On Thanksgiving Day, the Mustangs, led by junior running back David Henderson, trounced the Cardinals 29-22. Last season, Lincoln defeated the Cardinals in the semifinals in a nearly identical fashion with a score of 24-22, before going on to win the championship against Balboa. This year’s title game thriller gave Lincoln back-to-back championships for the first time in the school’s history.

Coming into the championship, Lowell had to feel confident, as they had defeated Lincoln 14-13 on Oct. 13 in their only other meeting this season. Though it was a one-point ballgame, the Cardinals dominated the time of possession and never allowed the dangerous Henderson to take over. On Thanksgiving Day, however, Henderson could not be stopped, and practically took home the trophy single-handedly.

However, there was some controversy regarding Henderson’s eligibility for the title game. He reportedly was involved in a physical altercation with a fellow Lincoln student the week prior to the game, resulting in a suspension. In many high school sports, any suspension from school immediately results in a suspension from the offender’s next athletic event. However, in Henderson’s case, the decision was allegedly left up to the administration, which allowed the team’s star to play. And play he did.

Lianna Leal Junior wingback Bismark Navarro shakes and bakes Mustang defenders on Nov. 23. Navarro provided most of the Cardinal offense, scoring twice on outide sweeps.

Given the chance to run his team to a championship, he did not disappoint. The coaching staff gave him the ball in an astounding 74% of their offensive plays and he ran wild on nearly all of them. He finished the day with 196 yards and two touchdowns, averaging nearly a first down per carry.

“Lincoln was carried on the back of one person, while we definitely played as a team,” senior wingback Marcos Cronander said.

If the Mustang offense was the equivalent of a dictatorship, the communist Cardinal offense nearly stole the show. Junior wingback Bismark Navarro, and seniors Duc Anh Le, Cronander, Raymond Wong and co-captain JR Ayalde combined for over 270 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The quintet allowed Lowell to control over two-thirds of the time of possession, which ultimately meant less touches for Henderson.

Despite the season ending loss, the team did not leave the field unsatisfied with the season on the whole.

“Everybody gave everything they had,” senior quarterback and co-captain Carter Rockwell said. “We had no regrets.”

The team began training hard almost immediately after dropping last season’s semi-final loss to the Mustangs. They weight-lifted regularly as a team through the winter, and participated in an organized passing league in the spring. They practiced together all summer, at times working out twice a day.

In mid-summer, they traveled to Fairfield every day for a week to participate in a grueling camp with other Bay Area teams, often in heat exceeding 100 degrees. Several Cardinal players, including junior linebacker Jairo Rueda and senior defensive end Pat Schock received individual awards for their exceptional play at the camp. By the time this fall rolled around, the team was already in postseason form. Compared with the rest of the league, they found themselves bigger, stronger, faster, and more prepared for the coming season.

The Cardinals opened their ’06 campaign with an unusually successful preseason record of 2-1. They overcame size and athleticism disadvantages in the majority of their games to go undefeated in the regular season. The offensive line was among the smallest in the league, but they paved the way for Lowell’s slew of talented backs to take over every contest. The Cardinals brought the heat when it mattered most, recording last second one-point victories against their biggest competitors, Balboa and Lincoln. At the end of regular season play, the Cardinals were the team to beat, claiming the #1 seed heading in to the playoffs. When compared with all they accomplished in the regular season, the unfortunate outcome of the championship game did not crush the Cardinal morale.

“I’m extremely proud of this year’s team,” Cronander said. “People didn’t expect anything from us after last season, but we proved everyone wrong. We went undefeated and played for the championship.” Though they are satisfied with their output this season, the younger players look to take the city title back home next year.

“It’s our first priority,” junior safety Spencer MacDonald said of winning a championship. “It’s the last thing we think of when we go to sleep, and the first thing on our minds when we wake up.”

MVP

This year’s varsity squad offered plenty of legitimate MVP candidates. Seniors Marcos Cronander, Carter Rockwell, and Duc Anh Le all deserve recognition for their exceptional seasons. After bouncing from offensive lineman, to fullback, and finally wingback over the past three years, Cronander found his niche running the ball. He led the team in touchdowns, and supplied the “thunder” to Le’s lightening late in games. Le, who always possessed superb strength and speed, put his talents to work and emerged as a crucial aspect of the Cardinal offense this year. Rockwell, the quarterback and vocal team leader, easily had the finest passing season of his career. He unloaded several spectacular touchdown passes, blocked tirelessly for his wingbacks, and took spiritual command of his team all season long. The fact that the team had so many quality MVP choices makes JR Ayalde’s selection as The Lowell’s 2006 Varsity Football MVP all the more impressive. Ayalde, a senior wingback, cornerback and co-captain, took control of nearly every aspect of the game. In passing situations, he was the go-to receiver all year, often out-leaping much taller defenders to pull down spectacular receptions. He did this with such great regularity that his teammates began to refer to the feat as “Mossing” the opponents — dubbed for NFL receiver Randy Moss’s ability to complete similarly acrobatic catches.