Los Gatos plays perfect half, elated with 49-14 Central Coast Section Division 1 title win over Wilcox

Wildcats jet to shocking 42-7 halftime lead en route to their 16th section title victory after squeaking out 24-21 win over Chargers five weeks earlier

SAN JOSE — The Los Gatos Wildcats may as well have given head coach Mark Krail his Gatorade bath at halftime.

Jaylen Thomas scored four first-half touchdowns—two receiving, one rushing and one on an 82-yard kick return—as the Wildcats routed league rival Wilcox 49-14 and rolled to the CCS Division I Championship Friday, their 16th section title in program history.

“It’s pure elation,” Krail said. “Just pure elation for these guys and for our program.”

Fans expecting a nail-biter after the Wildcats’ last-second 24-21 win over the Chargers five weeks earlier were in for a rude awakening as Los Gatos (11-2) recovered four fumbles, scoring repeatedly off short fields to take a 42-7 halftime lead in a definitive rout.

Thomas scored on a 1-yard sweep to cap off an efficient opening drive, then caught a 3-yard touchdown from A.J. Minyard after a high snap on a punt set the fourth-seeded Wildcats up at Wilcox’s 4. Scott Garwood forced a fumble on the next possession that Aaron Brin recovered, and Boxer Kopcsak-Yeung scored from 16 yards out on the very next play after an unsportsmanlike conduct flag set the Wildcats up in the red zone.

Jaylen Thomas (3), Spencer Burg (18), AJ Minyard (16) and Scott Garwood (7) among those holding up the CCS championship trophy.  / Photo: Ethan Kassel

Seventh-seeded Wilcox (8-5) showed signs of life on quarterback Tyson Bonilla’s 65-yard touchdown run with 1:22 left in the first quarter, but Thomas took the ensuing kickoff 82 yards to the house, faking a handoff to Kopcsak-Yeung early in the return before slicing through a gaping hole across the middle of the field at San Jose City College.

“We had a little trickery at the top and I saw a hole,” Thomas said. “I had one guy to beat, and every 1-on-1, I’ll take myself.”

The Wilcox offense was challenged, averaging 6.9 yards per carry out of an up-tempo veer system, but four fumbles, an interception and the failed punt snap proved to be the Chargers’ undoing.

They drove all the way down to the Los Gatos 4 on the ensuing drive, holding the ball for nearly eight minutes before Lyndon Bailey snuffed out a rollout on fourth-and-3 after the Wildcat sideline correctly predicted a quarterback run.

“Our coaching staff was keyed in to what was going on,” Bailey said. “Our scout team gives us a great look.”

For a scout team to prep for Wilcox’s high-paced offense is no small feat. Most weeks, teams that try to prepare for the Chargers are unable to replicate their pace and aggression.

“We don’t just have single good players,” Bailey said when asked about the scout team. “We’re great all across the board.”

Los Gatos needed just five more plays after Bailey’s stop to extend the lead. Minyard connected with Thomas for a 49-yard gain, the longest of the duo’s five connections on the night, then found Nicholas Hobson for a 28-yard pickup to set up the second of Kopcsak-Yeung’s three touchdown runs, a 12-yard scamper.

Even then, there was still the faintest slimmer of hope for Wilcox, with the prospect of scoring before halftime and receiving the kickoff to open the second half. Yet again, the Chargers entered Los Gatos territory, but Henry Masters forced a fumble that Garwood returned 68 yards to the 19.

About the only time Los Gatos stood still all night, celebrating 16th section title.  / Photo: Ethan Kassel

That turnover, just like the one that Garwood forced in the opening quarter, was immediately followed by a Minyard-to-Thomas touchdown pass, this one a 19-yard hookup to extend the lead to 35.

“I can trust him with any pass,” Minyard said of Thomas.

Thomas was responsible for 88 receiving yards. Minyard completed eight of nine passes for 143, only misfiring on his first attempt of the night.

The second half was little more than a formality, but Thomas still had time to make one more big play, returning an interception 42 yards to set up Kopcsak-Yeung’s third and final touchdown run, a 7-yard trot.

“I feel like I showed out,” Thomas said, before quickly adding, “along with my team.”

Kopcsak-Yeung finished with 115 yards on just 14 carries.

Jamontay Amataga, who ran 12 times for 67 yards, scored from 14 yards out with 9:34 left in the fourth quarter for Wilcox’s final touchdown of the season.

“They were a lot more hungry than us. We were sloppy,” said Wilcox head coach Paul Rosa, whose team lost a week earlier to Serra in the CCS Open Division Championship. “Sometimes getting beat like (we did a week ago) isn’t good for you. Sometimes it is, and guys will rebound, but I could feel it on Monday and Tuesday. It was a weird situation, losing in a championship game and getting ready to play another one.”

Bonilla led Wilcox with 129 yards on 16 rushing attempts. Elijah Walker ran 10 times for 80 yards, Brayden Rosa ran five times for 60 and Jasean Amataga, Jamontay’s twin, ran nine times for 57. Rosa also forced a fumble in the second half, which Ri’yon Cooper recovered.

Thomas’ fumble recovery was just one of three Los Gatos takeaways in the second half. Austin Krug forced a fumble that R.J. Cannan recovered and JV callup Beau Musser forced and recovered a fumble during the fourth quarter, which was played with a running clock.