Reigning champion McClymonds won’t start season this weekend

The football schedule for McClymonds High, the reigning 2-A NorCal champion, is still being finalized as most teams in the region begin competition this weekend.

McClymonds won’t start its football season for another weekend and its schedule will be confined to teams within the Oakland Athletic League, coach Michael Peters said Tuesday.

Schedules are still being finalized in the OAL, but the Warriors, who are ranked No. 10 in the Bay Area News Group top25, won’t begin their season until March 27, Peters said. They are searching for a scrimmage for this weekend, but with many schools having started competition, pickings are slim, he said.

While McClymonds’ regular-season schedule will be limited to other OAL schools, the Warriors can scrimmage teams in any adjacent county. Their options for league games have also shrunk — Oakland High, one of six teams that compete in the OAL, which is comprised of schools in the Oakland Unified School District, will not field a varsity a team this season, Peters said.

Under Peters, McClymonds has not lost a league game in a decade. Over the past five years, the program had worked its way up from state championship appearances in 5-A, 5-AA, 4-AA and 4-A.

Last season, more than 15 months ago, the Warriors earned their highest state title bid yet, competing at Cerritos College for the 2-A state title. That game, a 34-6 loss to Pacifica-Oxnard, was the only one they dropped all season.

This season, Peters is still unsure of what kind of team he’s got. Without even a scrimmage, it’s difficult to evaluate an inexperienced team.

“We’re really young this year, so I can’t really say until we scrimmage somebody,” Peters said. “I wait until my scrimmage to find out if we’re gonna be great or average or if there’s something to improve on.”

Peters commended commissioner Franky Navarro for his proactive leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Navarro has been “on top of it,” Peters said, and recently presented the season plan to the school board.

Although the OAL will have a later start date than many other leagues, its season will run until the final weekend of April, Peters said. He said district rules prohibit non-league games this season.

All McClymonds’ games will take place on Saturdays at 6 p.m. this season, Peters said, partially due to shortages of referees.