GILROY — Rayshon Mills is king on and off the field.
The senior running back and strong safety lead Christopher (4-3 overall, 1-2 in league) to a 41-6 victory over Pajaro Valley (3-5, 0-4) during its homecoming celebration Friday night.
The Cougars picked up their much needed first league victory and it was thanks in large part to Mills who had 200 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns in the game — his biggest game since Week 2 against Live Oak (21 carries, 208 yards). To make the night even sweeter, he was crowned homecoming king at halftime.
“I was surprised that I got homecoming king but I’m just happy that my team came out and out the ‘W’ because we needed this one this week (since) we lost two in a row,” Mills said. “We did it together as a team, no one shined more than anyone — we did it as a team. …We were down, we were in a slump, we had that nasty taste in our mouth so it feels good to get it out.”
The Cougars defense was stellar and looked as if they would pick up their first shutout of the season as the clock was winding down. But the Grizzlies weren’t about to go home empty handed. Senior running back J.J. Casares broke away for a 91-yard touchdown with just over two minutes left in the game, but the extra point attempt was missed for the final score.
Casares led the Grizzlies with 114 yards in the game.
“Everybody was doing their job, not being selfish and I think that’s what we’ve been lacking these last couple weeks,” junior linebacker and defensive captain Jacob Moen said. “It feels good, it’s our first win in a couple of weeks and we really needed it to get rolling into the rest of league.”
The Cougars won the turnover battle for the second week in a row, recovering two Grizzlie fumbles while only losing one of their own. Most importantly, CHS coach Tim Pierleoni said, was that the team had corrected its mistakes from the previous weeks.
“We’ve been real close the last couple of weeks,” Pierleoni said. “We didn’t make many mistakes tonight, so it was nice to see the kids play well.”
Christopher scored four times in the first half, including a 70-yard touchdown run from Mills that put the Cougars up 27-0 at that point.
Pajaro Valley will be on a bye this week and will take on the winless North Monterey County Condors at 7:30 p.m. at home on Nov. 8. Christopher will play at Watsonville (3-4 overall, 1-2 in league) at 7:30 p.m.
“Watsonville is a pretty good team,” Pierleoni said. “Their record may not show that, but they’re a pretty darn good team. They’re coached well and they play real hard. At this point anybody can beat anybody right now so we’re going to go out there and practice real hard and look at their film tomorrow.”
Christopher 41, Pajaro Valley 6
Christopher 14 16 3 8 — 49
Pajaro Valley 0 0 0 6 — 0
CHS — Trevor Hadnot 10-yard run (Raul Meza kick), 6:55
CHS — Rayshon Mills 7-yard run (Meza kick), 3:55
CHS — Mills 70-yard run (PAT missed), 11:41
CHS — Tyler Fhurong 10-yard pass from Sterling Montgomery (Meza kick), 7:25
CHS — Meza field goal, .05
CHS — Meza field goal, 8:20
CHS — Christopher Carpenter, 13-yard run; 2-point conversion Mills pass to Jacob Moen, 3:13
PV — J.J. Casares 91-yard run, 2:01
TEAM STATISTICS
CHS PV
First downs 30 12
Rushes-Yards 31-343 22-160
Passing yards 186 39
Comp.-Att.-Int. 16-21-0 1-1-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-Yards 2-15 3-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Christopher: Rayshon Mills 12-200; Trevor Hadnot 4-66; Sterling Montgomery 3-6; Tyson Hill 2-23; Christian Carpenter 6-36; J.C. Mejia-Solorio 2-2; Pajaro Valley: John Mason 8-23; Art Aguilar 4-6; Eddie Medina 1-17; J.J. Casares 7-114; Justin Mendoza 1-0
PASSING — Christopher: Sterling Montgomery 16-21-0 186; Pajaro Valley: Eddie Medina 1-1-0 39
RECEIVING — Christopher: Alex Pacheco 3-51; Max Sanford 1-14; Raul Tovar III 3-38; Alex Pachecho, 2-38; Tyler Fhurong 2-18; Brent Bottomley 1-9; Bronson Barna 2-11; Rayshon Mills 1-30; Philip Castro 1-8; Jaeshawn Hoenck 1-7; Pajaro Valley: Alexis Chavez, 1-39
DEFENSE — Fumble recoveries: Christopher 2; Pajaro Valley 1
RECORDS — Christopher 4-3, 2-1 MBPL; Pajaro Valley 3-5, 0-4 MBPL
