Sacramento-area prep football scrimmages include referees. Don’t get tossed
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sacramento-area teams hold game-like scrimmages to prepare for August openers.
- Oak Ridge skips referees after past ejections led to multi-game suspensions.
- Coaches use scrimmages to evaluate players, schemes and season readiness.
Eager for your high school football fix?
Perhaps a jamboree can help soothe any aches as Sacramento-area teams on Friday and Saturday will engage in fully padded, game-like scrimmages to gear up for season openers Aug. 22-23.
Nearly all area teams will have referees working the games, giving those folks a chance to prepare for the season. But this will not be the case in El Dorado Hills, where Oak Ridge coach Casey Taylor will not use any officials for his Friday night home meeting with Lincoln of Stockton.
Two years ago, Oak Ridge hosted Sheldon of Sacramento in a scrimmage, and a heated series of plays led to players from both teams getting ejected. Taylor said he wondered then and now why the referees would not use those instances as teachable moments, in effect reminding players and coaches that when the season really starts, players will be tossed for extra-curricular behavior.
Instead, the Sacramento referee association forwarded paperwork to the governing body CIF that led to the ejected Oak Ridge and Sheldon players having to sit out the season’s first three games.
For decades, an ejected player in California prep sports had to sit out one game as punishment, but in recent years, the minimum penalty for an ejection has been three games, a move designed to curb unsportsmanlike behavior.
“We’ll do without the referees,” Taylor said after a recent practice.
Referees officiate scrimmages the same as they would a game.
“Normally, we as officials don’t talk to the head coaches at scrimmages about disqualifications,” said longtime area referee Terry Lockett. “The CIF section office, when they hold a yearly athletic directors meeting, this subject is addressed.”
Lockett added, “If a player is disqualified from a game, there have been warnings given to the player and the head coach before they are disqualified. It takes two unsportsmanlike-like conduct fouls by a player or coach to be disqualified, unless the player commits a foul that is, under rule, an automatic disqualification.”
A peek at some of the Sacramento-area football action.
Friday scrimmages
5:30 p.m. at Del Campo: The Cougars of Fair Oaks host playoff regulars Rosemont of Sacramento, Argonaut of Jackson, Woodland Christian and Wood of Vacaville. Del Campo coach Matt Costa has guided two playoff teams in three seasons.
6 p.m. at Delta: The Saints of Clarksburg, who welcome back head coach Tim Rapp after a year off the sideline, host Foresthill of Placer County, and this will not be your traditional 11-vs.11 affair. Both teams have dropped down to 8-man football due to dwindling roster numbers.
6 p.m. at Inderkum: The Tigers of Sacramento host playoff regulars Jesuit, Sacramento and Edison. Inderkum coach Justin Reber is a former Sac High coach. Jesuit runs the run-heavy veer offense, one of the few teams in the section to do so.
6:30 p.m. at Liberty Ranch: The Hawks of Galt host Ripon in a tussle of traditional small-school playoff teams.
6:30 p.m. at Mesa Verde: The Mavericks of Citrus Heights host Sheldon, River Valley of Yuba City, Foothill and El Camino. Of the lot, only Foothill reached the playoffs in 2024.
6:30 p.m. at Manteca: The Buffaloes of the 209 area code host Monterey Trail of the Delta League in a meeting of powerhouse rushing teams. Monterey Trail coach TJ Ewing insisted his team “will try to chuck it!”
7 p.m. at Destiny Christian Academy: The Lions of Sacramento, formerly known as Capital Christian, host fellow playoff regular Laguna Creek of the Elk Grove Unified, led by longtime coach Ryan Nill, an alum of the school.
7 p.m. at Kennedy: The Cougars of Greenhaven host Pioneer of Woodland. Kennedy starts the Mervin Brookins coaching era and Pioneer returns longtime coach Matt Bryson.
7 p.m. at Nevada Union: The Miners of Grass Valley host Bear River in a scrimmage meeting that dates back to the late 1980s. Both are storied programs, Nevada Union coached by Brad Sparks and Bear River led by first-year coach Jeremy Kerr. Kerr played on Bear River’s 1991 team that finished top-ranked in Division III by Cal-Hi Sports, and he later coached with the program.
7 p.m. at Dixon: The Rams of Solano County host fellow playoff regular Center of Antelope. Both are led by longtime coaches, Dixon with Wes Besseghini and Center with Digol J’Beily.
7 p.m. at Ponderosa: The Bruins of Shingle Springs host Union Mine of nearby El Dorado. Interestingly, the teams cap the regular-season on Oct. 30 with a Sierra Valley Conference game in Placerville.
