High school football: Wildfire smoke wreaks havoc, turns Bay Area’s opening weekend into chaos

Bay Area’s marquee matchup this season -- Serra at Pittsburg -- falls victim to wildfire smoke; won’t be rescheduled

Rather than COVID-19, it was wildfire smoke that wreaked havoc on the long-awaited opening weekend to the high school football season in the Bay Area. Marquee matchups featuring the region’s top four teams were all called off because of unhealthy air quality.

Pittsburg superintendent Janet Schulze made the decision to call off the highly anticipated showdown between the No. 2 Pirates and No. 3 Serra Padres approximately five hours prior to the scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff, as local air-quality index readings appeared in the 170s. North Coast Section bylaws prevent schools from playing sports outdoors when the air quality index is 151 or above, which is considered unhealthy.

The decision came shortly after Antioch canceled its season opener against Monte Vista and set off a series of games either to be rescheduled or axed altogether, impacting at least eight teams in the Bay Area News Group Top 25. No. 1 De La Salle, No. 4 San Ramon Valley, No. 12 Bishop O’Dowd, No. 14 Liberty, No. 23 Foothill and No. 25 Heritage were all among the schools forced to abandon plans to open their season Friday night, their first played in the fall in two years after the pandemic delayed the season last fall.

North Coast Section commissioner Pat Cruickshank said he was encouraged by schools working to quickly reschedule.

“Schools are working together to try to reschedule for (Saturday), Monday if possible,” Cruickshank said in a text message. “Really great to see that happening for our kids! One week at a time!”

The showdown between Pittsburg and Serra, however, is gone for good.

The schools were unable to reschedule the game, despite exploring options to play on Saturday or Monday at either campus.

“Man, just when you think you’ve seen it all, they show you something else,” Pittsburg coach Victor Galli said. “All you can do is have a sarcastic laugh. What do you do?”

Serra coach Patrick Walsh told his players that he didn’t have a playbook for what is happening.

Earlier in the week, Serra learned that it would be without what Walsh called a “significant” number of players for the Pittsburg game because of COVID-19 contact tracing.

“It was the most insane 72 hours ever,” Walsh said. “I feel so bad for the kids.”

Instead of playing a highly anticipated game Friday, Serra practiced.

“We had a nice run-through,” Walsh said. “We had a little practice and had some pizza.”

No. 1 De La Salle, which was set to kick off its season at 7:15 p.m. Friday in Stockton against St. Mary’s, will attempt to play at 11 a.m. Saturday, instead.

If the air is bad in Stockton on Saturday but OK in Concord, there is a contingency plan to move the game to De La Salle’s home field, DLS coach Justin Alumbaugh said.

“What we’re looking at, it looks like it’s going to be doable,” Alumbaugh added. “That’s why we put it in the morning.”

This marks the fifth consecutive fall season dating to 2016 that air quality in Northern California has affected the high school football season. The only year it didn’t was last fall when there were no games because of the pandemic.

“As if kids have not had a hard enough run — and coaching has never been harder,” Alumbaugh said. “It’s just a mess. I am sitting with Nate (Kenion), our d-coordinator. He’s like, ‘Bro, what is going on?’

“We’ve got to be thankful that we’re going to try to get it in, under all circumstances.”

Alumbaugh said he told his players that the rescheduling is an “opportunity for them to show their maturity. ‘Go home. Get to bed. Get some rest. Get up early. Get moving around. Hydrate. Get a good breakfast.’ In a lot of ways, it’s a good test. We get to see how they respond to it.”

No. 9 St. Francis traveled some 80 miles from Mountain View to Central Catholic-Modesto for a game Friday. The teams waited until after the sun went down, hoping the air quality would improve. When it did not, they decided to reschedule for 11 a.m. Saturday.

“We’re driving home, then turning around and heading back up,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “Some of the parents are staying up here. A lot of the kids will drive up tomorrow with their parents.”

The junior varsity teams held about a one-hour scrimmage after Central Catholic held homecoming ceremonies. After the JV teams were through, the varsity teams waited around for about 45 minutes before the coaches agreed to try again on Saturday.

No. 12 Bishop O’Dowd and No. 14 Liberty were set to face off Friday night but were also forced to cancel over air quality. The teams share a bye week on Oct. 1 and will reschedule for then, Liberty coach Matt Hoefs said.

No. 4 San Ramon Valley is unlikely to reschedule its game against Vintage (Napa) after it also fell victim to the wildfire smoke, coach Aaron Becker said.

No. 25 Heritage’s Week 1 game at Dublin was rescheduled for Monday; as a result, Dublin athletic director Tim Sbranti said, the Gaels also pushed back their Week 2 game against Castro Valley from next Friday to Saturday.

Just east of Pittsburg, Antioch was scheduled to open its season against Monte Vista. But with air quality index readings around 170, the Panthers became the first team in the area to nix their season opener just after 2 p.m.

C.J. Anderson, the former NFL running back, was set to make his high-school coaching debut for Monte Vista.

Anderson starred at Bethel High (Vallejo) from 2006-08, but he never worried about a game being canceled over wildfires.

“Times are different my man,” Anderson said via text. “It’s out of our control. On to next week. All we can do.”

Air quality cancellations around the Bay Area

St. Francis at Central Catholic-Modesto, rescheduled for Saturday, 11 a.m.

Oak Grove at Los Gatos

Clayton Valley at Turlock, rescheduled for Saturday, 10 a.m.

Monte Vista at Antioch

Serra at Pittsburg

Bishop O’Dowd at Liberty, rescheduled for Oct. 1

Castro Valley at Foothill

Piedmont at Miramonte

Vintage at San Ramon Valley

Heritage at Dublin, rescheduled for Monday, 7 p.m.

De La Salle at St. Mary’s (Stockton), rescheduled for Saturday, 11 a.m.

Rancho Cotate at Las Lomas, rescheduled for Saturday at RC, 7 p.m.

Menlo-Atherton at Bellarmine Prep, rescheduled for 8 p.m. (JV canceled)

Correspondent Mike Lefkow contributed to this report.