And Chris Hobbs the linebacker had a pretty good game, too, getting in on a team-high 10 tackles as the Rams held the Dons to just 41 yards rushing in the game.

Put it all together, and Chris Hobbs the football player had a sensational game in the victory that helped the Rams win the title in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

"He's our leader," said Willow Glen coach Andy Penwarden of Hobbs after the important win. "He works the hardest, and he's our leader on and off the field. He's the type of kid any high school football team in America would want on their team."

But as great as Hobbs was last Saturday, he wasn't the story—no individual player was the story. The story was that the Willow Glen football team rebounded from a middle of the pack finish a year ago to win a league championship and qualify for the Central Coast Section playoffs.

"I'm so proud of these seniors," said Penwarden moments after Saturday's win. "It's just this group of kids—they never gave up. And we finally put it all together. I think we played four quarters of football today."

The Rams will have to play a solid four quarters of football this week if they hope to contend with powerful Valley Christian in the first round of the CCS playoffs. Willow Glen will take its 7-3 record to Valley Christian on Nov. 22, 1 p.m.

But it was the getting there that was so important to the Rams last weekend. Willow Glen had to beat Del Mar to clinch a title tie in the West Valley Division, and the Rams had to hope for a James Lick loss or tie against San Jose Academy to win it outright and qualify for the playoffs. The Bulldogs and Comets accommodated with a 6-6 tie.

Still, the Rams weren't concerned with James Lick until their own game on Saturday was over.

The Dons played the Rams tough, but Willow Glen managed to jump out to an early lead and pull away in the second half.

Hobbs hooked up on 12 of 27 passes for 255 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Rams to the victory. He tossed six passes to Alex Green for 157 yards and three TDs, he flipped two touchdown tosses to John Gibilisco and he hit Justin Ble with a scoring strike early in the game.

But as good as Hobbs was on offense, he was equally an impressive on defense, leading the Rams with 10 tackles. Tom Lancaster, Ricardo Munoz and Matthew Arevalo were also tackling leaders.

It was actually the defense that got the Rams started in the Saturday game. Robert Oropeza hit Del Mar quarterback John Daniels as he released the football on a third-down throw, and Ble intercepted the pass. He ran it back to the Del Mar 43, and a personal foul call added 15 yards to the 28-yard line.

After Munoz hit the line for a couple of yards, Hobbs went on top to find Ble alone in the right corner of the endzone for the first score of the day. Gibilisco kicked the first of his six extra points.

Del Mar went three plays and a punt, and the Rams were at it again. Hobbs tossed to Green for 16 yards, to Justin Jeffries for 12 and the Green for 13 more and Munoz ran for 11 yards before Hobbs fired a 12-yard scoring toss to Green to make it 14-0.

The Dons came back to cut the lead to 14-7 but after the clubs traded rather impressive punts—a 53-yarder by Hobbs and a 51-yarder by Billy Buxton—the Rams went to work again. Hobbs found Green on a crossing pattern and the play went for 59 yards and a touchdown.

Willow Glen would get one more before the half. Hobbs tossed nine yards to Munoz, 11 to Green and 18 to Jeffries before hitting Gibilisco with an 8-yard TD toss.

Hobbs hooked up with Green on a 46-yard touchdown pass and with Gibilisco on a 25-yard scoring toss to close out the scoring for the Rams.

Most of Willow Glen's 381 yards of total offense came through the air, but Lalo Garces managed to run 15 times for 62 yards and Munoz added 52 yards on 11 tries.

Leading the charge up front offensively were tackles Avido Sainz and Vince Lopez, guards Oropeza and Andy Huynh and center Arevalo. The linemen led the Ram backs to 126 yards on the ground.

Hobbs was the defensive leader with his 10 tackles and Lancaster and Munoz had seven each. Arevalo was in on five tackles, Eugene Martinez had four and Mario Montes, Green and Ble had three each. Ble and Nate Torres each sacked Daniels, and Jeffries and Gibilisco each recovered Del Mar fumbles. Ble and Gibilisco each intercepted passes. Jon Renfro, Adrian Betancourt and Nick Barreto were also in on tackles for the Rams.