Stark contrast: Inderkum rolls in first Division-I playoff game, stopping Davis’ run
Time hasn’t dulled Terry Stark’s passion for coaching.
He’s still fiercely competitive, a stickler for details — grades, being on time, blocking, tackling — and he still craves a ripe opportunity to make an impact on the high school football front.
Leading the third-seeded Inderkum Tigers, Stark embraced his latest challenge Friday night in Natomas. He fired up his troops before kickoff and then soaked in a 43-21 victory over sixth-seeded Davis in a section Division I quarterfinal.
It’s the first time Stark’s Tigers have been in the big-boy field of D-I after a lifetime in D-II or III. The school’s enrollment swelled to an all-time high 2,245 students this academic year, prompting the D-I entry.
Inderkum (11-0) looked like it belonged, and then some, especially as it stormed to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and finished with 392 yards rushing and 511 yards of offense against Davis’ best team in 25 years.
Stark told his club before taking the field, like a general ready for battle, “We’re the only team in the section to go from D-III to D-I in three years. They don’t think you can play at this level! We’re going to prove them wrong tonight. ... Tonight’s the night that you’ve got to be the toughest you’ve ever been in your life.”
Inderkum was plenty tough and plenty fast. And, at times, technically sound on the offensive line, with angle blocks against Davis’ large front that freed up a bevy of backs.
Willie Hardy Jr. rushed for 138 yards and had scoring runs of 85 and 10 yards for Inderkum, Aaron Espero went for 127 and had a 10-yard score, and Dino Watson had 52 yards and had a 29-yard score.
It starts with quarterback J.J. Ray. He executes the handoffs in a deception-based offense. The senior also throws a nice ball, hitting John Lain for a 9-yard score early and bolting in from 19 yards out on the ground late, and he rather enjoys blocking to free up teammates.
“Ray’s a football player,” Stark said. “Give him time and he’ll really hurt you. He’s a good runner, too.”
Inderkum has produced three successive 10-0 regular seasons and has gone 33-2 in that stretch, but a Sac-Joaquin Section crown has evaded Stark, a 231-game winner and widely viewed as one of the section’s top coaches. He’s a coaching lifer with stops at his alma mater Mira Loma, then Natomas and the last 15 seasons at Inderkum. He doesn’t golf, doesn’t fish and doesn’t gamble unless it’s fourth and short.
Stark told his team after the game, “Tonight, you became a great team.” He then walked off with the game ball.
Inderkum plays at No. 2 Oak Ridge in El Dorado Hills on Friday in a semifinal.
Davis finished 10-2, a far cry from its 0-10 showing just three seasons ago. Blue Devils coach Steve Smyte was the driving force behind his program’s resurgence, saying before the game, “I’m happy with the season. It could not have asked for a better coaching staff or group of kids. They’ve made it fun again.”
He added of Inderkum, “That’s the most complete team we’ve faced.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 6:45 AM.