Football’s back: Oakmont tops Ponderosa as high school sports return to play
Tim Moore described his group and Friday night’s effort as “grit and guts.”
Oakmont High School players say the same about their football coach, who was tasked with keeping his team engaged over a 14-month span of stop-and-starts amid a pandemic that put sports in the shadows and left many to wonder if there would be any kickoffs this academic year.
The season started Friday night, a far cry from the familiar fall months. The setting in Roseville under the lights featured cool, crisp conditions against Ponderosa. It was without the traditional atmosphere, without a student rooting section and a marching band, but at least there was a game.
The Vikings prevailed 15-7 behind the steady play of burly quarterback Hayden Abbruzzese, the hard hitting of linebacker star Sean Myles and the versatility of James Montmier, who drilled three field goals and also made plays as a receiver, runner and for a defense that pitched a second-half shutout.
Abbruzzese found Nate Venneri for a 7-yard touchdown for a 12-7 third-quarter lead, and Mintmier’s 37-yard field goal sealed it. Ponderosa struck first on a 60-yard touchdown strike from Ryan Hardt to Trace Nordquist in a battle of well-coached, rock-solid programs that ran the emotional gamut like everyone else in California just to get here, including passing the required COVID-19 testing in a week where negative results led to cancelled games for Roseville, Del Oro, Galt and the Nevada Union junior varsity.
The Vikings celebrated after scores and defensive stops and sang the school’s fight song to a crowd of parents with the assistance of cheerleaders when it was over. No one wanted to go home. There will be no league championship or playoffs because there is not enough time, as the season must end by April 17, per CIF Sac-Joaquin Section guidelines. No complaints. Now the hope is to get in another game, and then another, without any cancellations.
“There have been a lot of long days,” said Moore, the school’s longtime coach who played football for the Vikings. “The guys put in long days, a lot of grit and guts. We’ve tried to stay off the roller coaster of emotions. Super proud. This is special experience for all of us. There’s always pressure to win, to get into the playoffs. Now, it’s just about fun. That’s our favorite F word: fun.”
Moore can speak of the anguish of COVID-19. He had it. He spent his 48th birthday, in October, in a Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center bed, hooked up to tubes and surrounded by medical experts in masks as he struggled to breath and regain strength as an otherwise healthy, robust fellow.
It scared him, and jolted him.
“COVID is no joke,” Moore said. “Can’t take it lightly. It taught me to love each day.”
Friday was also a big night for cheerleaders, junior varsity and varsity, for both schools. The cheerleaders practice just as hard about their craft and care just as much as their football friends.
Oakmont has 25 varsity cheerleaders and 30 on the freshman/junior varsity level, all of them into it. Noelle Dumitru is their coach. Her three daughters graduated from Oakmont, each a cheerleader.
“When I got out of the car tonight and heard the public address announcer’s voice, I thought, ‘Oh! It’s real. This is happening,’” she said. “I just wand the kids to have a good high school experience. It’s hard enough for adults to deal with COVID but it’s worse for the kids. This is supposed to be their happy years. We had tryouts on Zoom, had cancellations. They even practiced in the rain this week because they wanted to be sharp for tonight.”
Fans were asked to leave the stadium after the junior varsity game, and once they did, the varsity parents came in — all in an effort to maintain distancing. The game was hard-fought and fun, Moore praised Ponderosa coach Davy Johnson for his team’s effort, and he said the same of the Vikings.
“We worked so hard to get this game in,” said Abbruzzese, Oakmont’s quarterback. “I was up all night, I was so excited. We’re happy we got a game in and we hope we have a game next week.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2021 at 6:04 AM.