The Bears fell to the Wilcox Chargers 30-21 in their last regular season game on Friday night. M-A will enter the CCS playoffs on Friday.
Wilcox started with the ball and quickly drove the Bears’ defense down the field. Despite pressure from senior linebackers Devin Hyde and Anthony van der Meer, as well as junior safety Eva Ama, the Chargers were able to score with 9:07 left in the first quarter.
Now on offense, M-A was unable to gain much ground. Ama pushed through a first down, but the Bears weren’t able to get any further, forcing them to punt the ball halfway through the quarter.
The Chargers made their way down the field once again through a series of strong passes. With help from an M-A pass interference penalty, Wilcox came close to the end zone. But, the Bears strengthened their defense, and on fourth down Wilcox elected to kick a field goal, which narrowly missed the uprights. The quarter ended with the Chargers leading 7-0.
Wilcox continued their aggressive momentum for the second quarter, and made it to the 10-yard line. The Bears were able to hold the Chargers off until fourth down, when a Wilcox running back found his way to the end zone, pulling the Chargers further ahead at 14-0.
Back on offense, the Bears were ready to get on the board. Halfway through the second quarter, a blown coverage allowed senior wide receiver Josh Olsen to fly down the field and score a 74-yard touchdown. After junior Anthony Perez made the point-after-touchdown, M-A now trailed 14-7.
With 43 seconds left in the first half, a short pass allowed a Chargers’ receiver to find a hole in M-A’s defense, allowing Wilcox to make it into the end zone off of an 80-yard drive. Halftime started with the Bears falling behind 21-7.
M-A kicked off the second half with a huge energy boost, which quickly brought the Bears to the 5-yard line with runs from senior wide receiver Angelo Marin and junior quarterback Teddy Dacey. Dacey quickly connected with Olsen for another touchdown, helping the Bears close in on Wilcox’s 21-14 lead.
After a short possession from Wilcox, the Bears continued their offensive momentum. Dacey connected with Marin, who found his way through a series of Wilcox players and dashed to the end zone. The 44-yard touchdown evened the score 21-21.
“We knew we played well in the first half, but we knew if we wanted to come home with the win we were going to have to play harder,” Olsen said.
A tackle from van der Meer forced a fumble, which Wilcox was narrowly able to recover. The Chargers had no choice but to punt. Once back on offense, the Bears also made no advances as the quarter ended.
Beginning the fourth quarter, the Bears struggled to hold their ground on defense, and Wilcox was able to keep advancing down the field. The Chargers were close to the end zone, but a fumble recovered by senior linebacker Semisi Tuipulotu prevented Wilcox from scoring.
Back on offense, the Bears looked to pull ahead. But, Dacey’s pass was quickly intercepted, putting them back on defense. With 3:58 left in the game, Wilcox was able to push their way to the end zone. After failing to make the point-after-touchdown, the Chargers now pulled ahead 27-21.
The Bears’ offense was not powerful enough, and were ultimately unable to gain any ground. The Chargers’ defense resorted to a field goal with 50 seconds left, pulling even further ahead, 30-21.
With less than a minute left, the Bears couldn’t even the score. The game ended with a victory for Wilcox, 30-21, on their senior night.
“This team really underestimated us, and we played to a level that I don’t think they matched. If we fixed letting them score 21 points right out of the gate, it would be a much closer game,” Hyde said.
“We fought really hard, in past games we have had a tendency to ease off the gas and play a little slow, but I think tonight we just gave it our all and I think it showed,” Olsen said.
The Bears will return to home field on Friday at 7:00 p.m. against the Monterey Dores for the first round of the CCS Championship.
