St. Mary’s to take NFL stage

Rams will play powerhouse Mater Dei out of Santa Ana

At the conclusion of the St. Mary’s football team’s weight lifting session, at the very end of the first official practice of 2017, head coach Tony Franks gave his team a message.

For an announcement of such a large magnitude, Franks delivered in an understated way.

Rams cornerback Drew Jenkins, a senior and longtime San Francisco 49ers fan, remembers it vividly.

“Coach Franks said, ‘Oh by the way, we’re playing at Levi’s Stadium against Mater Dei,’” Jenkins said.

Said Franks: “It was just kind of a ‘by the way.’ That was fun.”

Indeed, St. Mary’s is taking part in the Friday Night Lights Showcase at the home of the Niners in Santa Clara, facing a state and national heavyweight in Santa AnaMater Dei at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23.

“When it’s an open NFL weekend, they look for good high school games. Our game with Mater Dei was the appropriate weekend, and they saw that game and thought, ‘hmm, that might be pretty good,’” Franks said. “What a tremendous experience, for our whole program, really. For the whole community to have a chance to watch our guys play down there.”

St. Mary’s is the second San Joaquin County team to take part in the showcase, after Manteca played a Valley Oak

League game against Oakdale on a Saturday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium in October 2014.

“I assume that we get the home locker room,” said Jenkins, who starts with twin brother Tre Jenkins in the Rams’ secondary, “so that’s going to be exciting.”

St. Mary’s originally had year two of a home-and-home with Bellflower-St. John Bosco — the reigning CIF State Open Division champion — scheduled for Sept. 22 or 23. But Bosco switched its schedule, leading to the Mater Dei matchup.

Late in July, rumors about the Rams’ trip to Santa Clara started spreading.

“Ever since I was born,” Jenkins said of his fandom. “My dad likes the Niners, so I grew up loving them, too.”

St. Mary’s is dropping what would’ve been a home game against Mater Dei, so it’ll have five road, four home and one neutral site game this season. Although, Santa Clara is much closer to Stockton than Santa Ana.

General admission tickets are available online for $10 each at ticketmaster.com. This is the fourth season of the high school showcase at Levi’s Stadium, as there’s been one every year since the facility opened in 2014.

A game between Los Altos and Santa Clara-Wilcox, at 3:30 p.m., precedes the St. Mary’s-Mater Dei main event.

Mater Dei is MaxPreps.com’s No. 1ranked preseason team in the nation, while St. Mary’s, a reigning Sac-Joaquin Section and CIF NorCal champion, was No. 67.