The Ripon Knights varsity team came up short of winning the Trans Valley Youth Football League Super Bowl back on Nov. 13, 2021.

On Saturday, many of them will have another chance at championship glory, though not all of them in the same game.

Ripon Christian leads off at 12:30 p.m. with its Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI final with Sonora at Sacramento City College’s Hughes Stadium. East Union follows at 4, taking on Roseville for the Division IV crown.

There are connections between the two local programs that run deep, some stemming from their time as eighth-graders on the Ripon Knights youth football team. Others go back even further.

East Union senior JP Abrew was among the standouts on that Ripon Knights team, and he still refers to his old teammates as “my guys.”

“I’m still good with them and love to hang out with those guys,” Abrew said. “Definitely rooting for them this weekend. It’s a cool, full-circle moment. I love seeing my guys succeed.”

East Union linemen Garrett Hicks and Eduardo Ramirez were also on that team. Lancers receivers coach Elijah Jacobson was the Knights’ offensive coordinator.

Ripon Christian seniors Chase Bunnell, Amos Cady, Matthew Chapman Patrick Cory, Jackson Howell, Lushen Sanders, Blake Stuit, Mason Tameling and Aaron Van Hofwegen were part of the ’21 varsity Knights, who boasted one of the top offenses in the TVYFL.

In the end, they could not overcome early mistakes in a 44-32 loss to the Modesto Rams in the championship.

Although some of gone their separate ways, they’ve been keeping tabs each other’s high school successes in various sports.

“It’s really cool seeing all of us develop as football players,” Cady said. “All throughout high school, we’ve been keeping up with each other and keeping track from afar. We have good conversations about how the season is going, stuff like that. It’s funny now that we’re playing in back-to-back section championship games. Seeing them get a huge upset (in the semifinals last week) on the same night that we did is dope.

“We all reaped the benefits of hard work, and it makes me happy to see them succeed. It’s awesome that the guys from the eighth-grade team are flourishing now.”

The connections don’t end there.

East Union star receiver Jackson Fay has deep ties to both communities — father Zachary is a Ripon Christian graduate, while mother Michele is an East Union alumna.

“I’ve pretty much known Amos and Mason almost my whole life,” Jackson said.

He lived in Ripon in his early years and befriended Tameling while in preschool. In fact, Michele served as Ripon Christian’s cheer coach for a time. Tameling’s dad, Kevin, is a coach and athletic director at RC, so the two youngers got to spend a lot of time together at the high school.

Fay went on to play for the Ripon Chiefs youth program and was joined there by another lifelong friend in Kirk Simoni, EU’s current quarterback.

Tameling is quaretrback for Ripon Christian. He did not start playing football until that eighth-grade season and went into it as a receiver. Tameling eventually approached Jacobson about a position change and is grateful to this day for getting the chance to prove himself.

“It’s great to see Coach Elijah, JP and the rest of those guys doing great things over there,” Tameling said. “Now, being in a section championship along with us is pretty cool. That season with those guys was pretty memorable, and for my first year of playing football it was a great experience to have.”