THE LIGHTS ARE ON
Fifteen months after the clock struck zero on the last high school football season played in California, the sport is back.
It was a soft opening across the Bay Area last weekend with a handful of games on the schedule. This weekend nearly everyone is back or at least scheduled to be back.
In this most unusual spring season, which opens one year after the sports world shut down because of the coronavirus, there are no guarantees. One or two positive COVID-19 tests, coupled with contact tracing, can put teams back on the sideline or notably shorthanded.
Given what we saw last fall in college football, we suspect more than a few will hit some coronavirus bumps before the season ends in mid-April. Does anyone remember how many football games Cal played in 2020?
Four.
But that’s OK, at least in this high school season.
In the campaign to convince policymakers to give high school football a chance, safety was at the forefront of the discussion. The kids, the coaches said, were in safer hands under high school supervision than on a club team, which some kids had turned to because there was no high school option.
Like it or not, testing and contact tracing are part of the safer hands.
The tireless return-toplay campaign was persuasive enough to convince Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s health officials to give high school football coaches and players a chance, an opportunity to prove that the sport can be played safely amid the pandemic.
Teams hit the practice field about a week after Newsom announced on Feb. 19 that restrictions would be loosened and are grateful for the chance to play actual games, even in March.
“I am looking at this season as an opportunity,” said Capuchino coach Jay Oca, whose team played March 12 at San Mateo. “Our seniors deserve it so much. Not just my seniors. But every senior, every senior out there on every football program all over California, they all deserve it.
“For the guys that have been on varsity for three years, for the guys that have been playing in their program for four years, for the guys that are hopefully getting looked at and going on to the next level, it’s for those guys.
“For me, my senior year wasn’t successful as far as winning and losing. But it was so important to me as a football player. I am just glad we can give this gift to these guys.”
March 12 marked 454 days since the last high school football season ended in California.
Eighty-nine days after that final game of the 2019 season — St. John Bosco’s victory over De La Salle in the Open Division state championship — high school officials pulled the plug on the state basketball championships just as professional and college sports officials were canceling or pushing pause on their seasons.
That was exactly one year ago March 12.
And on the first anniversary of the California Interscholastic Federation’s decision to end the basketball season just shy of the finish line, high school football returned.
March Madness, let us introduce you to Friday Night Lights.