Comeback Chargers: Brayden Rosa carries Wilcox over the finish line as it claims CCS D-II championship

SAN JOSE — Wilcox’s season could have ended with a whimper.

Instead, the Chargers roared.

Wilcox was staring down a 20-7 deficit against Palma at halftime of the CCS Division II championship game with its season on the line. Then Brayden Rosa took charge.

The senior do-everything star for Wilcox lined up at quarterback and instantly jumpstarted the Chargers’ offense, conducting three consecutive touchdown drives in the third quarter to give the Chargers a 28-20 lead.

And when a bad snap gave Palma an unexpected TD to cut the deficit to 28-26, Rosa came through again. He shepherded the Chargers down the field on a six-and-a-half minute drive that ended with – what else – his 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal.

Kicker Armando Rodriguez’s extra point made it 35-26, a two-possession game. And a few desperate Palma plays later, Wilcox was a CCS champion for the first time in three seasons.

So what happened at halftime?

“A lot of words that can’t be said,” Rosa said. “We came in there, and my dad walked in there and gave us a little halftime speech. And it definitely just got us riled up. We knew the type of team we were, and we just came out flat. That can’t happen against a great team.

“When we came back out in the second half, it showed what type of team we were. And that was pretty much it.”

Pretty much everything went right for Palma (7-6) in the first half. On the first possession of the game, the Chieftains stopped Wilcox (11-2) on fourth down just inside Palma territory, then scored on the next play, a 55-yard aerial connection from Patrick Driscoll to Lucas Milburn.

Wilcox responded with a long TD drive that ended with Adrian Garcia’s 4-yard run, but the Chieftains weren’t letting up. Eli Dukes ran in back-to-back TDs to give Palma a 13-point advantage at the half.

“We made some defensive adjustments,” said Wilcox coach Paul Rosa. “We started to become a little bit more aggressive, take a little bit more chances. We were playing a little on our heels in the beginning.”

Those tweaks paid immediate dividends for the Chargers in the second half. After a failed onside kick on the opening kickoff, Wilcox was already defending its own territory.

The Chargers faced a fourth-and-1 on their own 40-yard line. A Palma first down would have put Wilcox in a precarious position.

But there was no first down. The Chargers stopped Dukes seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, setting the stage for their comeback to materialize.

“After the first half, we were down. Something flipped a switch in my head,” Brayden Rosa said. “Like, you know what? This really might be my last game in high school. So I’m going to play like it is my last game. I started running like that. I played defense like that. And it showed out there, a little bounce. I was running a little bit harder than usual. I should just run like that every game.”

Rosa was on a mission after that. On the Chargers’ first offensive play, he took the snap from under center and ran 50 yards around the left side, setting up Elijah Vallejo’s 3-yard TD.

Wilcox forced a punt on Palma’s next possession, which Rosa returned to the Chieftains’ 48-yard line. Two plays later, he ran in a 45-yard TD to put the Chargers up 21-20.

“Brayden knows how to check to good plays,” Paul Rosa said. “He’s familiar with the offense. He’s run it since he was 10 years old. And they were jumping around a lot, so he was able to get us into the right play more often. That was a big adjustment.”

Wilcox came up with another stop when Jeremiah Arevalos intercepted a deep pass attempt by Driscoll. Holding the lead, the Chargers took more time, running 10 plays and taking almost five minutes of the clock.

The drive ended with a 5-yard TD run from Vallejo.

“It’s impressive,” Paul Rosa said. “Because swings in high school football – as you can see, once we got the momentum, it was really hard for them to come back. They had the momentum in the first half. Momentum is big at any level, but especially high school, because kids start thinking about other things instead of what they’re supposed to do.

“That’s what we preached at halftime. Just try to do the best you can of what you’re supposed to do, and good things will happen. And that’s what happened.”

But then a very bad thing happened for the Chargers. Wilcox snuffed out another Palma drive with Arevalos’ second pick of the game. This time, though, Palma forced a punt.

Or at least a punt attempt. The snap sailed over Rodriguez’s head and rolled all the way to the end zone, where Palma pounced on it for a touchdown.

Yet Rosa came through yet again to deny Palma a tying two-point conversion. He batted down Driscoll’s pass to Aidan Williams, ensuring the Chargers still led 28-26.

“He deserves it more than maybe any other player I’ve ever coached,” Paul Rosa said. “Not (because he’s) my son or anything. All-around player. Defense, smart. Offense, play any position. He’s the best player I’ve coached in that sense. I’ve had better athletes, but he’s by far the best all-around player.”

And when the clock expired moments after Brayden Rosa’s game-sealing TD, the emotions came pouring out.

“I went over and hugged my dad. It was a great father and son moment,” Brayden said. “Nobody really sees how much time he puts in throughout the week and weekend scouting teams. Yeah, it was just a great moment. I can’t even put it into words.”

The feeling was mutual.

“It was special because his brother had won a lot early on,” Paul said. “For him, he really wanted that too, and it was good to see him get it. Especially the way he got it. He kind of put the team on his back a little bit there.”