A CCS fiesta for regional, state football

“It’s great to be recognized for all of our training and on-field work,” said Mike Adam, who recently wrapped up his 20th season officiating football (among other sports) and is the former chair of the SVSOA.

“We put a lot of hard work into it, so it pays off now.”

Adam, who will serve as the head referee, AKA “the white hat” — along with SVSOA umpire Barry O’Driscoll and field judge Chip Fugate — are all part of one of Northern California’s “all star” football officiating crews, which guarantees them officiating one of the top state championship games next, as well as one of the Nor Cal title games this weekend.

Two other SVSOA officials — referee Mac Parfet and umpire Craig Gruber — will work together on at a Nor Cal regional final and will be put into a pool of officials for the remaining state championship games.

All have previously reffed Nor Cal games in the past, which qualifies them to be chosen to work state championship games. And this is no random draw from a hat. All the officials who work regional and state title games — both Northern and Southern California — have to apply to the CIF. The officials chosen are the cream of the crop when it comes to football officials.

“The section reps then get together at the state office and hash out all the applications,” Adam said.

He added that Tom Gersey, a longtime member of the Bay Area Sports Officials Association and part of the organization’s leadership group that is based in Santa Clara County, is the CCS representative to CIF and he has helped raise the profile of CCS officials.

“He’s a big advocate for us,” Adam said.

Now, however, is not a time for these officials to sit on their laurels and pat each other on the back. There is still work to be done. Adam said that crews will get together over Zoom the week of the game and there is a two-hour, pre-game meeting at the state championship.

But all the work is worth it in the end.

“Once you’re on the field, you have a ball. I do enjoy myself,” Adam said. “It truly is an honor.”

And who knows? Maybe one of these CCS officials will get to officiate a CCS team in a state championship game. Serra has already secured a spot in a state championship game and a second CCS team is guaranteed to advance as well. The Nor Cal Division 6-AA title game is a matchup of CCS Division V champion Palo Alto hosting CCS Division IV champ Santa Teresa.

Menlo School, the CCS Division III champion, will be on the road at San Marin in the Division 4-A bracket; while Bellarmine, the CCS Division II title holder, will host Vanden-Fairfield at San Jose City College in the Division 3-A bracket.

In all, 10 teams from the Bay Area will be playing for spots in one of 14 state championship games next weekend.

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The Serra football team has done something no other team in school history has accomplished: going undefeated in a 10-game regular-season for the first time. The 13 wins overall ties the record for most wins in a season, which was set during the 2017 state championship-winning team.

But according to John Horgan, Daily Journal columnist and de-facto Peninsula sports historian, Serra still needs four more wins to break the school all-time winning streak. Horgan said in an email that the Padres won 16 games in a row from 1953 to 1955 — including a perfect 9-0 record in 1954, the last time the Padres had a perfect season.

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When Serra takes on St. John Bosco-Bellflower in the CIF Open Division championship bowl game, the Braves will have a couple of coaches who have ties to the city of San Mateo.

Steven Lo, the Braves offensive coordinator, served in the same capacity for Serra from 2013 to 2017. He is credited with modernizing the Padres’ offense and helped guide them to the Division 2-AA state championship in 2017 and the 2016 2-A final.

In another connection, SJB baseball manager, Don Barbara, is a San Mateo High School graduate and a member of the school’s athletic hall of fame.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. To report scores or tips, email sports@smdailyjournal.com.