CIF State Championship Friday: No. 9 Central takes down No. 7 Sierra Canyon; Clayton Valley Charter wins emotional first title

The Eagles of Clayton Valley have affectionately been tabbed the Ugly Eagles for decades, but Friday's first football state championship was surely a thing of beauty.

The 10-7 Division 2-AA Bowl triumph over Aquinas-San Bernardino was by no means a Monet, but the sheer emotion and heart-rendering drive behind the title and victory it could fill a novel or Hollywood script.

Omari Taylor whose older brother Omar Jr. was slain by gunfire at a Halloween party in Orinda, scored the team's only touchdown, a 1-yard run in the middle of the second quarter.

Add in a fourth-quarter 35-yard field goal by Shane Nelson and a tremendous defensive effort against an Aquinas team (13-3) that scored 82 points in a game this season, and the Eagles (10-5) completed a perfect 5-0 postseason after Taylor was inserted into the starting lineup.

Taylor, like the Eagles, were bottled up most of the game, and finished with 27 carries and 51 yards, but he made it to the end zone. And he and his teammates hoisted a trophy with glee and tears in their eyes.

"I'm just thanking God and my brother for guiding me and keeping me going, keeping me strong" Taylor said about scoring his team's only touchdown in the championship win. "I was just thinking love, keep going. It may be hard, but you just have to keep going." What would his brother think of all of it? "He would be smiling and have a little smirk on his face," Taylor said. "It's unexplainable what he would do. He sees me still. I think he's still up there smirking. Everywhere I go. He's always there keeping me going."

Taylor had just been promoted to starter the week his brother was slain. Instead of quitting, he said his brother would have wanted him to push harder on the field. Taylor responded, rushing for 730 yards and 10 touchdowns in postseason play before Friday night.

"The kid is amazing," Clayton Valley coach Tim Murphy said. "I mean I really mean that. You see kids go through tragedies all the time and they fall apart. He's gone the opposite way. It's a tribute to his parents. You can't just do that as a coach. That's what he's been instilled in him. "He just went through the hardest thing in his life and the biggest athletic high in his life all within the same month."

Taylor was getting frustrated with Aquinas' stellar, hard-hitting defense, led by Sione Lolohea and Francis Mauigoa, limited him to just 46 yards in 25 first-half carries.

"It was saying, ‘coach what I'm I doing wrong,' " Murphy said. "I told him ‘you're doing everyting right. If we lost his intensity or we lost his passion or got down, we'd be in trouble. But he didn't."

Murphy said the offensive line has blocked harder than ever for Taylor "because of what he's gone through and how humble he is. It's been goodl all-around for a horrible situation which is why we have high school sports, so kids have something to hang their hats on."

After two previous state-championship losses, the Eagles got this one done, mostly because of its defense, which had Aquinas shut out until Isaac Handy pulled in a 30-yard touchdown strike from Francisco Mauigoa with 2:59 remaining, capping a 6-play, 80-yard drive. The drive accounted for more than half of Aquinas' 154 total yards.

Murphy, who has won over 200 games in his 24-year career, said it was the happiest he's ever been at the end of a game. The celebration on the field was particularly raucous.

"We've had some fun games over the years, gone back and forth in some state championships," he said. "But when you go this far into the season and win the last game, the exhilaration that leaves your shoulders and spine is unbelievable. Especially after losing the last two.