Magical season ends in disappointment for Rancho Cotate football squad

Saturday’s CIF Division 3-A high school football championship was Rancho Cotate’s 15th game of the year. And although the team had overcome the odds and built a strong head of steam these last two months, in the end it was just too much.

The Cougars ran out of gas.

Rancho jumped out to a 14-0 lead that held until late in the second quarter, but Bakersfield Christian ultimately outlasted and outplayed the Cougars, winning 42-21, and ending the Cougars’ historic season.

This was Rancho Cotate’s first state title competition in any team sport and the first time the football team had won a NorCal regional title. It was the school’s first North Coast Section football title since 2002.

“I know you’re disappointed. Why? Cuz you’re competitors. I love you guys,” Rancho coach Gehrig Hotaling told his team afterward. “You showed great courage all year long. Most importantly, you’re Cougars. Cougars for life.”

Rancho ends the year 11-4 overall, writing themselves into history as the first Cougars team to compete for a state championship.

That possibility was a distant fantasy back in mid-October, when they’d come off a 24-14 loss to Cardinal Newman in a game that could’ve meant the North Bay League-Oak Division title, then trailed at halftime to Windsor, the next-best competition in the division.

With a record of 3-3, looking at 3-4 with a loss to the Jaguars, a halftime discussion determined which path the Cougars’ season would take. Hotaling rallied his team, forcing them to ask themselves if they truly wanted to compete this year or just go through the motions.

The Cougars responded in the affirmative, downing Windsor and winning their next six games, while becoming a ?well-tuned team, not just a group of individual performers, Hotaling said.

And although only one team gets to win its final game of the season, Rancho Cotate players left the field heads high Saturday, knowing what they built this year means more than a win or loss.

“We really came a long way, building a brotherhood,” said quarterback Jared Stocker, who threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third on Saturday.

“That was amazing to watch, as everyone formed together as one big family throughout the season. No one wanted it to end like this. It’s unfortunate. But we all love each other.”

There were some tears - and a few bursts of anger after a Bakersfield Christian player was ejected for a flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that injured the Cougars’ Jack Reese, But Rancho players will be able to put the loss in perspective with time.

“It’s a little bitter now,” Hotaling acknowledged. “But looking back on it ...We won a section championship, a Northern California championship, and nobody thought we could do that, and we did.

“We made it further than any Rancho team ever has. I couldn’t be more proud of our team. I want them to keep their heads up. They’ll reflect on it and have fond memories ... With time, the sting will go away and only the positive memories will remain.”

Hotaling has positive memories of his high school football career. He starred as a receiver on the Cougars’ 2001 section-title team, his senior year, under longtime coach Ed Conroy.

After returning to Rohnert Park after college, Hotaling began coaching under Conroy before taking over the reins three years ago.

Conroy was on the sideline Saturday supporting his former assistant. Just like Hotaling gave his kids advice, Conroy had wise words for the current coach.

“I always tell Gehrig to enjoy this time,” Conroy said. “He called me before last game and I just told him to enjoy it. They’re kids, they’re going to make mistakes. Keep playing.”

The Cougars came out strong Saturday, taking a two-touchdown lead deep into the second quarter.

After going up 14-0, though, Rancho began to wane and ?Bakersfield kept pushing.

The Eagles scored 35 unanswered points to take a 35-14 in the third quarter.

With one minute left in the first half, the Eagles scored on a nine-yard pass play to make it 14-7 at the half. They came out again in their first drive of the second half, scoring on another pass play, this time a 15-yarder.

On Rancho’s next possession, Stocker was sacked twice and Rancho was forced to punt. Bakersfield pounced, as Jess Wattenbarger broke off a 49-yard touchdown run to put his Eagles up 21-14.

An Eagles’ interception and two Rancho pass interference calls set up Bakersfield’s next score, a 12-yard rush.

A good defensive play - a tipped pass by Reese - backfired, as the deflection fell into the hands of Bakersfield’s Ben Yurosek, who has committed to playing at Stanford next year. Yurosek grabbed the tip and ran 61 yards for the score and a 35-14 lead.

“They had a consistent pass rush all game and we couldn’t really get after their quarterback,” Hotaling said. “That was a difference.

“We’re not used to playing 15 games and we came out a little flat,” he said. “That’s a heckuva football team and they put it to us. It’s not Xs and Os or scheme, or that any one player messed up. It’s all of us. We just all kind of ran out of gas.”

Hotaling said he will take time to enjoy this season before changing gear and begin thinking about the future. But he’s sure of one thing already: that this year’s team was special.

“Once you play for this program, I feel like you bleed blue and red and you’re a Cougar for life. You see countless alumni here showing support. It’s a community bonding,” he said. “It’s something they can always be proud of. We want this to be a community of Cougars and I want them to be proud of being a Cougar and all the lessons they’ve learned

“At the end of the day, it’s just high school football, but you can learn a lot of life lessons doing this.”

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.