Sonora football still an unwelcome member of the Mother Lode League

Two years ago, there was a proposal in place to move the Sonora High School football team to the Trans-Valley League.

The Wildcats had become too small for the Valley Oak League, and many in the Mother Lode League felt they were too big and strong to come home.

So they came up with a plan to keep Sonora out and hoped the TVL and Sac-Joaquin Section realignment committee could be persuaded.

They weren’t.

Since then, the resistance’s worst fears have been realized.

After falling on hard times in its final years in the VOL, Sonora has blossomed into a small-school juggernaut. The Wildcats are the defending Division V champions and a team with CIF State Bowl aspirations this fall.

Sonora is 12-0 in league games and 23-4 overall in the two years since realignment shook up and agitated the Mother Lode.

In 2014, Sonora won its league games by an average of 45 points. Last fall, the margin of victory tightened to 26. Sonora was pushed to overtime by Argonaut, trailed Amador after the first quarter and held its breath as Calaveras botched a potential game-winning two-point conversion in the final minutes of a 28-27 loss.

Sonora coach Bryan Craig hopes those contests will silence the detractors as the realignment process once again intensifies.

“I think the section likes us where we’re at. The Mother Lode League was more competitive last year,” he said. “We had a couple of tough games in there. I think the section would be happy to keep us sitting right here, but I’m not sure the MLL wants us to stay in. I still think they want us to move along.

“That’s just me saying that.”

Around the Stanislaus District, league commissioners and athletic directors have begun to hash out possible scenarios, voice their concerns and establish allegiances.

In June, representatives from the Modesto Metro Conference, Valley Oak League, Central California Conference and Western Athletic Conference gathered with section director of communications Will DeBoard in Turlock.

On Dec. 14, during the week of the CIF State Bowl games, the section will conduct its first official realignment meeting in Stockton.

Will Sonora football, The Bee’s top-ranked small-school team for most of last season, remain a lightning rod for scrutiny?

“I think the play has gotten better since we got into the league,” Craig said. “It’s one of those things – get better or get blown out. Argonaut took us to overtime. Amador gave us a game for three quarters. Calaveras did well in the playoffs. You can see the level of play in the Mother Lode League getting better.”

Better, yes, but its administrators and coaches aren’t entirely convinced Sonora is where it belongs.

Craig has spoken to two MLL football coaches who believe the Wildcats should be playing in a much tougher conference, whether it’s the TVL or a return to the Valley Oak League, home of CIF State Bowl champions Central Catholic and Sierra.

“Put us in the TVL and we’re going to play football,” Craig said matter of factly. “I’m not going to cry about it.”

A third coach even questioned Calaveras football’s place in the MLL. With 300 to 400 more students, Bret Harte coach Casey Kester said Sonora and Calaveras get “those extra five or six kids that we don’t get. It makes a difference.

“I’m not sure Sonora belongs in our league. I’m not sure Calaveras belongs in our league. I don’t know that they benefit by playing us.”

Calaveras’ Jason Weatherby isn’t one of those coaches who thinks Sonora should be moved, although his athletic director, Mike Koepp, was among the most outspoken two years ago and served on the section committee.

“I never had that argument. I think it makes the whole league better,” said Weatherby, who won two league titles (2010, 2013) and never lost more than one game before Sonora’s arrival. Weatherby became head coach in 2008, inheriting the program from Central Catholic’s Roger Canepa.

Weatherby has embraced the challenge set forth by Sonora, and with a dynamic run game led by seniors Noah Preuss and Anthony Giangregorio, Calaveras could be the first to knock off the Wildcats when they meet in San Andreas in September.

“The first year, we had schools get pounded by them. The second year, we almost beat them,” Weatherby said. “We have the capability of doing it. We just have to put everything together. They bring the whole caliber of our league higher.”

Calaveras is the largest school in the Mother Lode League with 1,063 students, while Argonaut is the smallest at 577. Sonora has 979 students. The possible merger of Amador (628) and Argonaut – the youth football programs have already combined with great success – would create an enrollment on par with Calaveras and Sonora.

Bret Harte, Summerville and Linden have 686, 681 and 668 students.

“They fought pretty hard the last time to not let Sonora into the league, and it went on deaf ears,” Weatherby said. “I don’t think that’s changed. As far as competitive equity, we’re still competitive across the board.”

Of the major boys and girls sports – football, volleyball, baseball and softball, and boys and girls basketball – Sonora has won six league titles over the last two years. Argonaut, Calaveras and Summerville have won two apiece, while Linden has one.

Football, however, remains the beast in the boardroom, and Craig wonders how the results will impact the committee.

“There are so many things to consider when it comes to realignment. This next year will be the tell-tale sign,” Craig said. “If we go through undefeated and kill everybody, maybe they move us.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Sonora football still an unwelcome member of the Mother Lode League."