Ready or not, football season is here. NFL training camps are opening around the country, college football press conference are ongoing as those programs start in the coming weeks, and local and national media are already starting to roll out some high school football content.
Here in the Central Coast Section, however, there are still a couple weeks before pads start popping on your neighborhood high school football fields. The end of the summer training season comes to a close Sunday and Monday begins a weeklong dead period, during which coaches are to have no contact with players.
Beginning Aug. 5, high school football programs can start a week’s worth of “acclimatization” — a time that will devoted to conditioning and getting into proper football shape.
Helmets and pads can be strapped on beginning Aug. 12.
Needless, to say, we have a couple of weeks before we really need to dive into the intricacies of the 33-team Peninsula Athletic League, along with the juggernaut programs that are Serra and College of San Mateo.
But there is one interesting development and it’s one that may fly under the radar. One that most in San Mateo County may not be familiar. There is a new school joining the PAL varsity football ranks this season: Kathleen MacDonald High School in Santa Clara. The school, named after a longtime and current educator at Wilcox High School across town, MacDonald fielded a junior varsity team the last two seasons.
And you can bet the Condors have the attention of the PAL’s Lake Division, the least-competitive of the five-division PAL. Fielding a team of freshmen and sophomores in 2023, the Condors ran the table. They went a perfect 10-0, including a 7-0 mark in winning the Lake Division JV title.
The Condors didn’t just win — they dominated. They averaged nearly 37 points per game, while allowing less than 6, with the noteworthy victory a 35-21 over Palo Alto in the season opener.
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Whoever wins the Lake Division this season will have definitely earned it. With MacDonald coming online, the division now has nine teams — meaning an eight-game Lake Division schedule, the most of any league in the CCS. The West Catholic Athletic League has eight teams, while four divisions in the Pacific Coast League all have seven programs. The Mount Hamilton and West Valley divisions of the Blossom Valley Athletic League also have seven teams each.
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As long as I’m talking about changes coming to PAL football, here is a rundown of which teams will play where in 2024.
Aragon, Burlingame, Capuchino, Hillsdale, Mountain View, King’s Academy
In: Aragon/Capuchino (Ocean Division co-champs move up); Burlingame/Mountain View (down from Bay Division)
Out: Half Moon Bay/Homestead
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Ocean Division
Carlmont, Half Moon Bay, Milpitas, San Mateo, Sequoia, Terra Nova
In: Half Moon Bay (down from De Anza Division)/Carlmont (up from El Camino Division)
Out: Aragon/Capuchino
El Camino Division
Fremont-Sunnyvale, Homestead, Los Altos, Santa Clara, South City, Woodside
In: Homestead (dropped two levels from De Anza Division)/South City (Ocean Division champs move up)
Out: El Camino/Carlmont
Lake Division
Cupertino, El Camino, Gunn, Jefferson, Lynbrook, MacDonald, Mills, Monta Vista, Saratoga
In: MacDonald/El Camino (down from El Camino Division)
Out: South City
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As if the WCAL schedule is not already tough enough, Serra has gone out and shown it is willing to take on anyone, anywhere as the Padres will run a gauntlet of the who’s who of football programs in the state.
And they’re jumping into the deep end right away. The Padres open against Folsom, which has battled Serra for Nor Cal supremacy the last several seasons. Serra follows that with another matchup against a De La Salle squad that is looking to regain its past glory and is always a measuring stick for Nor Cal programs.
After that, Serra will get a chance to see what kind of shot it has at competing for an Open Division state title when the Padres host St. John Bosco — ranked No. 5 in the nation in Calpreps.com’s preseason, national top-10.
The two met in the 2022 Open championship game, with the Braves blasting Serra, 45-0. SJB has alternated with Mater Dei as the premiere team in California and they usually battle it out for the So Cal supremacy and the region’s representative in the Open title game.
After a bye, the excitement continues for Serra as the Padres open WCAL play against rival St. Ignatius.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.