PV playing in Honor Bowl
The Pleasant Valley football team will play at 4 p.m. Saturday at Liberty High School in Brentwood opposed to its normal Friday night lights game when it takes on Menlo-Atherton in a non-league matchup as part of this year’s Honor Bowl.
The Honor Bowl raises money for injured, ill and wounded veterans in a series of varsity high school football games each year, with four games being played in Southern California on Labor Day weekend followed by four games played in Northern California the following weekend. In previous years, money collected from the game has gone to provide action track chairs for wounded veterans, however, with recent events Afghanistan taking place the organization has shifted to supplying service dogs for veterans.
“We’re playing a game and those people are battling for their lives and keeping us free. I just think it’s a huge honor for us to be accepted to be in that game,” said Pleasant Valley Coach Mark Cooley, who said he has been trying to get in the game for a long time since learning of the event.
Pleasant Valley will be the first team from the Northern Section to play in the event, which has taken place since 2011. Sutter was scheduled to play as well in 2021 however had to cancel due to COVID-19 complications on its team. The Vikings will take to the field on the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, however, after a cancellation of the games in 2020 due to COVID-19 this year’s games mark the first time that the players playing will have not been alive at the time of the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.
“Our event is truly a military centric educational experience,” said Honor Group Director of Operations Rick Sutter. “9/11 for us is the tipping for people and kids who decided I need to protect our shores and I need to get into battle and try and do what (soldiers and veterans) do.”
Cooley, who teaches physical education and sports conditioning at PV, said Wednesday he had about half of his team in his class and they talked about the importance of 9/11 and what Saturday’s game is truly about. He discussed why his team is traveling to the Bay Area to play and why he as a coach is so invested in the game. Cooley brought up the Pearl Harbor bombings on Dec. 7, 1941 when he was not alive and said just like 9/11 both days are important and should be remembered forever.
PV senior Anthony Tallerico said he remembers Cooley’s talk in class when his coach said for the team to stick together. Tallerico said Cooley reminded the team there can be hard times but everyone has to stick together and work through it.
Tallerico’s uncle was in the military for most of his life and said personally, Saturday’s non-league game does mean a little bit more. Tallerico said if his uncle were to have ever gotten hurt he would be thankful for an organization such as the Honor Group.
“Just all the families out there who did get hurt through war and things like that, prayers out to them and hopefully this helps them out,” Tallerico said.
Tallerico said despite not being alive for the attack, the event sticks out in his mind because of his family’s military ties.
“Obviously I wasn’t there for it but it affected my family a lot,” Tallerico said. “Them seeing it on TV, and the whole world seeing it basically. Coach has been telling us about our seals, and everyone in the Army and Navy and what it really means to us about giving us freedom.”
Joseph Hughes’ father served in the Army and is currently a Santa Rosa firefighter. Hughes is a senior offensive and defensive tackle for Pleasant Valley. Hughes’ uncle served in the Army and his cousin in the Navy. Hughes’ family will be traveling to the game and he said he’s very appreciative of the opportunity to play in the game, especially with what is going on currently with the United States military.
“If we can support them in any way that’s what we want to do,” Hughes said. “Any chance we get to win and put ourselves higher than teams around us will definitely benefit us. This being a military themed game it just adds on top of that — it’s special.”
Hughes’ father Joe Hughes, a former quarterback at Butte College, said that as a veteran looking at the itinerary and the festivities and tributes it means a lot to him and he knows it does to other veterans too.
“At times things get lost in the shuffle, but we really owe the life that we live to the men and women that fought to give us what we have,” Joe Hughes said. “So to be able to go out and honor the fallen and our current active soldiers in any stretch, I think for the kids there will be a definite added level of pride with being able to represent your school and your family.”
As part of the event, the nonprofit group the Honor Group, which hosts the event, will build a battle cross at the start of the games. The ceremony is a representation of what goes on when a Marine is killed when fellow Marines place the fallen’s bayonet, their dog tags, their helmet and their boots together giving fellow soldiers time to reflect.
“It’s a pretty solemn time because every Marine knows that they could be next,” Rick Sutter said.
Sutter insists the game is not about recruiting, however the Honor Group is involved with recruiting stations for the United State Marine Corps.
“If an athlete is interested in looking into the possibility of serving, that’s between themselves, their parents, their coaches, their friends, pastor, whoever. That’s not what we do,” Sutter said. “But we tell them in our motivational talks who heroes are and heroes aren’t — Kanye or the Kardashians. Heroes are the men and women who volunteer to serve.”
While Campolindo and the host school Liberty kicked off the event Friday night, the schedule for Saturday’s three games includes: Clovis East (2-0) against Heritage (1-1) at noon, Pleasant Valley (0-1) against Menlo-Atherton (02) at 4 p.m. followed by Liberty against Clayton Valley (1-1) against Liberty (3-0) of Bakersfield at 7:30 p.m.
“After last week’s loss (to Yuba City) I don’t think anybody’s really concerned about having an extra day of practice,” Tallerico said. “If it’s going to prepare us to win that’s what we want to do.”
Ticket prices for Saturday are on a donation-basis and can be purchased at https://thehonorgroup. ticketspice.com/2021-norcal-honor-bowl.
The games are also available to stream on the NFHS Network. The Pleasant Valley verse Menlo-Atherton game can be viewed at https://www.nfhsnetwork. com/events/cifncs/gamb4aa2c3468.