West Side story: Battle for the Chief excites, connects two communities

The window to the snack bar has been propped open, allowing the breeze to blow through Craig Christenson’s office.

He needs it, too. Inside, the man is hard at work, stocking the shelves with chocolates and lollipops, stacking cases of soda, water and Gatorade, and rolling red and white flags to be picked up on Friday.

The Battle for the Chief – Gustine vs. Orestimba – is almost here, and everyone in this rural community has a job to do. The players and coaches, many of whom trudge past Christenson and his snack shack on their way to practice, aren’t the only ones locked in preparation.

Christenson raced to the high school from the Bay Area to finish the grocery shopping for Friday’s game, the 71st in this rivalry dating back to 1946. In fact, the craftsman is still wearing steel-toed boots and work pants, dusted in concrete and dirt, as he lugs a bag of briquettes from his truck to the barbecue.

It’s been two years since his youngest child graduated from Gustine High School, but Christenson remains tied to the school. He is in his third year at the helm of the Athletic Boosters Club, which qualifies him as the Redskins’ biggest fan.

The only thing more impressive than his grocery bill – the Boosters Club spent upwards of $2,000 on food and supplies for a game expected to draw up to 7,000 people – is a gift Christenson scored for the football program.

He ordered an inflatable run-through tunnel, which was delivered Thursday.

Cost: $2,700.

“That’s small-town spirit right there,” Christenson said. “It’s totally different than in a big city. These kids appreciate what we do for them. The only reason I do it is for the kids. I’m a single parent, too, so it helps keep me occupied. It’s a good deal all the way around.”

He hangs on because Redskin football fills the empty spaces in this community of about 6,000, uniting the generations while providing an entertainment element unmatched for miles.

And the football has never been better on the West Side, from Patterson to Los Banos. Gustine and Orestimba are tied atop the Southern League standings at 9-0.

To the winner on Friday go the spoils: a perfect regular season, a league championship, a possible No. 1 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs and, of course, the Chief.

The 5-foot-tall wooden statue has resided with Gustine the last two years. It sits in the administration office, just outside vice principal Adam Cano’s door, greeting visitors with a football tucked under his arm.

In truth, the Chief is the chief concern. The two schools, separated by mere minutes along Highway 33, have been fighting over it since 1988.

The Redskins have retained possession of the Chief, thanks to last-second field goals in their last two meetings.

“I’ve always said it doesn’t matter if we lose all of our games as long as we beat Newman (Orestimba),” said lifelong Gustine resident Pat Test, owner of Pat’s House of Beauty of Fifth Street.

Her allegiance to the school and football program runs deep. She is a graduate of the class of 1961 and a former homecoming queen.

She proudly displays a “Go Redskins” sign in her storefront window and employs three other Gustine graduates.

In her younger years, Test said she tried to warm up to all things Newman. Her first husband was an Orestimba graduate.

“Love is blind,” she said, pausing to set up the punchline, “but marriage opens your eyes.”

Just down the street, at the Rico, Pfitzer, Pires and Associates Insurance Agency, the building bleeds Redskin red, except in Linda Whiteaker’s office. Her son is a junior at Orestimba, making her an easy target for in-office pranks this time of the year.

Whiteaker once shared an office with Rita Caldera, whose son, Daniel Caldera, is the starting center at Gustine.

“We won’t talk,” Caldera said playfully. “It’ll be nothing but the stink-eye.”

Gustine holds a 36-32-2 advantage in the series. One of those ties belongs to Orestimba graduate Dennis Rose, class of 1970 and a former wide receiver.

Rose has a steel-trap memory and a passion for all things Stanislaus District football. He regales anyone within earshot with tales of Orestimba and Gustine, Central Catholic and Escalon, and Mark Speckman’s powerhouse teams at Merced. He’s watched Orestimba running back Austin Martins grow from a 5-year-old darting between legs to No. 5 blasting through tackles. Rose and Martins’ father, Mario, once served in the Orestimba volunteer fire department together.

“I am 63 years old and have fond memories of this school,” Rose said. “So many memories, and I remember them like they were yesterday.”

Retired Orestimba coach and teacher Dennis Bettencourt went 0-4 as a player in the 1960s. In three of those losses, the Warriors were shut out. Jim Jasper helped lead the Warriors to a rare rivalry win in the 1960s, when “Gustine was loaded with talent,” Bettencourt said.

Those three joined Orestimba principal Justin Pruett, an all-conference tight end in his heyday, at Wednesday’s practice. They marveled not only at the history-making feats of this year’s football team, but of those that came before it.

All four agree: head coach Aaron Souza, an Orestimba graduate, has applied his personality to the program. The Warriors are electric and energetic, hungry and keenly aware of their roots and this rivalry. Souza has led Orestimba to four playoff appearances in six seasons. He can celebrate his first league title on Friday night behind enemy lines.

“This game runs very deep for me,” Souza said.

Two communities, connected by seven miles of highway and decades of football battles, share his sentiment. And work ethic.

Christenson half-jokingly says he won’t sleep until Saturday. The Battle for the Chief is a big deal on the West Side and everyone has a job to do.

“I was up until midnight trimming tri-tip. I’ll be up at 6 in the morning putting up flags. I’ll probably work a 10- to 11-hour shift at the game,” Christenson said. “It’s worth it or I wouldn’t be doing it. Everyone is talking about this game. Everyone wants to know how many we’re expecting. A lot of people have come out of the woodwork. It’s made a big difference in this town.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 6:01 PM with the headline "West Side story: Battle for the Chief excites, connects two communities."