In high school football, SFL stands for Super Football League

It officially goes by Sierra Foothill League, but really, why not this: the Super Football League?

Within Northern California, this rings true as the SFL has only one league that can match this sort of muscle and reputation, top to bottom.

The West Catholic Athletic League in the Bay Area is a storied collection that includes Serra of San Mateo, Mitty and Valley Christian of San Jose, and others in San Francisco.

The stark contrast from the WCAL and the SFL is the SFL is a public-school league, dotted with programs that have enjoyed varying degrees of gridiron greatness.

Folsom is still the top dog, having won 37 consecutive league games since being realigned into the league before the 2013 season. The SFL record for successive wins is 47, set by Del Oro in the 1990s.

The top-ranked Bulldogs have pedigree, with seven Sac-Joaquin Section and four CIF State titles this decade, but this may be the year the rest of the league loosens Folsom’s stranglehold.

No. 2 Oak Ridge pushed Folsom to the brink in an SFL opener Friday, falling 36-33. It was an exhausting good show as players labored through injuries and cramping.

Solidly in the SFL mix are, well, everyone else: Rocklin, Del Oro, Granite Bay, Grant and Whitney, which went 0-10 last season.

“Top to bottom, the SFL has tightened up,” Oak Ridge coach Eric Cavaliere said. “Whitney is definitely competitive, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

“We still have a ways to go to dethrone Folsom. We will improve in the coming weeks and hope to see them again. Folsom will surely improve as well.”

Over the past 30 seasons, Del Oro has won 12 section titles in 17 title-game appearances, Grant has seven titles and Granite Bay six. Folsom has won nine section crowns since 1989.

Because the league is so strong and so deep, the section advanced five teams to the playoffs last season and no one argued it. There could be six SFL teams in the playoff this season.

Winningest Vanden coaches, friends die

Vanden is mourning the loss of its winningest basketball and football coaches, the best of friends succumbing to long illnesses at the same age – 83.

Jim Boyd led Vanden to a section boys record 614 victories as the only coach in the program’s first 34 years, a coaching run that ended in 1997. He died Aug. 29.

Boyd was hired by Ed Serpas, who became his best friend, in 1964 when the school opened on Travis Air Force Base in Solano County. Serpas started the football program as head coach and turned it into a power, going 108-56-4, retiring as coach in 1981. Serpas died May 9.

A celebration of Boyd’s life is Saturday at 2 p.m. in the campus gym that bears his name. Boyd won 14 league and seven section titles, two Northern California and one CIF State championship. He is a member of the section’s Hall of Fame.

Capital Christian hires Matt Filer

Capital Christian last week has named Matt Filer as its boys basketball coach after surprisingly dismissing McCall Wollman, who led the program to back-to-back NorCal Open Division appearances.

Filer has been an assistant coach with the Cougars for more than 20 years and he has drawn rave reviews from the Capital Christian community.

Parents have not always made it easy at Capital Christian, with high expectations for a high-profile program. That also played a role in Devon Jones stepping aside after five successful seasons, leading to the Wollman hiring.

Kira McKechnie to lead Christian Brothers

Christian Brothers has named Kira McKechnie as its new softball coach in a full-circle move.

McKechnie was a star basketball and softball player for Christian Brothers, earning Bee All-Metro honors in each sport before pitching on scholarship at Fresno State and UTEP in recent seasons.

McKechnie said she is “super blessed and super excited” about the move.

JoeD picks the preps

Finally, a clean-sweep week. We went a jubilant 6-0 in picking games last week - Folsom over Oak Ridge, Del Oro over Granite Bay, Elk Grove over Davis, Rocklin over Whitney, Cosumnes Oaks over Sheldon and Capital Christian over Christian Brothers.

But we can’t help you on Lotto numbers as we cannot even help ourselves there.

Menlo-Atherton (2-3) at No. 1 Folsom (3-1)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Storyline: Menlo-Atherton is a Bay Area power that is coming off a CIF State championship, fast and physical in what should be a high-scoring nonleague game. Daniyel Ngata is as gritty as they come, laboring through injuries to lead the charge against Oak Ridge.

We think we know: Folsom 42-31

No. 2 Oak Ridge (3-1) at No. 6 Rocklin (4-1)

When: Friday, 7:15 p.m.

Storyline: The SFL is still wide open here, and this figures to be a physical encounter with another electric atmosphere. Rocklin has erased memories of its 2-8 campaign of 2018 and has one of the section’s top rooting sections.

We think we know: Oak Ridge 35-34

Sheldon (2-3) at No. 7 Elk Grove (3-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Storyline: This Delta League contest pits the passing of Sheldon and Sean Nixon against the run-heavy Herd, led by Carter Harris. Nixon and coaching father Chris Nixon return to Elk Grove, where they spent a lot of memorable years together, Sean as a ball boy and pops as a championship coach.

We think we know: Elk Grove 42-38

No. 11 Pleasant Grove (4-0) vs. No. 12 Cosumnes Oaks (4-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m., at Sheldon

Storyline: From long seasons in 2018 to fast-forward fun now, this Delta duel expects to be a prolific good show, thanks to steady quarterbacks Nathan Valencia of PG and Anthony Grigsby of CO. Says the defensive coordinators: “Make a stop!”

We think we know: Pleasant Grove 45-42

No. 13 Granite Bay (2-3) at Grant (1-3)

When: Friday, 7:15 p.m.

Storyline: Programs with state-championship hardware meet in SFL action with a GB loss likely denying the Grizzlies a shot at the SFL title after a setback at Del Oro last week. Grant is coming off a bye and knows this is a must-have game.

We think we know: Grant 21-20.

This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 1:26 PM.