For state champ Galileo, it was a long way home
Desert terrain. Bumper-tobumper Southern California traffic. Tumbleweeds on Highway 5.
These were some of the visions for four coaches and their 39-member Galileo football team during a 602-mile, 12-hour return charter-bus ride from Calexico (Imperial County) to San Francisco on Sunday.
Some weary travelers might call this monotony, bordering on torture. These Lions called it a trip of a lifetime.
They were reveling from a 38-20 victory at Vincent Memorial-Calexico for the CIF Division 6-A state championship the previous night.
“Amazing,” Galileo coach Mark Huynh said. “Very satisfying.”
Junior Ronald Fox rushed 11 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Yarvell Smith, the Academic Athletic Association Player of the Year, contributed 91 yards rushing, a touchdown, a twopoint conversion and 11 tackles. Junior Jimmie Edwards added 12 tackles, five sacks and a 39-yard rushing touchdown.
Following a stern halftime talk from Huynh, the Lions scored 24 straight points in the third quarter to take control. A 10-yard Fox touchdown and a goal-line stand sealed it in the fourth quarter.
It capped a long season, long road trip and many years of chatter that San Francisco public football isn’t worth the trouble to even run a league.
Over the past five years, the AAA is a combined 44-124 out of league play. Over nearly two decades, one player (McLeod Bethel-Thompson) has earned a football scholarship out of the league. There was talk at one point of going to 8-man football.
Now, the AAA can boast a state champion in the same season the West Catholic Athletic League claimed its first two: Serra and St. Francis. It also comes in the same calendar year that Mission won a state boys basketball title.
Who could have comprehended all that? Not Huynh.
“A state title wasn’t remotely on my radar anytime during the season,” he said. “We were geared strictly for the city championship.”
Once they fought through the pain of a midseason 40-36 loss to regular-season champion Mission, the Lions (11-2) gained focused, caught fire and won seven straight. That included a 50-28 payback win over Mission for the San Francisco Section title.
That paved the way for a come-from-behind, 20-14 regional win 50 miles east at Rio Vista.
“That was a big trip for most of our kids,” Huynh said. “It pushed them out of their comfort level.”
Then consider a trip 120 miles east of San Diego, on the Mexico border.
“I’m happy for all of us, but I’m so happy for our city,” he said. “I know it means so much to them. I grew up in the city. I know our kids have challenging stories. I’m proud of where they’ve been and how far they’ve come.”
Huynh, 46, has come perhaps the furthest.
He was born in Vietnam and came to San Francisco when he was 7. He graduated from Galileo in 1990 and lettered two seasons on the varsity football team, noting the 1988 squad started a string of three AAA titles.
“I wasn’t an All-City player but I played with a lot of heart,” he said. “I played hard.”
That’s all he asked of his players when he took over a broken program in 2009. The Lions were winless the two previous seasons and 1-25 over three.
With a clear message, strong organizational skills and loads of tough love, Huynh led the Lions to a 9-3 record in his first year and an SFS title.
“That was a sweet one, for sure,” he said.
That taste didn’t last long. Huynh quickly learned that sustaining focus and interest in football in San Francisco is rougher than rush-hour traffic. Home lives of city kids can be challenging. Extracurricular activities often aren’t a priority, certainly not year-round.
None of the next three seasons was above .500. In 2012, the Lions went 12-1 with another SFS title — but then three more losing years followed.
The roller-coaster ride was exhausting, making Sunday’s bus ride all the more satisfying. “I knew this was a special group because of their camaraderie,” he said. “The way they got along helped them figure out ways to overcome obstacles. I think that’s a more important story to share with city kids than winning a football championship. They can accomplish even bigger things in the world.”