From Pop Warner to shot at state title
By the end of his speech, the quarterback was in tears. It was a rapturous brand of emotion, all about love, friendship and the sheer joy of accomplishment. There were tears in the audience, as well, as the Half Moon Bay High School football team celebrated its historic season at a Thursday night banquet.
Next up: the culmination of a dream.
This is a town known for its beaches, agriculture, pumpkin farms and the fishing industry. Sporting headlines are generally found elsewhere, among high schools more richly endowed, but miracles do happen. Undersized and unbeaten (14-0), the Cougars of Half Moon Bay will play for the CIF Division 3-A state championship on Saturday night.
They’ve barely heard of their Southern California opponent, Steele Canyon, and the setting — Southwestern College in Chula Vista, outside San Diego — marks the longest football road trip in school history. All of which sounds wonderfully exotic to a team representing one of the most endearing stories of the Bay Area sports year.
At first glance, in any given
game, they appear hopelessly overmatched. The Cougars fielded just 28 varsity players at the start of the season, a total reduced to 24 by injuries. Six of their athletes play the entire game, on offense and defense, and another half-dozen have roles on each side of the ball. It seemed almost comical on Dec. 8 when Sutter, Half Moon Bay’s opponent in the NorCal regional championship game, fielded some 60 players and struck a pregame tone of intimidation.
Then came the onslaught: a 28-7 victory that kept the dream alive. Even at this late stage of the season, the Cougars have not been seriously challenged, outscoring their opponents by 613-139 with a sophisticated attack led by quarterback Gavin Tomberlin, who has thrown 21 touchdown passes without an interception, and running back Chase Hofmann, named the Peninsula Athletic League’s Player of the Year after rushing for 1,212 yards and scoring 38 touchdowns.
When Tomberlin hands off to Hofmann, or connects with his favorite wide receiver, Hayden Von Almen, the pages of a treasured scrapbook unfold. They’ve been playing together since they were 7 years old, in Pop Warner games, and they come from families deeply rooted in the community. Tomberlin, for example, represents fifth-generation Half Moon Bay on the side of his father, Len, and fourth generation on his mother’s.
“My dad actually dated Chase’s grandmother in high school,” said Len, who coached the kids throughout their Pop Warner days and beyond. “We’ve got a lot of stories like that. We’re about as local as it gets.”
There is a notable exception in placekicker-wide receiver Dylan Williams, who transferred from Menlo School and has drawn interest from Division I colleges for his leg (two 49-yard field goals and a 60yarder in practice) and teambest speed. But he fits the story well. Williams has lived in Half Moon Bay for years with his mother, Buffie, the assistant athletic director at Menlo. “He was looking for a different kind of culture,” she said. “He didn’t know anyone on the Half Moon Bay team, but they took him in as if he’d been there all along. It’s really a great bunch of kids.”
To look at Williams, defensive back Dom Padua, running back Jake Quosig or defensive end JoJo Weinberger, you might peg them as athletes, but not in helmets and shoulder pads. They’re all around the 5-foot-9, 160-pound range, typical of a team that plays at a physical disadvantage every week.
“Most of the kids are pretty beat up,” said Pete Royce, whose son, Kellan, is a standout lineman. “But you can’t keep ’em down. They keep coming back.”
“We’re never bigger, we’re never stronger, we’re never faster,” said Len Tomberlin. “But I tell every kid that comes along, we’re gonna be a hell of a lot smarter, and we’re gonna play the game harder. That’s Half Moon Bay football — with a lot of love for each other.”
Coach Keith Holden’s team is on a three-year run, rolling up a 36-4 record including consecutive Central Coast Section titles. This year, after being elevated from the the PAL’s Ocean Division to its Bay Division, the Cougars also became eligible to play for a state championship for the first time.
Holden runs a sophisticated triple-option offense that befuddles the opposition and often leaves spectators confused as to who has the ball. Beneath the surface, there are heartwarming episodes that define the most cohesive sports teams.
Once a week, after practice, the players gather around Don Dias, a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran who has been a coach in the Cougars’ program for 30 years. “Life lessons,” he calls it, reminding players to conduct themselves with honor, and he’s talking about much more than football.
“Being a gentleman is so important,” Dias told the team on Thursday. “Showing courtesy to a female is a lost art these days, so make a difference. Make a young lady proud that she’s with you. Hear her friends say, ‘I wish my boyfriend treated me like that.’ Be courteous to the lady at McDonald’s, working for $12 an hour trying to support her family. You’re nice and kind and gentle, and for a minute or two, her life is just a little bit better.”
On that note, the players headed over to Main Street for the season-ending banquet and an evening of laughter, pride and tears. Between the bus rides, car trips and plane flights, some 400 people are expected to make a very special road trip. Whatever unfolds on Saturday night, it’s a time they will never forget.