Wilcox tops Menlo-Atherton after M-A’s two-point conversion comes up short

SANTA CLARA — After Ty Jeter and a host of teammates snuffed out a Menlo-Atherton two-point conversion with about four minutes left in the game, Wilcox’s offense took over with one objective: burn the clock and hold on to a slim one-point margin in the matchup between two of the Bay Area’s top public schools.

Elijah Walker took control of the task himself, taking a handoff from quarterback Armand Johnson, shrugging off multiple Bear defenders and churning 38 yards down the left sideline for a critical first down. One more 10-yard carry gave the junior 192 yards and preserved the Chargers’ 21-20 win over a Menlo-Atherton team who never seemed to go away.

“My lineman Justin Hylkema told me to just run on his outside leg, so that’s what I did,” Walker said. “There was no D-end and I got past the linebackers.”

The Chargers rushed for 297 yards and three touchdowns as they collectively kept the ball with their offense. Long gains like Walker’s fourth-quarter carry were rare, instead running for four-to-six yard gains. Wilcox scored first on a six-minute drive consisting only of runs. Tight end Frankie Tagoai finished the drive off with a 20-yard reverse.

It wasn’t until the second quarter that Menlo-Atherton was able to answer. Partially due to the fact that they didn’t have the ball, and partially because Wilcox kept a constant double-team on five-star Oregon commit Jurrion Dickey the whole game. When the Bears tried to force a long pass to Dickey early on, safety and designated Dickey-shadow Daniel Escorza picked off the pass.

“Since he lined up inside, I had a feeling he was gonna come back outside, so I was just trying to stay over the top of it,” senior Escorza said. “My boy Mitch (Gonzalez) tipped that and I just came down with it. I had to get that ball, man.”

Trying to hold down the Bears forever though is impossible, as senior quarterback Billy Johnson eventually led a scoring drive downfield by leaning on the running game. Senior halfback Sherrod Smith benefited from some great blocking and a lighter box to spring for 128 yards and a second-quarter score that tied the game at seven.

The Chargers answered when senior runner Andrew Palacios recovered his own fumble in the backfield and ran in for nine hard-fought yards late in the first-half to send Wilcox into the locker room up 14-7.

“We had two receivers get hurt right before the game started,” Wilcox coach Paul Rosa said. “We were gonna run the ball anyways, cause that’s what we do. But That helped us get even more into the mindset of ‘Let’s just pound the ball.'”

M-A’s 6-7 tight end Alek Marshall tied the game on a seven-yard touchdown reception down the seam, and Wilcox’s ensuing drive was stymied due to a plethora of false starts. The fourth quarter was when the game descended into a series of game-changing plays. Wilcox drove the ball into the endzone behind Elijah Walker, but the only reason he was able to score was because Andrew Palacios’ previous TD was called back for a Reggie Bush-esque push.

After a few stalled drives by both teams, Menlo-Atherton drove the ball downfield on Wilcox’s tough defense, before three straight false start and delay of game penalties backed the team up to the 35-yard line and a third and 20. That’s when quarterback Johnson threw a pass to Dickey, double-team be damned. The all-Bay Area receiver went up and plucked the ball out of the air, landed on-balance and ran into the endzone for a touchdown.

Dickey’s score gave coach Chris Saunders a choice. Kick the point-after and hope for overtime, or go for two and take the lead or go down trying. Saunders picked the second option, but it backfired after the rollout play to the right sideline presented neither M-A running lanes nor open targets.

“We had a chance to win the game, and it’s hard to pass that up,” Saunders said. “If we kicked the extra point and stopped them, we’d go into overtime. I think their offense is built for overtime, since you’re starting from 10 yards away. So I thought it was our best opportunity to win the game there.”

Wilcox (4-0) ran out the clock following a failed Menlo-Atherton onside kick and then celebrated the hard-fought win between two PAL/SCVAL teams from different divisions.

Menlo-Atherton (2-2) will look to stop its two-game losing streak next week when they start Bay Division play at Half Moon Bay. Wilcox travels to Mountain View to begin De Anza Division action.