Validity of CIF bylaw governing recruiting takes a hit by recent rulings

 

Have recent decisions by State CIF Appeals judges rendered ineffective a bylaw that defines the prohibition of the recruiting of student athletes, pre-enrollment contact and undue influence by offending schools?

Bylaw 510 is the part of the California State Federation’s (CIF) constitution that defines recruiting of athletes at one school by another school, which is not allowed. A recent decision by CIF involved a football player transferring from Sheldon to Grant. He was ruled ineligible by the Sac-Joaquin Section of the CIF in August for the entire 2023 season citing Bylaw 510 and other infractions.

But that player, Devin Green, played in Grant High School’s 82-0 win over Kennedy Oct. 13. He scored four touchdowns on just five carries that night.

Green, a senior, had played the past three football seasons at Sheldon for coach Chris Nixon. That night was his debut in Pacer blue and gold.

Earlier this year he made the decision to attend the Natomas school for his senior season while he and his family continued to live in the attendance area of Sheldon. If the family had moved into Grant’s attendance area, Green would have likely been eligible on day one of the 2023 season, according to CIF bylaws governing move of residence.

But, in August his transfer request to Grant was denied by the Section because of evidence they had that indicated violation of its bylaws which dictate what constitutes pre-enrollment contact and undue influence by a school on a student/athlete attending another school.

One piece of evidence was a social media video from May 6, 2023 taken in a locker room at Grant showed two male students tried to rip a Sheldon Huskies t-shirt in two before Green himself came to take the shirt away.

One of the Grant students then said in the video, “We’ve got Devin Green.” At that time Green was still a student at Sheldon.

But, that wasn’t the first indication Green was planning on taking his talents to Grant.

An April, 2023, post on “X” (Twitter) indicated Green was a football player at Grant, but at that time he was still a student at Sheldon. That is something which is prohibited by Bylaw 510.

Yet, according to the Section website, Green’s family appealed that August decision by the Sac-Joaquin Section and a CIF State Appeals judge overturned the transfer denial on Oct. 13. He played that night for the Pacers, seven games into the 2023 season.

That even came after a three-person Sac-Joaquin Section appeal panel earlier upheld Section commissioner Mike Garrison’s decision to rule Green ineligible for the season.

Last school year El Camino basketball player Kiku Parker requested to transfer, also to Grant. It was denied by Section commissioner Garrison citing evidence of violation of bylaw 510 and other alleged infractions.

That, too, was overturned by a State CIF Appeals judge. Those appeals are held in private meetings and, thus, unavailable to the press.

A request by the Citizen to the State CIF office for a copy of the appeal judge’s decision on Green along with any other paperwork submitted by the Greens and/or Grant High School for their basis for an appeal has not been answered as of press time.

Is Bylaw 510 now valid?

So now, in a legal sense, the validity of CIF bylaw 510 might be under question. Glen Guenard, an Elk Grove attorney, said that in organizations ruled by a set of bylaws precedents generally are the rule until they are overturned and then that becomes the precedents. Thus, enforcement of 510 in the future will probably be harder to implement.

Without seeing the CIF Appeal judge’s ruling it’s hard to say exactly why these two cases were overturned, Guenard added.

“Right now what it sounds like by this particular judge is that, yeah, you can appeal it and if there are certain factors we can overturn it and I suspect they found the rule wasn’t really violated because there wasn’t enough sufficient evidence,” he said. “Initially, there may have been, but the person (making the appeal) presented some evidence they weren’t recruited.”

The ire of opposing coaches

This case has raised the ire of many a football coach around Elk Grove. Bothered by this decision is Nixon, the Sheldon football coach.

“You have a Section rule on a bylaw and they you have the State overturn that ruling and this isn’t the first time, we’ve seen it twice,” Nixon said. “What does that say? That the State has not trained its Section commissioners well enough as to how to rule on this bylaw? Or is this bylaw just ineffective? It seems to me (Bylaw 510) is very clear. But, it must not if we have a Section ruling one way and a State overruling them.”

