Visiting Sequoia kept its hopes for a CCS Division I championship alive with a 27-7 upset win over fourth-seeded Menlo-Atherton in first-round action Friday night.
“We talked about the issue of a four versus a five seed. That’s as close as you get,” Sequoia coach Rob Poulos said. “M-A is big and they’re physical but they make mistakes and they’re beatable. As long as we went in and weren’t all ‘Oh it’s M-A’ we were going to be fine. It played out exactly like I thought. We came out and weren’t intimidated, got a lead and just started applying the pressure.”
When the third quarter began and the cheerleaders pulled out their ponchos and fans searched for umbrellas, still the Cherokee faithful didn’t go anywhere. Clinging to a 10-7 halftime lead, Sequoia looked to finish the job after the break.
Dylan Anderson ran it into the end zone on a 35-yard carry to extend the Sequoia lead to 17-7 and after an interception of M-A’s Zach Moore by Sequoia’s Eduardo Alvarado, Tommy Lopiparo hit a 32-yard field goal, making him 2-for-2 on the night and giving the Cherokees a 20-7 lead.
Poulos has been waiting for someone like Lopiparo for the whole time that he has been the head coach at Sequoia.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Poulos said. “I’ve been waiting four years for a field-goal threat. In four years that’s the record for us.”
After an incomplete pass fell for M-A on the goal line on fourth down with a minute left in the third and when the Bears' final two drives ended in a fumble and a punt, the future began to look bright on the Cherokee sideline.
Sequoia senior quarterback Mikey Taylor scored on a one-yard run in the fourth for the final 27-7 margin. The offensive line helped create the spaces that Anderson and junior Matt Jenkins, returning from injury, needed to get their team in position to score.
“The offensive line executed exactly what they practiced,” Anderson said.
Next week the Cherokees (9-2) will have even more of a challenge as they take on top-seeded Milpitas (8-3), which hammered Silver Creek 56-7.
“Milpitas is the number one seed. They're big and they're scary,” Poulos said. “The kids are totally going to recognize that and respond.”
Now that each and every game could end up being their last, every minute is precious to this squad.
“There is nobody that is unimportant on this team,” Poulos said.
