Norwood runs wild for Bella Vista record in bowl game victory over Del Campo

Perhaps the best argument for the new CIF Sac-Joaquin Section bowl game addition was the Battle of the Oaks 2.0 at Bella Vista High School.

Bella Vista and Del Campo, both of Fair Oaks, struggled this season with 2-8 records. But pride between two former San Juan Unified School District football heavyweights was on the line Friday night, as well as some school records.

Bella Vista running back Dvaughn Norwood needed just 10 yards to break his school’s single-season rushing record of 1,656 set in 1974 by F.J. Carney. The record was an area best that season, but Norwood obliterated it with 203 yards on 27 carries and five touchdowns to lead the Broncos to a 53-15 victory. He finished his junior season with 1,849 yards on 290 carries and 25 scores.

“I’ve coached for 23 years and I’ve been at Granite Bay, been here, been at San Juan, and he’s probably the toughest runner I’ve ever been around,” Broncos coach Jason Ott said. “We can’t remember three plays all season where he got negative yards. He hits that hole and grinds his legs and he just punishes people. He gets stronger as the game goes on. Last week, he had 43 carries and on the last drive, he just was driving, driving, driving, and he tweaked his back a little bit. So, I took him out, and we fumbled the ball the next play.”

Ott took Norwood out early in the fourth quarter with the result well in hand. The game, though, was called with just over four minutes left when Broncos linebacker Manny Matta was hurt near his sideline after defending a pass play.

He was carted off the field in a stretcher and taken by ambulance to Mercy San Juan Hospital, but not before he gave a thumbs up to his teammates that elicited a huge cheer from his teammates.

Matta and Norwood will be a part of a junior class that has helped close the gap between the Broncos program and others in the Capital Valley Conference. Ott instituted a 6 a.m. zero-period weightlifting program back in January after getting hired to coach at his alma mater. Then he penciled in the Week 4 game of the 2025 season against rival Del Campo, a school 4 miles to the southwest. The 34-20 victory in this season’s first matchup was the first time Bella Vista had beaten Del Campo in 22 tries. Both campuses opened in the early 1960s and were area powers for some of their histories.

Until recently.

Both programs had fallen on tough times of late. Declining participation numbers, coaching carousels and, in Bella Vista’s case, more than four winless seasons in a row - 48 consecutive losses - that nearly set the state record for futility had hampered success. And, while some programs would consider a 3-8 record a travesty and demand that the coach be fired, three wins and a pair of blowout victories over their rivals was a huge success for the 2025 edition of the Broncos. And Ott returns 17 of 22 starters from a team that lost five games by a touchdown or less.

“That’s why this game’s important to us,” Ott said. “I’m treating this like the playoff game. We’re going to do all the stuff we would do at a playoff game because I feel we’re going to be a playoff team next year. Last night we were dressed up for our team dinner, which we usually hold on Tuesdays. It was catered. We have an awesome booster club. We have a great principal, and a great athletic director.”

He also has Norwood back for another year. Norwood said he was well aware of the run at the school record, but he was more so happy to get it for his linemen, four of whom return next year with him. They are left guard Zach Rego, sophomore center Xavier Clark-Cruz, sophomore right guard Sam Singley and Junior right tackle Matthew Corfee. And at tight end is sophomore Christian Taylor.

The lone senior is Wyatt Lluen, and Norwood was quick with the praise for him and the 15 seniors who likely played their last tackle football game ever.

“Every time you’re in the weight room, every time you’re out here in the field practice it felt different,” Norwood said. “Yeah, I think the seniors did a great job this year of changing the culture because there definitely wasn’t a culture for that. But, you know, this season was definitely a change. You could just feel it during practice and all that. You know, we really put in the work.”

Leading the way for Norwood all season was senior fullback Domenic Ferrarini. Ferrarini also plays middle linebacker. But on those lead blocks on their favorite play — balance right, 24 Lead — with Ferrarini blowing up linebackers and Norwood running up his backside … that has to feel good, right?

“First off, Norwood’s not that fast,” Ferrarini said. “We’re about the same speed, so, if I get a head start, I’m all right. But one time he ran right into me, and it hurts, so I feel bad for those defenders.”

Ferrarini said the culture change started with those 6 a.m. lifting sessions, which every good football program in the section already has, he said. The numbers started to drop off a few weeks in, he said, as the workouts got harder. They started with 50 and ended the season with 38. He said the team liked and trusted Ott and his staff, and the change became easier.

“It feels good to be a part of the team that turned it around,” said Ferrarini, who also scored on a 4-yard run to put the Broncos up 40-15. “We bought in, and it feels good to, you know, beat up on the boys that we grew up with. It’s a good way to go out, and I’m proud of what we accomplished. Obviously, we didn’t get the wins we wanted to get. But next year… I think we turned it around.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2025 at 10:59 PM.