Recent additions of Christopher, Sobrato have added more excitement to unique local scene
Electricity was in the air Friday at Richert Field.
It hummed amid a turbulent sea of red, blue, green and yellow as varsity football teams from San Benito, Gilroy, Independence and host Live Oak came together for a full-contact jamboree that was anything but an average scrimmage.
Pent-up excitement was palpable with each play, each tackle, each break from the huddle. Excitement for the start of not just high school football – only one week left – but for South Valley football.
If it was held a decade ago, Friday’s jamboree would have comprised the entire South Valley lineup. Instead, it was about halfway there.
That same night, the Sobrato Bulldogs were at Pioneer High School, holding their own against a Blossom Valley Athletic League A team and holding the upperhand against two more foes from the B and C divisions.
Meanwhile in Gilroy, the first class of varsity football players from Christopher High School rested up after a long week of training camp. The Cougars were originally going to play in the jamboree, but backed out because their coach had to tend to a family emergency.
The landscape of South Valley football has certainly changed. Though the recent openings of Sobrato (2003) and Christopher (2009) have taken away from the area’s cornerstone rivalries (Gilroy-Live Oak, Gilroy-San Benito), they have also opened the door to new traditions. Instead of having to play their entire nonleague schedule far from home, local teams have the opportunity to tune up against each other without sacrificing strength of schedule.
“Who knows? Maybe we’ll have our own South Valley league with them some day,” Live Oak coach Jon Michael Porras said in March. “We’re all for keeping traditions and starting new ones.”
This season, ‘B’ league Christopher will play the Acorns and Bulldogs for the first time, with the winner earning a worthwhile amount of playoff points.
The stakes will be the same for Live Oak and Gilroy’s opener Friday, plus the Sept. 17 El Toro Bowl between Live Oak and Sobrato and the Nov. 5 Prune Bowl between Gilroy and San Benito.
Gilroy and Christopher will also square off for the first time at the varsity level Nov. 12.
“We wanted to play Gilroy this year, too, but it didn’t work out,” said Sobrato coach Nick Borello, whose team wraps up nonleague play Sept. 10 against Leland. “We still have a good nonleague schedule. It’ll be a great challenge for us.”
Here is a look at where the South Valley rivalries stand today:
Live Oak-Gilroy
This used to be a cancel-all-plans-and-get-there game. Though it has gradually lost some of its luster of the last decade, the Gilroy-Live Oak showdown is still a classic. Bragging rights among the players, for sure, and most likely some in the stands, too. Alumni are always out in full force for this one.
Gilroy played ungracious hosts in the teams’ season opener last year, sending the Acorns back up Highway 101 with a 36-13 loss.
“Some people still consider Gilroy-Live Oak the big rivalry,” Gilroy head coach Greg Garcia said. “It changes over time and people will always have their opinions.”
Neither team wants to lose the first game of the season. Who will prevail? Find out this Friday at Richert Field in Morgan Hill.
San Benito-Gilroy
Two words: Prune Bowl.
Utter that phrase to Hollister and Gilroy residents and look out.
The Mustangs have snagged three straight VFW Memorial Trophies from the Balers, including a stunning 35-30 upset during last season’s 53rd annual contest.
San Benito still holds the slight edge in the series, though, controlling a 29-23-1 lead.
“It’s been the community rivalry for years on end,” Gilroy head coach Greg Garcia said. “There is history behind it. Two cities separated by the 25, two different counties. The two communities just shut down and play each other.”
The distaste transcends each sport at both schools, from football to tennis, basketball to baseball.
The rivalry won’t be going anywhere any time soon, although some believe that with the advent of Christopher High School in Gilroy, the rivalry may be lessened as the seasons go by, and as the Christopher-Gilroy rivalry inevitably grows. The 54th annual Prune Bowl is slated for Nov. 5 in Gilroy.
Live Oak-Sobrato
A spirited game that draws nearly half of Morgan Hill, the El Toro Bowl has yet to produce a decent game.
The Bulldogs made this cross-town clash a true rivalry last year by beating the Acorns 27-6 for their first El Toro Bowl victory.
Live Oak handily won the previous two meetings, rallying past the Bulldogs 22-7 in the first round of the Medium School Division playoffs and blanking them 27-0 in a 2008 opener.
Gilroy-Christopher
Gilroy is now a two-team town, forever changing the landscape of prep football in the Garlic City, and adding even more excitement and louder chatter from supporters of both programs. But a fiercer rivalry than San Benito-Gilroy? Perhaps, someday.
Either way, Friday nights are going to be jumping at both ends of town.
“It’s going to be a rivalry, there is really no way to get around it,” Christopher coach Tim Pierleoni said. “I think it will get more heated and more heated as time goes on. We are all good friends and we would like to keep it as friendly as possible.”
Mustangs’ head coach Greg Garcia said:
“It’s going to be bigger for the kids than the coaches. … We all have had close ties and relationships.
“Sure, they are supporting their team, but the things that are said or done are malicious and wrong. It’s unpleasant. I’ve never really sensed that at Gilroy. I don’t think our community members have that in them.”
