Longtime Fresno City College football coach chasing elusive Northern California title
Tony Caviglia has been roaming the Fresno City College football sidelines since 1999 after coming over from Chabot.
Caviglia has plenty of success with the Rams winning Valley Conference championships and bowl games.
But the one that has eluded Caviglia is a Northern California championship.
Yes, that means no state title for Caviglia either.
Caviglia has reached the NorCal title numerous times, but always fell short.
The latest was back in 2018 when the Rams traveled to Oakland to face Laney.
The Eagles defeated the Rams 24-7 ending any hopes of a NorCal title and a berth to the state championship game.
Fresno City is back in the NorCal playoffs and will face Valley Conference rival Modesto Junior College at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The winner will face the winner between San Mateo and American River.
“I’m just worried about winning this next game,” Caviglia said.
Since the playoffs were introduced in 2013, the Rams have played in the four-team tournament three times and made it to the NorCal title game in 2018.
The closest state title berth for the Rams was in 2002 against Reedley.
Fresno City had a sizable 28-12 lead with 14:05 remaining in the game, but the Tigers rallied for a 39-28 victory that sent Reedley to the title game and eventually winning the state title against College of the Canyons.
Heartbreak for Caviglia.
That 2002 team could be compared to this 2024 team with a bunch of playmakers on both sides of the ball.
The Rams only losses this season were to San Mateo 14-7 and Modesto 31-27 who are both in the playoffs.
Fresno City players know what winning something would mean for Caviglia.
They even have a shirt that reads Fresno City Football on the front and Road to State 24 with the schedule listed under on the back of the shirt.
“Everybody believes that we have the ability to make it to state,” Carr said. “We just have to execute Coach C’s plan and the rest of the coaches.”
Fresno City wide receiver Ramon Ruiz has been with Caviglia for two years and understands the importance of playing well for him.
Especially when Caviglia gets emotional after every game because he knows the players he has have the makings of doing something special.
“We’re looking at it as 1-0 every week for the next three weeks,” Ruiz said. “We know what we have to do to win. We know it’s a game against ourselves. If we do our best, we’re going to win.”
Rams running back Ashton Chalabian agrees.
“That’s kind of what we talked about,” he said. “It’s more just like one to win it just because we feel like we got the team to do it.”
