COALINGA – The Coalinga College Falcons celebrated another outstanding season of football at its annual team awards banquet on Friday night.
Head coach Justin Berna and his squad were able to look back and reflect on a season that saw the Falcons qualify for their third bowl game in four seasons, finish in second place in the American Golden Coast League with a 4-1 record, and wrap up their fourth straight winning season with a 7-4 overall mark.
"I'm really proud of our guys and the season we put together," said Berna.
The Falcons stumbled early in the season but were able to turn things around. After starting 0-2, the Falcons went on to win five consecutive games and went into the postseason Golden State Bowl having won seven of their last eight. Coalinga's lone setback in league play came by a narrow two-point loss at undefeated De Anza College.
"We started slow because of some injuries in preseason camp," said Berna. "But we knew the talent we would have for the season and didn't panic. Our goal was to improve each week and we did that throughout the season. I was really impressed with the team's effort and work ethic."
History was also made in 2025 by the Falcons' offense. Running back Demarion Wright set a new school record with 1,397 rushing yards. As a team, the Falcons also ran for a program-record 2,240 yards with 100+ yard rushing seasons from Ke'Marian Albert (395 yards), Erik Cervantes (153), and quarterback Justyn Delzeit (135) contributing to the total.
Overall, the 2025 squad totaled a school-record 4,988 yards while averaging 453.5 yards per game – another program-best mark. The 453.5 yards per game ranked No. 4 in Northern California and was 10th in the state. Delzeit had a huge season towards the record, passing for 2,593 yards.
The Falcons set single-game program highs against Gavilan College on Nov. 1 in a huge 69-6 victory. The offense set as new school record with 747 total yards while rushing for a program-best 414 yards. The 69 points scored were also a school record as well.
Coalinga racked up the postseason honors, totaling 14 All-Golden Coast League awards, including 10 first-team accolades:
First Team All-Golden Coast League
QB Justyn Delzeit
RB Demarion Wright
WR Khalif Bloome
WR David Dunn
OL Donovan Urbina
OL Tyrone Reynolds
DL Kosuke Nakata
LB Gavin Brady
LB Nathaniel Stroud
DB Jackson Kissee
Honorable Mention All-Golden Coast League
WR Marcos Ruiz
OL Joseph Velasquez
LB Eric Gallegos
DL Elijah Jones
On Friday, the Falcons honored their own with team awards at the banquet:
Commitment to Excellence Award: Eric Gallegos
Offensive Player of the Year: Demarion Wright
Defensive Player of the Year: Nate Stroud
Special Teams Player of the Year: Ernesto Villanueva
"Big Man" Offensive/Defensive Lineman of the Year: Donovan Urbina
Scout Offense Players of the Year: Landon Garner and Tyrrell Johnson
Scout Defense Players of the Year: Hunter Cabral and Koi Eden
All-State and All-Region awards will be selected next week in Visalia at the state coaches meetings. Also, numerous Falcons will announce their commitments to four-year programs in the coming weeks.