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PULLMAN -- Washington State wide receiver Lincoln Victor doesn't know what happened at halftime of the Sun Bowl last year, but he is certain that former Cougar QB Jayden de Laura is not a quitter. Since the bowl game last December and de Laura's subsequent departure, there have been rumblings de Laura quit on the team and declined to play the second half. Victor sat down Thursday with CF.C to talk about it all.

"Knowing Jayden, he's not a quitter," Victor said. "I don't think he would throw in the towel like that. He was banged up all season. The whole month we practiced for Miami, he was still dealing with that knee injury from USC. He had a lot of stuff going on at home, I wouldn't (see) him as a quitter. There's a lot of people talking about him quitting on the team and bringing up his DUI and stuff, but I don't think anybody talks about what he did for the program. He brought the Apple Cup back to Pullman ... I don't know Jayden as a quitter."

For more from Victor see video above

The 5-9, 177-pound Victor and de Laura go back a long way and still remain friends despite the latter's departure. While Victor attended Union High in Vancouver, he is originally from Maui. So while de Laura grew up on Honolulu which is on the island of Oahu, the two have familiarity with each other predating their shared time at WSU.

With WSU and Arizona set to meet this Saturday at 11 a.m. in Tucson, there has been much conversation about de Laura playing his old team and what happened in the postseason.

COUGFANcom: What do you know about what happened at halftime of the Sun Bowl?

Victor: Honestly, I didn't even see him in the locker room. I think he was in the trainer's room getting checked out but I was already trying to keep the team going because I was having a pretty good first half. So I didn't get to see him until after the game. So I don't really have any information for you for that.

COUGFANcom: Where were you during halftime of the Sun Bowl?

Victor: I was just trying to get the guys going because I knew we could win the game. Just trying to keep the spirits up and letting Victor (Gabalis) know next man up, don't worry about. It was definitely tough without him out there especially not knowing what had gone on. I still have yet to talk to him about that too. I wish I knew what happened, I'll have that conversation with him soon.

COUGFANcom: He was late to the bowl game practices and there are rumbling his re-routed itinerary through Tucson was no coincidence. Is that true?

Victor: I don't even think that's legal. He was in Hawaii seeing his family and we were all supposed to be on the last flight out of Seattle back to Pullman. I made it on the plane, Jayden was hung up with Tanner Moku and a few other boys from Hawaii, they just got delayed and like 10 minutes late to the gate. And we're on the plane and Jayden is calling me telling me he's at the door, tell them to open it. We tried to get them to, but they couldn't.

COUGFANcom: So he was delayed and was not elsewhere?

Victor: That's all rumors, that's just noise. He didn't take a visit to Arizona until he was in the portal. He was in Hawaii with family and he needed to be with them, he hadn't been around them since the DUI.

COUGFANcom: Are you and Jayden still close?

Victor: Me and him are brothers, that's family for real. I call him all the time, whether it be about the game or whether we're just talking about some offensive things. That's my brother and we've been through a lot. I know his family and he knows my family. Off the field, him and I are tight and Strib (De'Zhaun Stribling). We do a good job of managing the off the field stuff pretty well and not worrying what's going on Twitter. I actually talked to him pretty recently about he's doing mentally. Just making sure my brother's straight.

COUGFANcom: What were your conversations with him leading up to his departure?

Victor: I don't think it was a surprise to me that he entered. He came to me personally because I had just transferred and kind of knew what the portal was like. I think for Jayden he wanted to get some clarity of what happens when you get in the portal, how does the situation work. The conversation just went whatever's best fitting for you and your brand and what you're trying to do is going to be the best decision for yourself and your family. I told him to really think about it, where can you see yourself without football and where can you see yourself with football. I told him wherever you're going to develop as a person rather than a player is where you are going to want to be. Do you think the best Jayden de Laura is going to be to Pullman? I think he just needed a fresh start. I've never seen a guy that young have to deal with the stuff and adversity he did and still bring the Apple Cup back to WSU.

COUGFANcom: Was there any coaxing on either side of you trying to get him to stay or him trying to get you to come with him to Arizona?

Victor: No, we were just talking and playing things out. I obviously wanted him to stay. But I never forced the dude and was like hey man, if you do this ... I just told him this is your life, this is your decision. Make the best decision for you and your family. Don't just make an emotional decision and I told him to take time on it. Do it the right way, have those conversations with your coaches, your parents, your mentors. And really go back home and make the decision.

