Thrive [ Sports ] Friday Night Lights December 2006

by Jim Mannion
Images by R. Byrne

Diondre Borel has been streaking like a meteor across the Freedom High School’s sports scene. Starting quarterback, team punter, defensive end, and special teams defense are the hats he wears.

Don’t you just love those, “you had to see it to believe it” sports moments? On a crisp, fall evening in Oakley, I was reporting on Freedom High School’s football game against Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord, and I witnessed a sequence that, like a snowflake, would never be replicated.

That September evening I had the pleasure to witness Freedom’s senior quarterback Diondre Borel run around, through, and between Ygnacio Valley defenders, and picking apart the defense with his pin-point accurate passing.

I had heard about Borel over the last few football seasons from other reporters and read up on him in various newspapers. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound quarterback is known for his strong arm, quick feet, and poise in the pocket. I had yet to see him in person, so all I was able to go on was the analysis of others. As I stood there on the sidelines of Freedom’s 42-21 victory that evening, one thought kept popping into my mind — mere words can’t do justice to Diondre Borel.

The play that left me shaking my head in disbelief came in the fourth quarter of the game. After teammate Daniel Johansen had scored a touchdown to put Freedom ahead 33-21, the Falcons attempted a two-point conversion. With the ball placed at the three-yard line, Borel received the snap. After faking a hand-off, Borel rolled out to his right, searching for an open Freedom receiver. With defenders closing in around him, and his receivers blanketed by defensive backs, he turned back to his left, and was hit by an Ygnacio Valley defensive lineman.

I started to glance down at my clipboard, assuming a certain sack. But you don’t assume with Diondre. He escaped the grasp of the defender who out-weighed him by at least 50 pounds, and spun completely back around to his left, now near the 15-yard line.

With not much room to run, Diondre paused momentarily, and scampered back towards the opposite sidelines. Ygnacio Valley defenders began to swarm around him at the 10-yard line, but Diondre would not be deterred, and slithered through a few more would-be tacklers before darting across the goal line, completing the two-point conversion attempt.

“I was pretty tired,” the senior said. “After I broke that first tackle, I wasn’t sure what to do, but I just kept going.”

It was just another amazing play to add to the highlight reel, leaving Freedom head coach Kevin Hartwig at a loss for words.

“I don’t even know what to say about that play,” Hartwig said a few days later. “All I can do is sit there and say, ‘Wow, thank goodness he’s on my team!’”

Diondre has kept things going on Hartwig’s varsity football team since 2004, when he was only a sophomore. He was originally slated to be a wide receiver, but when the youngster was brought up to varsity to help with the pass catching duties, the coaching staff soon realized his talents would be best utilized at quarterback, with his natural running ability, and already prevalent strong arm.

The previous season, Hartwig’s squad had gone 0-10, the most difficult season of the physical education teacher’s 5-year tenure as head coach. Looking for a jump-start on the 2004 season, Hartwig pulled Diondre aside on the Monday before his first varsity game, and gave him the news.

“I told Diondre, ‘You’re going to be our starting quarterback.’”

Diondre wasn’t sure how to take the promotion, but knew he would do what was best for the team.

“I was excited and a little bit nervous,” Diondre said, “but I really wanted to play wide receiver.”

If the sophomore experienced any nervousness heading into that first game and season on varsity, he definitely didn’t show it. Freedom turned around the previous year’s 0-10 record, and got back to a respectable 5-5, which included a berth to the North Coast Section playoffs.

Hartwig could tell that he had a special player on his hands.

“Even as a sophomore when he led us to the playoffs, he had a real presence on the field,” Hartwig said. “Some big situations came up that year, and he was often calmer than me.”

Throughout his three seasons on varsity, Diondre has not only been the quarterback, but has handled duties on defense as a back, together with serving on the specialty teams returning punts and kick-offs, as well as being the team’s punter.

 Over the years, Hartwig has not worried about putting too much on Diondre’s plate. It’s a credit not only to his athletic ability, but the way he handles himself as a leader. Star players at the high school level have the tendency to walk around like the Big Man on Campus. As I travel around to high school football and basketball games throughout the year, it’s easy to tell right away when a player thinks highly of themselves and their ability.

