Case Unwraps His Package and It Blows Up in Stern’s Face

It took Rancho Alamitos Coach Doug Case four years to unwrap his blitz package. Pacifica quarterback J.D. Stern wishes he would have waited four more.

Rancho Alamitos outside linebackers David Vickers and Nu Atuatasi sacked Stern five times and forced him to throw three interceptions as the Vaqueros ground out a 10-7 victory Friday night over Pacifica to keep their perfect season alive.

Rancho Alamitos’ offense didn’t do its defense any favors as it turned the ball over four times, three times on fumbles.

But the defense refused to give in.

Stern, who had thrown for 889 yards and six touchdowns, never had a chance against Vickers, a 6-foot, 205-pound junior, and Atuatasi, a 6-1, 215-pound junior. Vickers had three sacks, batted down a pass and unloaded on Stern several times as he threw. Atuatasi had two sacks.

“When you’ve got two guys who run 4.6 40s, that means they get back there in about 1.2 seconds,” Case said. “A couple times, [Vickers] was waiting for [Stern].”

Pacifica Coach Bill Craven said Stern never knew what hit him.

“That hasn’t been their character on passing situations, to blitz,” Craven said. “They blitzed more tonight than they have in their previous five games.”

Said Vickers: “I was surprised. I thought they were going to pick me up, but they never did.”

Case said his linebackers have essentially been playing possum.

“We blitzed more tonight than we have in my four years,” he said. “We’ve always had this package, but we haven’t been to a place where we could use it. We don’t face many passing teams like Pacifica in our league.”

For the second week in a row, Pacifica absorbed a devastating defeat. It lost a heartbreaker last week to Los Amigos, 23-20. Friday, it lost a game that it had opportunities to win.

The Mariners (4-2, 1-2) scored their only points midway through the second quarter on a Verdell LeVeaux one-yard run. They had the ball in Rancho Alamitos territory two more times, but were unable to make a big play or avoid a big sack.

Stern tried to take advantage of Rancho Alamitos’ man coverage, but he was unable to get much on his passes with Vaquero defenders in his face. Nam Nguyen intercepted two Stern passes, Leo Kosi had the other.

Kosi (140 yards in 30 carries) gave Rancho Alamitos a 10-7 lead with a 31-yard run on the opening drive of the second half. Juan Medina put the Vaqueros ahead early with a school-record 42-yard field goal.