Pleasant Grove’s Josh Crabtree had a unique viewpoint: “Without knowing the specifics on any of these cases, it’s hard to not to watch everything happening in our section and wonder if the horse is finally out of the barn. If high school athletics, as we knew it, is finally dead,” he texted the Citizen.

Crabtree added as an example another unique ruling of last week by the Section. A player his team opposed earlier this season in the Christian Brothers game, Ezekiel Castex, is now playing for Rocklin.

“Again, I don’t know any of the circumstances around any of these moves, but it’s hard not to feel like the set of rules many of us thought we were operating under are on a scrap heap somewhere…and we never got the memo,” Crabtree said.

“That’s something in my 27 years in California coaching high school football I’ve never seen that before,” Granite Bay head coach Joe Cattolico said of the Castex transfer. His Grizzlies play Rocklin this Friday.

According to the Section website, Castex’ family made a valid change of residence to the Rocklin area and was approved to play for the Thunder Oct. 10.

Cattolico, who was Pleasant Grove’s first football coach and spent a few seasons at Sheldon, says these recent decisions which seem to overturn rules on recruiting other school’s players have made it difficult for the Section office to manage now.

“From a Section office perspective, this sounds like the worst possible thing they can imagine, as far as a free-for-all for kids to do whatever they want - and it is a terrible idea,” Cattolico said. “Basically there’s a part of me that wonders realistically we are sort of now there, whether we want to be or not…it’s now beginning to look like college football in a way, but realistically we really don’t want it to look like college football.”

He was referring to the NCAA Transfer Portal which now allows college players to make themselves available to other colleges annually.

“Deion Sanders basically rebuilt (University of) Colorado through the portal,” Cattolico cited.

Cattolico believes Bylaw 510 needs to remain in place and enforced despite these recent decisions.

“Schools shouldn’t be out there asking to come play for us,” he said.

Two games to go in 2023 season

Grant plays at Monterey Trail Friday and next week plays Laguna Creek in games that will determine this season’s Metro Conference championship. No one at those Elk Grove Unified schools wanted to comment at this time on the Green ruling and its possible effects for future rulings.

Nixon says, in reflecting on the situation, his issue is with Grant football not necessarily Green departing Sheldon.

“It’s about looking at myself and saying, ‘If I had another player in my locker room from another school who was not enrolled at Sheldon High School, I don’t know how much longer I would be allowed to coach’,” Nixon said. “I would have guessed there would have been some sort of sanction against a school for the evidence presented to them, but I guess obviously not. That part of it is mind-boggling.”

 

Herd Comes Up Short, Again, In Section Final

Three times in the last four years the Elk Grove High School football team played at Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State University campus in the Sac-Joaquin Section’s championship game.

Three times in the last four years the Herd has left the locker room in Broad Fieldhouse on the south end of the stadium with heads down, muttering what might have happened if one or two plays might have gone their way.

Each time head coach Chris Nixon, though very disappointed, has found the words to reflect back on the season and find the positives that got the Herd to the championship game.  Saturday he had those words after losing the Division I championship to Folsom, 35-27.

“There were a lot of tears shed and a lot of disappointment, but this was a tremendous season,” he said.

Elk Grove came into the game with a 13-0 record. With the same mark was their opponent, Folsom, marking this just the second time a pair of 13-0 teams faced off for a Sac-Joaquin Section championship. The other time came in 1989 when Merced and Nevada Union both were 13-0. Merced ended up the winner that day.

In the past few years Elk Grove has been in the Division II playoffs, but this year under a new rule, were brought up to Division I because of its Delta League championship.

“The Section has its reason for doing what they did, forcing us up to D-1, but to take two teams like this and play us off in Section, it does leave us with an empty feeling like we came away with nothing, “ Nixon said. 

For Folsom head coach Kris Richardson the early December games at Sac State is familiar territory. The Bulldogs have now won four straight Section titles, are the defending state champions in Division I and are riding a 30-game winning streak.

Richardson said this Section championship was particularly special because his son, Kooper, a starting offensive lineman, is a senior.

“I’ve watched a lot of these guys go through the youth program and watch them grow up with my own son and it was fun to watch,” Richardson said.

