MILPITAS, CA - The showdown Los Gatos star Joey Wood called the "CCS game of the year" lived up to its billing Friday night.
Milpitas secured a wild 27-21 victory against Los Gatos when Victor Rodriguez intercepted a fourth-and-11 pass intended for Matt Wilcox near the goal line. Milpitas then ran out the clock, much to the delight of its home fans on senior night.
"I just saw the guy come across and I read it and jumped in front and just go the pick," Rodriguez said. "I felt happy. Joyful. I felt like we earned it."
On the Milpitas sideline, Trojan receiver Dion Leonard was suffering as he watched a potential game-winning Los Gatos rally unfold -- only to be aborted by Rodriguez's quick-handed theft.
"I was kind of nervous, but I knew we got some savages on D and that we were going to pull it out," Leonard said.
The victory all but secures the SCVAL-De Anza title for Milpitas (8-0, 4-0), which has just Palo Alto and Santa Clara left to close out the regular season. The loss drops Los Gatos (6-2, 3-1) into what could be an eventual CCS Open wild-card berth (Milpitas, barring collapse, is destined for an automatic Open spot).
The Trojans led by six and were driving for a knockout score with less than five minutes left when a John Keller pass into the end zone was intercepted by Wilcox. There was 4:42 left with the temperature dropping and a few raindrops falling as Los Gatos began its final drive.
Los Gatos star junior quarterback Dru Brown (13 of 24 for 190 yards) completed three consecutive passes to push the ball to the Wildcats' 33. Then a 7-yard scramble down the ride sideline by Brown and a personal foul by Milpitas moved the Wildcats to the Trojan 34 with plenty of time left.
Los Gatos marched all the way to the Trojan 15 and had first down before a 1-yard loss, two incomplete passes and the interception ended it.
"We drove it down to the (15-)yard line and then just couldn't finish the job," Los Gatos coach Mark Krail said. "They're obviously a very good team. They've beaten everyone they've faced and they're big and fast and physical."
Milpitas entered the game as Prep2Prep's No. 1-ranked team and Los Gatos was No. 2. But it was Los Gatos that seized a 14-0 lead less then four minutes into the fray. A Wood 2-yard TD run and a 45-yard TD pass from Brown to Wilcox did the damage. The second score was set up by a Milpitas fumble recovered by Wildcat lineman Nick Kryvicky.
Los Gatos fans were giddy but already things were coming undone for the Wildcats. Wood entered the game with a balky left ankle that was heavily taped during practice last week. He tweaked it in the first half and was never much of a factor.
Meantime, Milpitas drove 73 yards in 13 plays for its first score, with bullish Christian Rodriguez -- a transfer from Andrew Hill -- going over from the 3 with 2:16 left in the first quarter. The Trojans botched the PAT and trailed 14-6.
"We knew it would be a battle," Krail said. "We got off to a quick start and then we kind of sputtered in quarters two and three."
Playmaker Christian Rita then did his thing, intercepting a Brown pass in front of the Los Gatos sideline and racing 45 yards to the end zone to put Milpitas within one point (14-13) with 10:53 left in the first half.
About three minutes later the Trojans were in the end zone again, on Keller's 46-yard pass to Leonard (four catches, 90 yards) who got behind a Wildcat defender. Milpitas took a 19-14 lead into halftime.
Milpitas looked like it might blow the game open late in the third quarter when Keller hit Rita with a pass on the left sideline and the quick senior took it to the end zone from 11 yards for 27-14. But Los Gatos reached into its bag of tricks on this Halloween night as Brown caught a backward pass and threw a 38-yard TD strike to Nick Occhipinti to trim Milpitas' lead to 27-21 heading into the fourth quarter.
Los Gatos got the ball back once before its last-ditch drive but its lack of a running game and a voracious Milpitas defensive effort led by 6-foot-6, 250-pound end Jason Scrempos and lineman Tevita Musika idled the Wildcats, who still have to play second-place Wilcox.
Milpitas, with a loss by Serra of the WCAL to Mitty, cements its spot as the top team in CCS and can clear a spot in the trophy case for another probable SCVAL-De Anza title. Credit not only playmakers like Keller and Rita, but the Trojans' massive offensive line of Musika (6-2, 330), Uate Mataele (6-4, 370), Christian Haangana (6-6, 347), Siti Maetele (5-10, 300) and Victor Baquilod (5-10, 250). They did the dirty work in allowing Chavez to rush for 107 yards on 20 carries and Keller to complete 10 of 17 passes for 150 yards.
As for Los Gatos, it can only ponder what-if.
Said Krail: "We just played the best team in the CCS toe to toe. I don't know if we should have won, but we certainly could have won and that's what we take (from it). So we just keep forging ahead."