Enochs earns emotional victory with dramatic comeback over Buhach Colony
The night began and ended for the Enochs High football team, its coaches and fans with thoughts of their late former athletic director and basketball coach, Randy Rubio.
In between, the Eagles played with heart and capped the emotional night with a stunning come-from-behind 35-29 victory over Buhach Colony at Johansen High School.
Mr. Rubio, also a popular math teacher, died unexpectedly earlier in the week.
“It was a very emotional week for many of our players,” Enochs coach Tracey Traub said late Friday night. “Several of our players took a day off of practice dealing with the news. A lot of these kids had played basketball in his programs. He impacted their lives in a big way.”
The Eagles appeared headed for defeat, down 29-27 with about three minutes left when a Buhach Colony (0-2) botched exchange on a handoff was scooped up by Abayomi Babalola, who ran about 60 yards for the eventual winning score.
Buhach Colony led at halftime 14-13, but Enochs relied on Babalola’s touchdown, a Keith Orona-to-Kola Babalola roughly 35-yard scoring hookup and a long kickoff return for a touchdown by Gabriel Luna.
That the Eagles left the field with a victory after an incredibly somber week was a testament to Traub and his team.
The game opened with a moment of silence for Rubio before the national anthem. After the game, the tears began to flow, Traub said.
“I encouraged them (ahead of the game) that coach Rubio was a competitor,” Traub said. “In his honor, I told them to work all week long so we can compete on Friday night. I reminded them of the memory and to honor his name by going out there and being successful. ...
“They played with heart and they never gave up. Even when we got down, they never gave up.”
The Eagles will try to improve to 3-0 next week when they travel to Ceres to face Central Valley (3-0), which beat Ceres 20-18 on Friday.
This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 12:44 AM.
