On a night of insane offensive numbers, it was a defensive play that ended it.
And unfortunately for Christopher, it was an interception on a 2-point conversion that denied the Cougars a win to remember.
Everett Alvarez picked off Matt Adamkiewicz in the endzone to deny Christopher the win. After the Cougars’ onside went out of bounds, the Eagles clinched a 56-55 win on a wild night.
“These guys fought to the very, very end. I love it,” said Assistant Coach Aaron Bembry.
Bembry said at the end of the game there was nothing to lose. Given where Christopher is in this season—with the season going to end next week with the Cougars missing the playoffs—he wanted to roll the dice and not take a chance in overtime.
“At this point we’re playing for pride. We’re not going to the playoffs. We’re playing for pride and a tie doesn’t do it for us. It doesn’t do it for me, that’s for sure,” Bembry said.
Adamkiewicz said he loved the call and was excited to go for it at the end of the game.
“I was ecstatic. I was ready to go. Let’s get this win,” he said.
Adamkiewicz threw for 343 yards and seven touchdowns. PJ Reichert caught 14 passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns. He also had a 65-yard touchdown run to open the second half.
“The only thing we could do was come out here, bust our butts and leave it all out on the field,” Adamkiewicz said. “That was our motto this week. Who cares what the score says. It sucked the way it ended, but we can’t say we could do anything else. We busted our butts.
Meanwhile, Alvarez’ Alan Edwards rushed for 298 yards and four touchdowns.
Christopher went into halftime leading 27-24 and was riding high after stopping Alvarez on three straight possessions, including Victor Guerrero pulling down an interception.
To open the second half, Reichert opened things up with a 65-yard touchdown run to open a 14-point run that put Christopher up by 17.
Reichert had a 36-yard touchdown catch where he wrestled the ball from a defender’s hands for the score.
“That was all fight. That was all desire. There was nothing more than that. He wanted it just as much as the other kid,” Bembry said.
But then Alvarez slowly started chipping away at Christopher’s lead.
“They made some good adjustments offensively,” Bembry said. “They came back with that trap and we had a tough time figuring that out. … Not for lack of trying, that’s for sure.”
It started with a 40-yard field goal and Alvarez recovering an onside kick. Eight plays later, Joziah Garcia hit Edwards for an 18-yard play on fourth down.
Before Christopher could blink, the Eagles were on a 24-point run, capped with an Anthony Venegas touchdown to put them up 48-41.
And that’s when things got good.
Christopher responded with a 76-yard drive that ended with Reichert catching a seven-yard pass from Adamkiewicz. Xander Bowers then caught a 2-point pass in the corner of the endzone for a 49-48 lead.
But there was too much time on the clock.
Alvarez marched down the field for 65 yards in a little more than two minutes with Edwards capping things with a 13-yard run for a 56-49 lead after Garcia converted the 2-point play.
With 52 seconds left to play, Adamkiewicz led the Cougars on a 54-yard drive with Nate Fhurong catching a 31-yard pass to pull Christopher to within one.
Fhurong caught two touchdowns, including one in the second quarter where he had to make a leaping catch. He managed to stay on his feet, beat the defender and cruised into the endzone.
The two teams were tied 14-all after the first quarter, but Christopher went up by three thanks to a pair of second quarter TDs.
Alvarez kept things close thanks to an 82-yard run by Edwards and a safety when Christopher was called for intentional grounding in the endzone.
The Cougars will close out the season next weekend at Monterey with kickoff scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
Pregame ceremony
Before the game, Christopher honored the memory of Jennifer Pieleoni—wife of head coach Tim—after she passed away on Sunday.
The team got together in a prayer circle followed by a release of pink balloons.
“We all love that guy. He’s a father figure to all of us. Just to be able to have that moment to just come together as a team, come together as students. It’s an experience I will never forget,” Adamkiewicz said.
Coach Tim, who has taken a leave of absence since September to tend to his wife, was on hand to great the seniors as they were introduced before the game and joined in the prayer circle.
“He is the leader of this team. These are huge shoes. I got emotional coming out, seeing him out there on the 50,” Bembry said.
