For Sambher Nash Abrenica, redemption was never just about skill—it was about patience, belief, and being ready the moment his name was called.
And in FEU–Diliman’s UAAP Season 88 High School Boys’ Football championship run, that moment arrived exactly when it mattered most.
Thrust into a second-string role in the April 10 final against University of Santo Tomas, the 17-year-old midfielder-striker from Dumaguete stayed locked in on one thing: his opportunity would come, not through entitlement, but through preparation.
It came on the biggest stage.
With the Baby Tamaraws trailing after Roy Panunciar Jr.’s 44th-minute opener put the Junior Golden Booters ahead, Abrenica was sent in to inject urgency and belief. He delivered the equalizer in the 85th minute, shifting the momentum and setting the stage for James Maxdel Torres’ 90+3rd-minute header that completed FEU-D’s dramatic title-clinching comeback.
“Nasa isip ko pa lang noon, habang nagwa-warm up ako, dapat ibigay ko lahat—kasi sa sub, isa ako sa napili as second stringer na mag-step up sa game,” said Abrenica, who finished the season with four goals.
“Inisip ko, dapat gawin ko yung best ko para sa family ko at sa friends. Hanggang ngayon, speechless pa rin ako.”
More than just a crucial goal, Abrenica’s strike symbolized FEU-Diliman’s transformation from heartbreak to triumph. Their defeat in last season’s final lingered as motivation throughout Season 88, sharpening their resolve in every match.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
And as the Junior Golden Booters once again threatened to deny them the crown, the Baby Tamaraws refused to break. When the final whistle blew at the UP Diliman Football Stadium, the scenes told the story of a team that had endured, learned, and finally prevailed.
With redemption complete, FEU–Diliman added another proud chapter to its growing football legacy.
“Yung heartbreak [last year], ‘yun yung nagbigay ng redemption para sa amin,” he said. “Naging mas uhaw kami this season para kunin yung championship from last year. ‘Di lang basta-basta ang talo namin noon; masakit para sa amin ‘yun. Nagpalakas talaga kami.
“Nag-promise kami: ‘We will come back stronger this season.’”
Still just 17, Abrenica’s journey is far from over. His decisive contribution in the final underscored his readiness for bigger stages, but his path has been shaped long before the UAAP spotlight found him.
Football, after all, has always been part of his life—rooted in family influence and the community he grew up in. Long before wearing the Baby Tamaraws kit, the game was already part of his everyday world in Dumaguete. And as fate would have it, that journey eventually led him to FEU–Diliman alongside a lifelong friend and teammate.
“Bata pa lang ako, mga relatives ko, mga football players,” he said.
“Tapos feeling ko ito talaga yung passion ko kasi bata pa lang ako, ‘di ko alam na players din yung family ko — nagulat na lang ako. Si James Maxdel Torres, kasama ko po sa Dumaguete, tapos nag-tryout at na-recruit ni Coach Paolo Bugas.”
With one more year remaining in the high school division, Abrenica is not yet making any collegiate commitments. For now, he has expressed admiration for FEU’s senior men’s program, particularly the standard they set for the entire system.
Whether he eventually climbs into the Tamaraws’ senior lineup remains to be seen, but his Season 88 breakthrough has only strengthened his case for the next level.
“Masasabi ko lang sa men’s football team namin na nagpapasalamat kami sa kanila, kasi sila yung naging role model coming into this season. Isa rin sila sa reason kung bakit gusto naming mag-improve — para pagdating namin sa college, kaya naming makisabay sa kanila pag-akyat na namin sa Men’s,” he closed.
