One Night At The Coliseum – Revered As One Of The Past Decade’s Best NCS Football Championships, SportStars Magazine Used Several Interviews To Recreate The 2010 Classic That Brought Concord Its First Title

*The following is an excerpt to SportStars’ extensive oral history of the 2010 championship game. A link to the remaining content can be found at the end of this selection.

By Chace Bryson

Not all great championship games are equal.

Over the magazine’s first decade, SportStars has covered its share of championship games across many sports. There have been good ones, great ones, and a handful that were dubbed ‘instant classics’ in their immediate aftermaths. Still, even some of those can rise above the rest.

Those special ones have all the characteristics of other instant classics — back-and-forth scoring, wild momentum swings, star players, unsung heroes, last-second heroics, etc. — while also containing a little extra when it comes to setting, magnitude of the moment for a school or program, and other dramatic storylines that tie into the matchup.

There’s little question that the North Coast Section Division II Football championship had it all. But if you still want to bet on them, a platform like slot online may be full of surprises or bonuses.

One team was a consistent presence in its own North Bay region and owned two previous NCS titles (in 2001 and 2002) which held “Redwood Empire” distinction from when the section ran two sets of championship brackets to reduce travel. It was a proud program. And one that wanted to prove itself on the biggest section stage. This was Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park.

The other team was from a program that went just 3-37 over the first four seasons of that decade. It had zero section titles and had played in just one final — 21 years prior. But in 2010 it may have been the most exciting team in the East Bay. It was the No. 1 seed. This was Concord.

Both teams lost their season-opener before winning 12 straight to reach the final.

Both teams held an average margin of victory of more than 30 points.

Rancho Cotate’s well-balanced team averaged 40 points on offense and held opponents to just under nine points a game. Concord — despite a roster size that hovered around 26 with several kids playing both ways — averaged more than 51 points per game behind a dynamic spread offense led by Southern Mississippi-bound senior quarterback Ricky Lloyd. The Minutemen didn’t punt; they did not run traditional kickoffs, and always went for two after touchdowns.

Both teams showed up to the Oakland Coliseum (the penultimate year of this venue’s use for NCS finals) on the crisp Saturday night of Dec. 11, 2010. They would clash in the second game of a doubleheader, a 7:30 p.m kickoff that followed De La Salle-Concord defeating California-San Ramon 49-21 in the Division I game.

Each team was exactly who fans thought they were. The game featured one tie and eight lead changes. There were four touchdowns of 50 yards or more, big defensive plays, a special teams touchdown, a safety, and a nine-play, 79-yard game-winning drive that culminated in a Concord touchdown with 16 seconds left to play. Final score: 40-37.

For the game’s 10-year anniversary, SportStars spoke to more than 15 individuals to create an oral history about that day, the game and Concord’s journey to what remains its only section championship.

GAMEDAY MORNING

RICKY LLOYD (Concord QB 2008-10; British Columbia Lions QB 2018-present): That whole morning was just about trying to stay as calm as I could. The anticipation was intense. Like the day before going to Disneyland or Christmas Eve.

JAMES MORALES (Concord OL/DL 2009-11): At my house it was like the Super Bowl was happening that day. We were playing at the Oakland Coliseum. It was a big deal.

BRIAN HAMILTON (Concord head coach 2004-12; current line coach at Texas State Univ.): Every game day morning was the same for me. I’d meet assistant coaches Jon Bell and John Koven in our weight room and we’d lift and joke around. Then I’d go get lunch at Parma Deli down the street. And I remember Koven (who works for California Highway Patrol) talked his CHP buddies into arranging a police escort to the Coliseum. That’s my first tangible memory, was him surprising us with that.

MORALES: I remember we had to be at the school kind of early. I’m pretty sure the coaches already knew if they gave us enough time we’d get into some kind of trouble.

TRENT MAHLER (Concord LB 2009-11; Nevada LB 2012-16): As soon as I got to the school, everything felt different.

