It’s been five years since Denair qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs, a time marked by high effort from the players but low turnout for a program that celebrated a state Division 7 championship in 2018.
The lean years made the taste of victory all the sweeter Friday night as Denair made a triumphant return to the postseason with a commanding 49-16 blowout of Delta of Clarksburg in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 7 tournament.
“It felt great,” summed up Denair Coach Anthony Armas, whose club led 34-0 in the third quarter before Delta finally scored. “Playoff games have a different feel. Our players were playing at a different level.”
There were plenty of heroes for the home team.
Degan Butler carried 18 times for 174 yards, Jesse Ruelas gained 54 yards on the ground and scored three touchdowns, Alex Vargas ran for two touchdowns and caught two passes for another 46 yards, Derek Potter completed all four of his passes for 75 yards and a score, and Austin Silva caught a TD pass and also intercepted a pass on defense.
But the biggest play of the night, according to Armas, happened when 6-foot-5, 215-pound defensive lineman Brody McFarland returned a Delta fumble for a touchdown in the second quarter to make the score 21-0.
“We had just punted two plays before — our only punt of the game,” Armas said. “We were already playing at a pretty high level, but Brody’s scoop-and-score really took the energy of the team to another level.”
McFarland’s moment thrilled the partisan crowd at Jack Lytton Stadium, where most of the home fans were clad all in black – something the Denair players had been lobbying for all season.
“We told them if they wanted the blackout, we needed to host a playoff game,” Armas said. “The crowd was great. You could feel the energy in the stadium.”
Up next for the Coyotes (6-5) is a familiar foe – Stone Ridge Christian (8-2) of Merced, which earned a No.2 playoff seed and a first-round bye after tying with Delhi for first place in the Southern League. Denair finished in a third-place SL tie with Waterford.
The Knights and Coyotes faced each other on Sept. 20 in the SL opener, with Stone Ridge coming away with a 28-6 home victory.
“They are very talented and well coached,” Armas said.
What will it take for Denair to pull off an upset?
“We need to play good assignment football. Each person needs to do their job. No more, no less,” Armas said.
Kickoff Friday is at 7 p.m. in Merced. The winner will advance to the semifinals on Nov. 22 against the winner of this week’s game between No. 3 Elite (8-2) of Vallejo and No. 6 Rio Vista (6-5).
