Christopher cruises past Santa Teresa, asserts itself as BVAL Mt. Hamilton’s top contender
SAN JOSE — On a clear day, you can see the peak of Mount Hamilton from Santa Teresa High School’s football field.
So it was fitting that on a cloudless Friday night in South San Jose, Christopher and Santa Teresa, two of the top contenders for the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division crown, met with the storied Bay Area mountaintop as a backdrop. But only one team emerged as the clear favorite in the division.
Christopher climbed on top 14-0 early with a long TD pass from Jaxen Robinson to Evan Vernon, followed immediately by Salomon Quintero’s quick pick-six. That swift pair of touchdowns set the tone for the rest of the matchup, which the Cougars ultimately claimed 31-14.
So is Christopher the team to beat atop the Mt. Hamilton this year?
“As of right now, yeah,” Robinson said.
Christopher has now toppled Mt. Hamilton championship contenders in back-to-back weeks on the road. The Cougars took down Branham 45-28 last Thursday, and Friday’s trip to San Jose brought similar success for the team from Gilroy.
“We’re just playing hard,” said Christopher coach Adam Hazel. “Every team in this league’s good. The Mt. Hamilton is year in, year out, an awesome league. Every team we’re going to play is going to be good, so it’s going to be fun.”
The Cougars (5-1, 2-0 BVAL Mt. Hamilton) made their opening statement with Robinson’s 61-yard heave to Vernon, then enhanced their advantage with Quintero’s 20-yard interception return on the next play from scrimmage.
Christopher kept the good times rolling with another deep TD completion by Robinson, this time for 58 yards to Matthew Boles on the first play of the drive.
“It’s awesome,” said Hazel of having Robinson at the offensive controls. “And he works really hard. So everything good that happens to him comes from all his hard work in the offseason, all his hard work in the summer, all his hard work throughout the week. I send him our game plan sheet with all our other coaches, so he’s basically one of our coaches, too. He works really hard, and we’re really proud of him.”
The Cougars pounced right out of the halftime break, building an insurmountable 28-0 lead after Kenny Gil took the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown.
“I give them credit,” said Santa Teresa coach Steve Papin. “They’re a damn good team. But I think we had some self-inflicted wounds. We gave up a hitch-and-go, kickoff return for a touchdown, pick-six. That’s 21 points that they didn’t earn. And then they just capitalized on how good they are and us being not prepared tonight. They wanted it more, and all hats off to them.”
Santa Teresa got on the board later in the third quarter with Jaylen Malcom’s 74-yard rush down the right sideline. Christopher kept the Saints at bay with a 23-yard field goal by Rylan Antipuesto, stretching the margin to 31-7.
Malcom wasn’t done for Santa Teresa. He scored on an 80-yard touchdown catch from Brenton Gaches near the end of the third quarter.
“He’s everything,” Papin said of Malcom. “He’s the one player that shows up, shows out, and he’s going to give you his all every single play. This is where the other teams are going to start keying him, and now our other guys got to make plays and step up. That’s what we were trying to do a couple of times tonight, and it didn’t work. We were trying to use him as a decoy, and other guys just didn’t step up.”
Santa Teresa (4-1, 0-1 BVAL) is still alive in the Mt. Hamilton race, and Papin noted the Saints still have championship aspirations. But right now, it looks like everyone is chasing Christopher up the mountain.
“ST and Branham were at the top, in my opinion,” Robinson said. “So we’ve definitely got to focus on Lincoln next week, but I’m feeling good right now.”