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This could have easily been a season where the Amador Valley High football team was in a “what could have been” type season.
The Dons suffered an insane number of injuries to the talented senior class, which in turn led to an 0-4 start to the season.
But never did the negative thoughts creep in throughout the team despite the temptation.
“When you start 0-4, as a coach you are worried if we are going to start pointing fingers and you lose the team,” Amador coach Danny Jones said. “But we had some of that (same feeling) last year. The seniors stayed together, knowing everything is still in front of us.”
Jones was drawing reference to last season when the Dons lost three of their first four on the field but rallied to win the North Coast Section Division II title, followed by a NorCal title, and a spot in a CIF State Championship Bowl.
The Dons lost in the state final, but they got there.
So many key players from last year’s run were hurt to start this season.
Anthony Harrington, Ismael Duenas, McKay Kenitzer, Aidan Foley and Cole Goldsworthy all missed time throughout the season. Harrington was the first back, but hampered by a nagging ankle injury.
Kenitzer came back, then suffered a high ankle injury midway through the season and appeared to be out for the year. Goldsworthy was also bothered by a nagging injury.
Jones and his staff knew the Dons could be healthy for the final couple of games. They needed some help, but if things played out right, there was a path for Amador to make the postseason.
Things did, and with the play of running back Vincent Maiorana and the continued growth of sophomore quarterback Nicco Kovacs, the Dons did enough to keep their hat in the ring.
Maiorana has run for 1,579 yards and 18 touchdowns this year while Kovacs has hit on almost 70% of his passes with 13 touchdowns but more importantly, only four interceptions.
After their bye on Oct. 24, the Dons faced games with Monte Vista and California – no easy task.
On Halloween the Dons dispatched of Monte Vista 35-14 – Harrington had 12 catches for 285 yards and two touchdowns. That left last week’s game at Cal as the do-or-die game for the Dons.
“The last few weeks we knew the Cal game would be the game that could get us to the playoffs,” Jones said.
And just like last year, it turned into a shootout.
“We couldn’t stop them, and they couldn’t stop us,” Jones said.
Last year Cal got the 54-48 overtime win, while this year saw the Dons drive 91 yards, using up eight minutes for the score and a 42-35 lead. By the time the Grizzlies got the ball back, they only had 45 seconds left in the game.
The Dons went for and converted two fourth downs on the drive. “If we punted, (Cal) was going to score on us,” Jones said. “We knew we couldn’t punt.”
The win gave Amador the things it needed to make NCS despite a 4-6 overall record. One was a 3-2 mark against teams in their division. Second, the win gave them a 2-1 mark in EBAL Mountain play.
The Dons were seeded No. 7 in the NCS D-II playoffs, a joke, yet typical for NCS as they are seeded behind Monte Vista (2) and Cal (3).
Two teams Amador beat in the last two games get higher seeds than the Dons. Monte Vista, a team that went 1-2 in the EBAL Mountain and finished behind Amador, is five seeds ahead of Amador and will host the Dons in the first round.
But the Dons are in the tournament – and most importantly, they are as healthy as they have been all season. In fact, the Dons came out of the Cal game with no injuries.
The adjustments of having all the seniors back allows the defense to return players to their natural positions, making the unit stronger. Despite the 35 points allowed to Cal, you could see differences in the structure. And they are only going to get better this week as the players get more time playing again.
Jones, who leaves Amador after this season for a new spot in Idaho, is emotional about how the season played out.
“It’s so special – it means everything,” Jones said. “The kids wanted it so bad. I am just so fired up that we get another chance with the seniors. We felt like it wasn’t over. I am so happy for the kids – there’s nothing like football when things are going well.”
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
