San Ramon Valley gets another crack at DLS
DANVILLE >> In a small room tucked behind the San Ramon Valley baseball field’s outfield fence, a distinct and powerful sound of iron weights being lifted and dropped — clang, boom! clang, boom! — could be heard well beyond the room’s doors.
It is Monday afternoon, five days before the San Ramon Valley football team’s biggest challenge of the season, and the players are doing what good players do.
Expectations were promising for this group. SRV returned its smart and talented quarterback, top offensive lineman, best wide receiver and plenty more from last season’s team, which barely finished above .500 but had one result that was a rare mix of encouragement and heartbreak — and naturally will be mentioned a few hundred times this week.
To complete a perfect regular season, all these guys have to do Friday night is become the first California team north of Fresno to beat De La Salle in 26 years.
That challenge has doomed many good teams, even great teams, but how many of those teams had a collection of experienced players who nearly doomed De La Salle the previous season?
In a 6-5 campaign last fall, San Ramon Valley had one result that will stand the test of time. The Wolves lost at home to De La Salle 28-27, an outcome decided when San Ramon Valley did not convert a gutsy two-point try after scoring a touchdown with about three minutes to go.
“I thought about it for a long time after it happened,” said quarterback Clark Baker, who threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns in the defeat and will be behind center Friday at De La Salle. “Probably laid awake in bed until 2 a.m. that night, just thinking about the game, analyzing it in my head. After that, I had to flush it down and focus on our next week.
“But now that it’s back again, very excited. The guys are already taking this week very seriously. Watched a lot of film, trying to prepare.”
The top priority this season wasn’t to beat De La Salle, San Ramon Valley coach Aaron Becker said. It was to win the league championship outright, something the Wolves had not achieved since 1989.
“We were co-champs in ‘07, and we were cochamps in 2012,” Becker said. “So it was a big deal
for us to just go win the league and be the outright league champs. Then after that, we’ll just play the games as they come.” With Baker leading the offense and linebackers Ben Lageson and Nicolai Katona commanding the defense, SRV swept through the East Bay Athletic League, clinching the outright crown last week with a 42-10 rout of defending champion and rival Monte Vista.
The Wolves’ closest game thus far was their season opener, a 27-7 nonleague win over Tracy. They outscored eight EBAL opponents 378-75, with a 27-point win over Granada being the closest.
The foundation for this season started years ago.
“This senior class, when we all came in as freshmen, I think we all saw something kind of special in us,” said Blake McDonald, the team’s UCLAbound left tackle. “We had a really good freshman team. Our only loss was to De La Salle, 21-14. Senior year now, the juniors on the team are all really good, too. We have a bunch of athletes, a bunch of hard workers. We’re feeling really good about this season.”
There was one painful bump along the way. Robbie Funkhouser, the team leader in receptions last year, went down in the first game with a season-ending knee injury, an emotional blow for a tight-knit squad that has enjoyed many good times growing up together.
“It was a really big bummer, especially since I am really good friends with Rob,” Baker said. “To see his senior season taken away was more devastating, just the emotional factor, then a player standpoint. Rob’s a great player, and you may think he’s irreplaceable, but Matt Gillespie
and Michael Winaker have done phenomenal jobs on the outside, stepping up.”
Baker has been sensational, too. Listed at 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, the senior has thrown for 1,884 yards and 28 touchdowns — 11 in the past two games — with just two interceptions. He has completed 75.9 percent of his passes and has a quarterback rating of 151.1.
“Clark is a great quarterback,” McDonald said. “With college, he is really underrated because of his size. Honestly, if he had a few more inches on him, he could be going wherever he wants. He knows this offense like the back of his hand.”
The offense also includes a productive running game. Daniel Medley, back from a knee injury that wiped out his junior season, has rushed for 831 yards and 13 touchdowns. Jason Javier has 526 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
Everything has gone according to the preseason forecast — experienced team soars to the top, taking down every opponent in its path.
But who knows if the Wolves have the goods to end De La Salle’s 26year run of regional dominance?
Some things that are known is that De La Salle always peaks late in the season and had an extra week to prepare for the game Friday because of a bye last weekend.
The stakes are pretty high, too. The winner should be the No. 1 seed in the North Coast Section’s four-team Open Division playoffs.
“The kids certainly are excited about the opportunity,” Becker said. “They know what the game is going to entail. So I think more than anything, that’s what they can draw on going into it. It’s not going to be a shocker when you walk out there on that field against them and realize the product that they put out on the field.”