HERCULES — Vallejo High’s football team was just eight and half minutes away from taking a step toward a Tri-County Athletic League Stone Division crown. But in the end, the Redhawks ran out of gas.
Tied 6-6 in the final quarter, Hercules running back Miguel Chavez broke through the Redhawks defensive line for a 45-yard touchdown with 2:03 left in regulation to give the Titans a 14-6 win and the league crown.
Vallejo, which suffered its first league loss of the season (4-4, 2-1) will now have to defeat crosstown rival Jesse Bethel next week to have a chance at the North Coast Section playoffs, which begin in two weeks.
Hercules, which has won four games in a row, has its regular season end a week earlier with a 6-3 overall record and 4-0 mark in league play.
Vallejo head coach Mike Wilson III felt that near the end of the game, his team got a little tired, especially the defense. After all, it had been on the field on the field for 28 of the game’s first 44 minutes.
“Our defense was on the field all night,” Wilson said. “In the end they got a little tired probably. On offense we didn’t run the ball that much until the second half and that’s on me, that’s my fault. We should have ran the ball earlier to keep some pressure off our quarterback. We also had some dropped balls tonight and that’s the first time this year that’s happened to us.”
In the first quarter Hercules had the ball for eight of the 12 minutes, but was unable to score. Aiden Perry made a great tackle on a sack midway through the quarter to thwart a Titan drive.
Vallejo went to a hurry-up offense in the first half, but it didn’t work out.
“We wanted to catch them off guard and in film we had seen that a lot of times they didn’t get to the line of scrimmage on time,” Wilson said.
The game would have made defensive superstars like Lawrence Taylor, Mike Singletary and Dick Butkus happy as the contest remained deadlocked at 0-0 as halftime approached.
However, Hercules finally grabbed a 6-0 lead when Omari Catley ran 15 yards for a touchdown. The drive was aided by a 46-yard completion from quarterback John Robinson to Michael Whaley. Robinson also had a 10-yard run on the play.
Vallejo’s offense couldn’t catch up to Hercules in the third quarter mostly because, well, the players couldn’t get on the field. Once again the Titans owned time of possession in the quarter for just under nine minutes. Although Vallejo’s Davion Williams had a nice 27-yard run on its only drive in the period, the Redhawks soon had to punt.
Hercules looked to put Vallejo away early in the fourth with a drive aided by unsportsmanlike penalties by the Redhawks that gave Hercules 30 extra yards. In fact, Hercules almost gained more yards on the penalties as officials told Vallejo sideline coaches to stop their unnecessary chirping or else they would be thrown out.
Wilson would eventually have to be restrained by another coach to prevent him from being kicked out. In a 6-0 game, the Vallejo sideline came very close to giving the game away.
Thankfully, the only thing Perry heard was a celebration as the junior linebacker came up with a huge turnover on a fumble recovery and put the Redhawks back in business.
“Our play from our linebackers tonight was great,” said Jonias Lewis, who had a sack in the contest. “We had pretty strong play from our safeties and defensive backs as well. It seemed we knew a lot of the plays and it was great being out there and telling people where to be on every play.”
After Perry gave the ball back to his Redhawks, they started a drive that did away with the pass.
“The offensive line came up to me at halftime and told me they thought we should run the ball more,” Wilson said. “So that’s what we decided to do more of in the second half.”
A seven-play drive lasting about three minutes was all runs, mostly by junior Malachi Edmondson. His three-yard score with 8:41 left in the contest tied the score at 6-6. Vallejo had the PAT blocked.
“When he (Edmondson) scored that touchdown I felt great,” Lewis said. “I felt we had all the momentum and were going to win.”
Unfortunately that would not be the case for the Redhawks.Vallejo couldn’t get the ball past midfield on its next drive with around three minutes left and had to punt. Then the defense just ran out of steam.
Hercules got the ball with 3:30 remaining when Catley had a 14-yard run. On the next play, Chavez was gone for the touchdown. Zayden Crockett ran in the two point conversion to make it 14-6 with 2:03 left.
Vallejo had one last chance to tie it, having to go 87 yards with 1:52 left in the contest. Edmondson had a 17-yard run, which was followed by a 12-yard pass from quarterback SirDarius Alexander to Edmondson that put the ball at midfield. However, an Alexander run for 7 yards followed by three straight incompletions sealed the win for Hercules.
Vallejo will now prepare to play Bethel in the Mayor’s Cup with more than city pride on the line..
“Once the bus leaves here tonight, this game is over in my mind,” Lewis said. “I love my teammates, but this game is over. I’m moving on and focusing on getting that win against Bethel.”
The score
Hercules 14, Vallejo 6
Next game: Nov. 6 vs. Bethel (Corbus): 2 p.m.
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October 30, 2021 at 02:34PM
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Vallejo High football comes up just short in loss to Hercules - Vallejo Times-Herald
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