Who has the edge in Mayor’s Cup?
Game will be afternoon affair at Corbus Field
There are numerous songs written over the years with the word “one” in them.
“One Way Or Another ” by Blondie might be the most fitting for the Mayor’s Cup this season. The game will kick off at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The odds seemed stacked against the Vallejo and Jesse Bethel high school football teams as the Vallejo Unified School District delayed their conditioning until mid-March. Almost every other program in the area started months earlier as districts waited for their counties’ coronavirus cases to improve.
The Redhawks (0-1) scheduled a nonleague game against
Rodriguez two weeks ago, but the Jaguars are playing a onegame season.
One is the loneliest number? Maybe.
What’s it like coaching a team for one game as opposed to the usual 10 during a traditional fall campaign?
“It’s frustrating, and it’s hard to motivate to keep them to stay focused,” Bethel head coach Jeff Turner said. “Yet, for this game? It’s a little bit easier. For this game, the kids are ready to go. They’re ready to call it a wrap on practice and get on to Saturday.”
The Jaguars (8-2 in 2019) feature five seniors. For them, the game means a bit more. Bethel has won four straight Mayor’s Cup trophies.
“It’s a lot. It’s everything,” said senior two-way lineman Jadon Clark, an all-league performer last season. “It’s our last game. It’s our last high school game. It’s a good thing it’s against Vallejo.”
Despite the late start for practice, senior wide receiver/safety Traylen Jones thinks the players are up to the task.
“Conditioning-wise, I think we’re doing well,” Jones said. “We just need to keep going and give maximum effort.”
Bethel’s last win in the series (a 24-8 win) came in October of 2019 but the Jaguars will look quite different this time around as quarterback Mal Turner transferred to Napa High and star defensive back Simeon Harris transferred to Benicia High.
Turner said besides the transfers, a few others decided not to play.
“We lost about six or seven kids who are weapons, but we found some other weapons,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for those guys to make some plays and be seen.”
Vallejo head coach Mike Wlson III said his team improved quite a bit after the 64-20 loss to Rodriguez two weeks ago.
“We looked pretty young when we played Rodriguez, but we corrected a lot of things,” Wilson said. “We watched a lot of film and cleaned up our mistakes. I feel like the kids picked up a lot, they matured and we got into good shape.”
Senior running back Kyree Reason finished with 149 yards on six carries and scored two touchdowns against Rodriguez. Senior quarterback Trevon Vaughn had a 45-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and played well despite plenty of pressure from the Mustangs.
Wilson said Vallejo improved immensely on its blocking techniques.
“We spent a lot of time improving our line,” Wilson said. “We made some changes and took out some stuff and added some other stuff in so we can be successful run blocking as well pass blocking.”
There will be no junior varsity game. Every player out for football is on the varsity.
Turner said his team will be a heavy mix of sophomores and juniors.
“That’s really what we focused on to get us ready,” he said. “We knew what our seniors could do. (The seniors) have really supported those guys and they’ve been coaches on the field, which is kind of cool.”
Notes: Vallejo Athletic
Director Josh Ramos said each player was allotted four passes to give out to whomever they choose. Fans are asked to wear their masks at all times and six-foot sections are being marked off in the stands so people can socially distance. Gates open at 12:30 p.m. There is no charge to attend the game.
Here is how the other season finales in the area stack up:
St. Pat’s (3-1) at Northgate (4-0)
Just two weeks after losing to Northgate 23-19, the Bruins will get a Diablo Athletic League rematch on Friday in Walnut Creek. The Broncos have scored 134 points — an average of 33.5 points a contest. St. Pat’s senior Zion Booker had a kickoff return for a touchdown the last time the two teams met. Last week he had a receiving touchdown in a win over Alhambra. Bobby Brooks had 192 yards rushing against Alhambra.
Justin Siena (3-2) at American Canyon (2-2)
The Wolves have fallen on some hard times in Vine Valley Athletic League play. After winning their first two games, they have lost two in a row, including a 49-46 barn burner to Casa
Grande two weeks ago. The Wolves had a bye week last week so they should be prepared for the final game of the season. American Canyon likes to run the ball with Ezekiel Anderson and he could get plenty of carries in his final game. Quarterback Vinnie Espejo can also run the ball well on sneaks, but he’ll likely need to complete some passes in order to defeat the Braves. One of Espejo’s favorite targets is Jordan Fisher.
Benicia (2-2) at Las Lomas (1-3)
The Panthers are hoping to go out with a bang and pick up their third win. Whether or not Benicia wins, however, may come down to turnovers. The Panthers forced six of them in a win last week against Will C. Wood, but committed seven of them in a loss to Acalanes. Las Lomas has an offense that can put up points at 28 per game. Benicia has three players — Miles Bailey, Croix Stewart and Simeon Harris — who have all verbally committed to Division I colleges. This will be Harris’ second straight game after transferring from Bethel.
Times-Herald reporter Thomas Gase contributed to this report.