CONCORD — Following De La Salle’s loss to Mater Dei-Santa Ana in last year’s CIF Open Division state title game, De La Salle linebacker Bubba Vargas drifted away from the noise.

While members of the media made their way into the locker room and teammates slumped onto their seats, the 5-foot-8 linebacker found the far corner of the locker room with his face in his hands and tears falling unchecked onto his jersey.

Coaches tried to pat his back. Teammates continued to console him. Nothing worked. Vargas hurt too bad – not for himself, but for the brotherhood he felt like he let down.

That moment became the quiet engine for everything Vargas has done since.

This season, coach Justin Alumbaugh has built his vaunted defense around Vargas – a compact force whose mind works as fast as his fee

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