The article below originally appeared in The San Mateo Daily Journal.
It is being reprinted with the permission of The San Mateo Daily Journal.

There are moments that live forever.

In the aftermath of the College of San Mateo football team’s historic 30-24 win over City College of San Francisco on Saturday — the Bulldogs’ first victory over their nemesis since 1988 — first-year head coach Bret Pollack entered a raucous CSM locker room to give out the game ball, usually given to the player of the game.

But this was no ordinary game. Instead of giving the game ball to a player — and there were plenty of worthy candidates — Pollack said, “From the bottom of my heart, this goes to Coach O.” As in Larry Owens, who coached the team for the previous 19 years until stepping down in the offseason for personal reasons.

When Pollack handed the ball off to Owens, the players immediately started chanting, “Yeah O! Yeah O! Yeah O!” Each time, the chants grew louder and louder, building to a crescendo and signifying the magnitude of the moment. Voice cracking, tears in his eyes, Owens held up the football with his left arm and said, “This is unbelievable.”

Indeed, it was.

“I try to stay pretty level (emotionally), but it’s hard when you see all the guys out there and see what it means to them,” Pollack said.

In one game, so much was accomplished. Not only did the Bulldogs (7-1 overall, 2-1 NorCal Conference) — ranked No. 3 in Northern California — remain in contention for a conference championship, but they exorcised their demons in beating the top-ranked and previously unbeaten Rams (7-1, 2-1) for the first time since Pollack was a freshman tight end at CSM, a span of 19 games (since ’88 the teams have played every year except on two occasions).

CCSF’s win streak over CSM had been talked about and dissected for years, a collective thorn on the Bulldogs backside. But after Saturday, CSM no longer will have to answer questions about why it can’t beat CCSF, the only team it hadn’t toppled since joining the powerful NorCal five years ago. More importantly, the Bulldogs gave an emphatic answer to those wondering if they could ever get it done when it counted the most.

Two years ago, CSM suffered two losses in conference by 10 points or less. Last season, they finished with four losses by 10 points or less, including two in overtime. Talk about some serious pain. When CSM lost to Foothill last week 28-27, you had to wonder if the Bulldogs could turn things around. Boy, did they ever.

“There was so much emotion because no one wants to hear it (why we couldn’t beat CCSF or win the tough games in conference),” said Bulldogs running back David Aknin, who rushed for a game-high 144 yards on 28 carries. “We weren’t going to let last year happen again. (CCSF) is our rivals and this win was 20 years in the making.”

In the euphoria of the on-field celebration, several hundred CSM fans roamed the field, some in disbelief. All had just witnessed a game they won’t soon forget, one of the most significant wins in CSM history.

As a number of well-wishers approached Aknin, one of them said, “They didn’t want you!” The person was referring to the fact that Aknin had initially enrolled at CCSF to play for the Rams.

But it didn’t take long for Aknin to realize it wasn’t the right situation, so after only a month or so of spring workouts with CCSF he enrolled at CSM, the place he calls home. Perhaps the Rams should’ve showed some more love for Aknin, because the burly 6-foot, 220-pound sophomore was an unstoppable force, pounding the Rams into submission. Aknin rarely went down on first contact. It took two, three and sometimes even four CCSF players to bring him down.

For 60 minutes, the Bulldogs and Rams went toe-to-toe, the spectacular play on the field somehow exceeding the hype. Aknin set the tone early, running for 19 yards on the Bulldogs’ fifth play from scrimmage. Two plays later, he hauled in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Matt Pelesasa to give CSM a 7-0 lead with 9:02 left in the first quarter.

On the play, Aknin caught the ball in the right flat before he collided head-on with a CCSF defender at the 3-yard line. Aknin kept on moving his legs, and the CCSF player kept on going backwards. Another Ram defender joined the mix but it didn’t matter. Aknin bullied his way into the end zone like a man possessed.

The teams traded scores before CSM botched a punt attempt, giving the Rams the ball at the Bulldogs 16. CCSF got a field goal out of it before taking its first lead at 17-14 with 2:09 left in the second. It was short-lived. The Bulldogs answered with a six-play, 69-yard drive, capped by Will Frazier’s 7-yard TD run to give them a 21-17 lead with 36 seconds left until halftime. It was an advantage CSM would never relinquish.

“Every time our players had a chance to respond, they did,” Pollack said. “And they did it against a team that usually does it. San Francisco is well known for finding a way to win and we did that.”

After Frazier’s score, CSM extended its lead to 13 points on field goals of 33, 21 and 40 yards from Juan Garcia. The Rams scored a TD with 1:56 remaining to make things interesting — their first and only points of the second half — but the Bulldogs’ Mike Paolucci recovered the ensuing onside kick. After CSM picked up a first down, Pelesasa (11 of 15, 137 yards, no interceptions) took three knees to run out the clock and seal the outcome.

There were plenty of heroes in this game, from Aknin to the offensive line to the defense, which came up with a number of key stops, none bigger than when Chris Seminoff intercepted a Steele Jantz pass at the CSM 5 with the Bulldogs up 27-17 with 12:18 to go. CSM needed its defense to stand and deliver, and it did once again. For the Bulldogs to limit a CCSF offense that entered the game averaging 43 points and 407 yards per game to just seven second-half points was a tour de force.

“Our main job was to contain their quarterback and let our DBs (defensive backs) make plays,” CSM strong safety Joe Sampson said. “This was basically our championship game, and now we have to keep it going. It’s nice to be a part of history. We finally did it.”

Rams starter Darius Bell was 12 of 20 for 159 yards and rushed for 71 more until leaving the game early in the fourth quarter with an injury. CCSF wasn’t nearly the same team without him. Given the way the CSM defense was playing, however, Bell’s presence probably wouldn’t have mattered. CSM outgained CCSF 445-353, 308 of which came on the ground.

Aknin and Seta Pohahau, who had a season-high 113 yards on 13 carries, consistently gutted the CCSF defense with runs up the middle. Pollack said the offensive line made a couple of slight adjustments in its blocking schemes to open up huge running lanes.

“Our offensive line executed our game plan to perfection,” he said. “They (CCSF) have done a good job (over the years) containing our running backs. But this year we made a conscious effort to get the running backs going. Our running backs were phenomenal. They ran hard, and they ran with a purpose. We had 308 yards rushing. I can’t remember a San Francisco team giving up 308 yards rushing.”

Judging by the decibel level of the CSM players before, during and after the game — they were up emotionally from start to finish — it was apparent this wasn’t just another game. CCSF has built such a following that it’s simply known as “City.” The Rams have won a couple of mythical national community college football titles, and CSM is working hard to get there. There’s no love lost between the two programs.