Congratulations, Roadrunners!

Winning a junior-college state football championship is never easy, and there’s nowhere harder to do it than California, with its more than 120 two-year schools. That’s one of the reasons why the Butte College Roadrunners’ accomplishment Saturday (Dec. 13) in Costa Mesa, where the team defeated Mt. San Antonio College 17-9, is so extraordinary.

Another is that, when Coach Jeff Jordan took over the team in 2005 (replacing the winningest coach in school history, Craig Rigsbee), it won only two of its 10 games. Since then, Jordan has rebuilt his squad, and this year it went undefeated for only the second time in school history, including a win over perennial powerhouse—and Butte nemesis—City College of San Francisco on the Rams’ own field.

Not stopping there, the team went on to do something no other Butte football team had done: It won the Northern California title, defeating Reedley 24-21. That victory made Butte the only undefeated team in the country and earned it the No. 1 national ranking from JCGridiron.com—a recognition it maintains after defeating Mt. SAC, which was ranked No. 2.

We congratulate Coach Jordan, his student-athletes and the entire athletic program at Butte College. Winning at such a high level is evidence of not only native talent and skill but also the ability to work together and be creative as a team, something that comes only with extremely hard work and dedication. Winning takes character, and this team has it in spades.