Varsity football defeated the Bruins 33-15 on seniors’ last home game
The Matadors stepped on the field with only one goal in mind: to win, for the seniors. On Oct. 30, the seniors played their last game on their home football field for MVHS. After a quick ceremony dedicated to recognizing these seniors the team was determined to crush the Santa Clara Bruins.
Led by fan support, team effort and some key plays by seniors Nick Utley and Wesley Oberhelman, the Matadors were able to do just that.
"We’ve been playing here for four years and we didn’t want to come off with a loss on our last night on the field,"senior Zac Carlsen said.
After the kickoff caught by senior Kalon Zandbergs,Freddy Kuo threw a pinpoint pass to Utley for a first down to start off the first quarter. As they slowly advanced into Bruin territory,Victor Wan managed to run to the end zone and score a touchdown to put the Matadors in the lead.
"I was really worried about the second half, we didn’t execute during the first five or six minutes of the second half," coach Jeff Mueller said.
The Matadors stepped up their defense with less than three minutes left in the half when they recovered the fumble. After the turnover,Kuo lobbed it deep into Bruin territory where sophomore Mahesh Vishwanath was there to meet it – an essential momentum booster the team needed to push them forward. Soon after, Wan scored a touchdown with a quarterback keep to the right, giving the Matadors a solid lead. With 15 seconds left, however, the Bruins scrambled to put themselves on the board by scoring a field goal to end the first half with a score of 13-3.
After a slow and uneventful start to the third quarter, the Bruins managed to score a touchdown, which brought the score to a close 13-9. In an attempt to broaden the lead, Oberhelman made a couple of consecutive plays including a touchdown where he rushed to the right, breaking many tackles on his way to the endzone. With a successful kick by senior Christian Chu, the Matadors were awarded an extra point to end the third quarter with a 20-9 lead over the Bruins.
Oberhelman gained numerous yards in the fourth quarter to make up for the penalty by varying up his offensive strategies, running through the middle, rightside, and then left side. Utley then ran 40 yards to the left side of the field into the end zone, but disappointingly, a penalty was called pushing the Matadors back to the 35 yard line and voiding the touchdown. On the next play, Oberhelman managed to find a route to the endzone for a touchdown, making the score 26-9 in the Matadors’ favor.
Due to some sloppy coverage by the Matadors,the Bruins quarterback was able to make a long pass to his open receiver for a touchdown. However, Carlsen blocked the attempt at a two-point conversion and the ball was turned over to the Mats. Immediately, the ball was handed off to Utley as he rushed 42 yards for yet another impressive touchdown for the night. Chu once again made a successful kick for the extra point to bring the score to a favorable 33-15. As the Bruins lose hope, Oberhelman ended the night with a pick resulting in a turnover on downs.
With a final score of 33-15, the team celebrated their third league win of the season. Coach Mueller was especially proud of the win and admitted the most unique thing about the seniors this year was their element of surprise.
"This group was very unpredictable. We never really knew who was going to show up to play," Mueller said.
Even though the league season is almost over, Mueller will continue to play his seniors to secure a spot in CCS.
The Matadors currently stand with a league record of three wins and one loss. Their next game will take place at Los Altos on Nov. 6.
