and St. Francis’ Nick Juran cancelled each other off and regulation ended with a sack by St. Francis’ Mose Vavao to deny a Hail Mary attempt.
“We knew coming in it was going to be right down to the wire,” Calcagno said. “It was going to be a turnover, it was going to be special teams or a big play here or there. It was exactly what it was.”
In the first overtime, Valley Christian opened the scoring on a 9-yard corner route to tight end Skylar Loving-Black. St. Francis answered with a 5-yard fade to Williams and kicked the extra point to force a second OT.
But after Williams caught another fade to move ahead 30-24, Valley Christian senior Coleman Kiles burst through the middle to block the point-after attempt.
The Warriors proceeded to hand it off twice to Thomas Dunham, who crossed the goal line from 6 yards out. Then, it was just a matter of splitting the uprights after St. Francis called a timeout hoping to ice the kicker.
“At the timeout we were saying, ‘We do this every day, there’s nothing different from right now than in practice,’ ” said Loving-Black, who was blocking on the left side.
Before the extra point had even landed, the Valley Christian sideline spilled onto the field in euphoria.
“It means the world to us,” Loving-Black said. “We’ve been focused on this goal all season, get to CCS — and we had to get the job done.”
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