|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The San Ramon Valley High varsity football team capped a hard-fought 2018 season with a championship, defeating Freedom Falcons (Oakley) 28-21 in the North Coast Section Division I title game on Saturday.
The Wolves battled in a back-and-forth contest held at Heritage High in Brentwood that saw SRVHS grab the lead for good in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, according to MaxPreps.
“It was exhilarating. The kids were excited and the coaches were excited; the fans rushed on the field and they all realized what an accomplishment it was. It was almost unexpected, and when it happened it was almost too good to be true,” fifth-year head coach Aaron Becker said of Saturday’s victory, which gave him his first championship as SRVHS coach.
The Wolves’ victory came with a measure of revenge, as the Falcons beat the Wolves in a closely contested game in Week 4 of the regular season 37-24 — leaving many to favor the Falcons over the Wolves in the championship.
“We had already played them earlier in the year, and they had beaten us by a couple of scores in a pretty well-contested game that they pulled away late in the game,” Becker said. “But we were definitely the underdogs.”
The Wolves may have been seen as underdogs by many, but they were able to overcome the challenge behind the power running of junior Jacob Himan — a two-way player who also starts as safety on defense — who went off running for over 180 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries.
In a game that somewhat mirrored the teams’ Week 4 meeting, the contest was neck and neck until late in the fourth when the Wolves scored a touchdown with less than two minutes left on the clock. The Falcons had one last chance to score but were unable to overcome a Wolves defensive front that made a big stop when it mattered most.
SRVHS football finished the regular season with a record of 6-4, good enough for them to earn a first-round bye in the NCS Division I playoffs before advancing.
The Wolves’ road to the championship was paved with some unique challenges, specifically smoke from the Camp Fire that choked the entire Bay Area and resulted in the postponement of their first playoff game against the rival Monte Vista Mustangs.
SRVHS had Monte Vista’s number this year, and ended up beating them twice, once in the regular season 17-10 and again in the playoffs 21-17. The playoff match was another closely contested one, after falling behind in the second quarter the Wolves pulled ahead late in the last minutes of the fourth for the win.
A week later, the Wolves advanced to the semifinals and met in a defensive battle with Vintage (Napa), achieving victory by a score of 14-3.
With approximately 25 seniors set to graduate at the end of the school year, the Wolves will be losing about half of their team, but that is the nature of high school football as the team will look to next year for the school’s first ever back-to-back championship season.
It was a good year for football in the San Ramon Valley this season, with all four San Ramon Valley Unified School District comprehensive high schools competing in the playoffs.
In addition to SRVHS and Monte Vista, Cal High made it to the NCS semifinals on the opposite end of the bracket as SRVHS, but suffered a tough 35-34 loss to Freedom. Dougherty Valley also made the Division I playoffs, losing to San Leandro 24-21 in the first round.
Danville Planning Commission to hear appeal in neighborhood dispute over carport February 9, 2026 11:17 pm
The Wolves’ road to the championship was paved with some unique challenges, specifically the coach Aaron Becker was found to be responsible for the drowning of Ben Curry. But he put down his cell phone and managed to lead his team to a victory. SRVUSD had his back the whole way and despite the up roar in the community insured he did not miss a single day. SRVUSD insured the victory by dragging it feet on every opportunity. SRVUSD did not disclose a single fact with the help of legal counsel retained within 3 days of Ben’s death. This was not an easy task with a video of the entire event but with planning and suicide prevention lectures they were able to keep the suicide rumors alive until after graduation. I am sure Aaron Becker will continue to be protected by SRVUSD to allow this winning tradition to continue.
FOOTBALL RULES YEA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!