JOHN KOVEN (Concord asst. coach 2004-13): It was like herding cats almost every pregame, no matter what. But we got them all on the bus.

POU PELETI-GORE (Rancho Cotate QB 2008-10; Oregon DB 2016-18): At Rancho, I remember we had a sendoff party at the school that morning. Everyone was excited.

ED CONROY (Rancho Cotate head coach 1988-2016): The kids were just jacked up to be going to the Oakland Coliseum. It was such a special thing. That’s something I wish (the section) would go back to doing. It was such a treat for those kids.

ARRIVING AT THE STADIUM

MORALES: We got there really early and the bus did multiple laps around the stadium because no one knew where to have the driver take us exactly. Several parents were behind us too. My dad had this red van and was just following us around the Oakland Coliseum. It was hysterical.

JON BELL (Concord offensive coordinator 2007-16; current Liberty-Brentwood OC): So we parked in the parking lot and we’re unloading our gear and I distinctly remember asking the question, ‘Where’s the balls?’

KOVEN: We all kind of looked at each other. Like, how do you forget the footballs?!

LLOYD: I still can’t remember how they got misplaced. I know I had them.

RANDY CODDINGTON (Concord defensive coordinator 2004-16): We’re in scramble mode. Because Ricky had his “magic” football and he can only throw his magic football. There’s no way we’re going to play without that football.

LLOYD: Luckily we found someone (Bell’s stepmom) who was still in Concord and could pick them up.

CODY CHAPPLE (Concord RB/LB 2008-10): I distinctly remember Coach Hamilton saying, ‘Well it’s a good thing we got that first mistake out of the way. If everything went smoothly right away I’d be worried.’

CONROY: I remember getting the team into the locker room and how in awe they were. We were placed in the visitors locker room that had last been used by Miami. And we had a sophomore named Fono Misi whose cousin played for the Dolphins. The placards were still up above the lockers and he was running around trying to find the one his cousin used.

PELETI-GORE: Once we were inside I had a lot of nerves. I didn’t talk to anybody. I usually like to sing, dance and be in a fun mood before games to keep guys loose, but not then.

LLOYD: I remember the Raiders locker room was huge. Back in Concord we had lockers on top of lockers. Now we had all this space, but still ended up huddling and dressing together in one corner of the room. That was just who we were. We were used to being so together, so why change then?

HAMILTON: De La Salle is in the game before us and also had the home locker room. And the way they do it at the Coliseum, the previous team comes in at halftime to clear out its stuff. So De La Salle is walking out of our locker room as we walk in. Every one of those coaches hugged us and told us how proud they were of us, and how much they respected that we were there. For me, I just exploded inside. To know that the people that I respected, respected our kids. That was an overwhelming and calming moment.

TERRY EIDSON (De La Salle asst. coach 1983-present): I can barely remember what I said three days ago. But we did have a great relationship with a lot of those guys. There was kind of a kindred spirit. We always appreciated how hard it is to bring a program out of its doldrums.

CHAPPLE: Walking out of the tunnel. Man.

SITANI MALUPO (Concord LB/TE 2008-10): That’s something I remember very very vividly. How pitch black everything is before you walk out, and at the end was all this light and the sounds of the crowd.

DAVE PERRY (Concord asst. coach 2004-10; current Bishop O’Dowd head coach): That moment makes me think of the movie “Gladiator.” You’re in the dark and you can hear all the chanting in the stadium. You’re ready to leave the tunnel and you hear all those football sounds — the snapping of chin straps and the cleats on the concrete. I remember looking over and seeing one of our wide receivers sort of shaking. I said, ‘Hey, you good?’ And he’s like ‘Yyyyyeah-yeah, Coach. I’m good.’ And I thought, OK, here we go.

Ready to relive the game? Read the rest of this oral history here: One Night At The Coliseum. Find plenty more local sports content (with no paywall!) at SportStarsMag.com

photo credit: Bob Larson