But, obtaining this Section title was a battle for the Bulldogs. Folsom quarterback Jake Jeffrey fumbled on the fourth play of the game, recovered by Lau Ta’amu a the Bulldogs’ 16.

Ryan Robards scored on the next play and then kicked the extra point for an early 7-0 lead.

Best Game Of The Year Coming Saturday

Most prep football fans thought Elk Grove would be good this year, but not 13-0 good.

Same thing goes for the defending Division I state champion Folsom Bulldogs. They had no starters returning this year, yet no one has beat them. They are now on something like a 38-game winning streak.

Only St. Mary's came close to ending that in last weekend's Sac-Joaquin Section semi-final contest. Folsom once again was lighting up the scoreboards around the Sierra Foothill League with its quick-snap, score-fast offense this fall.

Elk Grove had a few more returning starters in 2015, but no one dreamt Ryan Robards would be a 2,700-plus yardage man who would be at or near the top of the scoring charts in all of California. But, it is evident that success has come as a result of a big, strong, efficient offensive line. Offensive line coach Moe Loller has now a conveyer belt of big guys annually coming to play for him.

This may be his best overall group of "Hammerheads," the nickname given to the offensive linemen at EGHS, warrant how many times Robards and Fullah and the rest of the Herd backfield get to the "second level" virtually unnoticed.

The addition of Jeff Carlson as the defensive coordinator a year or so ago has really beefed up the Herd on that side of the ball. He had terrific defenses the years he and Dave Hoskins were co-head coaches.

Looking to Saturday's game, which will kick off at 6 p.m. at Hornet Stadium, Carlson may have the defensive scheme that could stop Folsom (or at least slow them down) and give Elk Grove its first Section football championship since 2001.

Folsom, on the other hand, is looking for its fourth straight Section championship. The last two were in Division I and the 2012 title came in Division II.

So what will be the difference in what is easily the most highly anticipated game of the year? What is likely to hand the blue championship banner to one school over the other?

I'm afraid it may be the referees.

Yes, I really believe the winner will be determined with how tight the officials will call this game. If they allow Elk Grove defenders to touch the Folsom receivers then I think the Herd has a chance to win it.

What shot down a very good Grant squad in the title game last year with Folsom were a few questionable defensive pass interference calls that came in the second quarter. Then the defenders were forced to back off and the flood gates opened for an easy Folsom win.

These kind of tight games always find a way to bring out one or two bad calls from the refs, too. I'll never forget how the Herd lost the D-II championship game two years ago against Del Oro. Right after the Golden Eagles scored a TD to come to within 12 points in the fourth quarter, they attempted an onside kick. It was clear the Eagles blocked Herd defenders away from the kicked ball prior to the ball passing the required ten yards so that a Del Oro player could recover.

The officials, when asked by Elk Grove coach Chris Nixon for an explanation, acted dumb. They later admitted a mistake and said the video Nixon sent them would be used for future instruction of officials (HERE is a link to that video posted here on the Sports Corner).

Del Oro went on to score on that drive.

Though we'd all like to think the officials will call an objective game Saturday night, it invariably happens that when two very even, very good team play in a big game like a Section championship, someone walks away muttering about a rotten call they got.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think this game could be one of those contests.

Robards (Elk Grove) 42, Grant 7

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Week Five Scores:

Elk Grove 42, Grant 7

Franklin 24, Sheldon 7

Pleasant Grove 32, Monterey Trail 26

Cosumnes Oaks 28, Roseville 0

Kennedy 40, Valley 0

Bradshaw Christian 44, Vacaville Christian 0

In one of their most dominant halves of football ever played against a quality opponent, Elk Grove scored 35 points in the opening two quarters and handed Grant its first regular season loss in two years Friday night with a 42-7 Delta League victory.

And, in perhaps one of the best individual performances ever by a local football player, the Herd’s Ryan Robards scored all of his team’s touchdowns. Three were via rushing, along with 176 yards gained on 25 carries. Two more touchdowns were scored defensively – one on a 70-yard interception return for a score and the other a fumble recovery and return - and then Robards tacked on a 75-yard punt return for a TD.

