Under the new guidelines released on February 19 by the California Department of Public Health, some football teams have already gotten in their first official practice with pads on February 26, the first day allowed. Most of the rest of the teams will start on Monday, March 1 for the two-week period required before games can be played, and for this year that will be in mid-March.
However, while some leagues have released their schedules, others have not, and some teams are still in limbo waiting to hear when their league will allow them to practice with pads.
In what is a hodgepodge in trying to decipher, each league, as mandated by their respective sections, is left to make their own decisions by and large on their own as to who their members can play, as long as they adhere to the most recent CDPH guidelines.
Rather than even attempt to take a stab at it until everyone has sorted things out, for football we’ll look at the top teams and who they have scheduled.
Starting from the top, our Prep2Prep pre-season No. 1 team De La Salle (12-2 last season) has scheduled six games and has found the toughest teams possible to play based on the parameters allowed. Note: all rankings listed are from the Prep2Prep pre-season NorCal rankings.
The Spartans had their first practice with pads last Friday in preparation for a scrimmage with Las Lomas this coming Saturday.
“It was amazing. Players and coaches were ecstatic,” said De La Salle head coach Justin Alumbaugh about the team’s first practice.
This season is an obvious anomaly but it doesn’t change the fact De La Salle brings an over 300-game winning streak against teams north of Fresno since losing to Pittsburg in the 1991 CIF North Coast Section Division 3A title game.
For a bit it was looking like De La Salle might have to defend the streak without its top two recruits when Sacramento State-bound quarterback Dorian Hale and Cal-bound wide receiver and running back Lu-Magia Hearns announced they were sitting out their seasons to prepare for their freshman college seasons in the fall.
Then, last week, when the season became a reality and practice was really meaning something, the duo changed their mind.
“I don’t want to look back and have any regrets on not playing my senior year. I am going to give it a go,” Hale told Darren Sabedra of the Bay Area News Group who announced their decision to reverse course.
According to Alumbaugh, having their two teammates back on the team is a huge boost to the Spartans, not only on the field but for their morale and spirit.
“It meant a lot. Lots of excitement,” Alumbaugh said of their return in a text. “Shows how tight of a group it is.”
The California Interscholastic Federation and CDPH allow for teams to play each other from bordering counties and De La Salle will do that right out of the box when the Spartans host No. 7 St. Mary’s-Stockton on Saturday, March 13 in their season opener. Contra Costa and San Joaquin Counties are bordering. More on that later.
Last season the Spartans fell behind the Rams 7-0 on the road in Stockton, but from there they marched to a resounding 56-17 victory.
From there De La Salle plays two East Bay Athletic League-Mountain Division teams, No. 13 San Ramon Valley, No. 20 Monte Vista-Danville, then they host No. 18 Jesuit-Carmichael before finishing up with California-San Ramon from the "others considered" list, and then No. 11 Clayton Valley Charter.
“We are approaching this season differently because we have to. Have fun, stay safe, work hard, and enjoy being around each other," said Alumbaugh. "And their motivation is incredible. You have to remember, they have been waiting for over a year for this opportunity.”
Alumbaugh was one of three coaches that were spokespeople for the Golden State Football Coaches group at the Zoom press conferences with the Let Them Play CA organization. The others were Ron Gladnick of Torrey Pines and the coaching groups founder Patrick Walsh of Serra-San Mateo.
Walsh and his Padres finished as the No. 1 team in the Central Coast Section to end last season and snagged the No. 2 spot in the Prep2Prep NorCal pre-season rankings.
Serra has five games scheduled but only with teams in the West Catholic Athletic League. They open with what should be their toughest of the five games when they travel to San Jose on March 19 to meet No. 8 Valley Christian, a team they defeated 10-0 in league play last season and then 17-0 in the CCS Division I championship.
From there Walsh and his boys host Sacred Heart Cathedral, and then No. 15 St. Francis-Mountain View before finishing up on the road in San Francisco with Archbishop Riordan and St. Ignatius from the "others considered" list.
Every Tuesday the CDPH releases a map that shows what counties are in what tiers and also information on how many cases per 100,000 they have, with no more than 14 per 100K acceptable to play football.
This will change, but as of last Tuesday the counties in the NCS and CCS were at the following levels, and under the guidelines could play neighboring counties if their leagues allow them to:
Alameda (NCS) – At 9.5 meaning schools can practice and then play. Bordering counties are Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, and possibly Stanislaus, San Mateo and San Francisco.
Contra Costa (NCS) – At 12.5 meaning schools can practice and then play. Bordering counties are Alameda, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Solano, and possibly Marin.
Del Norte (NCS) – Despite being in the Red Tier they are at 14.5 and if that drops they can begin. Bordering counties are Humboldt and Siskiyou.
Humboldt (NCS) – At 6.3 meaning schools can practice and then play. Bordering counties are Del Norte, Mendocino, Siskiyou and Trinity.
Lake (NCS) – At 15.4 so they are moving closer and could get the go soon. Bordering counties are Colusa, Glenn, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma and Yolo.
Marin (NCS) – At 7.4 meaning schools can practice and then play. Bordering counties are Sonoma and possibly Contra Costa and San Francisco.
Mendocino (NCS) – At 16.8 means they have to wait. Bordering counties are Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Sonoma, Tehama and Trinity.
Monterey (CCS) – At 18.4 and that means it might be another week before they can go. Bordering counties are Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Fresno and possibly Kern.
Napa (NCS) – At 6.8 meaning they can practice and then play. Bordering counties are Sonoma, Lake, Yolo and Solano.
San Benito (CCS) – At 17.2 and may get the go-ahead soon. Bordering counties are Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Fresno and Merced.
San Francisco (CCS and NCS) – At 5.2 meaning they can practice and then play. Bordering counties are San Mateo and possibly Alameda and Marin.
San Mateo (CCS) – At 5.6 meaning they can practice and then play. Bordering counties are San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and possibly Alameda.
Santa Clara (CCS) – At 6.7 meaning they can practice and then play. Bordering counties are San Mateo, San Benito, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Merced and possibly San Joaquin.
Santa Cruz (CCS) – At 8.6 meaning they can practice and then play. Bordering counties are Santa Clara, San Mateo, Monterey and San Benito.
Solano (NCS and Sac-Joaquin) – At 12.3 meaning they can practice and then play. Bordering counties are Contra Costa, Napa, Sacramento and Yolo.
Sonoma (NCS) – At 14.0 meaning they are right on the number at this time can practice and then play. Bordering counties are Lake, Marin, Napa and Mendocino.
One change that made some waves, even though there is still some confusion, was Santa Clara County health officials reversing course and allowing student-athletes to participate in high school and club sports simultaneously this spring as part of loosening COVID-19 restrictions. This is in line with the CIF suspending the bylaw that disallows playing high school and club sports at the same time.
According to Central Coast Commissioner Dave Grissom in a statement last week to Bay Area News Group, these are only guidelines and he was going to tell the member schools that it will be up to them to enforce the guidance about playing two sports simultaneously.
Finally, in a tweet over the weekend, Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times revealed that the task force that does COVID-19 testing for all students in the state free of charge that was promised by Governor Newsom and his chief aide Jim DeBoo on February 19, has yet to be rolled out.
Stay tuned for updates later this week in what is an ever changing and fluid situation with more moving parts than an octopus.
