DV Football turned the tables at its most recent home game on Sept. 22 against San Lorenzo High School with a score of 22-21, despite previous losses against Las Lomas, Amador Valley and San Ramon Valley, with scores of 35-14, 33-0 and 56-0 respectively.  

Dougherty Valley took their first league game win of the season during the game versus San Lorenzo. Even after the lesson Sept. 8, Head Coach Nick Tisa felt optimistic about a new coaching method, concentrating on core values, was being implemented that would hopefully change the flow of their future games. Now, it looks as if  this new method has paid off in their victory against San Lorenzo.

After their loss on Sept. 7, Tisa reflected,“[I] reminded them during the game [of our] core values–[commitment and pride]–and teammates encouraged each other through body language and commitment…On Saturday, after the game, we watched the films and reflected… We [saw] when in the game we messed up and how it got out of hand”.

During the game versus the Amador Valley Dons on Sept. 7, Dougherty begun with a strong first quarter, but unfortunately, the quarter ended with DV unable to cross the goalline for what would have been their first touchdown of the game. From that point on, despite the Dons frequent false starts and several pass interference penalties throughout the game, Amador made a series of touchdowns that cemented their victory with a score of 33-0.

In lieu of their defeat against Amador and following defeat against San Ramon Valley that transpired in a similar fashion, Dougherty was quick to spot the errors in their game play and address them.

“[San Ramon Valley] kinda came out early. They really put it on us in the first drive. [We] weren’t able to respond [even though we] got down to the red zone, the goal line … but we weren’t able to execute and score so that’s going to be a huge emphasis this week,” remarked Coach Kravitz.

Thanks to such precise evaluation, DV put forth even more effort to “break and tackle” past the goal line during their game against the San Lorenzo Rebels with significant success. During the first quarter, despite an early Rebels touchdown, DV wide receiver Steven Bratcher scored a retaliatory TD himself, ending the quarter tied 7-7. Unrelenting, DV’s Chris Thompson pushed to score yet another TD, leaving the score at 14-7 by the end of the first half.

Additionally, DV maintained a hearty defense in the third quarter, making it impossible for San Lorenzo to take a single TD, instead forcing a healthy number of false start penalties. By the final quarter, the Rebels did manage to rush past DV’s line of defense, landing a touchdown that tied the game at 14-14 and forcing the game into overtime.

During overtime, the Wildcats scored a game-winning touchdown and 2- point conversion to break the tie at 22-21, marking their first league win, and setting their season record at 1-3 thus far.

Coach Tisa explained his thoughts on the reason for the win, commenting, “We played as a team and trusted one another. [The players] gave it their all for all four quarters.”

Defensive Back Daniel Tang also explained, “We came out ready to com back and were hungry to win and turn our season around. We were more focused on working together and were focused on what we had to do.”

Dougherty Valley will face off against Livermore High on Sept. 29 at the Homecoming game.