DUBLIN — The temperature at Dublin High School hovered in the low-40s for all of Friday night — not quite freezing, far from comfortable. By the middle of the game, a slight layer of fog hovered over the field. It was under these conditions that Danny Jones found himself being drenched with an ice-cold bucket of water.
On a night of this magnitude, one where Amador Valley outclassed Bishop O’Dowd in the NCS Division II final and won its first NCS title in school history, Jones didn’t mind in the slightest. The making of history provided its own warmth.
“I’m speechless,” Jones said following the 42-18 victory. “I don’t even know what to say.”
There was no shortage of players who ultimately left Jones without words. Junior running back Ismael Duenas amassed 205 rushing yards on 22 carries. Senior quarterback Tristan Tia rushed for one touchdown and threw for two, both of which landed in the hands of senior wide receiver Ben Stout. Junior Anthony Harrington and senior Gabe Gyamfi both hauled in interceptions, the latter accounting for an 86-yard pick-six.
“I know it means a lot to my coach,” Tia said. “My coach did so much for me, so it means a lot to the team as well. It’s one of the best feelings, just going out on the field and seeing all the hard work you put in being shown.”
Tia, an Oregon State commit, didn’t fill up the box score on a night where the run game was so dominant (84 passing yards), but one of his first passes set the night in motion. On fourth-and-nine at Bishop O’Dowd’s 37-yard-line, Tia rolled out to his right and fired across his body on the run to Harrington for a 10-yard gain and a first down. Amador Valley parlayed that fourth-down conversion into a touchdown as Tommy Vespi found the end zone on a five-yard run up the middle. The Dons were successful on the two-point conversion as Tia scrambled into the end zone, and Amador Valley had an 8-0 lead — a lead they’d never lose.
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
