GILROY, CA — Christopher High quarterback Matt Adamkiewicz was having the worst half of his varsity career Friday night against Monte Vista Christian School in a pivotal MBL-Pacific game.
The junior was 4-of-12 passing for 35 yards and three interceptions in the second half. But when Adamkiewicz's team needed him most, the junior came through big leading the Cougars on a seven-play, 80-yard drive. That included connecting on all four of his pass attempts capped by a seven-yard touchdown pass to Max Sanford with 5:06 left in the game. The Cougar defense fended off one last MVC stand as Christopher held on for a 28-21 win over the Mustangs on homecoming night.
“I made a couple of mistakes myself and I can work on that but all I know is (my teammates) have my back and we got the win,” said Adamkiewicz who finished the game 17-of-31 passing for 199 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. “I knew I had messed up big and I knew I had to get my teams’ back because they had my back all game so I just told my team ‘pick me up this one last time let’s just get it and get out of here.’”
The win gives Christopher (5-1, 2-0) sole possession of first place in the division and allows it to control its own destiny in the chase for title.
Will Maltby, D’Shawn Hopkins and Ryan De Los Santos each had an interception of Adamkiewicz.
MVC (5-2, 2-1) slowed down Adamkiewicz and leading rusher Raul Tovar immensely in the second half.
Adamkiewicz threw for 98 yards and two touchdowns on 9-of-15 and Tovar ran for 46 of his team-high 60 yards in the first half including a one-yard touchdown. But Christopher still managed to pull out the win.
“I’m just extremely proud of my team and how resilient they were,” said Christopher coach Tim Pierleoni. “We struggled and fought the whole way. We made some mistakes that we usually don’t make and that’s a very good football team."
The Cougars were trailing 21-20 since the 6:28 mark in the third quarter when MVC quarterback Ryan Spohn connected with wide receiver Mustafa Majeed for a 19-yard touchdown pass.
Spohn finished the game 8-of-17 passing for two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Tovar and Bryant Huynh recorded the interceptions in the win for Christopher.
Christopher led MVC 20-14 at halftime.
The Cougars forced four MVC turnovers — two fumble recoveries and two interceptions.
“It was a tough game -- we knew it was going to be a tough game going in,” said MVC coach David Reese. “It was going to have a big factor in the league standings and how the league turns out. It’s like I told the guys, it’s not over though. We still have to play a good Gilroy team next week. Our guys fought hard they just came up a little bit short, ut they’re winners in my eyes.”
The Mustangs had more than their fair share of chances to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.
After Christopher’s ensuing kickoff after the Cougars took a 28-21 lead with 5:06 left in the game, the Mustangs’ offense took over at its own 16-yard line but could muster no offense.
Following a Jacob Moen sack of Spohn that made it fourth-and-18, Reese decided to gamble and call a fake punt as Spohn — who is also the team’s punter — threw deep to Parker Noonan, but the pass sailed too far.
“At that point I’m going to win the game,” Reese said. “I’m not trying to punt it away and hope. We went fake punt and they probably knew but you know we got to try. I’m not going to concede anything with only two timeouts.”
The Mustang defense and special teams gave the MVC offense one last attempt at a game-winning drive.
After yielding zero yards to Tovar on three carries, Will Maltby blocked Kyle Erickson’s 24-yard field goal attempt. Chris Rebotarro scooped the ball up and raced to MVC's 46-yard line.
With 1:23 left and no timeouts, MVC took over on offense but couldn't generate anything and the Cougars hung on for the victory.
“It’s so indescribable,” said Christopher wide receiver Alex Pacheco. “My brothers and I fought the entire game. We got down a bit but in the fourth quarter we rallied. It's just the best feeling ever.”
Running back David Palomino ran for a game-high 85 yards on 22 carries for MVC. Hopkins ran for 54 yards on 15 carries including a four-yard touchdown run. Majeed caught six passes for 86 yards and Noonan had a 14-yard touchdown reception in the loss for the Mustangs.
MVC will host Gilroy (2-5, 2-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Anthony Sammut had a game-high 100 yards receiving on six catches, while Pacheco added three catches for 49 yards including two 10-yard scoring receptions.
“We are just going to focus on Alisal now and get ready game by game,” Pacheco said. “We are just so excited that we won tonight.”
Christopher is at Alisal at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
