Friday night saw two teams, both winless in the highly competitive Moore League, matched up against one another. But these teams share much more than a league record entering the game. They both have heart. Neither team quits. Both, despite the results of this season, have a lot to look forward to in the coming years. And they both owe all of these things to their coaches: Coach Kirk Diego of the Millikan Rams and Coach AJ Luke of the Cabrillo Jaguars are two of the most inspirational men in local high school football. Jonathan Sanders, the senior running back/ defensive back for the Rams, had this to say about Diego: “He teaches us not only how to play football, but how to have character and success after football…it’s something you should look for in a coach and it’s really affected us positively all year.” Roman Lewis, the senior quarterback for the Jaguars, had this to say about Luke: “Having Coach AJ was a real turn around for the better. He talks to you like he’s on the field with you. He’s just pumping me up all the time.”
Despite Lewis’ best efforts, 13 of 22 tonight with 287 yards passing and 3 touchdowns, the Jaguars couldn’t quite get it done. “We really had everything going for us, but we fell short,” said Lewis.
Millikan won the game 54-36, and were led by quarterback Jake Holtz, who went 17 for 28 with 264 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception, and Sanders, who finished with 3 catches for 42 yards and a touchdown, five carries for 24 yards and two touchdowns and a 35 yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.
“I was really excited for Sanders, he’s deserved to play like that all season long,” said coach Diego. Clearly, this was not a defensive battle. When all was said and done, Millikan had 447 yards of total offense and 7 touchdowns (Sanders’ fumble recovery made it 8) while the Jaguars had 441 yards and 5 touchdowns.
For the first part of the second half it really looked like Cabrillo would manage to stage a comeback, but the Rams’ offense refused to let the momentum swing in favor of the Jags, and the comeback quickly became a shootout.
We recently ran an article on Leitava Tua (if you haven’t read it, you should definitely check it out here), and, after talking with him after the game it’s easy to see why. Despite the burden of being a senior captain on a team that is being rebuilt from the ground up, Tua was nothing but a beacon of positivity. “We all tried out best. I come out of this season with a positive outlook. I mean look at all the great things we accomplished during this season. Can’t ask for nothing else. All you gotta do is keep striving forward.” Tua’s optimism is mirrored by that of his coach: “While those teams are competing for the championship, we’re getting ready for next season: when you play Cabrillo, you’re going to know you’ve been in a game.”
The Rams have struggled a lot this season, in part because they are a lot smaller than just about every team they’ve faced, but also because they, too, are relatively young. Like the Jaguars, the Rams had two seniors step up and lead their team, Jake Holtz and Jonathan Sanders. However, the thing that pushed them over the top against the Jaguars was the support of two of their returning players: Silver Vaifanua, who had 65 yards and two touchdowns on 6 carries, and Alden Darby, who finished with 8 receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown. Needless to say, 21 points can make a big difference in the outcome of a game. Sanders took note of their performance, saying “I’m actually really proud of the younger guys that stepped up throughout the season. Silver and Darby should be fun to watch next year.” Sanders didn’t mention his performance once in our interview, driving home something that coach Diego had told me earlier: “Whoever gets him is going to really enjoy him because he’s a total team guy. He’s one of my favorites.”
