RB rallies without coach Eric Weddle, outlasts San Diego High

by Breven Honda

Four quarters was not enough to determine a winner between two undefeated teams Friday as San Diego traveled to Rancho Bernardo/

Rancho Bernardo started with the ball in overtime and regained the lead, taking only two plays to find the end zone. After Broncos wide receiver Tyson Wilcox dropped a pass, quarterback Gaige Weddle went right back to him, scampering into the endzone and leading the Broncos, after a defensive stop, to a 23-17 overtime win against the Cavers.

“Just focused on the next play,” said Wilcox, whose game-winning touchdown was his first score on varsity. “I wanted to run my route as hard as I could and Gaige could throw me the ball.”

RB’s defense then held up for the victory. After allowing a first down on a quarterback scramble from San Diego play caller Jayden Harris, Rancho Bernardo (5-0) got stops on third-and-1 and fourth-and-6 to remain undefeated.

“We expected to play at a high level,” said Broncos acting head coach Tristan McCoy, who filled in for Eric Weddle, who was suspended Friday due to a sideline infraction by his assistant coaches during his team’s 44-35 victory last week at West Covina. “We want to be very aggressive on defense, keep bringing pressure.”

San Diego (4-1) took advantage of a coaching mistake by McCoy. With 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter, leading by nine, McCoy sent out its punting unit on fourth down. Rather than punt, RB took a safety.

A Broncos holding penalty assessed before the kickoff and a personal foul penalty during the kick gave the Cavers a chance with great field position.

Beginning at the Rancho Bernardo 26-yard line, San Diego completed four plays in 20 seconds, capped off by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jayden Harris to Kye Cooper, who totaled a team-high seven receptions for 42 yards.

“We almost gave it to them,” McCoy said. “The coaching error on my mistake, miscalculation of the time and overthinking it, put us in a bad spot. But our team rallied and came through when we needed them.”

Although the Broncos’ defense lost its leading tackler in Gavin Valencia, the rest of the defense backed him up. Lucas Winkler stepped up, recording a sack on the opening drive and an interception to end the third quarter.

“Lucas is a heck of a player,” McCoy said. “They had a big screen game all week and he sensed it and got his big arms up in the way (for the interception).”

The interception came one offensive play after Broncos running back Max Marshall scored a 5-yard touchdown to give Rancho Bernardo its first lead at 10-7 with 1:28 in the third quarter.

Gaige Weddle led the Broncos offense, completing 6-of-13 passes for 52 yards while adding 90 rushing yards for 142 total yards and a touchdown.

The Cavers were led by Harris, who completed 17-27 passes for 119 yards with a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown and an interception.