Modesto-area champion football coaches talk of league vs. section titles, traditions
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs are finally here for the first time in two years and Stanislaus District schools had a lot of success on their way to the postseason.
There are four Modesto schools that won their league. Downey, Davis, Big Valley Christian and Central Catholic enter the playoffs a combined 21-0 in league games and 32-8 overall.
Downey, which won the Central California Athletic League, and Davis, winner of the Western Athletic Conference, were awarded first-round home games as the eighth seed in Divisions II and III, respectively and Central Catholic, the top team in Division II, earned a bye.
Friday, the journey to a section title begins, which begs the question: What would they rather have, a league title or a section title?
Most – but not all – didn’t want to look at it as one or the other, saying instead it’s part of a season’s journey.
“We told the kids we’re CCAL champs, nobody can take that away from us no matter what we do,” Downey coach Jeremy Plaa said. “But we’ve never won a section championship before. So now our goal has got to completely change. It doesn’t matter that we’re CCAL champs because we’re in this new tournament, basically half the teams in it are champions. So it’s all a matter of how bad you want it. It’s a new season.”
Trans-Valley League champion Escalon went a perfect 6-0 in the league and, like Central Catholic, earned a first-round bye.
“The goals are always the same,” said Cougars’ coach Andrew Beam. “Beat your rivals, win a league title and pursue a section or state title.
“We’ve knocked off a couple of those goals and so the next goal is being presented to us, and that’s going to be one heck of a challenge.”
Escalon moved up from its normal Division VI into the Division V playoffs after winning the TVL, a Division V league. Beam knows the field is loaded and could include a rematch with rival Ripon in the semifinals.
“I think is there are five or six league champs in that (Division V) bracket,” Beam said. “So there there are no easy games anymore. Anyone could get beat any week.”
In a small-school league like the Central California Athletic Alliance, Big Valley Christian head coach Brian Berkefeld knows every year his team doesn’t have a choice but to win the league if they want to have a shot at a section title.
“We know that if we don’t win league we may not get in (to the playoffs) and so that that has to be a goal for us,” said Berkefeld, whose 2021 team won the CCAA crown. “So when we say get into the playoffs, part of getting into the playoffs is winning the league.”
The Valley Oak League is widely known for being one of the most competitive leagues in the area, if not the state. With matchups between Oakdale, Central Catholic and Manteca every year, just winning a VOL title can be harder than winning a section title.
Oakdale finished behind Central Catholic and Kimball in this year’s race, but head coach Trent Merzon still puts being the king of the VOL over winning the section.
“For me, it’s always about the Valley Oak League title,” Merzon said. “A lot of the stuff in the playoffs you don’t control. But the Valley Oak League, you control it, and there’s been many years that it’s been more difficult to win the Valley Oak league than it has been to win a section title.”
Traditions are part of the experience
There was common ground about the role traditions play in sports. Everything from rivalry games to playoff beards provide an opportunity for teams to express themselves and show what makes them unique.
Though most at the high school level won’t be growing playoff beards, one tradition common around many programs is picking jerseys.
Oakdale’s thing is black uniforms, but wearing them is something the Mustangs have to earn. They only bring them out for home playoff games, which motivates everyone. It’s the topic of conversation among players as early as February so when playoffs come, wearing them is special.
“Just to get them on means our kids have accomplished something,”Merzon said. “So when they get them, yeah, they’re juiced, and they know what it means. They know we haven’t lost them in 11 years. So then that comes with responsibility.”
Getting a home playoff game isn’t easy. In addition to being successful in the league, teams have to play, and win, tough non league games to be rewarded by the CalPreps ranking system.
Escalon’s jersey tradition has a twist. Coach Beam lets players pick between black or purple jerseys for the playoffs. For the Cougars’ first game, they’ll go with purple.
Downey has a jersey tradition, too. The Knights are all in on wearing light blue jerseys but are split between white and light blue pants.
The Knights have another tradition centered around team camaraderie.
Every year, Downey coaches pass out applications to junior varsity prospects to be brought up to varsity for the playoffs. After filling out applications, the prospective call-ups are interviewed by seniors.
This year, all 14 who were interviewed joined the varsity team for practice on Monday.
Big Valley eyes Thanksgiving Day practice
Coach Berkefeld and Big Valley have made the playoffs for four straight seasons, and in the previous three, they had one main tradition.
“We usually have a playoff selection meeting watch party,” Berkefeld said. “We come in on Sunday, buy the kids pizza, we watch some NFL football and then we put on the Selection Show.”
They weren’t able to do that this year, which Berkefeld admits the team was “bummed” about. But there is one tradition his team is hoping to start in this year’s playoff run.
“The big tradition that we haven’t gotten to start yet is practicing on Thanksgiving morning,” he said. “That’s always really special because it means you’re either in the semifinals or you’re in the championship game.”
Meanwhile, Davis coach Tim Garcia had a tradition as a player at Davis High the late 1990s. His teams went out to a restaurant for dinner on Thursday, the night before home playoff games at Modesto Junior College.
This year, the school’s first playoff appearance in 20 years, he wants to recreate those times for his team to bond before playing on Friday.
After Thursday’s practice, they will head to Golden Corral for a team meal before suiting up the next day to play Roseville at MJC.
“It’s been a long time so we’re just embracing it,” Garcia said. “Those are just little things that we remember and we tried to make the journey special for all that these kids have accomplished.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
