Willow Glen takes advantage of its opportunities to turn back Piedmont Hills
SAN JOSE — Willow Glen cashed in on its opportunities, took advantage of Piedmont Hills miscues, opened a three-touchdown lead at halftime and held on for a 23-8 victory Friday on homecoming night at Bob Berry Field.
“I loved the way we played in the first half,” Willow Glen coach Oscar Caballero said. “Second half I could’ve orchestrated it a little better, but I’m happy with the win.”
The Rams, off to a 2-0 start, were led by quarterback Aiden Akery, who rushed for a game-high 62 yards and a touchdown. Listed at 6-foot, 180 pounds, he ran with a physical style, fighting for extra yards after first contact.
“He’s doing everything we ask of him,” Caballero said. “And we have so many guys in that mold. They’re going to put everything into performing and doing exactly what they’re asked to do.”
After a 0-0 first quarter, Willow Glen scored three second-quarter touchdowns to go up 20-0 at the half. It started on a fumbled punt that Willow Glen recovered on the Piedmont Hills 19, setting up Akery’s 20-yard touchdown run on a third-and-11 play
The Pirates had a third-and-one, but a false start penalty made it third-and-six and were forced to punt after a pass fell incomplete. On its second play, Willow Glen scored again on Spencer Bartlinski’s 50-yard run.
Piedmont Hills then drove from its own 43 inside the Willow Glen 10, but could not punch it in. The Rams proceeded to go 91 yards in seven plays with Gavin Ferraro running the final 15 yards for the touchdown. Akery had a 26-yard run and Josh Sanchez a 20-yard run on that drive.
“That hurt,” Piedmont Hills coach Matt Kiesle said. “That probably was the drive that really put it away for them.”
So the Rams were up 20-0 at halftime, but not exactly able to breathe easily. The last time the two teams played at Willow Glen in 2022, the Pirates rallied from a 14-0 deficit with three fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull out a 21-14 victory. But this time the score remained the same until Aydin Babic kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 23-0 with 3:28 left.
The Piedmont Hills passing game got going at that point and Toby Torres connected with Diego Arias on a 29-yard touchdown pass and then passed to Zach Pallach for a two-point conversion.
The Pirates got the ball back one more time and drove from their own 3 to the Willow Glen 8 as time expired.
“We got a personal foul when we were driving the ball, fumbled a punt,” Kiesle said. “We didn’t tackle. We’re a much better tackling team than we showed tonight. We’re still trying to find who we are. We think we’re a pretty good team. We’re still a work in progress. We hope our progress will be good enough to compete and get in the playoffs. We do like this team, but did not like that first half at all.”
Throughout the game the announcer called out the names of alumni in attendance, including Kiesle, a 1979 Willow Glen graduate.
“Hey, I got some props,” he said. “I’m retired now and this is probably my last football season.”
In addition to his touchdown, Arias had two interceptions and a fumble recovery for the Pirates. Doron Jones and Tino Krider-Anzueto recorded sacks.
Livi Tuiafono, Ryder Frost and Caiden Morefield had sacks for Willow Glen.
After a slow start, Torres completed nine passes in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter and finished 13 of 26 for 183 yards.
“He’s still learning,” Kiesle said. “Great arm talent. He relaxed a little bit and threw much better in the fourth quarter, made some good throws which made us feel better.”
Editor’s note: This matchup won this week’s readers-pick-a-game-for-us-to-cover poll. Look for the next poll Monday.