It’s not the case with Diondre, however.

“Let’s put it this way,” Hartwig said. “If you walked up to him, you wouldn’t know it’s him. He’s just a quiet kid who leads by example. And when he does say something, you know it means something.”

  Running back Daniel Johansen is a classmate of Diondre’s who has played side by side with him since that sophomore season. Over the past three seasons, these two have become two of the most prolific offensive players in Freedom’s nine-year varsity football history.

“They just feed off each other,” Hartwig said.

They certainly did just that in the September game I watched this year. Right away, I could tell that Ygnacio Valley was a very physical opponent. Freedom was having a very successful season, but the conflict during the first half matched them blow for blow.

There is an old saying about winning revealing something of one’s character, and losing revealing all of it. When the Falcons were down 21-14 with 10 minutes to play in the third quarter, the duo of Borel and Johansen didn’t lose their composure or start to point fingers, they simply took over the game. After marching the offense down the field, Diondre swept left for a three-yard touchdown run to tie the game, and minutes later, Daniel broke free for a 17-yard touchdown jaunt to take the lead for good.

That night, the pair each scored three rushing touchdowns, attacking the defense with speed and elusiveness that would be difficult to find in two other teammates. Diondre finished the game with 136 rushing yards, and Daniel churned out 162 yards on the ground. Most impressive, however, was not how they scored those touchdowns, but how they carried themselves afterward. No showing up the opponent or exuberant celebrations — they simply tossed the ball to the referee and then trotted off the field. 

Football requires 11 players on the field at a time, not two, and they received plenty of help from their offensive line that night, including Kyle Ubrick, Vince Ambrosino, Robert Warren, Ben Juarez, and Gonsalo Hernandez.

Diondre and Daniel are two of the 21 seniors on the 2006 squad that Hartwig calls the strongest senior class in his five years coaching at Freedom. Not only physically strong on the playing field, but also a tight knit group when the practices and games are over.

Throughout the football season, the team meets on Thursday nights before Friday games for their traditional Spaghetti Feed, which usually includes football tournaments on the X-Box, and an opportunity for the seniors and juniors to hang out together, and build team camaraderie. The Falcons have also spent time conducting other events, such as bowling tournaments.

“The great part about it,” Hartwig said, “is that it’s all kid-driven. I told them that I will help them with events, but they’ve been putting them together.”

Every year, many teams throughout the East Bay are loaded with physically talented players, with unbelievable potential. They can run fast, lift extreme amounts of weight, and hit very hard. Yet some don’t perform well on the field together, because they lack two important factors — unity and cohesion. Freedom’s 2006 squad definitely had talent, but their unity and cohesion were pre-dominant, and made them successful when they stepped between the lines on Friday nights.

Diondre and Daniel, along with fellow seniors Rick Oliver, Kevin Johnston, and Daniel Balanza, have grown closer together through football, and become great friends.

“We hang out all the time,” Diondre said.

This group will have plenty of memories when they look back on their football careers. And while the memory of specific games or plays may begin to fade as they step away from the football field, they will always have their friendships to fall back on.

The victory over Ygnacio Valley was also Senior Night, which gave the senior players and cheerleaders a chance to be recognized by the Freedom student body and football family before the game. Each individual was called out by name over the PA system, and escorted to mid-field by family members.

Diondre was escorted onto the field by his mom, Betty, and was touched by the night’s festivities prior to kick-off. “It was exciting for her,” Diondre said. “But it was also emotional, since this was Senior Night, my only Senior Night.”

Diondre has plans for the future, which include aspirations of playing college football. What is yet to be decided is what position he’ll play once he gets there — quarterback, wide receiver, or defensive back.

In the mean time, you can catch the fleet footed youngster on the Freedom track come spring. It’s no surprise that he keeps himself busy on the track as well, participating in the 100-meter dash, long jump, and triple jump.

One thing’s for sure, if you happen to catch Diondre on a football field in years to come, or check out a track meet in the Spring, make sure not to look away for too long, you may miss something spectacular. °