Luther K. Glenn doesn’t recall the last time he took a road trip to Los Angeles.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior at Wilcox guesstimated that maybe it was back when he was 10 years old.
He does remember watching the Chargers from the stands on campus as a freshman on Dec. 15. 2018. That’s when Wilcox claimed the CIF state Division 3-A title in Santa Clara.
Three years later the Chargers (10-4) ride a nine-game winning streak into Orange County in search of another state championship on the biggest stage the CIF has to offer: Saddleback College.
What’s the atmosphere going to feel like?
“Hopefully it’s just not any different,” said Glenn, who tops the Central Coast Section with 2,218 rushing yards. “Our team has faced adversity and we feed off the crowd. So hopefully the crowd is jumping, our teammates get excited and we just go out and get that one, too.”
The next and last opponent is Scripps Ranch (13-1) of San Diego in Saturday’s Division 2-A tilt, with the kickoff scheduled for noon.
Wilcox coach Paul Rosa accepted a state trophy on his own turf during a fourth season at the helm, but he’s not sure what to expect this weekend roughly 400 miles away from home.
“I’ve never been there, so I’m excited and a little bit nervous taking this group down on a bus for eight hours – that doesn’t sound fun,” said Rosa, with a smile. “But I’m glad we’re going and it will be definitely a good experience either way. But they deserve it.”
None of the players on the current roster were on the field as freshmen.
Defensive end Pace Nelson, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior who recorded a pair of sacks during this past weekend’s 35-21 victory over Manteca in the NorCal D-2A final, always imagined he might get the same opportunity as his predecessors.
“When I was a freshman and I was watching them, I knew I wanted to be there,” Nelson said. “I was excited, man. And our team, we’ve come a long way. We’ve made a lot of progress and I’m proud of our team.”
Saddleback College, located in Mission Viejo, is the end of the road for the Chargers.
After losing four out of five games to open the season, Wilcox hasn’t experienced defeat since September.
There’s no more football left after Saturday, and the seniors on the roster understand their high school careers will come to a halt after another 48 minutes on the gridiron.
“We’re going full throttle the whole week,” Nelson said. “This is all we’ve got. This is it for high school football and we’re going to do our hardest and we’re going to do our best.”
“One more week with the boys,” Glenn said. “Hopefully we get that dub and it’s the same feeling.”