Related: The Jayden de Laura saga at WSU, a soap opera for the ages

WSU-ARIZONA GAME DETAILS:

Join the Great Plains Trails Network (GPTN) as they celebrate May is National Bike Month with their annual Tour de Lincoln bicycle rides.

This will be the 18th year that GPTN is sponsoring the Thursday evening bicycle rides designed to take participants to different quadrants of Lincoln on Lincoln’s award-winning trails system. All rides start and end at the Jayne Snyder Trails Center at 228 North 21 Street (21st & Q Streets) Union Plaza Park.

Bike rides are scheduled each Thursday in May at 6:00 pm as follows:

May 4 – Southwest Tour de Lincoln – 14 miles May 11 – Northwest Tour de Lincoln – 12 miles May 18 – Southeast Tour de Lincoln – 15 miles May 25 – Northeast Tour de Lincoln – 16 miles

Members of GPTN’s Board of Directors will lead each ride, provide mechanical support and make sure there are no riders left behind. Refreshments will be available before the start. The rides vary from 12 to 16 miles each, and are designed to acquaint bicyclists with different trails, conditions and features. People of all ages and families are invited to participate.

There are no registration fees, but participants are required to wear helmets for this and all GPTN sponsored cycling events. There will also be drawings for refreshments from The Hub Café (next to the Jayne Snyder Trails Center). Lots of positive comments have been made by riders on how much they enjoyed past rides. Many have never ventured out on trails that are not near their residence, so they welcome the opportunity to see where a new trail leads them.

“We feature different trails whenever possible, during Tour de Lincoln rides,” said event chairperson Mary Torell. “The most important thing is to expose bike riders to all quadrants of the city and allow them to discover Lincoln’s great trails system. Our network of 134 miles of trails gives people an opportunity to see portions of the city and trails other than where they may live.” “We encourage families, couples and individuals to hop on their bikes, get out and explore the trails and have fun”!

More information on the rides, route maps (including Spanish), and safety guidelines are available at GPTN.org. Weather cancellations will be announced on Facebook and on our web site.

Below is a map of the trails to be explored.

This week, the United States Postal Service announced that it was seeking public input regarding the potential relocation of the Milford Post Office. The current post office was built in 1962.

“The move has been prompted by the need to expand the floor space for our carrier units at the current location,” Melissa Lomax, USPS Corporate Communications, said. “Retail operations only will be moving from that location. There are no issues with the current building other than we need additional space for our carrier operation. There will not be a new building since only retail operations will be moved.”

Lomax explained that there will be a 30-day public comment and appeal period. A display has been placed in the post office or people can send their concerns to ATTN: MILFORD DE, United States Postal Service, P.O. Box 27497, Greensboro, NC 27498-1103. Lomax also stated that as a semi-autonomous government agency serving the public, everything is step-by-step at this time and no timeframe is available.

“The process takes as long as necessary to insure the good of the public and the safety and transition necessary to perform this or any specified operation from postal planning,” Lomax said.

Milford residents see a need to relocate the post office.

“It definitely needs to be bigger,” Lezlie Eustis said. “The traffic pattern inside is just awful and that was before the pandemic. There needs to be more self-service options and the place to drop off packages that are ready to be mailed needs to have the ability to pass them through some kind of opening where they are out of reach of customers. Parking is horrendous and the traffic pattern on the street is frightening. When someone is at the mailboxes, I am always worried they will pull out and run into me.”

Michael Moyer stated that as the city grows, there will be a need for changes to the post office and he would love to see it remain downtown while Joe Wells commented that the current location is a “pedestrian fatality waiting to happen.”

“I don’t think the current location is bad,” Jenna Menge said. “The lobby area could be a bit bigger or laid out differently. For example, the table to fill out postage information is also where you need to stand in line. The parking situation is the hardest. The parking lot needs to be about 10 percent bigger. My biggest concern is that people are crossing the road to park and it’s on a weird bend that people tend to speed through without a clear line of sight when people come around the corner. More signage or a crosswalk with lights would probably be ideal.”

Kate David suggested that the former M&T Bank building which has ample parking, a basement and located downtown would be a good location for the post office while Wells suggested relocating the post office to either the Walmart area or southeast Milford.

“The center of commerce is now Walmart,” Wells said. “The My Eye Doctor location would have been a good one or perhaps the Hammond Mini Storage site by Wright’s Auto Parts. The center of housing growth may be the south end of town, possibly the Redner’s vicinity would be optimal.”

Lincoln Post Office may also move to a new location

A few days after announcing the potential move of retail services in Milford, USPS announced that the Lincoln Post Office may also relocate.

