December 10, 2004

Westmont Football ends season with 36-20 loss to Woodside in CCS Championship Game

Warrior defense couldn’t stop Woodside’s Julian Edelman, who rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

The Westmont Warriors’ season ended one win short of capturing the CCS Medium School Division Title after a 36-20 loss to Woodside on Dec. 3 at Milpitas High.

Westmont head coach Tony Santos holds up the second-place trophy, presented to Santos and the entire Warriors team in a post-game ceremony on Dec. 1. Santos led the Warriors to a 9-3 regular season record and a 2-1 record in CCS playoffs. Photos by Diego Abeloos.

Coming into the contest, Westmont head coach Tony Santos knew his defense had to stop the Wildcat rushing offense, led not only by running back Tyreece Jacks, but nimble quarterback Julian Edelman.

“We knew (about) Tyreece Jacks,” Santos said. “He’s a phenomenal athlete. There’s no doubt about that. But the thing that scared us all week was Edelman, because he’s a lot faster than people think. He’s very athletic and very gifted at making plays on the run.”

Santos’ prediction proved to hold true, as Jacks and Edelman combined to rush for 261 yards and three touchdowns.

On the Warriors’ side, quarterback Kevin Pham completed 16 of 27 passes for 260 and three touchdowns, with receivers Casey Modiri and Chantz Staden combining for 180 receiving yards and a touchdown. But the junior also threw three interceptions in the contest, including one that led to a 36-yard field goal from Wildcat kicker Gil Hernandez that gave Woodside a commanding 29-14 lead in the fourth quarter.

“We did all that we could and that we were asked of,” said Westmont receiver Jamal Johnson. “I’m proud of everybody out here. We got off to a tough start, but we battled back. No one expected us to win one CCS game. It was a historic season for Westmont.”

With Woodside holding a slight 15-14 lead at the start of the third quarter, the Wildcats went to work in strengthening their lead. On their opening drive of the third quarter, the Wildcats settled for a 37-yard field goal from Hernandez to go up 18-14 with 9:54 left.

The score would remain the same until shortly after the start of the fourth quarter, when Woodside put together a nine-play, 67-yard drive, resulting in a four-yard touchdown run from Edelman with 11:49 left. After a successful two-point conversion, the Wildcats held a 26-14 lead.

After a Pham interception gave the Wildcats the ball back on the Westmont 29, Woodside let its running game do the rest of the work before settling for another Hernandez field goal, this one from 36 yards away, to go up 29-14 with 8:22 to go.

“Things just didn’t click,” said Pham of his three interceptions on the night. “They got pressure on me and then I couldn’t throw it and couldn’t get my feet set. A couple of balls went off a little bit and caused some interceptions.”

However, the Westmont offense stormed back to cut the lead to nine, taking their next drive 67 yards downfield, culminating in a 19-yard touchdown reception from Ryan Kanzaki with 6:54 left, setting the score at 29-20.

But Woodside’s offense did not let up, taking their next drive downfield and getting a 50-yard touchdown run from Jacks with 2:16 left to give the Wildcats a 36-20 game-ending score.

The game seemed to start out well for the Warriors, who took their game-opening drive 82 yards for a score, as Pham connected with Kanzaki on a five-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone with 9:49 to go.

The Wildcats answered back however, as Edelman ran three times for 29 yards and completed four passes for 44 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown strike to Dominic Duncan with 7:51 left. After a botched extra-point attempt from Hernandez, Westmont held a slight 7-6 lead.

Woodside gained the lead shortly after the start of the second quarter, as Edelman scrambled for a 63-yard touchdown run with 11:10 to go. Again, Hernandez botched the extra-point kick, giving Woodside a 12-7 lead.

That was the last time Hernandez failed to convert his kicks on the night, as the senior booted through a 37-yard field goal later in the second quarter to give Woodside a 15-7 lead.

Shortly before halftime, Westmont closed the gap on Woodside, putting together a 55-yard scoring drive ending with a four-yard touchdown pass from Pham to Modiri with 1:59 left for a 15-14 score.

The Warriors managed recover the ball on the ensuing kickoff as well, as Woodside’s Kenneth Walker fumbled at the Wildcat 49, giving Westmont a shot at going into the half with a lead.

The Warriors drove the ball 24 yards with time ticking down, sending in kicker Kevin Blakely with four seconds left for a 42-yard field goal attempt. However, Blakely’s kick sailed wide left, sending both teams to their respective locker rooms at the half at 15-14.

“In championship games like this, every point counts,” Santos said. “… You can’t miss field goals and you can’t take a 15-yard penalty before the end of the quarter (intentional grounding on Pham before field goal attempt). You know, that’s kind of the way it goes.”

While the Warriors had to settle for second best for the night, Santos remained optimistic about the season, which he called the one of the most successful seasons in Westmont’s football history.

“I’m proud of my team,” said Santos, whose team went 9-3 during the regular season. “They did a great job this year. Nine wins ties the most wins since 1965 at our school … we got our first two playoff wins in school history. So that’s what I’m proud of.”