For the sixth time in a row, Christopher rang the Severance Bell after defeating Gilroy 27-13 Friday night in the season opener.
“We were extremely prepared. We’ve been ready for this game. We’ve been practicing and getting ready for Gilroy all summer long,” said coach Tim Pierleoni. “We knew what we were doing when we came in. We had a pretty good game plan both offensively and defensively.”
Cougar quarterback Ryan Adamkiewicz threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns, including two to sophomore Jason Scirigione in a coming out party for both players.
Adamkiewicz showed poise in the pocket, making several throws just ahead of a hit.
“I just made my reads, knew what was happening in the pocket, knew when I had time and made the throw,” he said. “I really time to make the throw, that was the most important part.”
Scirigione became a vital weapon in the middle of the field and came down with a pair of touchdowns.
He found himself wide open at times and when he wasn’t, Scirigione would just use his size to push through.
“I remember seeing in the trey look, that the safety would go over so I would just be open in the middle of the field,” Scirigione said.
Noah Liberatore had two more scores, including a nine-yard score from Adamkiewicz and a 48-yard option play.
“We knew that Noah was going to have a big game. We know what kid of athlete Noah is. He had a great year last year, so we knew that he was going to help us quite a bit,” Pierleoni said.
Christopher’s defense, meanwhile, came away with four interceptions for the night including one from Scirigione who picked off Jon Jon Castro to effectively end the game.
“Our defense stepped up in all levels from the D-linemen to the linebackers to the corners, they were making open-field tackles and doing everything they had to do. They played amazing,” Adamkiewicz said.
Gilroy did see life at times, with Joseph Barnes capping a 60-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown play in the second quarter. At the time, it cut Christopher’s lead to 20-7 at the 4:36 mark.
Barnes rushed for 74 yards on 16 carries.
“We’re going to take this film and learn from it. We did a lot of good things, but there are a lot of things that we have to work on,” said coach Jubenal Rodriguez. “We’re going to use this as a tool to get better.”
Dylan Holler had the big night for the Mustangs, rushing for 105 yards and a touchdown, including a 62-yard run to open the second half.
He finally got into the endzone in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard carry to finish off a 47-yard drive.
But ultimately, untimely mistakes cost Gilroy in the game, including tossing an interception that set up Christopher first and goal from the Mustang 9 in the first.
That was the only one out of four turnovers that got turned into points for Christopher, but the other three had the effect of denying Gilroy points.
That proved to be the difference as Gilroy twice knocked on the door in the second half only to come away with no points to show for it.
The Mustangs’ opening drive of the third quarter ended when Keoni Calimpong pulled down an interception in the endzone with a diving grab.
Gilroy got moving again at the end of the third quarter, crossing midfield and going for broke on a deep pass. But that was likewise intercepted when Victor Guerrero out fought the Mustang receiver for the ball.
Gilroy’s defense, however, was just as good in the second half.
The Mustangs recovered a bobbled snap on its goal line on a heads up play from Andrew Castro.
Castro had a second big play on the Cougars’ next drive, getting a sack of Adamkiewicz on third down, eventually leading to a four-and-out when CHS failed to convert on fourth down.
Christopher gained just four first downs for the second half thanks to the defense.
The Cougars’ however road their hot first half to hang on for the win.
After Christopher’s opening drive stalled to start the game, Ethan Crawford pulled down the game’s first interception on Gilroy’s second play from scrimmage, setting up a quick TD pass from Adamkiewicz to Liberatore for an early 7-0 lead.
Gilroy then went three-and-out on its next drive, setting up Christopher just inside Gilroy territory.
Adamkiewicz then hit Liberatore again, this time on an option play that went for 48 yards for the second touchdown in as may plays from scrimmage.
“The kids had butterflies for a little while. Usually it should go away after the first couple of plays, but it took us a little while for our butterflies to go away,” Rodriguez said.
The Cougars then went up 20-0 midway through the second quarter when Adamkiewicz hit Scirigione for a 19-yard score to cap an 80-yard drive.
Scirigione finished with 141 yards on five receptions and two touchdowns.
And the interception to close out the game.
Pierleoni said his sophomore wasn’t supposed to see much time as a linebacker, but when the starter went down with an injury he called the kid’s number and was pleasantly surprised.
And Scirigione surprised himself.
“I didn’t know where I was supposed to be on that play,” he said. “I just looked up and the ball was coming at my face. So I just tried to catch it and when I caught it, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.”
Scirigione said he hesitated for a second after being in shock he made the interception but then found a hole and got moving.
Liberatore went for 72 yards on six receptions and a touchdown. He also went
The duo connected a second time late in the half, to finish off a 71-yard drive with a 37-yard touchdown pass for Christopher’s final score of the game.
Christopher moves on to play its home opener on Friday, hosting Live Oak at 7:30 p.m. The Acorns were idle in Week 1.
Meanwhile, Gilroy will hit the road to play Sobrato who is coming off a 49-24 win over Overfelt. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
