‘We’re here to party’: Senior-free San Ramon Valley mounts second-half comeback to win NCS Division I flag title

CONCORD — Who better than a freshman to lead a team with no seniors?

San Ramon Valley flag football began the 2025 season without any fourth-year players, looking up at a number of senior-laden squads in the vaunted East Bay Athletic League. 

Now, the rest of the North Coast Section is looking up at the Wolves after SRV, led by freshman receiver and linebacker Tatum Prindiville, mounted a stirring second-half comeback to overcome a touchdown deficit and win the first-ever North Coast Section Division I flag football championship at Clayton Valley Charter High School. 

Prindiville was at the center of it all, catching two touchdown passes, making several key stops on defense and winning game most valuable player honors. 

“We knew we had to come out with the fire,” Prindiville said of what changed in the second half. “We were able to talk to each other and communicate. It was just easy to play with them.”

Youthful energy centered the comeback as the Wolves (18-6) leaned on their defense to keep Granada (15-7) out of the end zone after the Matadors scored on their opening drive with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Katie Vail to Marin Lnenicka.  

In the second half, SRV continued to move the ball and figured out how to finish its drive in the end zone. The Wolves took the initial lead on a 27-yard TD toss from sophomore Gia Ryan to Prindiville, concluding the drive with a 10-yard two-point conversion pass from Ryan to Prindiville. 

The two hooked up one more time in the fourth quarter, extending SRV’s lead with a 26-yard score on the first play of the final period.

“The talent is just through the roof,” SRV coach Chad Cochran said of his young squad. “So that’s great, and then knowing in the back of my mind that we get to run this back next year is terrific.”

The Wolves have climbed up to the top of the NCS mountaintop in the flag football’s third year as a sanctioned California high school sport. With Mt. Diablo’s peaks visible in the distance at the Concord school, it was easy to foresee SRV retaining that spot as the section’s top team next season. 

“It was just amazing,” Prindiville said of the win. “I’ve never felt anything like that. We knew we had to come out strong, and we’re gonna do the exact same next year. We’re ready for it.”

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