On Friday Nov. 8, 2024, the SCHS Bruins played their senior night game against the Saratoga High School Falcons. Hoping to bounce back after a difficult loss last week at Los Altos High School, the Bruins had their eyes set on success and a fairy tale send off for their 21 seniors, which they achieved with a 23-13 victory.
This was an emotional game for wide receiver senior Jacob Liu, but he was glad to experience it with his team.
“It’s a mix of emotions. It’s bittersweet because I know it’s my last game,” Liu said. “I’m glad that I get to do it with the people that I’ve been doing it with for the last three years.”
Nosetackle senior Xzyrus Aimalefoa was experiencing a wide range of emotions before the game.
“I’m very nervous, sad and excited,” Aimalefoa said. “I can’t wait to play this game because not only is it my last game as a Bruin, it’s my last game with all of my brothers on this team, and I love everybody.”
Even with emotions running high, the Bruins made sure to sit down and watch film to prepare for the game. Liu specifically studied heavily for the game.
“I make sure to watch a good amount of film because although they’re in a league below us, we shouldn’t treat them any less than any team we’ve been preparing for the whole season,” Liu said.
The Falcons started with the ball and had a run-heavy drive where they scored the first touchdown of the game. The Bruins first drive on offense started off slow until two way player senior Gabe Chavez broke off for a 24-yard run that got them into Falcons territory. By the end of the first quarter, the Bruins kicked a field goal to cut Saratoga’s lead.
Within the first minute of the second quarter, outside linebacker senior Ryan Borromeo stumped Saratoga’s run game with a tackle for loss, and the rest of the Bruins defense made quick work of the offense. On their next offensive drive, the Bruins capped it off with a 57-yard rush by Chavez for a touchdown to take a 10-7 lead. On Saratoga’s next go on offense, they scored a touchdown off of a 41-yard pass but missed the extra point, making the score 10-13. Despite being down at half time, head coach Nelson Gifford saw the team excited to jump into the second half.
“We had plenty of opportunities to be negative, to be upset, and I didn’t see any of that. I saw guys that were excited to get out in the second half, guys that were excited to go out and play,” Gifford said.
SCHS’s first drive coming out of the half was controlled by running back senior Jayden Forks, who was able to get the Bruins into Falcon territory multiple times this game. Gifford appreciated Forks’ plays and his motivation.
“He played with tenacity and ferocity that we haven’t seen from him, and his determination was phenomenal,” Gifford said. “He was absolutely 100% the catalyst that drove this, this team, forward.”
The first drive of the second half ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback sophomore Kalani Tesimale to Liu. This was Tesimale’s first game back on the varsity roster after playing for junior varsity the previous six weeks. Gifford sees the quarterback’s time on JV as the motivator to Tesimale’s improvement.
“I think that the time on JV allowed him to get the sort of repetitions that he needed. It also gave him more room to grow,” Gifford said.
With the 17-13 lead, the Bruins’ defense held strong, and the Falcons were forced to punt. On offense, Chavez worked his way through the defense with a 34-yard rush. After a few more rushes, the Bruins were on the one yard line.
Defensive lineman senior Diego Perez pushed through the defensive line for a touchdown, giving SCHS a 23-13 lead. Although they missed the extra point, the Bruins still held a 10 point lead.
Late into the fourth quarter, the Bruins needed a first down to guarantee the win. Tesimale threw a quick pass to wide receiver senior Hamzah Punjsheri for a first down to seal the game. Gifford was proud of his seniors, who were able to take the opportunity of their last high school football game and pick up a 23-13 victory.
“There’s not always that opportunity (to win on your last game), so to see all of the seniors have an opportunity to make an impact, a positive impact, in the game and to do just that, yeah, that’s what you hope for,” Gifford said.
