Pittsburg finally has shot at a regional bowl title
For 26 seasons, Pittsburg’s football program — one of the finest in the Bay Area and Northern California — has lived under the all-encompassing shadow cast by national elite De La Salle-Concord.
The Pirates have boasted dozens of Division I prospects, including future NFL players Ken Simonton, Regan Upshaw and Joe Tafoya, and since 2004, they’ve won 73 percent of their games for a record of 120-45.
But come playoff time, more often than not, they’d run smack dab into the steamroller that is the Spartans, the seventime mythical national champions with a concrete national record 151-game win streak.
Sometimes, like Saturday’s 24-7 North Coast Section Division I defeat, Pittsburg would give De La Salle a pretty good tussle. Many times, Pittsburg coach Vic Galli said the games should be sponsored by Southwest Airlines.
“You just want to get away,” Galli said.
Come Saturday, these Pirates will be glancing toward friendlier skies, free of the Spartans, ready to soar into uncharted territory.
Pittsburg (8-2) travels to Granite Bay (12-2) in Placer County to compete in its first CIF Regional Championship Bowl Game.
The Division 1-A Northern California winner will play the winner of the Southern California game between Paraclete Lancaster( Los Angeles County) and Narbonne-Los Angeles for a state title next Friday at Sacramento State.
“We’re all very excited,” Galli said. “We’re excited to do something that has never been done in this program’s long and storied tradition. It feels good. It feels refreshing.”
Galli is grateful that NCS changed its format to allow two teams for the Open Division to advance to regionals. He’s also thankful that the CIF opened up more divisions to compete (there are 13 of them).
Not since 1991 has Pittsburg ended its season with a playoff victory, a monumental 35-27 win over De La Salle in the NCS 3A final at the Oakland Coliseum.
That’s the last time De La Salle has lost to a Northern California opponent, a staggering 290-game winning streak since then.
“We’ve definitely been given an opportunity to finish the season on a winning note,” Galli said. “This is a good, evenly matched game and a good, evenly matched bracket on both sides.”
Pittsburg has history with Granite Bay, a longtime SacJoaquin Section power that won a state Division 2 title in 2012, the same year the Pirates beat it 28-27 in overtime.
Granite Bay has won the four other times the teams have played, including 39-35 in 2013 when Pittsburg opened its renovated stadium and field.
“If those games are indicative of how Saturday’s game goes, the fans will be in for a treat,” Galli said.
Of course, none of the players Saturday has any connection to the previous games, other than wearing the same colors.
Pittsburg is led by a junior class that features one of the top defensive linemen in the country, Jacob Bandes (6foot-3, 285). The Pirates have skill players galore, including quarterback Justin Boyd, a possible Division I receiver who had to change positions because of a season-ending injury to returning starter Trey Turner during the team’s preseason scrimmage with De La Salle.
The Pirates, who opened the year with a 63-21 loss at nationally ranked Centennial-Corona (Riverside County), have two breakaway running backs in Darrion Bartley and Premier Murphy, and three college capable receivers, led by A’Jae Boyd and Willie Harts III.
“It seems like forever since that trip to Corona,” Galli said. “That was a rough start and with the weather and fires, it’s been a strange year. Hopefully, we can take it to the limit.”
Granite Bay has played four more games than the Pirates and features two future Cal players in tackle Will Craig (6-5, 280) and running back/ linebacker Evan Tattersall (6-3, 225). The Grizzlies recorded their fourth shutout with a 22-0 win over Del Oro-Loomis in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 final.
They remind Galli of San Ramon Valley-Danville, which the Pirates beat 16-7 in the first round of the NCS playoffs.
“They’re very well disciplined and well coached,” Galli said. “We’ll need to play our best to win. I’m confident we can.”