MUHSD football coaches have mixed feelings as they head into new section bowl games.
In previous years, Atwater High football coach Seneca Ybarra would be preparing his team for a Sac-Joaquin Section playoff game this week. However, after the Sac-Joaquin Section Board of Managers overwhelmingly approved a change that shrunk the playoff field from 12 to eight teams last month, Ybarra and the Falcons are prepping for a one-and-done section bowl game that was awarded to teams ranked ninth to 16 in each division by MaxPreps.
Atwater (6-4) will host Grace Davis (6-4) on Friday at Dave Honey Stadium. “It’s kind of like knowing what you're getting for Christmas,” Ybarra said. ”We already know what's in the box, so we get one game and that's it.”
Atwater is one of four MUHSD football teams participating in these new bowl games on Friday night. El Capitan (4-6) will host Livingston (3-7) in an all-MUHSD matchup at Merced College. Golden Valley (2-8) will travel to Modesto to face Enochs (2-8). Central California Conference champions Merced (10-0) earned the No. 3 seed in Division III and will host No. 6 Vanden (7-3) on Friday, Nov. 14. All games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
While the bowl games may be a tough pill to swallow for teams that would have been playing in the playoffs in past years, they are met with a little more excitement for programs like El Capitan, which has never made the playoffs.
“This is our first game in November,” said Gauchos head coach Xavier Ramirez, who is in his second year running the program. “So this is the first time in school history that we were able to practice in November and play a game in November. It’s a good opportunity for us to bring up some sophomores so they get a little head start for next year. We have an opportunity for these boys to leave the season with a winner.”
The bowl games give teams like El Capitan, Livingston and Golden Valley another opportunity to play a game instead of turning in their gear. “A lot of our seniors are excited to play one more game,” Ramirez said. “This isn’t what we wanted but we’ll take it. We all the experience we can get.”
Here’s a look at the bowl games involving MUHSD teams:
Davis at Atwater – Falcons quarterback A.J. Banks threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns to help Atwater defeat Los Banos last week 35-34. The bowl game will give Banks an opportunity to top 2,000 passing yards and the senior has passed for 1,920 yards and 26 touchdowns this season.A big game could also put receiver Sylas Austin over 1,000 yards receiving. Austin has 887 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.
Livingston at El Capitan – Ramirez was happy his seniors like receiver A.J. Jones, running back Lorenzo Peters and quarterback Gio Mendoza will get to play one extra game. It’ll be an interesting matchup with the Gauchos’ explosive athletes against Livingston’s ground and pound rushing attack that aims to move the chains and eat up clock. Wolves quarterback Roberto Rivera and running back Mathias Valencia have combined for 1,295 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Golden Valley at Enochs – The Cougars finished the regular season strong with a 32-16 win over El Capitan last week. Running back Isaiah Welch turned in a strong performance with over 100 yards rushing and three touchdowns, a fumble return for a score and an interception. The Cougars face an Eagles team that has surrendered 55 points or more four times this season.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.