“I told a couple kids (before the game) this was the time for me to prove the kind of football player I really am,” Robards said. “A big game like this, at Grant, I played well so I’ll take it.”

Robards, who was the center of numerous post-game interviews by scribes and television reporters from throughout the region afterwards, will add this performance to an impressive resume he’s already built this fall.

EG's Ryan Robards who scored six TD's in the Herd's 42-7 romp over Grant

In week two, he gained 277 yards on just 20 carries and scored three TD’s along with a receiving touchdown in a 41-14 win over Lincoln of Stockton. Plus, Robards had an interception and kicked a pair of field goals, including one for 51 yards.

In week three the senior three-sport athlete had 188 yards rushing on 16 carries and two TD’s in Elk Grove’s 48-14 win over Yuba City.  He also returned an interception for a score.

Then last week in the Herd’s 55-0 pasting of Davis, Robards had 200 yards rushing on just 15 carries with three TD’s and tacked on a 64-yard punt return for a score.

A beaming Chris Nixon didn’t hold back the accolades not only for Robards, but also for his club’s complete dominance over a team most thought was the best team in the Delta once again.

“It’s as dominate a half that I’ve been a part of at Elk Grove,” he said. “But it was strange in how it happened. (Offensive line coach Moe Loller) and I were looking at each other saying, ‘We have only nine or ten offensive plays in the first half.’ That’s what’s been going on with this team, scoring on defense, scoring on special teams.”

Equally as complimentary afterwards was Grant’s legendary coach Mike Alberghini.

                See Photos from the game on the Elk Grove Sports Corner Facebook site

“(Robards) is a hell of a player and that is a great team,” he said as he was shaking the hands of Steve Robards, Ryan’s father.

The elder Robards was honored by the compliment coming from a man who has seen and coached many great football players over the years.

“This was as good a half as I’ve ever seen one individual play,” Alberghini told him.

A Thriller In The House Harbaugh Built

Elk Grove High School's football team went to football heaven Friday night. At least it felt that way.

They walked through the tunnel from the locker room and onto the playing surface of brand new Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers and, in a couple years, the site of Super Bowl 50. Everyone paused to take on the impressive site.

Elk Grove players take a moment to look at Levi's Stadium before taking the field Friday

Wow!

The dim South Bay evening skies were turned into a very bright setting in just this one spot as the lumins of the stadium lights pierced the environs below. The red seats, some 55,000 of them,  were outlined by a band of brightly-lit advertising boards that rimmed the stadium oval at the mezadine level.  The silver guard rails shone, reflecting the immensely-bright lighting above.

The Niners promoted this night, which included an earlier game between Wilcox and Santa Clara High Schools, as "Friday Night Lights". Underline the word "lights." These young men were playing on football's biggest - and newest - stage. Niner greats Jerry Rice and Roger Craig welcomed them via a video played on the stadium's huge high definition jumbotron.

The Herd's vegas-gold numerals reflected light like they were aluminum foil. The gold helmets had the glisten of the real mineral.

The whole stadium even smelled new ... and that controversy over the quality of the Levi's Stadium turf in late August is over. That's because Elk Grove and Jesuit chewed it up this night in a Delta League showdown.

The two squads ran up and down the field on each other's defense, but in the end Elk Grove's early turnovers were its downfall and the Herd dropped its second game in a row in a 42-38 loss to the Marauders.

It's the first time in three years Elk Grove (4-2, 1-2 Delta League) has lost more than one regular season game and much longer than that since the Herd has lost back-to-back contests.

Delta League Prediction: It's Grant's To Lose

The high school football season kicks off Friday with a string of non-conference battles including Rocklin at Pleasant Grove and Jesuit at De LaSalle.

Grant will be playing its crosstown rival Burbank (special kickoff time of 5:30 p.m. at Titan Stadium) with a mission to start the season in a big way, showing fans this year they are the team to beat.

