There’s still one game remaining in the regular season, but there was a good reason for the big celebration by the Dos Pueblos football team after Friday night’s 31-19 victory over Fillmore at Scott O’Leary Stadium.
The win clinched the first CIF-SS playoff berth for the Chargers since 2019 and the first in the career of head coach AJ Pateras. At 3-1 in the Tri-County League, they can finish no worse than third place in the six-team standings, which secures an automatic playoff berth. A win next Friday against crosstown rival San Marcos (also 3-1) would give them sole possession of second place or put them in a tie for first, if Agoura (4-0) loses against Hueneme.
“There’s nothing better than playing football in November,” Pateras shouted to his team in its post-game gathering at the center of the field.
DP (4-5, 3-1) played like a playoff-bound team in the first half, making plays on both sides of the ball to go up 24-0.
The offense was firing on all cylinders as transfer quarterback Simon Alexander picked apart the Fillmore defense with passes to receivers Brady Aldridge and Ivan Velez, and senior running back Kaleb Williams broke off some nice runs behind the terrific blocking off the offensive line.
“We got a lot of great playmakers, just wanting to get them out in space, right? So, that’s what we did, just get the ball to our guys and let them do the work,” said Alexander, who completed 22 of 33 passes for 303 yards.
He said it was the team’s goal to make the playoffs. “And that’s why I wanted to come here. Everyone here was hungry, right? Everyone wanted the playoffs and here we are, not even finished with the regular season and we got our first playoff spot since 2019.”
Williams, who has been in the DP football program for four years, said clinching a playoff berth with the guys who stayed in the program during the tough times “was such a beautiful moment to do it and do it on senior night, too. The first time making the playoffs since 2019 just feels like we’re making a change around here.”
A big change in the team’s fortunes took place once Alexander took the field after waiting for his mandatory transfer sit-out period to end.
“Once Simon got in he really changed the game,” said Williams, who rushed for 99 yards on 16 carries. “He changed the mentality and we started coming together as a team more. We started hanging out more. It’s like it just clicked like a puzzle.”
It clicked on offense and defense in the first half. Alexander alternated passes completions to Walbridge and Velez and finished off a 79-yard, 8-play drive with a pass to Walbridge, who broke a tackle and ran 31 yards for the first touchdown at the 4:10 mark of the first quarter. Drew Schutz kicked the PAT.
The DP defense then took charge as Zach Gesswein intercepted a pass over the middle by Fillmore starting quarterback Anthony Tafoya at the 35-yard line.
The Chargers cashed in on the turnover with Williams scoring on an 8-yard run around left end for a 14-0 lead at 11:39 of the second quarter.
The defense forced another fumble as Karlo Malik Anderson chased down Tafoya, knocked the ball loose and Velez recovered at the Fillmore 30.
On first down, Velez made an impressive leaping catch at the 3 and Williams scored on the next play for a 21-0 lead.
Velez came up big again on defense, recovering another Fillmore fumble at the 27. The Chargers were stopped at the 17 and had a 34-yard field goal attempt blocked. But the defense got the ball back in great field position as it chased down a scrambling punter after he fielded a low punt snap.
Fillmore’s defense held and Schultz came back on the field to try a 36-yard field goal. He drilled it through the uprights for a 24-0 lead with 36 seconds left in the first half.
Williams said the players wanted to prove a point in the first half.
“So, every practice our coach is always dogging us for not scoring in the first quarter. So, we wanted to come out here and just prove (the coaches) wrong and say we can do it.”
Pateras said the team talked about the slow starts in games this season.
“We’ve been so horrible in the first quarter. We haven’t scored, we haven’t gotten off the field on the first series defensively, so that was really good to see us actually step up and really perform early.”
After Fillmore stopped DP on a fourth-and-1 at the 34, Thomas Alamillo, the Flashes’ No. 2 quarterback, led them to a touchdown on their first series of the second half. Running back Josiah Cruz capped the 66-yard drive with on an 11-yard TD run. The Chargers stopped a two-point conversion run, leaving the score 24-6.
The Flashes (2-7, 1-3) capitalized on a muffed punt by DP as Alamillo connected with Saul Fraga on a 21-yard scoring strike. Angel Avila’s PAT made it 24-13 at 8:59 of the fourth quarter
Alexander, his receiving corps and Williams got going again for the Chargers. They drove 65 yards in nine plays, with Alexander hitting tight end Iyad Ahmad-reda on a 4-yard touchdown strike to put the game out of reach and extend DP’s season.
“It’s been cool for the school and personally for me and a lot of the guys that were with me at the last place (Cabrillo High), “ said Pateras of making the playoffs. “Just proud of everybody for how hard they work. Hard work pays shows that it pays off and that’s what happened.”
