Winters football rocks small-school pride — and coach’s mom is a superfan
Daniel Ward grew up in this farming town in Yolo County, and he dreamed of playing football for the famed Winters Warriors.
He did, setting school passing records in the late 1990s under famed coach Jack Delbar. Now Ward is in his 17th season as head coach of his alma mater with more championships to appreciate and more to pursue.
Winters will take its 12-1 record and its record-setting quarterback Lane Brown and his unsung supporting cast to the Central Valley on Saturday night to take on 13-1 Minarets High of O’Neals, a town people in Winters are fast becoming associated with. This will be for the CIF Northern California Division 6-A championship with a 6 p.m. kickoff, with the winner earning a shot for a CIF State crown the following weekend in Southern California.
Ward is a fixture in Winters, which happens when you are the head coach of the biggest sports team in town. And there’s his mother, Robin, the ever-loyal superfan. Since Ward became the Warriors head coach in 2008, Robin has attended games home and away in her son’s high school letterman’s jacket.
This is as small-town and feel-good as it gets.
“I tell her, ‘Mom, I don’t play anymore!’” Ward said with a laugh. “She’s always there for me.”
As coaches all across the state can attest, football is a family thing, including real family at home. Everyone has to buy in, or it won’t work, coaches say.
Ward said he is indebted to his wife, Rikki, and their three young children: Declan, Kellen and Madison. The kids are regulars at games. The sons are ballboys, and 3-year-old Madison attends Winters contests with pom-poms and a big grin, already dreaming of becoming a school cheerleader.
“This is the biggest thing in the world for them right now,” the coach said. “The older they get, the more fun it goes. Declan saw me get interviewed by a TV station after a game last year, and his mind was blown. Wondered if I was the most famous person in Winters.”
Declan, all of 9 years old, looked up Daniel Ward, Winters, on Google, and a Sacramento Bee photo of him and his father came up. It was from a year ago, when Winters lost a NorCal title game, and Declan was emotional as his father accepted the runner-up plaque.
“He goes on the computer, looks me up and finds a picture of himself crying!” Ward said with more laughter.
The ballboys idolize their football heroes in Winters red. Madison admires the cheerleaders and the sweaty “stinky boys” who block and tackle. The three Ward children are regulars to Winters football, attending a team camp in Tahoe, to practices, team dinners and team breakfasts. And the games, of course.
The Ward boys before kickoff race out onto the field, in front of the team, but they sometimes take the paper banner with them, the banner the team is supposed to break through. Kids being kids.
Said Ward: “I’m passionate about football. It’s a big part of my life. I love this town. If you don’t have support at home, it won’t work. My wife Rikki, she’s the rock star, the MVP. Three kids under the age of 10. The football coach/father is gone a lot in the fall with late hours and football. It’s her birthday on Saturday. If we drive all the way to O’Neals, California, on her birthday, we have to win, right?”
What can Brown do for you?
The passing and offensive records Ward set at Winters a generation ago have long since been broken. Some of those now belong to Jacob Lowrie, who set CIF Northern Section total offense records from 2012-14, and now here comes Lane Brown.
At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, Brown is a threat as a passer and a runner. He has a school-record 4,663 career passing yards over three starting varsity seasons to go with 3,607 career rushing yards. He has a school-record 47 career passing touchdowns and 47 career rushing scores.
This season, Brown has passed for 2,069 yards and 22 TDs, and he has rushed for 1,906 and 24. And he has powered Winters to a 24-2 record the last two seasons. Brown this season set the Northern Section record for combined rushing and passing in a single season, according to Northern Section historian Kevin Askeland. Clayton Welch of Chico had 3,711 total yards in 2013.
Brown is bearing down on a unique feat as a 2,000-yard passer and a 2,000-yard runner. That would be a first in the history of the CIF Northern Section.
Brown isn’t the only big-time performer for the Warriors. He has talented teammates, including: Nate Apodaca and Luke Felsen, who have combined for 13 scores; Jayden Blackburn, a two-way lineman who averages 10 tackles a game and has 10.5 sacks; Macguire Plitt, who has five interceptions on defense; and two-way grinder Ricky Garcia, who has four fumble recoveries and four rushing touchdowns.
But at Winters, it starts with the quarterback. Every defense keys in on Brown, and no has won that battle this season. Winters’ lone loss was Sept. 12, a 21-20 setback to Gridley of Butte County. Gridley is 13-0 and plays Lincoln of San Jose for the Division 6-AA title on Friday.
“We’re very lucky to have Lane Brown,” Ward said. “He’s the best player on the field every single Friday night, the best player in our section. He has a level of confidence that builds every week, a sense of ‘I’m the biggest, baddest dude out here,’ and he’s playing like it. To say he’s rewriting our record books is an understatement.”
The coach added, “Lane is special.”
Ward said his sons have a quick answer when asked whom their favorite player is: Lane Brown. As for the coach’s mother? Her favorite remains Daniel Ward, the name stitched on a letterman’s jacket that she holds dear.
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.