One last hurrah: CVC's Hughes family rides off to state championship game
Football is a tradition for the Hughes family at Central Valley Christian.
Mason Hughes is the Cavaliers' head football coach. His son, Tyler, is a senior offensive lineman.
Mason has been coaching high school football for more than 20 years. Tyler has been around the gridiron practically his entire life. He attended his first football game as a newborn.
On Saturday night, the Hughes family will close their high school football chapter as a father-son, coach-player duo when CVC (14-1) plays Los Gatos (12-1) for the 2023 CIF State Division 2-A title at Pasadena City College. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online at gofan.co. General admission tickets are $17 for adults and $10 for high school students, seniors (65-plus), and children for each day/venue.
"It's been great," Mason said. "He was born during the football season in '05. I still remember that week of practice when he was born and all that. I was at Immanuel. We were playing Woodlake at Chukchansi Stadium. It was homecoming. The excitement from my players, the excitement of being a dad for the first time. That dude's been around ever since. That year at Immanuel, we went undefeated. We won the Valley championship. The first-round playoff game, we were losing in the first half 6-0. My wife showed up with Tyler and we won like 27-6. The second week, we played Dos Palos. My wife came to the game and we were up 28 to nothing, and then she took him home at halftime and we won 28-27. So the final week, we were playing for the Valley championship against Chowchilla, I told my wife, 'You have to bring Tyler the whole game. He's gotta stay the whole game.' The second half of the first game. The first half of the second game. Every time he wasn't there, we didn't play well. Sure enough, he goes to the whole game and we win 41-6."
A football family
Tyler is still Mason's good luck charm.
Since Tyler's ascension to starter in 2021, CVC has won two Central Section plaques, and back-to-back Tri-County Conference championships while advancing to two state championship games.
The Cavaliers have a chance to wrap up their outstanding season with a Hollywood ending, playing for a state title in Southern California.
CVC can become the first team from Visalia to win a state championship.
The Cavaliers have experience, too, at the state level. They finished as the state runner-ups twice in Division 4-AA in 2018 and 2021.
Tyler was the starting center on that 2021 squad. That season, CVC lost 33-14 at Marin Catholic and fell behind 14-0 at halftime.
“We didn’t really think we were going to win going in,” Tyler said. “We were really banged up. This is a lot different. I think we’re a better team than Los Gatos. It’s really weird because I’m usually a pessimist and he’s usually an optimist at home, and it’s kind of flipped this week. The last few games, he’s been the pessimist. He’s been, ‘Oh, I don’t know about this game.’ But we’re going to win every game. That’s my thought. That’s probably the senior in me not wanting to lose. But just being able to have those little battles at home are fun.”
Tyler has reason to be confident.
CVC has lost only two games in the past two seasons combined. Both came to Central Section champions in Lemoore last season and Clovis North this year. The Broncos won the 2023 Central Section Division I crown and finished with a 13-1 record.
When the Hughes are on the gridiron, Tyler and Mason’s relationship is strictly player and coach.
“He’s never dad in football,” Tyler said. “Once we step on the field, he’s never dad. People say stuff like, ‘Daddy ball.’ That’s not a thing. It’s probably the opposite of daddy ball if anything. Once it’s football season, it’s a very busy time in our family. It’s been very busy but now that my sister just got her driver’s license, it’s a little less busy being able to coordinate rides and stuff just because of film watching and practices and stuff like that. Once football’s over, my family is a lot happier just because they get their dad back basically.”
There is no nepotism with Mason as his son’s coach.
Tyler didn’t make his first start until an injury catapulted him into the starting lineup as a sophomore.
But once he became a part of the starting rotation, he found his stride.
Tyler has improved so much this season that he was named the All-Tri-County Conference’s lineman of the year for the Kings Canyon division.