7 p.m. at Davis: The Blue Devils of Yolo County host Woodland and Cosumnes Oaks, each of the programs using this as a building block towards reversing lean leans from 2024. Davis, Woodland and Cosumnes Oaks each went 1-9 last season while Sheldon went 4-6.
7 p.m. at El Dorado: The Cougars of Placerville host Golden Sierra of Garden Valley in a small-school rumble.
7 p.m. at Elk Grove: The Thundering Herd host Granite Bay in a meeting of traditional playoff programs committed to the run game. The schools are coached by longtime friends with Bay Area roots: John Heffernan at Elk Grove and Joe Cattolico at Granite Bay.
7 p.m. at Rio Linda: The Knights will host Burbank, Esparto and Colusa, a CIF state champion in 2023. After five years away from the sideline, Rio Linda welcomes back coach Jack Garceau, who led the 2018 Knights to a CIF State crown.
7 p.m. at Roseville: The Tigers host Bella Vista, Casa Roble and Wheatland. Roseville features its best team in years; Bella Vista is led by first-year coach Jason Ott; Casa Roble is led by veteran coach Chris Horner, whose program won a 2023 CIF section championship; and Wheatland is led by coach Andy Fatten, whose Pirates bounced back from an 0-10 season in 2022 to go 9-2 in 2024.
7 p.m. at Twelve Bridges: The Raging Rhinos of Lincoln host Woodcreek of Roseville seeking to maintain momentum. Twelve Bridges is coming off of a 14-1 season under 2024 Bee Coach of the Year Chris Bean, and Woodcreek ushers in the Kyle Stowers coaching era, having worked as a Timberwolves assistant coach under Brad Hunkins.
7 p.m. at Oak Ridge: The Trojans of El Dorado Hills face Lincoln of Stockton in a meeting of Division I playoff regulars. Oak Ridge has played in each of the last three section Division I championship games.
7:15 p.m. at Vista del Lago: The Eagles of Folsom will host West Park of Roseville in a meeting of playoff regulars, with both programs eager to win their first section championship. Vista welcomes back former head coach Mike Struebing, who led the program for eight seasons and 10 playoff games, before stepping away to catch his breath. West Park is led by the program’s founding coach, Jason Tenner, whose teams reached section semifinals in each of the past two seasons.
7:15 p.m. at Cosumnes Oaks: The host school is Franklin of the Elk Grove Unified School District, and the squads include small-school powerhouse Bradshaw Christian under coach Drew Rickert and longtime playoff regular Christian Brothers under coach Larry Morla. Franklin last season produced its best season since 2018.
7:15 p.m. at Grant: The three-time defending Northern California champion Pacers, winners of a CIF state crown in 2022 and 2024, will host the Turlock Bulldogs, a longtime Division I playoff regular from the southern part of the section. Grant opens the season at home Aug. 23 against Folsom on ESPN.
7:30 p.m. at Lincoln: The Zebras of Placer County host Northern Section small-school power East Nicolaus, playoff regular Yuba City, Northern Section playoff regular Pierce and Rio Americano, a program seeking its third consecutive playoff berth. Lincoln under coach Allen Berg bounced back from a 1-9 season in 2023 to reach the playoffs with a seven-win campaign in 2024.
7:30 p.m. at Rocklin: The Thunder will host a Placer program that under coach Joey Montoya seeks its 11th league championship in 13 seasons, a Vacaville program that has competed in 55 playoff games over the decades, and a Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove team that is led by first-year coach Sam Cole. Cole was an assistant coach on section and state-winning teams at Folsom. Rocklin and coach Jason Adams have reached a section final three times in five years.
8 p.m. at Folsom: The four-time defending Division I section champion Bulldogs host Sierra Foothill League rival Whitney of Rocklin and a St. Mary’s of Stockton program that seeks its 23rd consecutive playoff berth under longtime coach Tony Franks. Folsom and St. Mary’s have rosters that are dotted with major college prospects.
Saturday scrimmages
11 a.m. at Cordova: The Lancers host River City, Highlands and Natomas in a jamboree that includes programs eager to post winning records. Cordova went 6-4 last fall under coach J.P. Dolliver after enduring some lean seasons, River City last tasted the postseason in 2017, Highlands has been a playoff regular under longtime coach Matt Cokley, and Natomas last reached the playoffs in 2022.
6:15 p.m. at Antelope: The Titans host an Oakmont team that played for a league championship last season after going winless in 2023, and the Vikings of Roseville usher in new coach Cory Wilson, the school’s former junior varsity coach. Antelope seeks a return to the playoffs after missing out the previous two seasons.
This story was originally published August 14, 2025 at 2:18 PM.