The defending state champion Menlo-Atherton Bears won’t even be taking the field on Friday to clinch a share of their second straight PAL Bay Division title, as they have learned that the Aragon Dons will be forfeiting this week’s contest, citing “a concern for the health and well-being of our student-athletes and what we feel is in the best interest of our program.” Head coach and athletic director Steve Sell did note that the decision was not reached lightly and that he expected negative reactions.
“Let somebody walk five weeks in our shoes before judging us,” Sell said. “Nobody wanted to take our spot in the Bay Division. It was clear in September we were in the wrong division, and we’ve got to find a way to be more flexible with scheduling when those things become apparent. What we’re doing is asking a 168-pound kid to go wrestle with a 191-pound kid.”
Unlike many of the forfeits from teams in the area in recent years, though, Aragon isn’t struggling with roster numbers or player discipline. The Dons have 41 players listed on their roster, so even if they were hit hard by a combination of injuries, eligibility issues and some sort of pandemic that leaves a significant portion of the roster incapacitated, they should still have more than enough players available to take the field. It’s not like M-A has far more players than Aragon does, either. In fact, the Bears have just 49 players listed, and while that’s the largest of the PAL rosters, it’s not an enormous squad.
The biggest difference between the two teams is simply in talent. Aragon is 1-7 on the season, and though the Bears are only 5-3, their three losses came against Serra, Folsom and Utah power East. M-A is the defending state Division 3-AA champion, while all four of the Dons’ league losses and one of their nonleague defeats have finished with a running clock. It’s no secret that the game would be a mismatch.
“At the coaches’ meeting at the end of last year, Aragon made it clear that they would be a very young team and hard-pressed to compete in the Bay Division, and yet the coaches voted them in,” league commissioner Terry Stogner said. “The forfeit is absolutely not fair to M-A and Aragon knows that. The decision was made based on safety alone.”
However, other teams have made do despite a much smaller rosters than Aragon’s. Half Moon Bay has just 25 players rostered, and in the East Bay, Deer Valley has just 20. The Wolverines were reduced to 15 players by the end of their game against defending state 1-A champion Liberty last Friday, but they still finished the game despite wearing a 63-22 beatdown. Liberty, meanwhile, has lost just two games over the last two seasons and is led by four-star quarterback Jay Butterfield, who is accompanied by a handful of other Division I prospects. The loss sent Deer Valley to an 0-9 record, but the Wolverines finished the game, even with a depleted team, which earned praise from Liberty defensive coordinator Brian Reel.
Yes, the most likely outcome of the game that Aragon is forfeiting would be a lopsided Menlo-Atherton win, perhaps with the entire second half being played with a running clock. During prior discussions in which the possibility of a forfeit had been discussed, M-A had tried to assure Aragon that the game would be played with caution in mind and starters would not be left in beyond reasonable lengths.
“We’re not the type of team to run up a score for nothing,” Menlo-Atherton co-athletic director Paul Snow said. “We have plenty of kids who haven’t played much that would be assured playing time.”
Still, the decision means that the senior classes of both schools will have their seasons reduced by one game, and in M-A’s case, it means the Bears won’t be able to play on Senior Night. They finish the regular season at King’s Academy, and it’s quite possible that they won’t have another home game at all. The Bears are currently projected as the fifth seed in Division I in our latest playoff projections, meaning that they may have unknowingly taken the field at home for the final time. While their 26-20 homecoming victory over Sacred Heart Prep was a thrilling affair, it came without the festivities associated with Senior Night, and it’s now possible that the Bears never get such an opportunity.
“It was really unexpected,” said Menlo-Atherton senior running back Francisco Sanchez, who transferred from Aragon prior to this year. “We prepped for them yesterday at practice so for them to cancel was really surprising. It’s really unfortunate we can’t play and enjoy a Senior Night. There were lots of performances planned and families coming out.”
While Senior Night is a big occasion for any community, this would have been a particularly big one for Menlo-Atherton. The Bears would have been honoring Aisea “Bojack” Mataele, who would have been a senior this year. Mataele passed away from an unknown illness in December 2016 and has been a rallying point for the M-A community over the years. The team has taken the field with a flag adorned with the logo of DC Comics superhero The Flash, a representation of Mataele, since his passing.
“The most important thing is that it takes away Senior Night, which these kids have been looking forward to for years,” Snow explained. “We had the Polynesian Club performing at halftime, we were bringing in leis from Hawaii. It’s a major event for the entire community.”
While the Bears have begun talks to try to piece together some sort of makeshift ceremonies to honor their senior class, they won’t have the game to play on Friday.
“We just had our homecoming rally two weeks ago, and it would be hard to put something like that together in three days,” Snow said. “We knew (the forfeit) was a possibility, but as recent as late last week we were under the impression that they were going to play.”
The effects will also be felt financially. M-A had just four home games scheduled this year, and with the cancellation of Friday’s game, the school will be reduced to just three.
“It’s also one of the few sports where we charge at the gate, so between concessions and everything it costs us about $15,000,” Snow added.
Aragon is also forfeiting the junior varsity contest. While no discipline for the Dons is being levied at the time, the possibility will be discussed at the Athletic Director and Board of Managers meetings following the conclusion of the season.
