Coach Reber’s Inderkum team tops Papa Reber’s DCA Lions in fun family feud
Twenty-eight years ago, the big man on campus was a tall, lankly lad of a receiver with good hands and a passion for all things football. His name was Justin Reber.
These days, about the most beloved figure on the Destiny Christian Academy High School grounds is a kindly, white-haired fellow named “Papa” Jim Reber. He’s the father of Justin, who is the head coach of the Inderkum Tigers, a group he guided in a nonleague contest at DCA on Friday night.
“Justin stopped by the band room earlier,” Papa Reber said before kickoff, his band sounding the part of a polished outfit. “I introduced the kids to him, and one said, ‘You look like him.’ No, he looks like me!’”
On the field, both teams looked every bit like programs who are in a work in progress. Ranked No. 8 by The Sacramento Bee, Inderkum prevailed 31-20 over the equally as young and growing-by-the-day No. 12 Tigers.
Brody Cole scored on two 1-yard runs for Inderkum (3-1), and brother Cruise Cole raced in for a 38-yard touchdown run to account for the final score with 4:25 left in an entertaining contest. Ahmir Lester had a 10-yard touchdown pass to Nehemiah Simmons for DCA to tie it at 17-17 midway through the third quarter, K’Aden Minor had a 5-yard TD run for DCA and Nano Johnson had two field goals for the home-team Lions.
Both teams met at midfield after the game to take a knee for a group prayer, rivals united as one.
Mixed homecoming for Reber
Coach Reber set scores of receiving records at Capital Christian, which became DCA after a church takeover before the start of the 2024-25 academic year. Returning to his roots resonated with the coach, who admitted to having mixed emotions.
Reber said he embraced his playing days on this campus, graduating in 1998, but he is pained for not ever having an interview for the head football job. The post now belongs to Aaron Garcia, a record-setting quarterback at Grant in the 1980s.
That Reber and Garcia are such close friends added another layer of intrigue of this matchup. Garcia used to throw passes to Reber decades ago ago at William Land Park or at Granite Park, and now they live near each other in Natomas.
“Aaron was a huge part of my life,” coach Reber said. “He brought me to New York to train with him (when he played Arena Football), and he’s always been a dude I looked up to. We talk a lot about football and coaching and athletic director things.”
Part of their dialogue is venting.
DCA has 12 players in limbo, transfers awaiting CIF governing body clearance to play. It could come down to appeals and litigation as the regular season closes in on the midway point. In most cases, transfers sit 30 days. Sometimes, they sit longer to sort through things, to ensure everything is on the up and up, and sometimes transfers do not get cleared at all for myriad reasons.
Garcia and DCA assistant head coach Antuan Simmons, a prep star from yesteryear at Valley High in south Sacramento, hope for good news and a full roster. Otherwise, their club is incomplete with just eight reserves.
Garcia looks like he can still hum a football 50 yards on a dime, but he labors these days when he walks. He had hip replacement surgery Aug. 1, the rigors of 19 seasons quarterback excellence in the Arena Football collisions, but he ditched the cane this week, joking that he has an image to live up to.
Losing to a friend who heads a top-tier program like Inderkum doesn’t hurt as much to dropping a game to just anyone.
Coaches are longtime friends
“Greta dude, great football mind, great leader,” Garcia said of coach Reber. “When we played them two years ago (a 60-0 loss), we were at our worst. He allowed us to get out of that contract because we didn’t know where we were headed. We’re rebuilding into something special.”
Garcia is also in regular contact with Papa Reber, the band director.
“He texted me to tell me about my 10-year old son, Christian, playing trumpet,” Garcia said. “To have that family relationship with Justin and Papa Jim, it’s great.”
Coach Reber has bounced around the region as a coach but has settled into Inderkum the past several seasons, and he doubles as athletic director. Life is good, he said, and he, too, embraces all things family, including young daughter Harlow and his father. Papa Jim attends Inderkum games when DCA is on the road.
“My dad’s always been there for me, always supportive,” coach Reber said. “Dad comes to our games, brings cookies for the kids. He’s all about other people. Everything he does is about people. He could be completely retired but he loves the band too much. He’s still going to Costco, loading up for the band kids.”
Coach Reber said the potential is enourmous for the Tigers. Inderkum rallied late in a close 27-22 loss to Monterey Trail in a season opener, and Inderkum followed with impressive victories over Bay Area powerhouse Marin Catholic 21-20 and Northern Section top-ranked Pleasant Valley of Chico, 35-14.
“I love our team, our coaches, our school, our community,” the coach said. “It’s a phenomenal place. We have great kids, smart kids. We’ve grown a lot. At our first team dinner, kids were talking about winning state or it’s a bust. In all reality, we’re not there, a state team. Folsom is. Grant is, but that is our end game at some point. I love the way our kids work, and our kids are believing.”
Inderkum starts Capital Valley Conference action next week against Christian Brothers. DCA (2-2) starts Metro League play against West Park of Roseville on Sept. 26 after hosting No. 6 Twelve Bridges of Placer County on Sept. 19.
This story was originally published September 12, 2025 at 11:10 PM.