High School Sports

Opening week of Sacramento-area high school football starts with a master schedule

Rocklin quarterback Kenneth Leuth completes a pass against Del Oro in March. Leuth returns for a team that went 5-0 during the spring football season and has its sights set on making a deep playoff run.
Rocklin quarterback Kenneth Leuth completes a pass against Del Oro in March. Leuth returns for a team that went 5-0 during the spring football season and has its sights set on making a deep playoff run. xmascarenas@sacbee.com

Coming soon to a stadium near you: a high school football game.

The 2020 season was pushed into the spring months due the pandemic, and the spring schedule was six games for the fortunate few and as few as one or two contests for others. Unless COVID-19 issues flare up, and it’s been a problem across the state of late, games will happen, with fans.

The Bee earlier this month ran a Bee Best 100 - the top 100 area players to watch this fall. Now they play for keeps. Due to a referee shortage, some games initially scheduled for Friday will be played on Thursday, including Cosumnes Oaks visiting Oak Ridge in El Dorado Hills.

And there will be postponements or cancellations. Grant’s opener against Lodi in Del Paso Heights has been pushed to Sept. 17 as Lodi deals with a team quarantine issue. The Lindhurst at Golden Sierra contest has also been canceled due to quarantine. As of Wednesday afternoon, Colfax was looking for a game after Hug of Reno had to cancel due to a lack of required padded practices. Hug players have not been able to practice outdoors due to wildfire smoke.

Here’s a peek at the openers, subject to change.

High school football schedule

Zero Week

Thursday

Cosumnes Oaks at Oak Ridge, 7 p.m.

Friday

Kickoffs are between 7-7:30 p.m., unless noted:

Esparto at Natomas, 6 p.m.

Delta at San Juan

Woodland at Marysville

Turlock at Rocklin

Folsom at Monterey Trail

Center at Rio Linda

Nevada Union at Bella Vista

Ponderosa vs. Rio Americano at Del Campo

Modesto Christian at Foresthill

Placer at Casa Roble

Atwater at Capital Christian

Vanden at Yuba City

Del Oro at Lincoln

Ripon Christian at Galt

Wood and Pioneer

Granite Bay at Vista del Lago

Christian Brothers at Burbank

Orestimba at Rio Vista

Roseville at Oakmont

Union Mine at Dixon

Davis at Vacaville

El Camino at Armijo

Damonte Ranch at Antelope

Pleasant Grove at Kennedy

River Valley at Sheldon

Union Mine at Dixon

Cordova at Rosemont

Del Campo at West Park

Elk Grove at Inderkum

Woodcreek at River City

Whitney vs. Franklin at Cosumnes Oaks

Foothill vs. Laguna Creek at Cosumnes River College

Saturday

Stagg at Sacramento, 1 p.m.

Bear River at Truckee, 1:30 p.m.

Valley Christian at Mira Loma, 11 a.m.

Mesa Verde vs. McClatchy at Kennedy, 7:30 p.m.

This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 9:49 AM.

Joe Davidson
The Sacramento Bee
Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1989: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He was in early 2024 named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California and he was in the fall of 2024 inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon.
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