CAMPBELL, CA – NOVEMBER 03: The Leigh football team celebrate their victory over Westmont in a Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa-Valley Division regular-season game at Westmont High School in Campbell, Calif. on Nov. 3, 2023. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Bay Area News Group)
CAMPBELL — The Leigh sideline remained calm, cool and collected.
Down seven points with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, there were no signs of panic from the Longhorns, whose playoff aspirations were on the line.
Undermanned and playing a physical Westmont team that had all the momentum on its home field, Leigh strung together its two most important offensive drives of the season to win 34-27.
Blake Zanger capped both of Leigh’s late possessions with rushing touchdowns as the Longhorns secured a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs and the Blossom Valley Atheltic League Santa Teresa-Valley Division title.
“I’m a little shocked,” Leigh coach Kyle Padia said. “We were missing so many dudes over the last two weeks. I’m so happy and so proud of these guys because not a lot of people were giving us a chance.”
Leigh came into the game down two starters in senior quarterback Tyler Donaldson and senior running back Shayan Shariat.
On the very first play Friday, the Longhorns lost a fumble, leading to a Westmont touchdown after just 43 seconds.
Soon, though, Leigh’s offense found its groove. Junior running back Zach Pistor carried a heavy load, finishing with 134 yards from scrimmage and a first-half touchdown.
Westmont scored late in the second quarter on a 27-yard pass from quarterback Mason Pound to wide receiver Mason Price to go into halftime tied at 14.
Pound finished with three passing touchdowns — all to Price — and a rushing TD.
Leigh went ahead 20-14 with five minutes left in the third quarter when Pistor scored on a 3-yard plunge. But he suffered an arm injury that kept him on the sideline for nearly all of the remainder of the game.
Westmont scored the next 14 points, taking a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter when Pound shimmied his way through the left side of the Leigh defense for an 8-yard rushing touchdown.
With his team’s season on the line, Padia put the ball in Zanger’s hands down the stretch.
He scored rushing touchdowns on back-to-back possessions. His 18-yard run tied the game at 27 with five minutes left. His 19-yard run up the middle put Leigh up 34-27 with under two minutes to go.
“I was just super excited,” Zanger said about getting the opportunity to play in the fourth quarter. “I was hyped to get in and was just hoping I can help my team win the game.”
With still 1:43 on the clock, the Longhorns were not in the clear just yet.
Pound drove Westmont to the four-yard line and had a chance to tie the score with two seconds left. On the final play, the Warriors called a rollout pass to the right side of the field.
For a split second, Price was open as he streaked to the left side of the end zone. But when Pound threw the pass, Leigh cornerback Cam Tchir got his hand on the ball to deflect the throw and secure the win.
“Winning this game was just such a great feeling, I’m still trying to figure out how to process it,” Lyon said.
For Westmont, it was a crushing end to the season for a team that went to the semifinals of the CCS playoffs a season ago.
“The game of football is so tough,” Westmont coach Mark Kaanapu said. “Leigh is a good team and they’ve been champions before … We needed one play and we just couldn’t get it done.”
Westmont finished 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the league.
Leigh improved to 7-3, 4-1. The Longhorns clinched the Santa Teresa-Valley’s outright title when Overfelt beat Sobrato 30-28. Had Sobrato won, it would have shared the championship with Leigh.
“I’m just super proud that these guys came out and played like this to earn a playoff spot,” Padia said. “It would have been easy to just say it’s not our night. It’s not our year. We’re missing too many guys, but no one accepted that. They all just decided that they were going to get it done themselves. And they did it.”
