The Wilcox Chargers played two games against Notre Dame in the regular season, and the team almost won both. But as the saying goes, almost only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes. Still, as the Chargers took the field at Wilcox High School on Nov. 2 to play Notre Dame in the first round of the CCS playoffs, the players knew they had a shot.

“We knew that they were going to be beatable,” said co-captain Kimberly Lopez Salinas. “We’re ranked seven, and they were ranked three, and we kind of thought … we were a little scared, but we knew it.

“We played them first. We lost,” Lopez Salinas continued. “We played them two times …”

“And then we lost again,” chimed in senior Julie Coderre with a laugh.

“But it was a tie, so I knew that it was going to be beatable as long as we push through it, pull flags, and do our job,” finished Lopez Salinas.

The defensive duo, along with Katie Padgett, kept the Notre Dame offense pinned throughout the game. Coderre made a key interception that led to the Chargers’ first touchdown.

The players also combined for multiple sacks and tackles for loss of yards. What resulted was a definitive 20-0 win. After the game, Head Coach Christina Nelson-Watkins praised her seniors and their leadership.

“They’ve been really great role models and stuff like that to help out with the other girls and just keeping up that level of competition, having it to the next level, to raise the bar and stuff for everybody else and hold everybody accountable,” said Nelson-Watkins.

For their part, the players take their roles as leaders seriously.

“Honestly, as a captain, this year for two years, I’ve tried just coaching them on both defense and offense,” said Lopez Salinas. “Whenever they’re in a bad mood, I always try to cheer them up. Honestly, we’re pretty lucky. We have good underclassmen coming in, and they’re pretty good already.”

“I think the grade doesn’t matter,” said Coderre. “It’s like we all are a team.”

The Chargers’ youth movement has fans and players excited. Freshman quarterback Tehya Orozco connected with sophomore Caoimhe Tonda for several scores. Meanwhile, sophomore Jalisse Padilla was credited with three interceptions, including two in the end zone that prevented Notre Dame touchdowns.

Nelson-Watkins says between her players and her coaching staff, the team was ready for Notre Dame. 

“I think the biggest thing is the last couple weeks, we’ve changed a lot about our offense and stuff like that, and our defense,” said Nelson-Watkins. “We’ve changed everything since the beginning of the season till the last two, three weeks, and all we’ve been doing is talking about and preparing for this moment, stuff like that. So, it’s been great to get everybody locked in and ready to go.”

Wilcox advances to the semifinals in the Division II CCS playoffs and will play Sobrato High School on Nov. 4 at 4 p.m.

Santa Clara is also playing in the Division II playoffs. The Bruins beat San Mateo 15-7 on Nov. 2 and will play San Mateo on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. at Santa Clara.