Nailah Blake
On Nov. 3, the Aragon varsity football team (8-2 overall, 3-1 Peninsula Athletic League) handily beat the Hillsdale Knights (7-3 overall, 3-2 PAL) 34-7. This rivalry, dating back to the ‘70s, has been coined the “Battle of the Fleas,” in honor of both schools’ residence on Alameda de Las Pulgas, meaning “Avenue of the Fleas” in Spanish. This highly anticipated game marked the 61st time the two teams faced off, Hillsdale having taken the trophy the last five years running. After the success of the season thus far, Aragon had high hopes going into this year’s game.
“It’s been a fantastic season,” said head coach Steve Sell. “We’re co-champions of our division and we’ve won seven games. I’ve been doing this long enough to call that a good season.”
Despite losing their most recent game to the Capuchino Mustangs last week, the team still went into its most anticipated game of the season with a winning percentage well over 75%. However, the team’s goal was to not let their winning record impact their mindset heading into the game.
“We have the confidence from having a good record, but it’s a clean slate going into the game, just like it’s a clean slate going into every week,” said senior tight end Max Thronson. “We really try and take it each game at a time.”
The Dons’ defense started off strong, forcing the Knights to go three and out on their first possession. Hillsdale matched the Dons’ clean defensive start by forcing a turnover on downs at the Hillsdale 25-yard line after a 40-yard pass from senior quarterback Sean Hickey to junior wide receiver Jalen Scroggins. The back-and-forth battle continued until the end of the first quarter, with both defenses remaining strong and keeping the game scoreless.
Aragon started the second quarter off 2nd and goal near the Hillsdale end zone. On the first play of the quarter, Hickey connected with Thronson for a 10-yard touchdown pass. With senior kicker Emiliano Guzman’s successful extra point, the Dons took a 7-0 lead over the Knights, a score that remained unchanged through the end of the first half.
“Defense was unbelievable in the first half,” Sell said. “They held [Hillsdale] to just 40 yards of offense in the first two quarters, so that really kept us in the game while we kind of got stuff figured out offensively.”
And figure it out offensively they did. On the first drive of the half, Aragon pushed their way downfield with a 25-yard completion by Scroggins. The Dons finished off the drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Hickey to senior tight end Willie Faaumu, putting the Dons up 14-0 after a successful extra point.
“We worked a lot on our run game and our pass game this week,” Scroggins said. “Everything just ended up falling into place tonight.”
Despite the Dons’ offensive success, the Knights responded with a 25-yard gain down to the one yard line, and capped it off with a one-yard quarterback sneak for the touchdown. This drive, which cut the Dons’ lead to 14-7, would be the only scoring drive of the game for the Knights, as the Aragon defense successfully stopped them on the rest of their drives.
However, Aragon was not done scoring, as the Dons were able to cash in three more times in the second half. After two touchdowns from senior running back Ivan Nisa and one more by sophomore defensive lineman Aaron Pita, the Dons finished the game with a 34-7 blowout win over the Knights, their first win over Hillsdale since 2017.
The student section roared at the end of the game as the Dons reclaimed the “Battle of the Fleas” trophy. The team huddled in the middle of the field, chanting and celebrating a victory that gave them a confidence boost going into their CCS playoff run.
“We beat a good football team tonight,” Sell said after the game. “And I haven’t seen [the team] celebrate like this since the [2021 CCS] championship game … So it’s just a great day.”
The third-seeded Dons concluded their season with a 21-33 loss to sixth-seeded Scotts Valley (9-1 overall) at home in the CCS quarterfinals on Nov. 10.