Coach Michael Alberghini begins his 46th season as a teacher/coach at the school, his 23rd as head football coach. He's had eight Section championship teams in that tenure and a State Bowl Game title. The 2014 Pacers could rank right up there with some of his elite squads.

They have the size (average 300 pounds on the line), the speed and the varsity experience to go 10-0. Plus, there's depth on the bench. They could easily be the class of the Delta League, which returns after an eight year absence.

That said, here is my predicted order-of-finish of the newly-revived Delta:

1. Grant - Alberghini admits the one question mark is whether there are enough footballs for everyone who wants to be "the man" on the Pacers this season. If he can encourage a bit of humility out of those guys, Grant will be unbeatable.
2. Jesuit - Outstanding talent, good size on the line as Marlon Blanton has the Marauders back to the status of being feared once again.
3. Elk Grove - Chris Nixon lost some talent to graduation, but has the Delta's best football player in Spencer Sheff. Plus, the Herd will once again find a passing game which should take the attention off a solid running attack.
4. Franklin - The Wildcats should be really good, make the playoffs, but they are in the Delta League and end up fourth. Mike Johnson has a really talented quarterback in junior Lamar Jackson.
5. Pleasant Grove - Interim head coach Russ Gardner will have to put together all the pieces on the heels of Joe Cattolico's resignation and replacement Jason Rossow's sudden medical leave-of-absence. The lack of size on the line will be an issue this season for the Eagles.
6. Monterey Trail - T.J. Ewing says he has his best senior class in quite a while, but the question is whether these guys have the talent to match up with any of the five teams above. They'll certain play with great desire.
7. Sheldon - Too many question marks for coach Herbie Berry. His son Nathan will quarterback the Huskies this season.
8. Davis - Likely won't win any games in the Delta. John Wiley, a former star cornerback at Auburn and with the Chicago Bears, is the Blue Devils' third coach in as many years.

Gov Signs Bill To Limit Football Contact Practices

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation limiting full-contact football practice for California teams, it was announced Monday.

The legislation comes amid increasing concern about head injuries in football. Assembly Bill 2127, presented by Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, prohibits middle school and high school football teams from holding full-contact practices during the off-season and limits them to no more than two full-contact practices per week during the preseason and regular season.

The Sacramento Bee reports today that 19 other states have banned full-contact high school football practices in the off-season. According to Will DeBoard of the Sac-Joaquin Section, the state of Texas has passed similar legislation that allows teams only 45 minutes of full contact drills a week during the season.

Locally, our almost all of the high school football teams participate in full-contact summer camps. Stripping them of this kind of workout is likely going to affect the teams, which use these camps to determine who their players are going to be and allow them to install their offensive and defensive schemes. Elk Grove head coach Chris Nixon thinks eliminating the summer contact camps will set back the younger players from developing their football skills quicker.

In talking today with not only Nixon, but Laguna Creek's head coach Dave Morton, as well, the two  practices a week rule is actually more than they currently do with their squads. Morton said once the season begins he has his players just make contact during drills but never bring down a ball carrier or receiver.

Nixon said he runs practices similarly once the season has begun. He's concerned, though, about the limitation of full contact drills during the pre-season and how that will affect the quality of play.

DeBoard admitted that this new legislation, set to take effect Jan. 1, 2015, needs to be more specific and that will be the job of the State CIF Board of Directors between now and then. As Nixon said, "How do you define 'full contact?' Is that actually hitting each other or does this mean a practice with everyone in full gear? That will need to be defined."

Morton quipped: "I think there's more important things for the government to do than tell me how many times my boys can hit heads every week." And, though he thinks the new law won't affect how he coaches football at Laguna Creek - he doesn't take his players to a team camp - Morton knows this is a good step in the right direction.

"It's good they are trying to bring back high school football as it should be instead of trying to make it a business," he said. 

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/07/21/6571618/jerry-brown-signs-bill-limiting.html#storylink=cpy

EG Hopes For First Section Title In 12 Years

Hard to believe it’s been 12 seasons since the last Sac-Joaquin Section championship in football, but head coach Chris Nixon hopes that drought will end Friday night.

