Hughson rallies for grieving coach to beat Bradshaw Christian in section championship game
After nearly a year in the shadows, the “Heart Attack Huskies” came out to play in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championship game Saturday against Bradshaw Christian.
The Huskies did not have to bring out the heroics in their first two playoff games as they blew out Colfax in the quarterfinals and held a 14-point lead over top-seeded Sutter in last week’s semifinal.
Last year’s playoffs, however, were a different story as the Huskies won each playoff game by less than five points and made a few second-half comebacks en route to section and state titles.
Of all the tight games the Hughson High School community has seen, Saturday afternoon’s contest might take the cake as the craziest. Hughson scored 27 unanswered second-half points, building enough momentum to turn a 31-13 third-quarter deficit into a 40-39 win and a second consecutive blue banner.
“Just like last year, the ‘Heart Attack Huskies’ come back,” coach Shaun King said. “This is what championship teams do. We don’t get down. We don’t start yelling and screaming. We just stay calm and play our game. We knew we just had to make some stops, the ball needed to bounce our way at least once and we had to take a chance.”
The Huskies (10-3) played inspired football for their coach, who revealed at the section’s championship breakfast that his father was battling cancer. King’s father, Joe, died Tuesday afternoon. The players, coaching staff and Hughson community rallied around Kings in his time of need, gutting out the win for their grieving head coach.
King says he felt the momentum shift in the third quarter.
Bradshaw Christian (10-3) scored at the start of the second half to go ahead 31-13, but Hughson answered with a 2-yard touchdown run by Alexander Villarreal, a fourth-down stop and a 7-yard TD pass from Robert McDaniel to David Delgado.
The Huskies then recovered the ensuing onside kick, sending the Hughson faithful into a frenzy.
“That was a huge momentum change,” King said. “Offensively, we were clicking and we just needed to help out our defense a little bit, and part of that was to wear down their two-way players.”
Villarreal gave the Huskies a 32-31 lead three plays later. He took a handoff 21 yards on the first play of the fourth quarter for a touchdown to give Hughson its first lead since early in the game.
Villarreal stepped into the role of the Huskies’ primary running back after the graduation of last year’s bell cow Liam Bridgford.
“In the first and second quarter, they were coming down on us hard,” Villarreal said. “We went into the locker room (at halftime) and coach said in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter, we got them.
“I definitely learned a lot from him (Bridgford) last year, looking up to him and seeing how he led in the section game and how he led us to state. That’s what I want to be. Learning from him is what helped me.”
McDaniel and the Hughson offense struggled to get things going until they went to a no-huddle offense. After each completion or positive running play, they lined up on the ball quickly.
“We repped everything during practice and we have different personnels,” McDaniel said. “We have confidence in everybody. That confidence shows in our tight end and our offensive line giving us that extra time in the empty package.”
McDaniel spread the ball around to Larkin Meyer, Delgado and Malakai Sumter all season. McDaniel, a junior who has scholarship offers from six Division I programs, including San Jose State, Toledo and Temple, passed for over 2,500 yards and 28 touchdowns entering the contest.
He completed touchdown passes to Villarreal, Meyer and Delgado on the night. He scrambled for an 8-yard touchdown run and then found tight end Max Mankins to give the Huskies a 40-31 lead, putting the game out of reach.
Bradshaw’s run game slows in second half
Bradshaw Christian was in its eighth final under coach Drew Rickert, the only head coach in program history spanning 18 seasons. The Pride beat Sonora 22-21 in the semifinal by going for two and the win in the final seconds.
The Pride were led by running back Brandon Burden. He had two touchdown runs, including a 5-yarder with 8:03 to play in the third quarter to put Bradshaw Christian up 31-13. It was all Hughson after that.
Ethan Rickert, son of Drew, produced the Pride’s final points, a 4-yard touchdown pass to David Wiser with 2:29 to play. The Pride converted the 2-point conversion, but the Huskies still led by one. With only one timeout remaining, Hughson’s victory was inevitable as McDaniel ran out the clock.
“They’re a very tough offense to stop,” King said of defending the Pride’s backfield in the single-wing offense. “We tried to replicate it as much as we could in practice with our JV team, which did a great job this week. When it comes down to it, it’s just a tough, tough offense, and it’s a very frustrating offense.”
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The Hughson defense held Bradshaw Christian to just eight second-half points. The Huskies found ways to stop the Pride on fourth down and came away with a key second-half interception after taking the lead.
Delgado jumped an outside breaking route at the Pride 40-yard line and returned the interception to the Hughson 19-yard line to set up McDaniel’s game-clinching touchdown.
“I was reading the tight end,” Delgado said. “He’s a dude on that team and probably one of their best players. I saw the quarterback’s eyes on him the whole time.”
Now, Hughson sets its sights on defending its state championship. Pairings for the Northern California regional championships will be unveiled Sunday, but first the Huskies will enjoy the win.
“We’ll celebrate tonight, I can tell you that,” King said. “And then Sunday, whenever we get the call, we’ll get together and find out who we’re playing.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2023 at 11:08 PM.
