Football teams kicking off next weekend with new challenges

High school football’s non-league schedule begins next Friday with three local schools led by new head coaches—College Park (Casey Moreno), Mt. Diablo (Fetuao Mua) and Clayton Valley Charter (Nick Tisa).

Five of the seven local high schools made it to the North Coast Section playoffs last fall and will be seeking returns to the post season.

As usual, De La Salle will garner the largest spotlight as coach Justin Alumbaugh’s Spartans look to win their 31st successive North Coast Section championship and get back to contending for a CIF State Bowl game title, something that has eluded the Concord school since 2015.

Last year’s team fell to Lin- coln of San Diego in the State 1-AA Bowl 33-28, a fifth straight loss in a state championship game. That Spartan team lost an unprecedented four games but also fielded an unusually large number of underclassmen who got plenty of playing time. DLS also had some changes to its coaching staff including long-time assistant Terry Eidson returning this fall.

Clayton Valley Charter will take the field without Tim Murphy calling the plays for first time since 2012. Due to the upcoming 2024-28 NCS realignment, this will be the Ugly Eagles last season in the East Bay Athletic League before they return to the Diablo Athletic League.

CVCHS does have the advantage over the other schools with new coaches since Tisa has been on the staff for several years and is very familiar with all aspects of the program and the players. Both the EBAL and DAL have adjusted their divisions as they continue to seek competitive equity among their members. In the DAL, College Park, which won the 2022 Valley Division with an unbeaten 5-0 league record, has been moved up to the Foothill Division.

That was the Falcons first outright league title in 11 years, but the season ended in multiple controversies. Both head coach Travis Raciti and athletic director Jim Keck subsequently left their positions. Moreno’s team will have the added challenge of being placed in the competitive DAL Foothill Division.

Because that switch creates uneven divisions with seven schools in the DAL Foothill and five in the Valley there are three interleague games scheduled during the season to minimize bye weeks for league teams. For the Valley Division it also means there is only one league game in Weeks 5 and 10.

Concord coach Paul Reynaud and Northgate’s Ben Ballard want to get their teams into NCS again. Concord is in the DAL Valley Division and Northgate in the Foothill. Mt. Diablo missed out on NCS last fall. New coach Mua reportedly had some transfer student athletes last semester move to the Concord school. Ygnacio Valley has not won a game since late in the 2019 season and coach Rae Jackson Sr. hopes to turn that around this fall.

See Football, page B2