GILROY—Though tears streamed down the faces of several senior Christopher football players, Coach Tim Pierleoni told them to hold their heads up high—after all, this is a team of champions.
In one season, the Cougars were crowned the Monterey Bay League Pacific Division, Severance Bowl and South County champs. They had a perfect 6-0 run in league and did it all in a brand new stadium, packed with proud fans.
But all good things must come to an end.
The No. 6 seeded Wilcox handed No. 3 Christopher a 28-13 loss in the opening round of the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs, effectively ending its season.
“That’s just football sometimes. You don’t get all the breaks and all the bounces, but this has just been such an awesome year,” Pierleoni said. “These kids are such awesome kids. I love them and no what happened tonight and no matter the score, I told them win, lose or draw, it’s been an excellent, excellent year—I’ll never forget it. They don’t come around very often.”
The chemistry, the tenacity and the memories created this season is what Pierleoni said he wanted his players to take away from it. At the end of the day, that’s what he said the team will remember—not the wins and losses.
“To look back on it, I told the kids in the very beginning when this all started, that when they learn to love each other more than they love themselves, I think that’s when we were going to become a great team. I think that’s what they’ve done,” Pierleoni said. “The wins and losses will go, but the friendships and those things are what stays forever. I really believe that and I think this team shows that. I’m glad they love each other, man and I love being with them.”
It was a tale of two halves for Christopher who struggled in the first, but shined in the second. The Cougars defense didn’t allow Wilcox a single point after halftime as the offense did its best to reach the endzone. They had a chance late, making an 81-yard march down field only to fumble at the 3-yard-line and turn possession over to Wilcox.
Junior quarterback Matt Adamkiewicz also looked dramatically different in the second half, recording only two incomplete passes and an interception.
After the defense forced Wilcox to turn the ball over on downs in the redzone, the offense got to work. Adamkiewicz led his team on an 8-play, 72-yard drive that ended with him finding Anthony Sammut for an 8-yard score. The kick was blocked, but Christopher had scored its second TD of the game—which would end up being its final—and swung the momentum in its favor.
The Chargers maintained possession for most of the fourth quarter, but they didn’t get very far. They drew five penalties in one possession—four dead ball fouls and one for intentional grounding—and ended their drive at the CHS 45-yard-line, thanks to Sammut breaking up and nearly intercepting Adam Hernandez’s pass Blajon Lux.
Wilcox started the half nearly going four-and-out, thanks to tremendous defensive pressure. Jacob Zimmerman ended the drive by making a big tackle on Hernandez.
The Chargers would get the ball back almost immediately following a Christopher fumble and take it all the way down to the Cougars’ 13-yard-line. Once again, the defense didn’t waver and forced a turnover on downs.
“I think we played the best we could. We came out a little slow, but the second half is really how we play football and I think that showed,” senior middle linebacker and captain Jacob Moen said. “If we could’ve played like we did in the second half, I think it would’ve been a different result.”
“We knew we had to do something, we knew we had to step up,” added Sammut. “We knew we had to play like we usually do.”
The first half was full of frustration for Christopher, starting from the very first play. What should’ve been an 80-yard Adamkiewicz to P.J. Reichert touchdown was called back on the first of Christopher’s six first half fouls.
Wilcox would go on to score on its first three possessions. Matt Alquetra, who led the Chargers with 12 carries for 65 yards and two touchdowns, took the ball five yards to put his team up 7-0. Wilcox got the ball back on the first of Adamkiewicz’s four interceptions. Eduardo Andrade picked the Cougar QB off and set his team up at the CHS 44-yard-line. The Chargers needed just four plays to get back to the endzone and did it when Hernandez connected with Mike Hern for a 33-yard TD.
Adamkiewicz was intercepted again during his team’s next drive, this time by Andrew Lieberman. Wilcox used five plays to cover 63 yards and reach the endzone. Alquetra capped off the drive with a 28-yard rushing TD, juking to left before finding a big hole to run through. Hernandez carried the ball in for the 2-point conversion and the Chargers took a 21-0 lead.
Christopher quickly answered as Adamkiewicz and Reichert found each other once again for a 66-yard TD—and this time it stuck. The score cut the Chargers’ lead to 21-7.
But even before Cougar fans stopped celebrating, Wilcox was in the endzone again. Isaac Namowicz grabbed the kick-off return and didn’t stop until he’d covered the 85 yards he needed to reach the endzone and put the Chargers up 28-7.
Christopher had a chance to get within a score, but Adamkiewicz was picked off for the third time in the half. The stadium fell silent as the ball bounced off the fingertips of several different players from both teams before ending up in the arms of Soni Tuiileila with just 4.2 seconds left in the half.
“We didn’t play like ourselves the first half, but the second half we shut them out defensively and put some points on the board,” Sammut said. “In the end, I knew I grew up for four years with these guys playing here—some of them nine years playing Pop Warner. In the end, it’s going to be (all about) family and I love them. I’m going to come watch them next year.”
The Cougars will lose 22 seniors—including Moen and Sammut—to graduation and will face the challenge of competing in the upper-Gabilan Division with high caliber teams like San Benito. Having overcome similar challenges this season, Sammut is confident in next year’s team—especially Adamkiewicz.
“Matt, our quarterback, stepped up and it was just incredible what he did this season,” Sammut said. “Next year he’s going to be crazy.”
Adamkiewicz was 21 for 32 and amassed 319 yards and two touchdowns against Wilcox. He finishes the season with 3,310 yards and 34 touchdowns.
Moen, who has led the team MBL in tackles the past two seasons, wraps up another great season with 154 total tackles—including 17 in this game. It’s just a sliver of the great things he did with his team this year.
“It was a great season; I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for it,” Moen said. “It sucks that it has to end like this, but we couldn’t ask for much better.”
