The Bears took down the Wilcox Chargers 14-7 on senior night.
Before the game began, seniors Gio Torres, Teddy Dacey, Anthony Perez, Matthew Kwon, Eva Ama, Matei Tau, Joel Fifita, Monty Turner, Jack Skoskiewicz, John Niko, Jordan Lavula, Toa Walker, and Kolei Maile were honored with their friends and family as they walked down an aisle.
“The seniors mean everything, without them we’d be completely different,” junior running back Marlo Jackson said.
The Bears kicked off to start the game, and junior linebacker Dalton Barklow tipped the Chargers swing out to the running back, forcing a quick three-and-out to give possession to M-A.
The Bears were looking hot, driving down the field with ease. Even so, a couple of mistakes had them facing a field goal attempt, which was blocked, keeping the score 0-0, with 6:11 in the first quarter.
Quickly forcing a Wilcox fourth down, the Bears ripped through the blockers and stuffed the quarterback, giving the ball back to M-A with only a short distance to the opposing end zone.
Good defense by the Chargers caused the Bears to face a fourth down, where quarterback Dacey quickly passed to running back Turner, who squeezed out the first down. Just a little after, Dacey found wide receiver Kwon to put M-A at the Chargers’ three-yard line to end the first quarter, 0-0.
Once again, to kick off the second quarter, Wilcox overpowered the Bears’ offense and ended their drive.
The Bears’ defense had the Chargers’ offense on lockdown, thanks to linebacker Tau perfectly reading a Wilcox screen pass. This forced another punt by the Chargers, giving M-A the ball at the Wilcox’s 41-yard line.
On second down, Jackson dashed by the Chargers’ defense untouched and into the end zone for a 38-yard rushing touchdown, giving the Bears a 7-0 lead with 8:59 in the quarter.
The Chargers were trying to find any sort of life, changing their heavy run offense and opening up with more passes. However, on a deep pass, junior cornerback Diego Madrid ripped the ball out of the receiver’s hands for an interception, giving the Bears possession.
The Chargers got the ball right back, punching the ball loose from the Bears’ receiver.
But M-A continued to stand their ground on defense, with Tau busting through blockers to sack the quarterback and push for a fourth down. Madrid soon after shone again, leaping back and snatching the ball from the receiver for his second interception of the game.
With 4:03 left in the half, the Bears were driving down the field. A Dacey scramble for 23 yards put M-A in Wilcox territory, and on third down, a pass to Turner allowed them to reach a first down inside the red zone. Despite having momentum, M-A yet again faced a fourth down, and the Chargers’ pressure forced an incompletion to end the first half with the Bears up 7-0.
M-A received the ball to start the third quarter, and on the very first play, Dacey launched a deep pass to junior receiver Zachary Sokol for a 52-yard reception. To follow up, junior quarterback Milo Lazare flipped the ball back to Dacey, who found sophomore receiver Kyle Gabriel in the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown. This added to the Bears’ lead, 14-0, with 10:48 in the third quarter.
Wilcox was in desperate need of any sort of momentum, but the M-A defense gave them no hope, making them punt yet again. A terrible punt left the Bears starting their possession at the Wilcox 37-yard line.
The Bears found themselves inside the five-yard line once again. Despite being so close, M-A couldn’t capitalize on the advantage, and a pass on fourth down fell incomplete.
The Chargers were still struggling to find any success in running their offense. A backwards pitch to the Wilcox running back was far to his left, and the Bears jumped to recover the fumble with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter.
On another fourth down, Dacey hit junior receiver Daniel Jackson for the first down and to keep the drive alive. Dacey then found receiver Kwon at the four-yard line to end the third quarter 14-0.
The Bears were inefficient in getting the ball into the end zone, leaving them to settle for a field goal, which was unfortunately blocked again, keeping the score 14-0 M-A.
The Chargers were able to get their offense rolling with multiple different runs, bringing the ball all the way down to M-A’s one-yard line. Here, they punched in a rushing touchdown to cut the deficit to 14-7 with 5:53 left in the game.
The Bears were stopped on third down, and were going to punt, but a penalty on the Chargers for illegal substitution made M-A reconsider the decision. With the ball placed just one yard away from the first down, Kwon broke through tackles and fought his way past the sticks for the first down. The Bears were able to run out the clock and secure the victory 14-7.
“Going into CCS, we need to execute every down, every snap, every quarter,” Turner said.
“This win guarantees us a game at home for the playoffs, so taking this momentum from this game is really big,” Madrid said.
M-A will stay home for round one of CCS against Stevenson, Friday night at 7 p.m.