In its second straight Division II championship game, the Herd will take on the top-seeded Del Oro squad at Hornet Stadium. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. 

The EG football players in attendance Sunday at the annual pre-championship
game dinner at Sacramento State Univ., site of Friday's game vs. Del Oro

Last season Elk Grove lost to Folsom, 44-18, in a torrential downpour of rain. This time, the weather looks more favorable, but cool.

Nixon, at the Section’s media dinner for all the football championship game contenders on Sunday, said this year’s preparation actually began the day after losing big to Folsom last December.

“We set one goal at a time. One was to win league championship and the second was to win the Section,” Nixon said.

Elk Grove ended up tying both Grant and Franklin for the Delta Valley Conference championship and will go into Friday’s game with a 12-1 mark.

“We always took it one game at a time this year,” Nixon said. “We went into Franklin after a tough win over Grant and probably didn’t play our best game. We made corrections and did very well the next two weeks against Monterey Trail and Davis.”

But, in Del Oro, Nixon and his team will take on a squad they are very familiar with. They’ve actually played each other three times over the past year. The teams scrimmaged against each other the weekend prior to the start of the past two seasons.  Plus, Elk Grove eliminated Del Oro in last year’s Div-II semi-finals.

“They are a bunch of high character guys,” Nixon said of the Golden Eagles. “It’s an extremely special game and we need to be on our A-game Friday night.”

Long-time Golden Eagle head coach Casey Taylor said he is looking forward to a fourth meeting with Elk Grove.

“Elk Grove likes to hit, so do we,” he said.

Even with two losses this season (one to De LaSalle and the other to Sherman Oaks), the Golden Eagles earned the top seed in Division II, something Taylor appreciated.

“I’m glad the Section saw the fact we beat all area teams this season,” he said. “That really helped us because we had all home games in the playoffs and we’ve never lost a playoff game at home.”

Del Oro won the Section’s Div. III championship in both 2010 and 2011. They were Division II titlists in 2005 and runner-ups in that division in 2004, 2007 and 2009.

Nixon Reflects On His Sixth Season As EG Head Coach

CSD Continues EGHS Football Arson Investigation

CSD Fire Arson Investigators are still looking for the person or persons responsible for the July 18 blaze that destroyed a pair of storage sheds on the campus of Elk Grove High School. Several thousand dollars in football equipment stored in those sheds were also destroyed.

Thundering Herd coach Chris Nixon says the Elk Grove Unified School District’s insurance has paid to replace the lost equipment and he expects delivery on most of the necessary gear very soon.

He’s also received many calls and donations from the community, too. Nixon’s former player, current Chicago Bears’ linebacker Lance Briggs, was one of the first on the telephone to his ex-offensive coordinator willing to pay to replace the destroyed equipment.

“He’s regularly donated money to the program, wanting nothing in return,” Nixon said. “He’s done it all out of the kindness of his heart.” 

EGHS Football coach Chris Nixon

This summer Briggs has paid for new shoulder pads for the Herd. When he heard about Elk Grove’s change to pearl matte blue helmets, Briggs quickly phoned Nixon offering to purchase the team gold helmets, similar to the kind Notre Dame wears, the same color of head gear Briggs wore as a member of the Herd in the late-1990’s.

“I told Lance, we’d wear them in the games he chose,” Nixon chuckled.

The bright gold headgear will be similar to the Fighting Irish’s color of helmet. Nixon said Notre Dame actually has a copyright on the exact tint of gold they use.

 Anybody with information about the fire may call the CSD Arson tipline at (916) 405-7118.

Freitas Returns To River Cats

Former Elk Grove and Cosumnes River College catcher David Freitas returned to the Sacramento River Cats on July 25.  He was in the starting line up Tuesday and went one-for-four at bat. 

Freitas, who is now in his fourth minor league season, was Sacramento’s opening day catcher, but after playing in only five games he was shipped to the Oakland A’s Double-A franchise in Midland.

In 61 games with the Rock Hounds, Freitas batted .214 with nine home runs.

Armstead On Patriots’ Injured List

Another bit of hard luck has sidelined Armond Armstead.

