The Chargers have turned football game days into boot camp for the spirit squad, who do push-ups for every point Leland scores. And last Saturday that was 38 push-ups for the Leland girls when the Chargers rolled to a 38-12 win over Branham in a key game in the Blossom Valley Athletic League's Santa Teresa Division.

Leland rolled up 444 yards of total offense on the road to the lopsided win over the previously unbeaten Bruins. Branham slipped to 5-1 for the year and to 1-1 in league play with the loss. Leland improved to 5-1 for the year and 3-0 in the division.

The Chargers will take a break from league action this week when they head to Willow Glen for a non-league game on Oct. 24, 3:30 p.m.

"They're on pace to win that division," said Leland coach Kelly Edwards of the Rams. "They've got a good running back and their tight end is real good."

Bruins visit Lions

Branham, meanwhile, will visit Lincoln on Oct. 25, 1:30 p.m. The Lions lost 34-28 to Andrew Hill last week to drop to 1-1 in the division and to 4-1 for the year.

The Bruins no doubt will try to do a little better job of taking care of the football in Saturday's game at Lincoln. Branham lost the football four times to Leland on turnovers last Saturday, and the Chargers and their high-powered offense took advantage of the opportunities.

Joe Hurley was successful through the air for Leland, hitting on 10 of 15 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns, and Mike Day was a hit on the ground with 17 carries for 219 yards and two TDs.

"We feel our running game is always going to be there regardless of what defense they run against us," said Hurley after the win. "But we thought we could move the ball through the air."

And move it they did. Hurley completed two passes each on Leland's first three possessions to lead the Chargers to touchdowns.

Leland air attack

"We just felt that they had a good defensive line, and if we got after them early and then got after them with a little play-action, we could be successful," he added.

They were successful. Hurley passes to Sean Connors for 14 yards and Arthur King, Jr. for 53 set up a 1-yard TD run by Day to open the game.

"At the beginning of the game, they were playing the running game real tough," said Day. "But we knew if we kept pressing, our running game would open up."

And it did. A 36-yard run by Day set up a 17-yard scoring toss from Hurley to Kyle McDaniel with 4:14 left in the first quarter. Later in the period runs of 11, 6 and 18 yards by Day and a 9-yard toss from Hurley to King helped the Chargers score on a 7-yard pass from Hurley to Alex Bynum off play action.

"What we try to do is come out each week and see what they are trying to take away from us," said Edwards. "It's good for us because we've got a lot of weapons."

One of Leland's greatest weapons is its powerful offensive line.

"Our offensive line has been incredible this whole season," said Day. "These guys are awesome."

Tackles Scott Glicksberg and Gabe Castaneda, guards Alex Baumeister and Tyler Graf, center Alex Gregarick and tight end Darren Gemoll led the charge up front for the Chargers.

"Our guys fire out and our guys stay low," said Edwards, praising the work of his offensive line and their coach, Jason Tenner. "If you take away Mike, which they tried to do, we're going to throw."

While the Leland offense was firing on all cylinders, the Branham offense was moving the ball quite well, too. The Bruins ran up 343 yards of total offense, with quarterback T.J. DeStefano leading the way. DeStefano completed 5 of 5 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, and he also carried 16 times for 72 yards.

Powerful fullback Cameron Pickering led the ground assault with 83 yards on 13 carries, and speedster Andre Ingram supported with 77 yards on 23 tries.

The offensive line of tackles Chester O'Neal and Joey Sanchez, guards Chad Christiansen and Peter Casey and center A.J. Tyler led the way for the Bruins.

Leland scored first in the game on the Day 1-yard run behind a block from Graf and Connors tossed to Gemoll for the 2-point conversion. But Branham answered right back when DeStefano hit Steven Lowrey for 10 yards and a score.

Then Leland pulled away on Hurley's first two touchdown passes and a 30-yard field goal by Connors to make it 25-6 before the half. Hurley passed to Connors for a 2-point conversion after one of the TDs.

Day took off on a 35-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to up the score to 31-6, but Branham hung in there.

Ingram returned the Leland kick-off 47 yards to the midfield stripe. Seven plays later, DeStefano capped a 50-yard drive when he followed Christiansen and O'Neal over the left side for the 2-yard touchdown run.

Leland would get one more score on a 37-yard pass from Hurley to Connors and that closed out the scoring.

King led all Leland receivers with three catches for 74 yards and Connors had three grabs for 68. Day had a couple of catches for 40 yards and McDaniel and Bynum each caught a pass.

Andre leads defense

Kirk Andre was the defensive leader for the Chargers with 13 tackles, including two for losses, and a fumble recovery.

Gregarick had three quarterback sacks among his eight tackles and Will Hurley and Blake Ferras were also in on eight tackles apiece. W. Hurley intercepted a pass and Ferras sacked the QB.

Gemoll and Bynum got in on seven stops each and Blake Thomas and Kevin Betron had six apiece. Thomas sacked the quarterback and Betron intercepted a pass.

Glicksberg, Taylor Hubbard and Jeff Bowler also finished among the tackling leaders for Leland. Jake Garrett had a couple of tackles and recovered a fumble and Day forced a fumble. Andrew Pak, Logan Foos, John Tran, Jason Gustafson, Greg Feldman, Castaneda and John Garrett were also in on tackles.

"Defense--I can't say enough about our defense," said Edwards. "When we scored early, it made them change their thinking. They stuck with their running game."

The Bruins finished the day with 278 yards on the ground. In addition to the leaders, Kenny Shearer ran for 35 yards on five carries.

Lowrey caught a couple of passes for 15 yards for the Bruins in the game and Daniel Pereira, Ingram and Louis Sakoda also made receptions.

Senior linebacker Joshua Lagod was the defensive leader for the Bruins, getting in on eight tackles--three for losses. Shearer, Ingram, Preston Ward, Kyle Johnsen and Robbie Reeser were other Branham tackling leaders and Nolan Robison, Marc Martinez, Tyler and Matt Haro were also in on stops.