“The need to expand the floor space is necessary in Lincoln for both retail and carrier operations,” Lomax said. “There is nothing serious wrong with the building, but we have outgrown the smaller space and have an opportunity to provide a brand-new post office for the residents of Lincoln. The new building would be constructed next to a new Dollar General proposed for the area if no other site is presented for consideration.”

Comments or concerns can be sent to the ATTN: LINCOLN DE Office Relocation, United States Postal Service, P.O. Box 27497, Greensboro, NC. 27498-1103.

MISSION VIEJO —

Lincoln High’s football program is storied. Marcus Allen won a Heisman Trophy. Allen and Terrell Davis are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Hornets have won 10 section championships.

But there was one significant piece of history missing: a state football championship. Not anymore.

On a cold Friday evening at Saddleback College, with the temperature dipping into the 40s, the Hornets defeated fabled Concord De La Salle 33-28 to win the Division 1-AA CIF State Football Championship.

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“We had guys who got hurt, hobbling out, getting treatment, hobbling back in, young guys stepping up,” said Lincoln head coach David Dunn. “We never quit.

“This will be something they remember the rest of their lives. We took care of business for the school and the community and now we’re champs. You cannot stop what’s destined.”

Lincoln finished 13-1. The win was the Hornets’ 12^th straight. De La Salle, which has won seven state titles and once compiled a 151-game winning streak, finished 10-4.

It marked the seventh time De La Salle has played a San Diego Section team. The Hornets became the first to defeat the Spartans.

Lincoln pulled off the win with a heavy dose of Roderick Robinson and some clutch late defense.

The Georgia-bound Robinson, hobbled with a hamstring strain the last six weeks, gritted it out to gain 217 yards on 22 carries and score four touchdowns. The touchdown runs covered 3, 32, 2 and 32 yards.

Late in the fourth quarter, trailing 33-28, De La Salle mounted a final threat, advancing to the Lincoln 20. From there the Spartans went backwards with sophomore Munir Kassa cementing the win with back-to-back sacks.

“On the first one, I just had to get him,” said Munir. “On the second one, I was reading him. He went out and I went in. It was kind of an IQ play. It was fourth down. I had to get there.”

Asked if it was the biggest play of his life, Munir said, “Oh God, yes.”

For Lincoln, the game was a tale of two halves. In the first half, Lincoln’s offense was flummoxed. In the second half, Robinson busted loose.

On its first four series, Lincoln gained seven yards and had one first down. De La Salle was only slightly better and with 4:04 to play in the half, the game was scoreless.

Then the state championship pulled an offensive reversal. De La Salle scored on a 67-yard run. Lincoln responded with a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive. De La Salle headed to halftime with 14-7 lead after scoring on a 6-yard run with four seconds to play.

Lincoln pulled off a comeback in the San Diego Section Open Division title game, coming from 21-6 down in the fourth quarter to beat Carlsbad 28-24. So trailing by seven at half was hardly insurmountable.

“We just dug deep, played for each other, loved each other,” said Dunn.

Lincoln’s first drive of the second half gave an indication of things to come. On the first play from scrimmage, Robinson broke loose for 60 yards. Two plays later, he scored from 32.

The Hornets scored 20 straight points to take a 27-14 lead. After De La Salle cut the deficit to 27-21, Robinson did his thing again, slipping away for a 32-yard TD early in the fourth quarter.

He slid to the ground in the end zone and celebrated by cranking out three pushups.

“He’s our rock,” said Dunn. “He’s the guy we go to, playing hurt.”

“I’m not here without my teammates,” said Robinson. “The defense came up huge. We’ve been a second-half team all year. We knew we had to put points up. We had to run the plays we’re supposed to run. We got stronger.”

The Hornets did not bus home after the historic win. Instead, they spent the night near Saddleback and on Saturday planned to celebrate their magical season by heading to Magic Mountain.

Norcross is a freelance writer.

