Aragon Dons vie for Nor Cal Division 6-A regional crown

Sell said winning a Northern California title and claiming a spot in the state championship game was never a stated goal, but now the Dons find themselves in that exact position as they'll travel to Richmond to take on Salesian College Prep at 1 p.m. in the Nor Cal 6-A division bowl game.

“They're good,” Sell said of Salesian, whose claim to fame is as the high school of former Cal great and Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best in the mid-2000s.

“They're big and physical and fast,” Sell said. “They're aggressive. They're big up front. It will be a very different game than [the CCS title game].

“For the last three weeks, we were bigger than everybody. Now, we're going to be in a game where we're in the same weight class.”

Sell said the Pride's offensive identity is very similar to that of the Dons. Salesian wants to use its power run game to open things up for its play-action packages. Aragon, too, likes to play a power game, so the team that can manage to slow things down should come out the victor.

“Against Salesian, if we don't stop their power-run game, we won't see any other formations,” Sell said.

But running the ball is also the Dons' bread and butter, with senior Mone Hokafonu and junior Jared Walsh supplying most of the tough running inside. When the Dons want to get to the edges, they turn to sophomore Ivan Nisa.

Hokafonu, however, will see spot duty on the offensive side as Sell and the Aragon defensive coaching staff try to keep him fresh to play linebacker.

But Sell may not have any choice in using both Hokafonu and Walsh liberally to get their inside running game going because its on the edges that Salesian wants to make things tough on the Dons.

“Their (defensive) ends, they're like sprinters. They want to make the play in the backfield. They want to get in the backfield and disrupt your offense back there,” Sell said. “With our offensive line, if they misstep or are a step slow, it's going to be trouble. It's a completely different defense to work against.

“I think they're fast everywhere. Their front seven is active. That works to their advantage and it can work to their detriment. I could foresee a situation where it's a loss of 2 (yards), no gain and then a gain of 40.”

Salesian (9-2), ranked the No. 1 Division 6 school in the North Coast Section by Calpreps.com, comes into the D6 Nor Cal championship with a 9-2 record. The Pride went 3-2 in finishing third in the Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division, behind El Cerrito and De Anza. They dominated their first five opponents this season, winning by an average score of 34-9.

They lost two in a row to the teams that finished ahead of them in the standings, but have rebounded to beat their last four opponents, including a 28-26 decision over Justin-Siena-Napa to capture the NCS 6A division championship.

Unlike Salesian, Aragon (9-4) needed a few weeks to find its footing. Sell started to question things when the Dons started 0-2 with a 52-6 loss to Homestead in the season opener, followed by a 45-13 loss to Leland the following week.

Since that auspicious start, the Dons have certainly righted the ship, winning nine of their last 11 games.

Now, after winning their first CCS title since 1994, the Dons will now go after the program's first Nor Cal crown. But even if Aragon comes up short Saturday, in no way will it take away from what the team accomplished this season.

“I'll put it this way - every loss is hard to stomach, but I've never been here before. It is a unique dynamic,” Sell said. “To win a section championship is the ultimate goal, unless you're a program ranked in the top 10 (in the state). They probably write it on the white board that a section championship is a step in the process.

“But for our kids, the section championship was the apex. Now … they have to gather themselves to get ready for another football game. … To a certain degree, it is icing on the cake, but at the same time, I'm not going to prepare any differently.”