Perfect finish: Windsor wins NCS Div. 2 title

By PHIL BARBER

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Darrian Roman had been waiting for this moment since he was 8 years old, a wide-eyed kid attending Windsor football games and dreaming of gridiron glory.

When his time came, Roman made the most of it. He scored three touchdowns, including the decisive score on a 62-yard breakaway, and played a key role in the Jaguars’ defensive effort as they outlasted Concord, 28-20, in a wild North Coast Section Division 2 championship game at Santa Rosa High.

Windsor’s first NCS title was the cherry on top of a 14-0 season, and it brought the student section streaming onto the field as the Jaguars dissolved in a frenzy of hugs and back slaps.

“I can’t explain to you how good I feel right now,” quarterback Christian McAlvain said. “What a night. What a night for our guys, what a night for our team.”

To make it happen, Windsor had to overcome a heroic performance by Concord running back Olito Thompson, who rushed 54 times — that is not a typo — for 285 yards in defeat.

In case you’re wondering, the California record for attempts in a game is 71, set by Saddleback’s Luis Soto in 2010.

The top-seeded Jaguars had scouted the No. 7 Minutemen and knew that Thompson would be difficult to contain, and he was every bit as good as advertised. But while he did get loose for a 35-yard touchdown scamper in the second quarter and a 30-yard run late in the game, most of the real estate was difficult to acquire. Only seven of Thompson’s 54 runs netted double-digit yardage.

“Their defense was great. We knew that coming in,” said Thompson, a junior. “Their defense is like ours. They were rated top in the north. We were top in the east. They deserved this win. I can’t say nothing bad about ‘em.”

Concord’s final threat ended when Thompson took a short pass on fourth-and-27 and was tackled after a 13-yard gain with 25 seconds left.

The Jaguars went into the fourth quarter trailing 20-14, but began the final period by stuffing Thompson on a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line.

“The goal-line stand,” Concord coach Brian Hamilton said afterward. “We march down to the 1, they bow their necks and stop us. ... Hats off, man. Great team.”

Two possessions later, Windsor took over at the Minutemen’s 37 after a short, hurried punt, and Roman wound up pounding it in from the 1-yard line to give Windsor the lead.

Concord, trying to bounce back, drove to the Jaguars’ 26-yard line before Windsor forced three straight incompletions to take over on downs. Then, on a third-and-2 play from the Windsor 38, Roman broke the game open. He picked up the first down over the right side, then cut back and was off to the races for the score that made it 28-20.

Roman finished with 20 carries for 173 yards.

If the Jaguars had come up short in this game, they would forever have looked back to the final, disastrous six minutes of the second quarter.

Windsor had gone up 7-0 earlier in the quarter on the first of Roman’s three touchdowns. Then came this alarming sequence: Concord’s Wyatt Morrow hit Jacob Smith in traffic for a 28-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-1; Thompson ran for the 2-point conversion and the Minutemen were up 8-7; Concord attempted an onside kick (Hamilton’s team frequently does), and was successful when Tyler Colby recovered; Thompson spun, ducked a shoulder and scored from 35 yards out (though his 2-point try failed); Concord went back to the onside kick and got it again, this time with Quinton Casey recovering.

Windsor appeared to end the deluge when linebacker Vince Valdes recovered Thompson’s fumble at the Jaguars 6-yard line. But after a couple first downs, McAlvain couldn’t field a snap cleanly on fourth-and-1, and the Minutemen’s Smith scooped up the loose ball and ran 39 yards for a touchdown 2:23 before halftime.

That put the Jaguars in a 20-7 hole, but they shut out Concord in the second half, denying the Minutemen consecutive NCS championships.

Windsor’s first football banner came in Rob Gatrell’s first season as coach.

High school football

NCS DIVISION 2 CHAMPIONSHIP

AT SANTA ROSA HIGH

Concord 0 20 0 0 — 20

Windsor 0 7 7 14 — 28

W: Darrian Roman 2 run (Christian McAlvain kick)

C: Jacob Smith 28 pass from Wyatt Morrow (Olito Thompson run)

C: Thompson 35 run (run failed)

C: Smith 39 fumble return (run failed)

W: Trey Tobon 30 pass from McAlvain (McAlvain kick)

W: Roman 1 run (McAlvain kick)

W: Roman 62 run (McAlvain kick)

Rushing: C—Thompson 54x285. W—Roman 20x173, Jarod Leon 10x40.

Passing: C—Morrow 12/18, 138 yds, 1 TD. W—McAlvain 10/17, 112 yds, 1 TD, 1 int.

Receiving: C—Smith 7x115. W—Tobon 4x87.

Records: C 10-4, W 14-0

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Concord High football team falls to Windsor 28-20 in NCS Division II title game...

By Ben Enos

Contra Costa Times

SANTA ROSA -- Concord High running back Olito Thompson finished his junior season with one of the gutsiest efforts of his life.

