It was time to say goodbye. It was time to acknowledge those who left everything they had to offer on the field. It was time to move on to a new season.

The 2009 Vaquero football season finally came to an end.

Under second-year head Coach John Rome, the Vaqs had a 4-6 record in regular season and a 1-5 record in the Northern Division.

The offense piled up 1,482 rushing yards and 1,659 passing yards. In total, offense had 3,141 yards and 31 touchdowns.

Running backs Willie Youngblood, Jorge Chaidez, Joe Wiggan and Anthony Dawkins all had a combined 375 carries, 1,616 yards and 12 touchdowns. Youngblood had 182 carries for 819 yards and six touchdowns. Chaidez had 98 carries for 463 yards and two touchdowns. Wiggan had 46 carries for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Dawkins had 49 carries, 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Quarterback Steve Miller completed 128 passes out of 266 attempts with 12 interceptions. He had 1,650 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Receivers Eudell Clayton, Brian Williams and Reinaldo Reyes had a combined 67 receptions, 1,010 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Clayton had 27 receptions, 336 yards and four touchdowns. Williams had 26 receptions, 384 yards and five touchdowns. Reyes had 14 receptions, 290 yards and one touchdown.

The Vaqs’ defense had 15 interceptions for 177 yards. In total, the defense had 589 tackles, 26 sacks for 148 yards, and 7 fumble recoveries for 120 yards.

Defensive back Osa Aikhionbare had four interceptions for 71 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Harmon had three interceptions for 26 yards. Other players included Max Williams with two interceptions and Leon Jones, Rene Howard, Jesse Halberstadt, Kalii Robinson and Danny Robinson all with one interception.

Fumble returns included Williams, Harmon and Robinson for a total of three touchdowns.

Howard had 59, one sack for 10 yards and one interception for seven yards. Harmon had 57 tackles and one sack for 14 yards. Robinson had 44 tackles, and one interception for 12 yards. Aikhionbare had 38 tackles.

Halberstadt had 32 tackles for a total of 70 lost yards and 10 sacks for 62 yards.
Finally, it’s time that we recognized some of the players who did an outstanding job this past season.

Every year players are recognized for their performance and place into first and second team categories, both for offense and defense.

This year, six sophomores and two freshmen made the 2009 Southern California Football Association All Northern Conference.

In this conference were two of the top 10 schools in the state, making for very tough competition.

Sophomores center Tanner Farwell, guard John Schachtner and running back Youngblood were all chosen for second team offense.

“It’s an honor to be in this conference, where it’s all the big dogs. Especially with the guys from Bakersfield, Hancock and Canyons,” said Farwell.

Farwell has also received first team Pacific League center and All-Area center in high school.

Sophomore Jesse Halberstadt was chosen for first team defensive end. Freshman defensive end Nate Mestizo, sophomore defensive end Danny Valdez, sophomore linebacker Kalii Robinson, and freshman safety Josh Harmon were all chosen for second team defense.

“It means a lot to me because both me and my brother got the same award,” said Valdez. “It feels great to be rewarded for all the hard work I put into this season. It makes me feel good about the season.”