But the talented Leland running back proved that neither the flu nor the Lincoln defense could stop him this season.

The tenacious line and linebackers for the Lions held Day to only 84 yards on 10 carries in the first half last Saturday afternoon, but the division's leading rusher got a second wind at halftime and came back strong to help lead the Chargers (9-1, 6-0) charge to a 57-25 victory over Lincoln (6-3, 3-3).

In the second half "we began to play our game and things opened up," said Day. "We wanted to have a strong half going into [Central Coast Section] play next week."

As Santa Teresa Division champions, the Chargers received a No. 3 seed in Division II and will host a first round CCS playoff game against North Salinas on Nov. 22, 1 p.m.

The Chargers have a formidable opponent in North Salinas, a member of the tough Tri-County League. The Vikings finished in third place in their league with a 3-2 mark, only one half game out of second place. The Vikes compiled an overall 6-4 record with losses to perennial powerhouse Palma, Monterey Bay League champion North Monterey County, tough West Catholic Athletic League member Valley Christian, and Hollister, which is the team that finished just in front of them in league play.

The Vikings have an outstanding running back, senior Ronnie Drummer, who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the last two seasons.

Of course, Leland has a guy who can run the ball pretty well, too. And Mike Day certainly ran well in Saturday's win over Lincoln.

"Our offensive line blocked really well and fired off the line," said Day, giving credit to his teammates. "They really made the difference."

With his exceptional quickness and acceleration, Day would pop through the holes that the offensive line of Alex Gregarick, Tyler Graf, Alex Baumeister, Gabe Castaneda, and Scott Glicksberg would create at the line of scrimmage, and then cut and dart through the defense avoiding and shaking off tacklers. He completed the game with 297 yards on 17 carries, scoring three touchdowns on runs of 49, 67 and 16 yards. Day completed the regular season with more than 2,000 yards rushing.

Lincoln came into the game having displayed a strong and hard-hitting defense all season long, and the Lions didn't miss a beat.

"I'm proud of our kids," said Lincoln coach Kevin Collins. "They played as hard as they can, but we just came up on the short end of the score."

When Lincoln shut down the potent ground game of the Chargers, Leland took to the air on the arm of Joe Hurley. The Chargers got on the board first late in the first quarter when they went for it on a fourth and nine and Hurley threw a strike to Sean Connors for a 33-yard touchdown.

Lincoln came right back and began to click with its own running machine. The Lions methodically marched down the field on a 16-play drive that took them literally within inches of the Chargers goal line. It was a mixture of pounding the ball up the middle with Monty Mendoza and slashing off tackle or sprinting around the outside with Jason Silva and Raul Figueroa.

It looked like it was all for naught, when on a third and goal from the 2-yard line the Lions fumbled the ball into the endzone giving Leland possession on the 20-yard line. However, three plays later, Bryan Anderson intercepted a Hurley pass, giving the Lions a first and goal at the 10-yard line. Figueroa blasted it in on an 8-yard shot up the middle, dragging a host of Chargers with him. Chris Garcia was good on the extra point, and Lincoln had the 7-6 lead.

Leland quickly went back to its air attack and Hurley found Arthur King, Jr. open down the middle, hitting him in stride for a 43-yard touchdown. Hurley scrambled in for the 2-point conversion putting Leland back on top 14-7.

The Chargers surprised the Lions with an onside kick attempt. There was a mad scramble for the ball as it bounced around in and out of several players' hands until John Garrett snagged it for Leland. The Chargers took advantage of the turn of events as Hurley fired a 7-yard bullet to Alex Bynum a few plays later for the touchdown. Connors kicked the PAT and Leland was looking at a 21-7 advantage with 3:07 left in the half.

The back and forth battle of the first half continued when Leland's Will Hurley picked off a razzle-dazzle halfback pass by Justin Engel. As Leland tried to push the ball down field for some more points prior to halftime, though, the Lions returned the favor when Alan Cheney grabbed an errant Hurley toss with 22 seconds left in the half. Lincoln cashed in on the mistake when Anderson hit Jose Solorio slanting across the middle for a 27-yard score with no time left on the clock. That cut the Leland lead to 21-13 at intermission.

"You have to give Lincoln credit. They are very physical and they came to play," said Leland coach Kelly Edwards. "We made some mistakes on our part and gave them some opportunities and they took advantage of them."

"At halftime, I told our kids not to panic, but just play the game we have played all year," added Edwards. "Our offensive line took it to the next level and made the difference."

Leland got three unanswered scores in the third quarter to put the game away. Two came from Day and one from Kirk Andre (45 yards on six carries) on an 8-yard blast. Hurley hit Darren Gemoll for the 2-point conversion.

However, Lincoln had a never say die attitude and kept coming at the Chargers full force all afternoon. The persistence finally paid off when Figueroa punched one in from the 6-yard line and later Silva scampered in the endzone from 12 yards out.

The Lions pounded out 273 yards on the ground with Figueroa (23 carries for 153 yards), Silva (17 carries for 80 yards) and Mendoza (10 carries for 37 yards) leading the way. Anderson added 61 yards in the air, completing 6 of 18 attempts with one touchdown and one interception.

Leland's final score of the day came when Anthony Snow grabbed an interception and rumbled 65 yards for the touchdown.

Hurley completed his day's work by connecting on 13 of 20 attempts for 156 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His favorite receivers were Connors (three catches for 63 yards), King (two for 56) and Kyle McDaniel (three for 21).