Pagaduan, Randhawa lead Independence to win over Prospect

SAN JOSE — The 1-2 punch of Chase Pagaduan and Gurshan Randhawa was a bit too much for Prospect to overcome.

Independence (6-1, 3-0) won the matchup between teams tied for first place 35-20 and looks to have an inside track to the Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division title.

“We’ve been working for it since January,” said Randhawa, who threw four touchdown passes Friday. “Winning league’s not our only goal. We want to win the CCS championship.”

Randhawa completed 11 of 18 passes for 172 yards. Isaiah Porrovecchio caught two of his four touchdown passes, Kaleo Garcia and Jessiah Amaral caught one apiece.

Pagaduan moved the chains throughout the game. He carried 23 times for 167 yards and one touchdown.

“I’m very proud of the effort by Chase, but I’m more proud of the offensive line,” Independence coach Jay Braun said. “We always talk about the money guys, the quarterbacks, receivers and running backs and we’re proud of those guys. But I’m really proud of the O-line and the job they’ve been doing.”

Touchdown passes of 21 and 15 yards to Porrovecchio got the Sixers off to a 14-0 start. Prospect (4-2, 2-1) lit the scoreboard on a 20-yard run by Daniel Martinez, but Independence responded with a 23-yard pass to Garcia for a 21-8 halftime lead.

The Panthers took the second-half kickoff and went 80 yards in three plays with quarterback Josh Nakamoto scoring from the 16. But again, Independence came right back with Pagaduan, who had 100 yards by halftime, scoring on a 1-yard run.

After Randhawa and Amaral hooked up on an 18-yard scoring pass with 7:21 left, the Sixers had pretty much ensured the win with a 35-14 lead. But Prospect wasn’t quite done. Nakamoto showed his speed on a 36-yard touchdown run to close out the scoring.

Romeo Martinez, who broke a 53-yard run to set up Nakamoto’s first touchdown, picked up 143 yards on 13 carries for Prospect.

“We start four sophomores on the offensive line, so they’ve had their growing pains but they’re getting better every game,” Prospect coach Jake Shaughnessy said. “We’re a little short on depth but we’re way ahead of where I thought we’d be at this point. There’s no quit in these guys. We’ve got some really good dudes, great guys to coach, really enjoyable to coach all of them. But they’re still 16, 17 years old and still learning a few things.”