Section postpones football playoff games this week due to poor air quality
The Sac-Joaquin Section office announced all football playoff games scheduled for Friday and Saturday have been postponed due to “worsening air quality expected through the weekend.”
The games previously scheduled for this weekend will now be played on Nov. 23 and 24. The Division 1-3 championships will be Saturday, Dec. 1 at Sacramento State. The Division 4-6 championships will be held the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 1.
“All AQI forecasts for this weekend remain well into the red (unhealthy) and even into the purple (extremely unhealthy) ranges,” Sac-Joaquin Section Assistant Commissioner Will DeBoard said in a news release. “This decision was made with the health of our student-athletes in mind. We understand this may cause some inconveniences and we appreciate your patience and understanding. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of the region impacted far more severely by the Camp Fire.”
The move comes one day after the CIF State office announced it was pushing back the NorCal regional bowl games and the state championship bowl games one week.
The announcement means the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI semifinal matchup between Hilmar (9-2) and Escalon (9-2) will be moved back a week.
“I think it’s always good to err on the side of caution,” said Yellowjackets coach Frank Marques. “I’d hate for us to play a game and then have to wait for a week. This keeps us all on the same schedule.”
Marques says the postponement didn’t catch him by surprise. He had been in contact with the section office this week and expected the games to be moved back a week.
Marques said the air quality hasn’t really affected his team this week. He said at this time of year they really ramp down the physical activity in practices anyway.
Escalon coach Andrew Beam also agreed with the decision to postpone the game.
“For selfish reasons, it’s shoot, you really want to play. You’ve practiced outdoors for three days already,” Beam said. “I completely understand because you want to make things fair for the teams in the north who are competing against teams down south.”
If Beam has one concern, it is maintaining any momentum a team has this time of year.
“My worry is this is our second bye week in three weeks,” he said. “You worry a little bit about throwing us off our routine and losing momentum that most teams have that are playing at this time of year.”
One bonus for Hilmar with the postponement is it will make it easier for football coaches and players to travel down South to watch the Yellowjackets play for the state championship against San Luis Obispo on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
“That helps a lot,” Marques said. “I’m leaving school on Friday after school to watch our girls kick some (butt). A lot of players are going to head down there. For Hilmar selfish reasons this is great. This is a whole other level for our school.”
Cross country meet still on
The Sac-Joaquin Section also announced that the section cross country championships are still scheduled for Saturday at Willow Hill in Folsom. There will be varsity only races with combined divisions, beginning at 9 a.m. If the air quality worsens in Folsom the meet will be canceled and the times from the sub-section meet will be used to determine state berths.
This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Section postpones football playoff games this week due to poor air quality."