'They are true leaders': Channel Islands football team showed no quitting in winless year

More than half of local high school football teams took the practice field Monday to prepare for the postseason.

That did not include Channel Islands High, which completed a historically difficult 0-10 season Friday with a 49-0 loss to Oxnard.

Days after wrapping up a season without the joy of a payoff in the win column, so many of the Raiders were not ready to hand in their pads.

Many found themselves mulling around head coach Gary Porter this week as he inventoried the program’s equipment, craving what football had provided to them over the previous three months.

“I’m missing it,” senior Kaleb Harrison said. “I’m missing the practices with my teammates, missing the fun at practice, missing the Friday night lights.”

Senior Esteban Gonzalez, who started at right tackle and defensive tackle, found himself with a strange feeling at 3 o’clock.

“School ended, and I didn’t really know what to do with myself,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve certainly never been home as much this year. It was weird. It felt like something was missing in my life.”

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Perhaps the stat of the year in Ventura County high school football isn’t the Raiders 0-10 record. It’s not that Channel Islands was outscored 439-40 on the season.

Not even that, with seven straight shutouts in Channel League play to end the season, opponents scored the last 376 points of the Raiders’ season.

Somehow, of the 40 players with which Channel Islands began the season in August, not one quit the team during the season.

A handful were ruled ineligible due to grades. One left the team late in the season because his family needed him to work to help support the family.

But the Raiders, thanks to reinforcements and JV callups, finished the winless season last Friday with 39 players, a healthy figure in 2022.

“They battled,” Porter said. “They battled in spite of the challenges that they faced. They knew each and every week that the teams that they were facing were more experienced, more athletic. They came out there and played hard anyway, throughout the whole game.

“I’m proud of them showing up and sticking to it.”

Center Abraham Gonzalez earned a gold practice jersey, given to the team’s leaders, despite only being a 14-year-old freshman.

“To be honest, it’s not about winning. It’s about playing with heart,” Gonzalez said. “That’s something I’ve showed in every game. That’s one of the reasons why I got one of those gold shirts. I’ve showed heart in every game.

“My mentality is just to grind. I’ve learned throughout my years that playing with heart is going to get you somewhere. Once you play with heart, everyone sees you.”

But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t difficult. No group of players in county history had previously weathered a storm of seven straight shutouts in one season.

Ventura was shut out the first six games of the 1953 season, when it was outscored 231-18. Moorpark was shut out a county record eight times during its 1979 season, when it was outscored 399-20.

“It’s incredibly difficult every week to get those kids back up,” said Porter, a Channel Islands alum. “They’ve got to hear it. They’ve got to feel it. My whole goal was to get these kids to walk around that campus the way I walked around that campus.”

Channel Islands is a proud program stuck in a low ebb. The Raiders were competitive in the Marmonte League for much of the 1970s and 1980s, winning the league title four times.

Last decade, it had physical teams that were competitive in the Pacific View League, even producing NFL defensive lineman Jeremiah Valoaga.

But it has won just three of its past 45 games over the past five seasons.

Related: See The Star's High School Football Rankings ​​​​​​​

A third winless season in four years was all but affirmed after competitive losses to Santa Paula (26-20) and Carpinteria (16-13) to start the season.

“One thing that we kept pushing was life is a series of challenges,” Porter said. “You’re going to face adversity every part of your life. But you keep showing up, keep pushing, keep playing and never give up.

“That’s what they’ve done.”

The Raiders’ only points in the Channel League’s eight games came in the second quarter of a 49-7 loss to visiting Buena in their league opener on Sept. 9.

Da'shaye Williams, a senior basketball player recruited from campus to play the quarterback position for the first time, found senior Jose Felix across the middle for a 3-yard TD pass.

“Da'shaye was one of my most dedicated players,” Porter said. “What he did in three months was incredible. Just to learn the footwork. Just to learn the release. If I had had him for four years, that kid could have been a really good quarterback.

“He was a leader. He led our scout team. He practiced every minute of practice.”

Convinced by his older brother to give football a try, Williams had to be taught how to put his pads on during training camp.

He enjoyed learning the game and, of course, “throwing touchdowns.”

“I really don’t have any regrets,” Williams said. “I’m glad I played football. It was a fun process of learning. I actually enjoy watching football now because I played it.”

Outscored 397-7 the rest of the way in Channel League play — with six of the eight losses resulting with a running clock in the second half — the Raiders weren’t bad, as much as they were in the wrong league.

In the era of competitive balance and league associations, which are designed to match similar teams in league play, Channel Islands remains in the West County’s strongest football league.

The Channel League was especially competitive this fall. Four teams were tied for first place with two games to play. Rio Mesa, Pacifica and Santa Barbara shared the league title.

“I’ve been coaching in this league for 20 years,” Porter said. “This was one of the more competitive groups (atop the league) that we’ve had. … We weren’t able to handle the speed and the athleticism.”

Local observers have scratched their heads after each of the past three relegating cycles, wondering why Channel Islands had not joined rival Hueneme, as well as competitive opponents Santa Paula and Carpinteria, in the Citrus Coast League.

That was especially confusing during the last cycle in 2021, when Channel Islands joined the CCL in every sport except for football.

“In terms of competitive equity, that’s clearly the best fit for us,” Channel Islands athletic director Phrya Prum told The Star in 2021. “We’re losing by 30 points or more in football. In terms of talent and skills, the CCL is where we belong.”

That opinion is difficult to debate after a season in which Channel Islands was competitive against two CCL opponents, but historically uncompetitive against Channel League opposition.

And yet, because the releaguing cycle isn’t for another season, the Raiders remain stuck in the Channel League in 2023.

Porter chooses his words carefully when asked about his program’s situation. But he is clear about the players who returned week after week to compete, despite suffering loss after loss.

“They are true leaders,” Porter said. “They are not losers.”

Joe Curley covers high school, collegiate and professional football for The Star. He can be reached at  joe.curley@vcstar.com. Follow him @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Channel Islands football team showed no quit in 0-10 season