Feeling low (in a good way): Rosemont gets to 2-0 in rare game on Smoke Out Friday
About the only high school football game that kicked off in Sacramento County on Friday night was below sea level. OK, close enough.
The contest was at the region’s lowest-elevation sporting spot, just off Kiefer Boulevard and Bradshaw Road.
There, a Hail Mary throw from campus and tucked away from the hustle of nearby traffic, the Rosemont Wolverines and McClatchy Lions took the field for a game with the air quality below 150 on the AQI. The Wolverines’ stadium is nestled in a deep bowl, a one-time quarry that made for a convenient spot to plop down a field and bleachers when the school opened in 2003. And what a fortunate break that may have lasting benefits.
In this time and era, any prep football game that can be played is a victory of itself, given the continuous chaotic nature of COVID-19 testing for student-athletes, which often leads to little or no practice time and canceled games. There were 12 such COVID-related cancellations that marred the early part of the week. But the smoke didn’t clear. It settled in like an uninvited guest during the holidays.
The clogged air was a stark reminder of real issues just up the road: the Caldor Fire that is still roaring in El Dorado County, scorching land and leveling homes and structures in cutting an angry path. It has left the Sacramento Valley in a dense fog-like haze. Schools scrambled Friday to get games in, or move them, and many coaches cringed at having contests canceled for good if postponements didn’t work.
Rosemont coach Rick Wanlin beamed at the chance to actually play this one, expecting the worst. His was the lone game for any program within the Sacramento City Unified or Elk Grove Unified districts. Some games were pushed into Monday, but no one here wanted to explore that option. They wanted action Friday.
Rosemont prevailed 13-0 on second-half touchdowns from Michael Cherry, who bolted for a 66-yarder, and DeShannon Malone, who raced in from 24 yards out. Charles Parker helped lead the defensive charge for the upstart Wolverines. Wanlin had the attention of his giddy group when it was over. He told them to be proud of their 2-0 record, that they represent their school well, and to enjoy the outcome because, really, every game is subject to change. COVID-19 isn’t going away. The fires aren’t either.
Long live the bowl setting for the Wolverines.
“You know when you’re in a house fire, and you’re supposed to get to the ground and crawl?” Wanlin said. “That’s us here. We can’t get any lower than this field anywhere, in this bowl, under the smoke. This just feels so good, and I’m so happy for the kids. This win can really carry us far. We needed this.”
Rosemont managed to get in one scrimmage during a shortened spring season of football, and, like everyone else in the state, there was no fall 2020 season — wiped off the slate by COVID-19 precautions. Wanlin is a lifer at Rosemont. He has guided seven playoff teams, including a 9-3 outfit in 2019, but he has just one player left from that group in lineman Jake McKeown. No other Rosemont player had played a varsity down before Friday.
“For a lot of these kids, they last played in midget football,” Wanlin said. “Now they’re varsity, and they’re 2-0.”
Football can have a family feel, and that rings true for Wanlin. He has a son on the team in tight end/linebacker Adam Wanlin, a senior three-sport guy who packs a 4.5 grade-point average. The kid grew up tagging along for practice as a young boy in this bowl. Wanlin’s wife and the kid’s mother, Jennifer, runs the snack bar. Even she was on hold wondering if this game would happen while games across the region were smoked out.
“My wife’s in the snack bar before the game, wondering when to start the chili,” Wanlin said. “We got the chili going, got a win. Great night.”
Scramble mode; Jesuit plays at Folsom on Monday
Friday was a mad-dash scramble for coaches, athletic directors and school administrators, everyone checking the air quality and if it was safe enough to play games.
Jesuit was scheduled to play at top-ranked Folsom, then the game was switched to Jesuit, then back to Folsom. It never kicked off. Players were in gear and jerseys for more than two hours, stuck in a holding pattern while the rooting sections for both schools packed in. All that energy and no way to unleash it.
“I feel for the kids,” Folsom coach Paul Doherty said. “All they could do is wait. Nothing we can do.”
Doherty also knew it would be shallow for players to bemoan not having a game. They have homes to go to while those who have lost everything in the fires wonder where they’ll sleep tomorrow.
Jesuit will play at Folsom on Monday night, a 6 p.m. varsity start, following the junior varsity game.
Monday is also when Grant plays at Inderkum, Oakmont plays at Foothill and West Park of Roseville plays at Woodcreek across town.
Find a way. Get games in when and while you can. Nonleague contests cannot be added to the end of the regular-season schedule.
“I think schools are just glad to get games in,” McClatchy junior varsity coach Rohit Sharma said. “Right when we felt like we were free of all the COVID issues, we get fire, but we’re not complaining. You hear and see the stories of people losing everything and it hits you.”