Nineteen years is a long time.
It’s 13 years longer than the longest of Mickey Rooney’s first seven marriages.
It’s nine years longer than the Beatles were a band.
And it’s five years longer than it took to complete Mount Rushmore.
Yes sir, 19 years is a long time. Just ask the San Jose Bulldogs.
That’s how long it has been since the Bulldogs last celebrated a Thanksgiving Day with a victory over their arch rivals, the Lincoln Lions, in their annual Big Bone Game.
The Lions extended their series record winning streak to 19 last Thursday when they trounced the Bulldogs 41-14, helping to take the sting out of Lincoln’s otherwise disappointing 2016 campaign.
Lincoln, just one year removed from winning the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Santa Teresa Division championship, snapped a six-game losing streak with its win over San Jose to finish the season with a 4-6 record that included a last-place showing—along with Pioneer and Willow Glen—in the BVAL’s Mt. Hamilton Division.
The Lions now lead the series, which first began in 1943, by 22 games at 45-23-5. When the Bulldogs last won the Big Bone Game—in 1997—the series ledger stood only slightly in Lincoln’s favor at 26-23-1.
The return of Lincoln quarterback Robert Najar, who had missed the previous five Lion losses due to an injury after helping them get off to a 3-1 start in 2016, was a major factor in last week’s win over San Jose.
The senior signal caller passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, igniting a Lincoln offensive assault that produced the most points the Lions had scored since beating Willow Glen 45-14 back on Sept. 23.
“Robert partially tore his quadricep and the swelling prevented him from walking for about a month,” said Lincoln head coach Kevin Collins. “He worked extremely hard to get back. His absence was significant for a few reasons. At the time he was hurt, he was our leading rusher, scorer, passer and tackler. His return helped with our team’s efficiency, but also it was a big boost psychologically.”
Najar got the Lions off to a quick start with a 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Aldin Besirevic.
After Thomas Ballin ran in the Lions’ second touchdown from seven yards out later in the opening period, Lincoln added two more scores in the second quarter on short TD runs of four yards by Eyob Feisa and one yard by Najar. It was Feisa’s seventh rushing touchdown of the season, and Najar’s eighth.
In the third quarter, Najar and Besirevic again hooked up, this time on a 34-yard scoring strike. It was Besirevic’s ninth touchdown catch of the season and the 25th of his three-year varsity career.
Ballin then completed the Lincoln assault with a 24 yard bolt into the end zone, his fifth TD run of the year.
Besirevic booted the extra point after five of the Lions’ six touchdowns, making him 35-for-37 on PAT’s for the season, and 78-of-89 for his three-year varsity career.
Najar, meanwhile, finished his senior season with nine touchdown passes and 10 rushing TD’s.
“The offensive line [Devon Perez, Mario Gonzalez, Pedro Castillo, Hao Phan and Adrian Frometa] blocked extremely well,” noted Collins. “And our backs [Feisa, Ballin, Gabe Florez and Jose Lechuga] ran and blocked well.”
While the offense was breaking the 40-point barrier for the first time since routing Willow Glen in their third game of the season, the Lion defense was turning in one of its best overall performances of the year.
“Our defensive line [Adrian Rangel, Mario Gonzalez, Castillo and Frometa] did a nice job of controlling their gaps,” praised Collins. “Our outside linebackers [Victor Reyes and Austin Nedved] controlled the edge, and Najar, Feisa and Bryan Pantoja defended the pass well.”
“This game meant a lot to us, not only because of the rivalry, but because we had the majority of the guys who started the year able to play together again for one last time,” added Collins. “The game is important, but so are all the other traditions surrounding the game—the Little Bone Game (between the school’s frosh-soph teams), the Big Bone Ball (a dance that both schools attend, which attracted 1,200 students this year), the Big Bone Breakfast (a team breakfast paid for by sponsors) and the Big Bone Rally (a rally attended by the entire student body the day before the game).
“And the pressure to win the game is the same regardless of the streak.”
