CONCORD — The celebration was immaculate.
As the clock hit zeroes, Mt. Diablo players immediately found head coach Fetuao Mua and gave him the gatorade bath they have been waiting all week to give him.
At the conclusion of the handshake line, red and green fireworks covered the dark Concord sky at the southwest corner of the field, illuminating one of the biggest wins in school history.
Behind a dominant rushing attack, Mt. Diablo cruised to a 49-0 win over Berean Christian to capture its first league title since 1962.
“When I took the job, this was the endgame,” Mua said. “We came up four points short against Alhambra last year and for 365 days we drilled it into the kids’ head to remember that feeling. And tonight we won. We ended up at the other end of the tunnel.”
Mt. Diablo lost last year’s Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division offensive player of the year in running back Herschel Turner who is now a freshman back at Utah State. But this year’s group of running backs led by Antonio Campbell III and Jeremiah Owens have not missed a beat as the two combined for 264 rushing yards and five touchdowns in Friday’s win.
“Me and Jeremiah, and not just us but the whole team, have stepped up all year,” Campbell said. “I respect all of them for stepping up when Herschel left and I appreciate everyone doing that. We did it as brothers and it showed.”
The Red Devils physical brand of play wore on Berean Christian early on.
On their first possession of the game, Campbell capped off a four-play, 75-yard drive with a 35-yard run into the end zone.
Later in the quarter, Owens made his presence felt with a 10-yard score that put the home team up 14-0 in the first quarter.
The defense did its thing too, forcing Berean Christian into long third-down attempts throughout the first half. The Berean Christian offense that scored 52 points against Ygnacio Valley was held in check by a Mt. Diablo defense that flew all over the field.
Campbell and Owens each found the end zone once more on rushing scores to give Mt. Diablo a 28-0 lead at halftime.
“We practiced the whole week with high intensity, so we came out with that same mindset,” Owens said.
Mt. Diablo totaled 338 yards on the ground as a team on just 19 attempts.
“Mt. Diablo has some great backs,” said Berean Christian coach Giles Chapman. “ But just from our standpoint, we missed assignments and we had confusion on the back end.”
Owens shut the door on Berean Christian in the third quarter.
With the Eagles marching down the field looking for their first score, Owens picked off a screen pass and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown that gave the Red Devils a six-touchdown lead and initiated a running clock.
As the end of the game neared closer, the Mt. Diablo sideline could feel history being made. Coaches and players couldn’t hold in their excitement as the first league title in over sixty years was on the cusp of happening.
As the celebration started, so did the outpouring of emotions.
After giving hugs and high-fives to his teammates and coaches, Owens couldn’t stop smiling.
“This is just so amazing,” he said after the game. “I love all my brothers that did this for me and this is just so great.”
Campbell, who took time to thank his friends and family for coming to the game, added, “We all feel good right now. It’s been 60-plus years and all my seniors did a great job. I’m really proud of them.”
While the celebration will be on for the rest of the weekend, Mt. Diablo is not finished. The Red Devils have their sights on playing for something bigger than a league title.
“We want to be playing in December,” Mua said. “I know for a lot of people, that might sound far-fetched, but these guys got goals and we’ve already reached a couple. We’re not done yet.”
