Fire, heat cancel Central Catholic game in Marin

The anticipated non-league football matchup between Central Catholic and Marin Catholic, slated for Saturday morning, has been canceled.

Originally slated for 2 p.m., the game was moved to 11 a.m. after a fire in Marin County, coupled with a forecast of 100-plus degrees and poor air quality, forced Marin Catholic officials to re-draft Saturday’s football schedule. Aside from its home stadium in tony Kentfield, Marin Catholic had been looking into the availability of Kezar Stadium and Riordan High School in San Francisco after a fire erupted near campus, according to Central Catholic football coach Roger Canepa. Firefighters worked to control the quarter-acre blaze Thursday. The fire damaged one home in the area.

Central Catholic got word Friday evening that Marin Catholic was backing out of the game.

Orestimba High had its Friday night game against Pacific Grove canceled.

The Warriors’ opponent, Pacific Grove High, refused to make the trek to Newman for the non-conference contest, citing the extreme heat that has cooked Northern California this week. Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District Superintendent Randy Fillpot was contacted by Pacific Grove Unified School District Superintendent Ralph Porras at approximately 2:30 p.m..

With less than six hours to kickoff, Porras told Fillpot the Breakers would not be coming. Orestimba football coach Aaron Souza, who had been in contact with Pacific Grove coach Chris Morgan, was told the players were pulled off the bus by school officials.

“We have seniors that will now have four home games, and that’s kind of disappointing,” Fillpot said. “It’s disheartening. (Porras) was apologetic, but he said, ‘Our kids aren’t used to it (heat).’”

The game will be counted as a forfeit in favor of Orestimba, which moves to 2-0. The Warriors began the week ranked No. 4 in The Bee’s small-school rankings.

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 12:32 PM with the headline "Fire, heat cancel Central Catholic game in Marin."