“The experience of coaching your son is really cool,” Mason said. “It’s been really fun. I was nervous about it when he was a freshman but to be able to coach him, it’s been awesome. I don’t really coach his position, ever, so it’s been cool. I think that helps but just to talk football with him as he’s gotten older. He’s a pretty good player so it helps to not worry about ‘Daddy ball’ or any of that stuff. It’s been helpful that other coaches are in charge of that stuff.”
One last hurrah
Forty-eight game minutes.
Barring overtime, that’s how long Mason and Tyler will have together in their final football game as a player and coach.
The opportunity to win a state championship is the icing on the cake.
“It’s really special because not a lot of people get to do that,” Tyler said. “To be able to know that this is my last game, it’s probably one of the best feelings there is, rather than going into a playoff game thinking you’re going to win and lose. Knowing it’s the last game because it’s a weird dynamic, we talk about it coming to practice today, ‘This is my last Monday practice on a Tuesday.’ It’s just, like, stuff like that. It’s a weird feeling knowing it’s your last game but it’s been a long time coming with how much work we’ve put in, him especially.”
After every final CVC game of the season, Mason has built a bittersweet tradition. His seniors line up at the goal line and every coach and player, one by one, hugs them and shares their favorite memories and moments.
That’s a tradition Mason started when he took over in 2009, and it’s something he hasn’t thought about until this week.
“We’re going to be hugging for the final time as a football player, coach, so it’s pretty surreal,” Mason said. “I’m surprised I haven’t been more emotional all year. I’m surprised I haven’t been more emotional at different things all year. I try to be just like, ‘Enjoy it,' you know.”
CVC senior quarterback Brent Kroeze has known the Hughes family since preschool when they used to play two-hand touch at Cavaliers Stadium.
“Coach Hughes has always been like a second dad to me,” Kroeze said. “He’s always been able to, like, help guide me in life. I love them.”
As an impact player in the trenches, Tyler is one of the players responsible for keeping Kroeze upright. That has allowed the Cavaliers signal-caller to throw 35 touchdowns this season.
“Tyler, he’s been a consistent friend,” Kroeze said. “He’s helped me in hard times, and he’s celebrated with me in happy times. I wouldn’t change anything about him for the world.”
Mason and Tyler know firsthand their football success wouldn’t be possible without the support of the girls in the Hughes family — mom and wife, Krista, and daughters and sisters, Jori and Kendall.
How much do the Hughes men credit the females in their lives?
“A lot,” Tyler said. “A lot. My mom, I mean, she’s been doing it a lot longer than I have. She’s been doing it for 15 years. Just being able to stick through a long season is amazing because we’ve done it a lot now. Stick through the long 16-game season. Not even 16 weeks, 16 games. Just being able to stick through that and still keep a family up to par is crazy. I really appreciate that.”
Mason couldn’t agree more.
“Anything that we do, the family supports it,” Mason said. “My wife, she’s a coach’s wife. She knew what she was getting into. She was never like a huge football fan until her kid started playing. My girls, I don’t know if they would say they love football. I always think of a girl who loves football is like the one in Remember the Titans right? My girls are just there to enjoy the family and they’ve been pulled around in a lot of stuff, especially with Tyler and sports. We’re a sports family. They’re super supportive.”
Projected starting lineup
Offense
QB: Brent Kroeze
RB: Bryson Donelson
WR: Gunnar Piepgrass
WR: Bryce Crook
WR: Ryan Lewis
TE: Griffin Dunn
T: Karter Oliver
G: Caleb Noeske
C: Wyatt Rose
G: Tyler Hughes
T: Jacobus DeGroot
More: 'He's a dog': Mission Oak's Cameron Azevedo excels on football field
More: Tulare County Football: State championship game previews, predictions
Defense
DE: Case Anker
NG: Grant Shannon
DE: Kelan Turner
LB: Trent Greidanus
LB: Griffin Dunn
LB: Ezra Schuyler
LB: Aston Brinkman
CB: Drew DeGroff
CB: Bryce Crook
S: Max Benson
S: Caden Ritchie
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: One last hurrah: CVC's Hughes family rides off to state title game
