Thursday, Oct. 02, 2008

James Burns: No time to celebrate for Chowchilla

CHOWCHILLA -- The words stumbled out of David DeJager's mouth like boulders in an avalanche.

Broken. Choppy. And headed everywhere.

"Uh, I...I mean, we...." said the Chowchilla linebacker as he tried to discuss how his team's fortunes last Friday changed so dramatically.

Making two of the biggest defensive plays of the young season, it seemed, was much easier than talking about them.

DeJager forced two fumbles in the final two minutes of last Friday's game at Modesto Christian, preserving a 46-41 win over one of the top small-school programs in the Valley.

"Friday was a huge win and a huge statement for us," Chowchilla coach Jon Henson said.

"Crazy would be the best way to describe it.

"I was telling people I lost five pounds in sweat. That's alright, I could stand to lose a few pounds anyway."

The game was set up for Chowchilla to lose.

After all, Modesto Christian came in toting a No. 1 small-school ranking in Northern California, a 6-foot-8 receiver on his way to UCLA on a basketball scholarship (Reeves Nelson) and a playmaking QB (Isiah Burse).

Chowchilla was 3-0, but...

Henson's boys hopped off the bus with nothing more than a few water buckets and a collection of sledgehammers: running backs Kyle Espinola, Daniel Gutierrez and, of course, DeJager.

Sledgehammers, though, can be good.

Espinola scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the eventual game-winner with four minutes to go.

Gutierrez finished off the victory with the two back-breaking runs inside the final minute.

Nothing fancy.

No spins. No jukes.

Just two blasts straight into the teeth of the defense.

"A couple of wedge plays. Our offensive linemen love it when we call those plays," Henson said.

It all wouldn't have been possible, though, without DeJager's tenacity in the waning moments.

He literally ripped victory out of Modesto Christian's hands.

Twice.

The first -- a strip near his own 30 -- appeared to put the game away with 1:30 to go, but Fred Gaines fumbled on the very next possession.

One play later, Burse found his tight end in space with only Chowchilla safety Rob Diepersloot to beat.

"Robby came up to make the play, and then I saw it," DeJager said. "The ball."

Yes, the ball.

And with it came the game.

The win will be chalked off as one of those upset specials, because, let's face it...

Half the people in the stadium that night couldn't find Chowchilla on a map.

If it were circled in red.

Just don't expect Chowchilla to buy into the hype. In their mind's eye, they were the odds-on favorite that night.

"It was huge," DeJager said. "A lot of people picked them to win that game, but we knew the whole time we could win."

Here comes the rub.

And this isn't much of a shocker, folks.

The challenges only get tougher from here on out -- even if the opponents don't.

Chowchilla opens North Sequoia League play on Friday at home against Yosemite.

The road to a conference title and Valley championship starts here.

Not with a triumph in Salida.

The win over Modesto Christian might have been a landmark victory for one of the area's top programs, but teams like Yosemite, Washington Union and Dos Palos won't just roll over.

In this corner of the Central Section, records and notable wins literally fly out the window on Friday nights.

The trick for Henson and his staff is getting their players to turn the page.

Even if it means you have to turn it for them.

As of Monday, the banners hanging in the locker room at Chowchilla High -- the ones that read "Beat Modesto Christian" -- had been ripped down and replaced.

The clock hanging overhead had already begun its countdown to this Friday's NSL opener.

That MC game?

Nothing more than an ink stain in the annals of Chowchilla football.

"I would rank that win as one of the best victories Chowchilla has ever had, short of any championship game we've won," Henson said.

"That much, I'll celebrate.

"But our keys and goals this week reflect that last Friday is over and we have a new opponent."

That's football.

James Burns is a Sun-Star sports reporter. He can be reached at jburns@merced-sun-star.com.