Ojai Valley School’s varsity football team returned from a 4-day road trip to Lee Vining, CA, with its first varsity football victory, resulting in a final score of 52-28.
The team of 20 boys travelled to Lee Vining in the school’s vans with three of their coaches, including the head coach/special teams coach, defensive coordinator, and assistant coach.
The team and their coaches drove for five hours on the evening of Sept. 20, to start their 5-day journey to their first victory.
The first stop was at the Tinnemaha Creek campground in Inyo County, about 2 hours outside of the final destination, Lee Vining.
The next morning the team had their first practice of the day on the very flat and dusty land that surrounded the campground.
After the morning practice the team headed off in the vans for another ride that would take them to the battleground of Lee Vining.
The caravan of the white Ojai Valley School vans pulled through the small town, and everyone one who lived there knew why the vans were there, to play their football team on Saturday.
The team set up camp at the Lower Lee Vining campground, where they stayed for the next 3 nights, and went of to their next practice of the day, which took place at a small park overlooking Mono Lake.
To a town that has less than 400 people, and a public high school with fewer than 90 students, this game was big news.
A few players travelled into town to the local gas station to purchase Gatorade for game day. When the gas station attendant saw the players he immediately asked what are you guys doing so far up here.
The players replied with, “we are here to play your football team,” the attendant replied, “oh yeah! The one on Saturday!”
The players then understood the importance the game served for this little town.
The team returned to camp to enjoy an early, filling pre-game dinner, and headed off to bead, while two of the players travelled into the small town to start their first live blog of the Lee Vining road trip.
Blogging was a difficult task to perform given the living situations and lack of Internet in the woods. However, the dedicated journalism team found a way each night to reflect on each day’s events.
The next day the team awakened to a large pre game feast consisting of game fuel (protein and carbs).
After the meal was taken care players were chosen to come pick their jerseys, while some did not care about numbers, others hold a special meaning with their jersey.
Next, the team voted on who they wanted to have represent them as captains, a final consensus was reached that juniors John Olivo, Grant Spencer, Cody Triggs and Min Ung Choi would be the team’s captains.
The team dressed for the game and headed out not knowing the certainty of returning back to camp with a victory.
As the team travelled down the one and only main road in Lee Vining, many were getting pumped up by blasting music, or sitting in their own zones while listening to music in headphones, eyes closed, intent on returning to school with some new history on their jerseys.
Upon arrival at the school the team scoped out the battlefield for any pitfalls on the surface.
After their inspection was completed the team suited and went into the last pre game ritual of warms ups and agilities.
The four captains held hands and walked out to midfield to meet the opposition.
After the coin toss, which resulted in favor Ojai Valley, the captains shook hands and returned to their troops.
The starting kick return team marched out onto the field to begin their first drive of many.
“We spent three weeks sharpening our blades for battle,” head coach Brandon Titus stated. “We were all confident that we were ready to chop down that tree.”
Coach Titus’ reference to President Abraham Lincoln has served as a sort of motto for the OVS team.
“As iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another man,” coach Titus states.
The team certainly appeared sharpened for their first drive, working short yardage plays towards the end zone. Eventually, the team crossed the goal line, and scored the first points of the day. After an unsuccessful conversion attempt, the score was 6-0 and it was the Spuds’ turn to play some defense.
“We started with a formation that just wasn’t working the way we envisioned,” said defensive coach John Wickenhaeuser. “We changed the game plan a little bit, and the new formation was successful.”
After Lee Vining was able to score on their first possession, the Spuds realized that they were not going to take this victory without a fight.
Although the Lee Vining squad only came out with 9 players for the game, they played with the same amount of heart as the OVS team. However, the Spuds seemed hell-bent on victory.
Once the Lee Vining Tigers tied the game at 6, the Spuds did not keep the game close for long. The offense, led by junior Grant Spencer, once again moved methodically down the field and punched in a short run for a touchdown. This time, the Spuds were successful on their conversion attempt, and took an 8-point lead.
“We aren’t even close to finished yet,” said Coach Titus to his players on the sidelines.
While the Tigers were able to score relatively simply on their first drive of the game, the new and improved defensive formation only relinquished one other touchdown through the entire first half. Each level of the defense was firing on all cylinders, and certain chemistry was built among the players.
“My teammates are like brothers to me,” said junior Cameron Cuthbert. “We go into everything with a positive attitude and have a strong connection between each other. We built a strong chemistry during the game.”
The rest of the game went similarly. The defense held their front and the offense scored touchdown after touchdown.
However, every game has its heartbreak. Near the end of the first half, junior Kolby Saucedo suffered a knee injury that would sideline him for the remainder of the game.
“At first, I wasn’t really sure what happened to my leg,” said Kolby. “I knew I was hurt but I was mainly concerned about if Lee Vining scored on that drive.”
Kolby’s mentality illustrates the mindset of every player on the OVS squad. To the players, the team is not just comprised of athletes. The team is made up of a band of brothers.
The battle was hard-fought by both sides. However, the Spuds were eventually victorious. The team was proud not just of themselves, but also of the coaches who had put in so much time and effort to prepare them.
“It’s been a long road and it’s gratifying to get the school’s first varsity win,” assistant coach and alumni Rob Davis ‘88 said after a long, emotional pause. “I look forward to many more.”
For athletic director, former head coach and alumni Craig Floyd ‘83, who also joined the team on their adventure, the trip was a chance to capture some team bonding.
“It was just a great culmination of years of hard work, said Mr. Floyd. “We now have the stones in place to build upon, and have the football team we always knew we could have.”
Upon their return to Ojai, Head of School, Upper Campus Carl Cooper reflected on the results.
“It’s nice to see a team come together and play well, and from my understanding, represent the school not only as athletes, but as sportsmen,” Mr. Cooper said.
The sportsmanship aspect of the game was a two-way street. Both teams were there to pick each other up after every play and always offered a kind word to each other. There was no bad blood in this contest.
The Spuds would gladly face them again.
This journey was just the beginning for the Spuds. The team faces off this weekend against Hillcrest Christian at the OVS Lower Campus. Unfortunately, the team cannot dwell on their first victory for long. They must prepare for yet another battle. However, it’s hard to imagine a more successful start to a season.