EL CERRITO — In the spring and summer months before the season, El Cerrito coach Tim Johnson saw more coaches than players on his practice field.
Twenty-three seniors gone. Thirteen players transferred out of the program. A few months removed from a North Coast Section postseason ban that hallowed the roster and cast uncertainty around the East Bay program, the Gauchos looked nothing like a team that would play December football anytime soon.
Yet, somehow, El Cerrito retooled itself into a contender. Behind an ambitious first-year head coach and a young core of hungry players, the Gauchos clawed their way from the jaws of defeat.
First, El Cerrito showed it was still the top dog of the Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division, easily cruising to a league title. Next, the Gauchos proved they were still one of the section’s top programs by running through the NCS Division III playoffs.
Now, after beating storied Central Coast Section program Menlo-Atherton in the NorCal regional championship game, the Gauchos are one win away from hoisting a state title, a year after enduring a season marred in controversy.
On Saturday night, El Cerrito will meet Beckman-Irvine in the state Division 4-A championship game with a chance to prove that it can come back and reclaim its place as one of NorCal’s most respected programs.
“I don’t think we ever lost hope,” El Cerrito coach Tim Johnson said.
It was a season to forget for El Cerrito in 2024.
In a year where the expectations were sky high and the Gauchos were seen as one of the section’s top teams, El Cerrito was dealt a crushing blow following a football scandal that rocked the entire community.
El Cerrito was forced to vacate wins and faced a postseason ban after it was revealed that the program played multiple ineligible players. The ruling forced then coach Jacob Rincon to be placed on administrative leave. El Cerrito eventually parted ways with Rincon after the conclusion of the season.
Johnson, who served as the team’s defensive coordinator under Rincon and was the interim coach last year, said he didn’t know if he wanted to return to El Cerrito. But after talking it over with his family and receiving an official offer to become El Cerrito’s head coach, Johnson knew this was the job for him.
But things didn’t come easy.
“We lost a lot of people in the program. We graduated 23 seniors, 13 players transferred and a handful of guys just didn’t want to play football,” Johnson said. “But once August hit, a lot of guys who were doing other sports came back home to us. We worked hard and it was a long process, but the efforts we made are what we have right now.”
Fast forward to the start of this season, and there were more questions than answers from people outside of the program.
Would the postseason ban be lifted? After a host of high-profile players transferred out of the program, who was left? Can El Cerrito return to its championship form?
After finding out before the start of the season that the Gauchos were going to qualify for the postseason, Johnson and his staff went to work.
Returners Gary Youngblood, Joezon Broussard and Kamari Harris would be the core of El Cerrito’s team while the Gauchos needed elevated play from a group of young players.
El Cerrito showed it could still be competitive in its first game of the season, giving East Bay blueblood San Ramon Valley a tight game in a 20-14 loss. After losing to Vacaville two games later, the Gauchos didn’t lose again.
They crushed all of their TCAL Rock opponents, beating their opponents by a combined margin of 233-20. In the NCS playoffs, El Cerrito won each game comfortably against Dublin, Rancho Cotate and Ukiah to qualify for the state postseason.
Last week, El Cerrito survived a furious comeback attempt from Menlo-Atherton to pull out a 20-16 win on the road.
Now comes the final test: A chance to complete one of the most improbable turnarounds in recent Bay Area high school football memory.
For a program that has spent the entire season answering for its past, Saturday offers a chance for the East Bay powerhouse to define its future.
El Cerrito won’t have the depth or star power against Beckman that it once carried, but it’ll bring something that it’s harder to measure.
The Gauchos will carry with them a season full of grit. A roster, hardened by doubt will try to prove that last year’s turmoil was just a detour, not a death sentence.
For Johnson, this moment is less about redemption and more about validation. For the coaches who stayed, for the players who returned and for the young players that chose to rebuild instead of run, a state title will complete this fairy tale story.
And for the Gauchos, the message going into Saturday night is simple: They’ve made it this far by believing in themselves when nobody else did.
“We worked hard over the offseason,” El Cerrito sophomore wide receiver/cornerback Cannon Jenkins said after beating Menlo-Atherton last week. “We had ups and downs over this season. But we worked hard, came through practices every day. And why not EC?”
4-A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: EL CERRITO VS. BECKMAN-IRVINE
Records: El Cerrito 12-2, Beckman 12-3
Kickoff: Saturday at Buena Park High School, 7 p.m.
How El Cerrito qualified: Won the North Coast Section championship by defeating Ukiah 32-21. Then beat Menlo-Atherton in the NorCal regional final 20-16 on the road.
How Beckman qualified: Defeated Brea Olinda 30-24 to capture the Southern Section Division VIII title. Beat Hillcrest in the SoCal Regional final 46-40.
Top El Cerrito players to watch: WR Gary Youngblood, RB Joezon Broussard, WR/DB Cannon Jenkins, LB Joell Broussard, QB Dejuan Compton Jr.
Top Beckman players to watch: RB Makhi Czaykowski, QB Noah Nam, OL/DL Roy Chaya, WR Sawyer Nickelson, CB Xavier Musselman-Cano.
– Nathan Canilao