Valley Christian, with ‘something to prove’ after one-win season, edges Wilcox
Valley Christian’s Aaron VanderVeen kicks short field goal in third quarter to account for winning points.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Valley Christian hosted Wilcox in the season opener for both teams, as it did last year. But the outcome was quite different this time.
With a 20-yard field goal in the third quarter, Aaron VanderVeen scored the only points of the second half, giving Valley Christian a one-point lead that held up Friday in a 16-15 victory.
Wilcox defeated VC 35-13 last year.
“Coming off a 1-9 season, we have something to prove,” said Valley Christian middle linebacker Remy Hernandez, who was a standout throughout the night. “We were inexperienced and young.” I believe we will have a successful year now that we are older and more mature. I can’t wait to find out.”
Both teams’ star players were middle linebackers in a throwback game. Valley Christian coach Mike Machado singled out Wilcox middle backer Brayden Rosa after the game.
“That kid is a playmaker,” said Machado. “He gave us a lot of problems tonight.”
Wilcox’s veer option offense produced one long touchdown run. In the first quarter, quarterback Tyson Bonilla raced 45 yards for a touchdown. The Chargers went for two after a defensive penalty moved the ball half the distance on the conversion attempt, and Elijah Walker punched it in to make it 8-0.
Because of the difficulty in simulating the Wilcox offense in practice, opposing defenses frequently struggle with it. Valley Christian, on the other hand, has grown accustomed to playing Wilcox on a yearly basis.
“We know them better than some of the other teams in our league,” Machado said.
Following Bonilla’s early touchdown, the Warriors drove 74 yards in 10 plays, culminating with Uchenna Eke scoring on a 3-yard run out of a short-yardage full-house T-formation.
On the ensuing kickoff, Wilcox slipped after receiving the ball at the 1-yard line, forcing the Chargers to restart at their own goal line. Wilcox struggled with first-game jitters and errors throughout the game.
Three penalties kept the Chargers from getting a first down and climbing out of their hole, forcing them to punt from their own end zone. Valley took over on the 29 and needed only four plays to take a 13-8 lead on a 5-yard run by Marcel Leggett.
Wilcox responded with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Bonilla to William Souza late in the second quarter to take a 15-13 lead into halftime.
In the second half, defenses ruled. Wilcox fumbled a punt, and Valley Christian recovered at the Wilcox 8-yard line, setting up the game-winning field goal.
Wilcox had one more chance, taking over on its own 8 with 4:35 remaining. Bonilla’s 27-yard run and a 15-yard penalty moved the ball into Valley Christian territory. Valley celebrated the victory after intercepting a fourth-down pass from the 27.
Walker gained 97 yards on 15 carries, while Bonilla gained 104 yards on 15 carries.
“I thought our guys did a pretty good job fighting to stay in the game, but we just made too many mistakes,” said Wilcox coach Paul Rosa. “In a game like this, you can’t make mistakes.” On offense, we had a lot of penalties. When you have to go 20 yards instead of 10, it’s difficult.”
Eke, the returning West Catholic Athletic League running back of the year, led Valley with 54 yards on 18 carries. Joseph Stephens, a Prolific Prep product, made his first start at quarterback and completed 9 of 16 passes for 96 yards. Kai Hamilton hauled in five passes for 48 yards.
“We played all three phases well,” Machado said. “We’ve got a good group of guys and hope to get this thing back to where we were.”
Valley travels to Salinas on Friday, while Wilcox returns to action on Thursday at Hollister.
