Robert McDaniel has accomplished just about everything there is for a quarterback to do at the high school level. He owns 12 program passing records, has won the Division 5-AA state championship as a sophomore, consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division 6 titles the previous two seasons, and last week, helped the Huskies clinch their first Trans-Valley League crown since 1998.
Of course, the senior who has committed to play collegiately at the University of Arizona would like to raise a third straight section blue banner and second state trophy later this year, but there was one thing missing from his illustrious resume — beating Hilmar. That changed Friday night in the TVL finale at McSweeney Field when the Huskies pulled out a 41-24 win, which also helped them improve to 9-0 on the year.
The 6-2, 195-pounder had his fingerprints all over the game, persevering through some early-game struggles to finish with 296 yards and three touchdowns through the air on 17 completions out of 35 throws.
“This one feels amazing,” McDaniel said. “I definitely had this one crossed on the calendar. I mean, our motto is ‘One game at a time,’ but I definitely had this one in the back of my mind all year.”
The Yellowjackets won 49-26 and 24-23 in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
It seemed as if heartbreak would be on the horizon for the Huskies once more through the first 12 minutes of play, as the Yellowjackets forced multiple turnovers of the star quarterback and played to a tie heading into the second period.
The first turnover came on a medium-range throw on fourth-and 11 during their second drive, when Jacob Sward cut the route and intercepted the ball. At that point, the Yellowjackets had already batted down three of McDaniel’s throws down at the line of scrimmage. And the Huskies didn’t help themselves at all by committing three penalties. After forcing the Hilmar offense to punt on the ensuing drive, the Huskies ran just one play before a fourth ball was tipped at the line, this one coming at their own 12-yard line and falling into the hands of junior Colton Johnston, who proceeded to easily parade into the end zone.
“I don’t think it was a lot of anything they were doing that made those first couple drives difficult for us,” McDaniel said. “I think we were just beating ourselves up. I think we ran a lot of safe stuff, as you can see, towards the end of the game, we fixed it all. Once we did that, they really couldn't stop us. It just shows how we can really adjust to anything.”
Those adjustments came in the form of the running game and much quicker throws to his seemingly endless supply of receiving weapons. They began feeding junior running back Eli Wilbanks, who gained chunks nearly each time he ran the ball. The hard-nosed junior eventually finished the game with 91 yards on 16 rushes. Once that was established, offensive coordinator Phil Tubera let the gunslinger cook.
McDaniel found a familiar face, his younger sibling Bryce, for a 27-yard touchdown with seconds to go in the first quarter, After senior Sebastian Ocegueda intercepted Hilmar’s senior quarterback Merek Ellerd less than a minute later, McDaniel capped off an 11-yard drive with an 8-yard strike to Lincoln Sousa. After another Hilmar punt and their secondary now on their heels, Wilbanks broke loose for a 20-yard rushing score. The Yellowjackets responded with a quick 29-yard touchdown connection between Ellerd and sophomore Nate Ayala with just over a minute left before the intermission. The remaining 92 seconds were just enough for McDaniel to lead the offense 80 yards on 11 plays, culminating in a 13-yard touchdown to little brother.
The Yellowjackets opened the second half with a field goal, while Hughson’s first drive resulted in a 5-yard rushing score from senior Colt Foss. The lead was extended to 41-17 when Foss broke the goal line from three yards out midway through the fourth quarter. The last Hilmar points came on a 95-yard kickoff return from Ayala.
“(Eli) is a junior, and we didn't know what he was going to give us this year, but he's exceeded all our expectations,” head coach Shaun King said of Wilbanks’ efforts. “It's great to be able to run the ball and have a Division 1 quarterback taking snaps.”
While the win was another feather in the cap for McDaniel, it was also the first win against Hilmar for King, who has led the Huskies to 54 wins in the last seven seasons.
“It feels great,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve done it since 2014 and it's just a notch that I've never been able to accomplish. I felt like we've had teams to do it, and we've competed, but I've just been outcoached in those losses. I'm very happy to be on the winning side this time around.”
The Huskies are very likely to finish the regular season undefeated as their next opponent, Modesto Christian, is 0-7 and has yet to score a point this season while surrendering a combined 316. The Crusaders recently defected from the TVL and have played as an independent for the last three weeks, while still honoring 2024 schedule commitments. After that, the Huskies have pretty much guaranteed a first-round bye for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.
“These next two weeks, we’re going to just rest up, to be honest,” King said. “You know, it's been a long season. We got some guys who are a little banged up with injuries that we have to take care of.”
The latest of that bunch was senior wideout Malakai Sumter, who sat out most of the second half with shoulder discomfort after receiving a big hit after one of his three catches. He still had 50 yards on the night. Meanwhile, Bryce, still a junior, hauled in six passes for 110 yards. Junior Lawson Aviles pitched in 76 yards on five receptions.
As for Hilmar, they dropped to 4-5 overall and to 2-3 in the TVL following Friday’s loss. They’ll be back on their home field next week to wrap up the regular season against Ripon, who lost 28-7 to the Huskies on Sept. 20.
