Dec. 2, 2024

Three straight Sac-Joaquin Section football championships. All achieved by one point. Each decided by a two-point conversion attempt in the final seconds.

The “Heart Attack Huskies” wouldn’t have it any other way.

Hughson firmly cemented itself as one of the region’s all-time football dynasties with Saturday’s dramatic 30-29 victory over Sutter for the Section Division 4 title. It was a game the unbeaten Huskies never led until the final 14 seconds, when quarterback Robert McDaniel zipped a pass to tight end Max Mankins for the winning two-point conversion.

“This is what we do. If we have the ball last, we’re dangerous,” said Hughson Coach Shaun King of his team. “Something sparks in them. Whatever it is, we’re never down and out.”

It was fitting that the final points came on a clutch connection between McDaniel and Mankins, two of the seniors who have played critical roles in the Huskies’ three-year period of dominance. Both were heavily recruited by Division I colleges, something that is rare for players at schools the size of Hughson.

The winning play came after Hughson (13-0) and Sutter (11-2) traded blows in a frenetic final two minutes of the game at Sacramento City College.

Hughson – which at one point trailed 15-0 in the first half – had rallied to tie the score at 22-22 on McDaniel’s second touchdown throw to his younger brother Bryce. The 25-yard pass – coupled with Noe Pacheco’s point-after kick – knotted the score with 2 minutes, 11 seconds to play.

Sutter quickly responded with running back Marcus Meras sprinting 65 yards for a TD on the first play after the kickoff. Just like that, Sutter was back in the lead.

But Hughson wasn’t done yet. The “Heart Attack Huskies” – so dubbed by King’s late father, Joe, two years ago for their propensity to play and win close games – had one more comeback within them.

Starting at their own 43-yard line with 1:59 to play after a nice return by Isaac Garcia, McDaniel threw passes to Jamesson Davis, Lawson Aviles and Malakai Sumter. The one to Aviles came on a do-or-die fourth-and-7 play. Aviles caught the ball short of the first down marker, but stretched out to just get the ball past it.

“It was a real heads-up play by him,” King said.

Eli Wilbanks gained more yardage on a run and McDaniel scrambled for 6 more yards before Cesar Ramos broke loose on a 15-yard run that put Hughson on the 1-yard line. McDaniel then spiked the ball to stop the clock with 17 seconds to go. On the next play, Colt Foss barreled into the end zone for his second TD of the game to make the score Sutter 29, Hughson 28.

King said there was never a doubt about what to do next.

“I told everybody on the sidelines when that drive started that when we score, we’re going for two,” he said.

Just to make sure his team was onboard with the decision, King called his final timeout before the conversion attempt and huddled with his players and offensive coordinator Phil Tubera.

“Left guard Travis Harkrader said, ‘Let’s end it right here,’ ” said King. “That was all anyone needed to hear.”

Tubera called the same play -- 69 Florida Y China -- that worked in the identical situation last year in Hughson’s 40-39 win over Bradshaw Christian for the Section Division 6 title. On 69 Florida Y China, the two wide receivers on either end of the line run 5-yard fade routes while Mankins, the tight end, curls over the middle. McDaniel has to read the coverage to pick out who to throw to.

“It was a tight window and he threw a laser,” King said of the winning pass to Mankins. “I don’t know anybody else who could catch a ball thrown that hard in that short a distance.”

Mankins, who played offense and defense despite a sore knee, said he had a feeling the ball was coming to him.

“I was just thinking in my head, ‘I have to catch this for my team. We’ve put in all these hours. They’ve helped me so many times through these three years. This is on me now, I have to make a play,’ ” he told the Modesto Bee.

Close wins in the Section finals are nothing new for Hughson, which beat Bradshaw Christian by a point last season and held off Summerville 14-13 in 2022 when the Huskies stopped a two-point conversion in the final seconds.

“We’ve been in these situations before. We’re just a confident bunch of guys who won’t quit,” King said. “How do you win three titles in a row by three points? I don’t have the answer. I go back to my dad, who always had a calm demeaner. My mom says it rubbed off on me and maybe from me it rubbed off on my staff and players. The kids play off our attitudes. If we’re not freaking out, then they won’t either.”

McDaniel credited the Huskies’ playoff experience and time spent at practice working on late-game execution for making a difference at crunch time.

“At practice, they give us 50 seconds to drive down the field and score,” he told the Bee. “We put that pressure on ourselves in practice, so we were ready for it.”

The victory means there will be at least one more game for Hughson. The Huskies will host St. Vincent de Paul (12-1) of Petaluma on Friday at 7:30 p.m. for the Northern California Division 4-AA championship. The Mustangs won the North Coast Section title by beating Sonoma Valley 51-7.

“They’re a very good prep school,” King said of St. Vincent de Paul. “It’s going to be a tough matchup. They have a good running back, probably the best we’ve seen all year, and their defense is pretty stout.”

The winner of Friday’s NorCal title game will play for the state Division 4-AA championship on Dec. 13 at Long Beach City College against either Highland (10-4) of Palmdale or Coalinga (14-0), which meet Friday for the Southern California title.

Hughson won the California Division 5-AA championship in 2022.