CONCORD — Following De La Salle’s loss to Mater Dei-Santa Ana in last year’s CIF Open Division state title game, De La Salle linebacker Bubba Vargas drifted away from the noise.
While members of the media made their way into the locker room and teammates slumped onto their seats, the 5-foot-8 linebacker found the far corner of the locker room with his face in his hands and tears falling unchecked onto his jersey.
Coaches tried to pat his back. Teammates continued to console him. Nothing worked. Vargas hurt too bad – not for himself, but for the brotherhood he felt like he let down.
That moment became the quiet engine for everything Vargas has done since.
This season, coach Justin Alumbaugh has built his vaunted defense around Vargas – a compact force whose mind works as fast as his feet and whose heart seems to beat loud enough for the whole sideline.
His emotional fire and relentless preparation have helped steer the Spartans back to the Open Division state championship game. As the Spartans prepare for Santa Margarita on Saturday night at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, De La Salle’s smallest defender has become its biggest presence.
“Bubba is amazing. He’s the heart of our defense,” De La Salle star running back/defensive back Jaden Jefferson said. “He always knows what he’s talking about. He’s a great communicator and we always know what he’s going to bring. It definitely feels good knowing we have a middle linebacker that’s going to give his all for the team.”
While Vargas represents everything Alumbaugh has wanted in a De La Salle player, his parth to the Concord school wasn’t crystal clear. Vargas didn’t even know he was going to De La Salle until the end of his eight grade year.
But after forming a close relationship with former De La Salle alum and NFL all-pro running back Maurice Jones-Drew, there was no doubt in Vargas’ mind where he wanted to continue to play football.
“Coach MJD told me to take the chance and take the opportunity. We knew it was a risk, but we knew it would be worth it,” Vargas said. “For my parents, it was hard to figure out everything else around it but they just wanted me to grind and prove to them that I really wanted to be here and be a better man.”
A two-sport star who also helped De La Salle capture a NorCal basketball title last season, Vargas plays linebacker with a catcher’s toughness and a captain’s intuition – rarely wrong and never timid.
Whether his team needs a clutch hit or a jolt of fury in the middle of a drive, Vargas is the one that delivers.
“What you have to understand is that Bubba Vargas plays middle linebacker for De La Salle football,” De La Salle baseball coach David Jeans said last season. “He has the it factor. He’s not scared. He believes in himself. We believe in him.”
Vargas’ impact hasn’t just been emotional. It’s structural, too.
On a defense stacked with Division I prospects, it’s Vargas, the smallest player on the front seven, who sets the standard. His voice cuts through the huddle, his reads dictate adjustments and his energetic nature becomes the floor the rest of the unit stands on.
But at times this season, the defense has relied a little too much on Vargas.
After De La Salle gave up 20 points to Grant-Sacramento in September, Alumbaugh publicly challenged his defense because he felt players were relying on Vargas way more than they should.
“Bubba is amazing and he’s been a safety blanket for our entire defense too much, and it’s time for other guys to grow up,” Alumbaugh said earlier this season. “I have no doubt that Bubba is always going to be prepared and I have no doubt that Bubba is going to know what he’s supposed to do.”
But in that moment came a valuable lesson for Vargas as well.
“Now we’re here at this point of our season and I can turn around and ask my teammates, ‘Did you get it?’ And they got it,” Vargas said. “They can rely on me a little bit, but now it’s trust across the board.”
Now, as De La Salle prepares for Santa Margarita with another Open Division state title hanging in the balance, Vargas finds himself in a far different corner than the one he collapsed into a year ago. The tears that once soaked his jersey haven’t vanished, but Vargas is turning that painful night into the fuel behind everything he does now.
And as the Spartans march into Saturday’s game, the linebacker who once shouldered his own disappointment in a quiet corner now makes sure no one has to sit with that feeling alone.
“I remember that moment like it was yesterday. It was painful. It really did hurt,” Vargas said. “We started our bye week off strong and we’ve just continued to grow and understand our opponent. We’re ready and we don’t want to have that feeling again, so we’re using that as motivation for sure.”
OPEN DIVISION STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: DE LA SALLE VS. SANTA MARGARITA
Records: De La Salle 12-0, Santa Margarita 12-3
Kickoff: Saturday at Saddleback College, 8 p.m.
How De La Salle qualified: Won the North Coast Section Open Division championship over Pittsburg 24-17
How Santa Margarita qualified: Defeated Centennial-Corona 42-7 in the Southern Section Division I title game
Top De La Salle players to watch: RB/DB Jaden Jefferson, TE Landon Cook, RB Duece Jones-Drew, RB Brady Smith, QB Brayden Knight, OL/DL Wyatt Ferguson, DL Mya Telona, DL TJ Finau, LB Bubba Vargas.
Top Santa Margarita players to watch: WR Trent Mosley, RB Jaion Smith, QB Trace Johnson, LB Leki Holani, DL Isaia Vandermade, CB Ca’ron Williams.
Computer projection: HSRatings.com picks Santa Margarita to win 27-10
– Nathan Canilao