Run defense key as Christopher kicks off playoffs vs Cupertino

Christopher got a much-needed week off to heal up and get ready for the opening round of the Central Coast Section playoffs.
And after rebounding from back-to-back losses to Gilroy and Alisal, the Cougars are feeling good as they prepare for Cupertino to kick off Division IV play.
“That week off definitely helped us,” said coach Pierleoni said. “We had a feeling of four teams we were going to play . We knew we had choice teams and just had to prepare. Last week we got a lot of polish and we tried to get ready as possible without knowing our opponent.”
Cupertino is the No. 2 team in the SCVAL-El Camino Division.
The Pioneers are led by Alex Bruckhaus who has 1,573 yards and represents just shy of half of the total yards gained on offense. But Coach Tim Pierleoni said he looks forward to the challenge after seeing solid running teams all season.
“We want to try to stop running backs like that. We take pride stopping runners and we’ve done a good job stopping runners all year,” Pierleoni said.
But as well as Christopher has defending running teams, Cupertino might be the best never-say-die team.
The Pioneers have won two overtime games that helped to propel them to a six-game winning streak before falling to Santa Clara to miss out on a league title.
Kickoff is slated for 7pm at Christopher. The winner will take on the victor between No. 3 Branham and No. 6 Alisal on Nov. 24.
“All those teams are good football teams. There’s a reason they’re in the playoffs,” Pierleoni said.