Elk Grove falls short as Clayton Valley Charter’s Ugly Eagles make ‘relentless’ rally
When one ventures across the back side of this campus nestled in the heart of Contra Costa County, they must sidestep tractor tires laid flat, ropes as thick as tree limbs and a blocking sled that looks as if it belongs in the 1970s.
The outside wall outside the weight room reads in striking big letters, “To be Ugly is to be RELENTLESS.”
And that captures the very essence of Clayton Valley Charter High School on most any night, especially Friday.
Down by two touchdowns with just over 3 minutes remaining to a program known for salting teams away, the Ugly Eagles of Concord rallied to stun Elk Grove 28-26 in a steady downpour to win the CIF Northern California Division II-AA championship in a game every bit as good as advertised.
CVC is a power running team with a speed element but it relied on the cool calm of junior quarterback Jake Kern to pull out a game that even fiery coach Tim Murphy thought might be lost. Not that he doubted his passer. It was a matter of if there was enough time.
Kern on fourth down hit Rayshawn Jackson for a 40-yard scoring strike to pull to within 26-21 with 2:22 to go. Elk Grove recovered the onside kick, and got the ball back but was stopped on downs on fourth-and-1 at midfield with 1:27 to go.
Kern with 1:01 left fired a 42-yard scoring pass to Seth Gwynn, and Charlie Saylor sealed it with an end zone interception with 14.2 seconds to go to send the Ugly Eagles to their second CIF State final since 2014 under Murphy, whose gritty team is now 9-5.
Murphy was overjoyed. The longtime coach wears red, white and blue puka shells during games to honor past players whom he still holds dear and help him coach. And he’s as rock solid as the weights he instructs his students to lift. The coach was half joking afterward when he said that he was near burnout, but Murphy vowed to have enough juice to grind out one final week of a season that now stretches to its 16th week with a CIF State finale next weekend in Norwalk.
“Nights like this make it worthwhile, to see the smile on the faces of the players ...” Murphy said. “Amazing. Down two touchdowns that late, it’s so impressive what these high school kids did.”
The coach praised Kern, who transferred from nearby De La Salle for a shot to run his own program. Often, Kern hands off, but he was spot-on late to eliminate the Sac-Joaquin Section champions.
“Jake did a great job,” Murphy said.
Elk Grove (10-5) scored on a 68-yard kickoff return by Hunter Hall and Carter Harris TD runs of 1 and 52 yards. Jeremy Cook’s 23-yard touchdown run put Elk Grove up 26-14 with 4:54 left. The Herd had one point-after miss, one blocked and had a two-point conversion stopped.
Omari Taylor rushed for 113 yards for Clayton Valley Charter, scoring on runs of 4 and 39 yards. He plays inspired for a brother he lost earlier this season to gun violence in a sad instance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Clayton Valley Charter next Friday will play Aquinas of San Bernardino in the CIF State DII-AA final, a remarkable feat for a program that overcame mass losses to graduation and didn’t really peak until the playoffs, of which the Ugly Eagles are now 4-0.
Elk Grove was 4-0 in the playoffs coming into this one and bows out after a tremendous return-to-glory season, keyed by the diminutive-yet-explosive Harris. The senior bowed out with a 102-yard rushing night, giving him 1,984 yards on the season to go with 28 touchdowns.
The Thundering Herd under popular coaches John Heffernan and James Pale won the program’s first section championship since 2001, and they did it by embracing the triple-option rushing attack, dominating the trenches and playing fast and fierce on defense.
Heffernan and Pale hugged players when it was over and told them to be proud, reminding that this hurts now but that there was more to celebrate than bemoan.
The one coach who ties back to the Herd’s glory days of the 1990s and 2000s is Jeff Carlson, the program’s defensive coordinator.
He said before the game, “I’m really happy for Heffernan and Pale. They’re good guys, good coaches. It’s been a great season.”
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 11:36 PM.