CIF STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

DIVISION 1-AA

At Saddleback College

Lincoln 33, De La Salle 28

De La Salle 0 14 7 7 — 28

Lincoln 0 7 20 6 — 33

ScoringFirst Quarter

None

Second Quarter

DLS — Greer 67 run (Brien kick), 3:53

L — Robinson 3 run (Davila kick), 0:27

DLS — Faave 3 run (Brien kick), 0:04

Third Quarter

L — Robinson 32 run (Davila kick), 10:36

L — Thompson-Miller 15 pass from Chatham (Osuna kick), 5:50

L — Robinson 2 run (kick failed), 2:35

DLS — Faave 88 run (Brien kick), 1:33

Fourth Quarter

L — Robinson 32 run (pass failed), 10:48

DLS — Blanche 39 pass from Faave (Brien kick), 9:58

Team stats DLS L

First downs 29 33

Total net yards 391 359

Rushing 247 243

Passing 144 116

Comp-Att-Int 5-14-1 10-14-0

Penalties-Yds 4-35 11-72

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: De La Salle: Greer 16-120, Faave 18-158, Blance 7-2. Lincoln: Robinson 22-217, Chatham 10-31, Thompson-Miller 1-4, Jackson 1-(minus 2).

PASSING: De La Salle: Faave 5-14-1-144. Lincoln: Chatham 10-14-0-116..

RECEIVING: De La Salle: McKoy 2-68, Blanche 2-66, Romo 1-10. Lincoln: Robinson 3-8, Thompson-Miller 2-54, Logan 2-26, Gray 1-33.

INTERCEPTIONS: De La Salle: None. Lincoln: White 1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES: De La Salle: None. Lincoln: White.

SACKS: De La Salle: Tofaeono 1, Arcdian 1. Lincoln: Kassa 2, Chargual 1, Fewell 1 .

MISSION VIEJO — In an action-packed game, Lincoln (San Diego) defeated De La Salle (Concord) 33-28 in the CIF Division 2-AA state championship at Saddleback College.

The win is Lincoln’s first state championship in its long and storied history featuring NFL Hall of Fame running backs Terrell Davis and Marcus Allen. Tonight it was Roderick Robinson, who will follow Davis to Georgia.

Robinson, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound running back, rushed for more than 200 yards and four touchdowns as the Hornets roared back from a 14-7 deficit to win the game.

After 20 minutes of scoreless football, the two teams combined for 21 points before the first half ended.

First, De La Salle running back Charles Greer ran for a 67-yard touchdown with 3:53 left in the first half.

On the ensuing Lincoln possession, senior wide receiver Corey Thompson-Miller caught a 30-yard pass from senior quarterback K.J. Chatham. On the play, Chatham was nearly sacked, but Robinson wiped out the defender with a big block, giving Chatham the time he needed to release the football.

Junior Mahki Gray then made a big catch to set up first and goal. From there, Robinson rumbled through the line of scrimmage knocking over a defender before carving his way into the end zone with 27 seconds left in the first half.

That left De La Salle to much time, however. On a reverse, freshman Jaden Jefferson returned the kickoff to midfield. Sophomore quarterback Toa Faavae then completed his second pass of the night, a 40-yard pass to Nevada commit Journey McKoy who turned it into a 40-yard gain with 10 seconds left. On the next play Faavae was looking to pass, instead he kept it, turned the corner and got into the end zone to give the Spartans a 14-7 lead at the half.

De La Salle sophomore Derrick Blanche comes up with a big catch late in the game for the Spartans in the CIF Division 1-AA finals Friday at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. (Photo: Louis Lopez)

Lincoln quickly tied the game up. Robinson took the opening hand-off of the third quarter 60 yards. Two plays later, he scored from 32 yards out to knot up the game.

De La Salle quickly started driving, but the ball was forced out and recovered by junior Jamarion Herbert at the Lincoln 47.

Three plays later Chatham hit Thompson-Miller in the end zone for a touchdown with 5:50 to play in the third quarter to give the Hornets their first lead of the game.

The Lincoln defense nearly scored itself. Senior Chris White intercepted a pass at midfield then ran it back to the 8-yard line. Again, the Hornets handed the ball to Robinson, who plunged into the end zone and take a 27-14 lead with 2:35 to play in the third.

De La Salle quickly answered as senior TCU commit Cooper Powers made a key block that allowed Faavae to scamper 88 yards into the promised land on a quarterback keeper to cut the lead to 27-21.

Robinson wasn't done, on fourth-and-short early in the fourth quarter, the future Bulldog took the rock, got the first down then ran 32 yards into the end zone for his third touchdown of the day to give Lincoln a 33-21 lead.

The Spartans quickly answered as Faavae hit sophomore Derrick Blanche for a 39-yard touchdown pass with 9:58 to play in the fourth.

On De La Salle's final possession, inside the 20 with less than two minutes to play, Josaun Granderson, Adrien Chargualaf and Munir Kassa sacked Faavae on three straight plays to seal the victory.