After losing its first two games of the season, host Leland took its first step to a solid season with a 47-0 blowout victory over Christopher Friday night. The Chargers improve to 1-2 on the season while Christopher drops to 0-4.
“This is definitely one of our best games in a while,” Leland offensive lineman Jack Loumena. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the season now.”
Leland got off to a quick start by taking advantage of two turnovers deep in Christopher territory to take a quick 20-0 first-quarter lead. After the Cougars fumbled a punt, Leland tailback Jack Pizzo scored on a 14-yard run on the very next play, running through a gaping hole on the right side to put the Chargers on the board, 6-0, with 8:11 left in the first quarter.
Portera then scored the next two Charger touchdowns in similar fashion on bruising runs through the left side. His first score came on a fourth-and-2 from the Christopher 17 on a play in which he broke several tackles and spun into the end zone to extend the lead to 13-0 with 1:35 left in the first quarter.
Christopher fumbled the ball away on its very next play from scrimmage and Portera capitalized again, again running left for a 15-yard score to make it 20-0, Leland, with 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
“All our work in the off weeks definitely pulled through for us running backs tonight,” said Pizzo.
Portera and Pizzo utilized quick feet and excellent maneuverability to get Leland off to the quick start, as all three touchdowns featured the two running the ball extremely close to the sidelines and using their athletic ability to get into the end zone.
“Hopefully we can keep up this momentum through the season, literally and figuratively,” Leland assistant coach Dave Geppert said.
It wasn't all about the running backs, however, as junior quarterback Matt McLaughlin threw three touchdown passes on the night, including a pair to tight end Robert Moffatt on nearly identical passing plays. The two scores took advantage of Moffatt's height and agility to extend the lead to 34-0 with just 34.5 seconds left in the second quarter.
Also the Leland defense was instrumental in the win, as the Chargers held Christopher without a first down in a dominant first-half performance. At the conclusion, morale was definitely boosted for the once faltering Leland football squad, which opened the season with losses to Castro Valley and Mitty, but the Cougars were able to take a few lessons away from the game.
“Leland has a very good football team and we are very young," Christopher RB Rayshon Mills said. "We wish them well and we are going to keep working hard ourselves."