Unfortunately for the Minutemen, it came in a loss.

No. 1 seed Windsor stormed back after trailing by 13 at halftime, running off 21 unanswered points Friday to claim the North Coast Section Division II title with a 28-20 win at Santa Rosa High.

Thompson carried an astounding 54 times for 285 yards, setting a Northern California record for rushing yards in a season with 3,488. That broke the mark of 3,224 set in 13 games by Salesian''''s Jahvid Best in 2006. Concord played 14 games this season.

Thompson also set a Northern California record for carries in a game, breaking the previous record of 52 by Live Oak''''s Paul Nevarez.

"At the end of the day, they can''''t say we didn''''t give them a challenge. They can''''t say we didn''''t fight back," Thompson said. "I''''m just proud to have the team that I did, to have the heart that it did. It taught me a lot."

Thompson''''s records proved little consolation, as the Minutemen saw the game slip from their grasp thanks to a spirited effort by the Jaguars.

Windsor (14-0) started its comeback in the third quarter, when Christian McAlvain found Trey Tobon for a 30-yard touchdown pass.

The Jaguars kicked it into high gear in the fourth, when Darrian Roman ran for a 1-yard score to tie the game with 6:02 remaining. McAlvain added the extra point to put Windsor in front.

Windsor added on to the lead with 2:13 left, when Roman busted loose for a 63-yard touchdown run. Roman finished with 176 yards on 20 carries.

Concord (10-4) had its shot to take command, getting inside the Windsor 5 with just over 11 minutes left to play. The Jaguars made the stop they needed though, stopping Thompson at the 1-yard line on fourth down.

The last shot for the Minutemen came with 2:06 left. They took the ball from their own 16 to the Windsor 28 with under a minute remaining, but two sacks and an incompletion stalled the drive, and a pass from Wyatt Morrow to Thompson fell well short of the first-down marker.

"Their pass rush was just so good," Concord coach Brian Hamilton said. "We were limited, and it caught up to us."

Concord built its halftime lead thanks to some opportunistic plays in the second quarter. The Minutemen recovered two onside kicks, Morrow found Jacob Smith for a 28-yard touchdown pass and Thompson rushed for a 35-yard touchdown.

Concord also scored defensively, as Smith picked up a fumble and returned it 39 yards for a score.

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Windsor gets title; Olito Thompson gets two Northern California records...

BY HAROLD ABEND

The house was packed at Santa Rosa High and Concord’s Olito Thompson didn’t disappoint with two Northern California rushing records.

But it was Windsor (14-0) and its running back Darrian Roman and his two fourth quarter touchdowns that brought the Jaguars back from a 20-7 halftime deficit to win their first North Coast Section title with a 28-20 Division II victory on Friday night.

Thompson set the records, but Roman, Windsor’s two-way star had the more explosive runs, played excellent defense, and gets a section title.

“They quoted in the paper that he (Thompson) had more yards than me in three games than I had all year, and that got under my skin,” Roman said. “I had to prove myself as a runner and I wanted to stop him on defense.”

The 5-foot-10, 200-pound senior rushed for 176-yards and three touchdowns. He also had nine tackles with two for loss.

When Roman scored on a 1-yard plunge with 6:02 remaining, Windsor had the lead at 21-20.

Concord (10-4) got the ball at its own 29-yard line after the kickoff and went to work using Thompson on six of seven running plays, however the drive stalled at the Jaguars’ 30-yard line and the Minutemen turned it over on downs.

Three plays later and at the 2:13 mark, Roman took it 63 yards to the house and the game was all but over.

Thompson’s carry at 6:08 of the first quarter pushed him past Jahvid Best (Salesian-Richmond, Cal, Detroit Lions) as the all-time leading rusher in the Metro Bay Area.

The senior running back ran rushed 54 times for 285 yards and one touchdown. The 54 carries is a Northern California record according to the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book.

Thompson finishes the season with 3,488 yards and 35 touchdowns. The yardage will also get him into the top 10 on that list in the record book

Jacob Smith caught a 28-yard TD pass from sophomore quarterback Wyatt Morrow and scored on a 36-yard fumble return to help Concord take a 20-7 halftime lead.

Windsor is now State Bowl eligible.

The state’s 10 commissioners will announce the 10 teams, five from the North and South, on Sunday and Windsor will be the only undefeated Division II North team on the board. Sac-Joaquin Section powers Del Oro and Vacaville are currently ranked higher in both human and computer rankings.

The State Bowl Championships are Dec. 16-17 at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

BOX SCORE 1 2 3 4 F

D-2 (7) CONCORD (DVAL) 10-3 0 20 0 0 20

D-2 (1)WINDSOR (SCL) 14-0 0 7 7 14 28

Date: December 9, 2011 Time: 7:00pm Venue: Santa Rosa