DUBLIN — One year, one championship. For Joe Wingert, it’s not a bad start to his head coaching tenure at Monte Vista.

Behind a stout defensive effort, Monte Vista defeated Clayton Valley 24-10 on Friday night at Dublin High School to win the NCS Division II championship, the program’s first NCS title since beating the Najee Harris-led Antioch Panthers in 2016.

The Mustangs’ defense not only forced four turnovers — including three straight to start the night — but limited the Ugly Eagles’ star senior running back Jhadis Luckey to 69 yards on 17 carries. A year ago, by contrast, Luckey ran for 317 yards and five touchdowns against Monte Vista for California.

“That’s all we talked about all week,” Wingert said of Luckey. “We constantly stressed it (in practice).”

Justin Grisham and Grant

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