By Richard Paolinelli
MaxPreps.com
GILROY - For the past four years, Palma High has stood alone atop the Tri-County Athletic League. But the Chieftains' crown was dislodged Friday as Gilroy High hammered Palma 35-14, a win that not only sent shockwaves through the TCAL but the rest of the Central Coast Section as well.
Gilroy (6-2, 4-0 TCAL), which had never beaten the Chieftains (6-2, 4-1) on the football field and hasn't won a league title since 1985, rode the arm of the section's top passer, Jamie Jensen, to the win.
Jensen took apart Palma's defense with a 17-for-29 effort for 215 yards and two scores and the Mustangs' ground game piled up 120 yards rushing to seal the stunning upset.
It was the first time since the 2002 campaign that Palma had lost a league game.
Gilroy's defense sacked Palma quarterback David Fales seven times and forced a fumble, the only turnover of the game, while holding Palmato just 132 yards rushing.
Gilroy delivered the coup de grace late in the game when Jensen hit wide receiver Danny Contreras for a 70-yard touchdown and a 28-7 Gilroy advantage.
Gilroy will still need to get past two tough league opponents in North Salinas (7-2, 3-2) and San Benito (3-5, 2-2) if the Mustangs want to claim their first league title in 22 years.
Palma will host Turlock out of the Sac-Joaquin Section this week before closing out league play against Alvarez (0-8, 0-4).
A Palma win against Alvarez would force Gilroy to win at least one of its two remaining game to clinch no worse than a share of the title, while two wins would give the Mustangs sole possession of the crown. Two Mustang losses combined with a Palma win against Alvarez would give the Chieftains their fifth-straight league title.
Anything you can do, I can do better..
Woodside's Jason Simpson hauled in a 55-yardscoring pass to give Woodside High a 17-13 lead over Menlo School in the fourth quarter.
Simpson had all of 16 seconds to celebrate his feat before Menlo's Jerry Rice Jr. romped 85 yards on the ensuing kickoff return to give the lead right back to Menlo and power the Knights to a 28-17 Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division victory.
Menlo (5-3, 3-3 PAL Bay) came into the final quarter with just one lone field goal to show for its efforts on the scoreboard before erupting for 25 points in the final 12 minutes of play. Alex Curtis' interception and 48-yard return for a score closed out the scoring.
Woodside fell to 2-6, 1-4 with the loss and is all but outof the running for any playoff possibilities.
Swann's record tied
DeLeon Eskridge returned from a one-game suspension to score three touchdowns and rush for 163 yards in Serra High's 35-14 victory over Archbishop Mitty.
The win likely sealed a CCS playoff berth for the Padres (6-3, 3-2 West Catholic Athletic League) and Eskridge's efforts tied NFL Hall ofFamer Lynn Swann for the most touchdowns in school history at 38.
Eskridge, who was benched for last week's 25-13 win over St. Ignatius because of his actions following a loss to Riordan the weekbefore, will get a chance to break Swann's record on Nov. 10, when the Padres next play in their season finale against league leading Bellarmine Prep (8-0, 5-0).
