By Mitch Stephens | on December 13, 2015
Six Bay Area football teams struggled through adversity for four months to get to this point: berths in the CIF bowl finals.
But with long travel and larger schools awaiting some, it might be a case of “be careful what you wish for.”
“Heck, yes, it’s a long season,” Clayton Valley coach Tim Murphy said. “In a state like California to play for a state championship, it’s the only way to do it. The first year we got to (regional) in 2012, we were burned out. We’ve acclimated for the longer season. It’s fun and exciting to play this time of year.”
Clayton Valley, with an enrollment of just fewer than 2,000, will play Narbonne-Harbor City, a school with an enrollment of more than 3,300. SHP, with fewer than 700 students, travels to Rancho Bernardo-San Diego (more than 2,200). La Mirada (also 2,200) hosts Campolindo (1,260).
Campolindo coach Kevin Macy was outspoken last week about being matched against Milpitas (more than 3,000 students) in the regional final.
State officials noted that the new bowl format was set up with a competitive, not an enrollment, model, and with Campolindo’s 27-24 victory Friday, they seemed vindicated.
Not so, Macy said after his team’s win.
“Just because we won doesn’t it make it right,” he said. “This isn’t about winning and losing. This is a safety issue. … Don’t get me wrong. We’re happy and excited to still be playing. But man, we’re awfully beat up. The kids will surely welcome the challenge and we’ll patch ourselves together piece-by-piece and find the energy to take on another Division I school.”
De La Salle is making its 10th state-title game appearance, Bellarmine and Campolindo have played in a state bowl twice before and SHP and Clayton Valley once each.
Because De La Salle and Centennial were voted into the Open final (as the top teams in their regions), each received a bye last week.
“We started in pads August 10 and will take them off December 19,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “That’s too much. We have to find a way to shorten the season. With all the concern about safety in our sport, my goodness. I know people are discussing and working at change, so that’s good.”