The former Pleasant Grove and USC defensive lineman was recently placed on the New England Patriots’ injury list after Armstead required surgery to treat an infection.

“Armond is in good condition and is expected to make a full recovery,” the Patriots wrote in a news release on Monday. “A timetable has not been set for his return to football."

Armstead sat out his senior season at USC for what was later revealed to be a heart attack brought on by painkillers school trainers were giving him. Armstead filed a lawsuit against the school.

Last fall he had an outstanding season for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. In his rookie CFL season, Armstead compiled 43 defensive tackles, 2 special teams tackles and 6 quarterback sacks. He was also named as a CFL All-Star, and went on to win the Grey Cup with the Argonauts that.

He was signed by the Patriots on Jan. 22 of this year.

Update - Arson Believed Cause of EGHS Storage Shed Fire

An early morning blaze at Elk Grove High School destroyed two wooden sheds and damaged a third. All contained primarily football equipment.

The two sheds are about 15-by15 feet in size and  on the southeast side of the Elk Grove-Laguna Creek Community stadium. Herd head football coach Chris Nixon said they contained pads for the team's blocking sleds, blocking dummies, other practice equipment and the piece of equipment used to maintain the artificial turf in the football stadium.

The ruins of the EGHS football storage shed

"I've got an estimated loss of $22,900 not counting tax and shipping, nor the replacement of the sheds," Nixon said. A news release issued late morning by the Elk Grove football boosters put the damage estimates at $60,000.

Late this afternoon CSD Fire did say they believe arson was the cause of the fire but could not say for certain. Fire investigators are asking anyone who may know something about the cause of the blaze and who may be responsible to phone the CSD's arson hotline at (916) 405-7118.

Nixon said that this is about the third time the equipment shed has been broken into this summer.

"About a month ago they stole the John Deere Gator out of the shed," Nixon said. "We found it abandoned in a field a few days later." 

He moved the Gator to another shed. Nixon added he fully expected more break-ins to come.

"They broke in again and this time pulled bags out and slashed them, then set the sheds on fire," he said.

Also destroyed was a portion of the varsity baseball diamond's fence, fence liner and a few of the outfield signs. 

Members of the Elk Grove community have quickly reacted to this morning's fire, reported to CSD Fire at 2:45 a.m. Frank Zaccari, a long-time EGHS supporter who owns a Farmers' Insurance Agency office in Old Town, was quite upset over this incident.

"I've been hearing of all this vandalism at the high school and this must stop," Zaccari said. "We can no longer accept this."

He is now collecting donations from the public to help replace all the stolen, damaged football equipment. He'll accept donations at his office, 9153 Elk Grove Blvd. or you may phone 686-8000.

EGHS Blows By Del Campo, Del Oro Next

Wadus Parker had three touchdowns, one rushing, one on an 82-yard pass and run from Tommy Arnold and a 63-yard punt return for a score, to lead Elk Grove to a 35-14 quarterfinal win in the Sac-Joaquin Section's Division II playoffs.

Robert Frazier behind a solid game by the "Hammerheads", the Herd's offensive line, gained 224 yards on 22 carries as EG (11-1) now will take on Del Oro in the Division II semifinals at EGHS this Friday.

Watch the post-game interviews with Parker and head coach Chris Nixon.

Injuries On E.G. Football Team

on the eve of the 2010 high school football season comes word from Elk Grove coach Chris Nixon that two key players may not see action Friday night. Stud running back/defensive back Deon Ransom turned his ankle in last Saturday's scrimmage against Del Oro and isn't full speed. During Wednesday's practice senior quarterback Archie Schuster rolled his ankle.

In a text message to me, Nixon said he may hold both out of the non-conference game and go with sophomore Jacob Hinegardner at QB and another soph, Robert Frazier, at RB.

The Thundering Herd debuts their new pistol offense at 7:15 p.m. Friday night.

On another note the new snackbar/bathroom facility won't be completed. You'll find a row of portapotties. No telling how they'll handle the sale of their hotdogs and hamburgers.

Once completed the new facility will be really nice.