Saturday about 30 minutes before his team's kickoff against host Serra, Jay Oca huddled his team near the south goalpost at Jesse Freitas Field and delivered a fiery speech.
Since Oca's South San Francisco team was expected by most to lose by a wide margin -- and it did 50-0 -- I was interested in what he was going to say. So I crept closer and listened.
Oca spoke of all of the obstacles his team and players had overcome just to be on the field. He told specific players how impressed he was with them because of overcoming injuries or similar. He mentioned how they needed to represent for the neighborhood. He told the Warriors how much he believed in them and even said he knew in his heart they could win the game.
At that point I thought maybe a hot San Mateo sun had gotten to the new coach, but then I started seeing things from his perspective. He and his team has been through much, he needed to pump them up for a scary opponent and, besides, what's he supposed to tell the Warriors ... "these guys are the defending Open Division champs -- let's try to keep them under 70."
Said Oca after: "Our football team has had a lot of struggles. We didn't have any facilities during the summer and had to bring our weights to the Boys and Girls Club. We had to practice in a parking lot for a while."
Like El Camino High a summer earlier, the renovation of the Warriors' home -- Clifford Field -- had forced South City to practice at first in a parking lot and then eventually at Orange Park once it got the OK for that as Clifford was being refurbished. Suffice it to say Serra and other elite teams like Valley Christian and Los Gatos don't have such worries.
"I am impressed with our kids and how they've battled just to be on the field," Oca said. "A lot of these kids are from single-parent home and don't have many resources and that's why they impress me."
Oca had his own problems before his first season as coach. Around mid-July, Prep2Prep learned the South City football job which was supposed to be his, was re-opened because the young coach left SSF as a teacher to take a job teaching in a nearby school district.
There is an education code hiring preference given to district employees over those out of district and that seemed to be the sticking point.
“The district is doing what it has to do and I’m doing what I have to do to retain the job,” Oca told me last July.
Never mind that Oca was the South City frosh-soph coach for six years and a Warriors assistant for another six years and was the obvious choice for the Warrior job. Now the position seemed to be slipping through his fingers and yet he didn't complain.
Said the Westmoor High grad at the time: “We teach the kids they need to follow the rules and so we need to follow the rules too ... Now I’ll just have to apply again and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”
Things did work out and Oca retained his job. And I like what I see so far of the first-year coach, based on the classy way he handled last summer's drama and his impassioned speech before Saturday's game and how hard his team played on Saturday against a daunting opponent.
After the mismatch, Oca looked on the bright side regarding his win-less team which is young and still learning.
“We only gave up (four) touchdowns (from scrimmage) to one of the higher-ranked teams in the area if not the state and that’s a positive,” Oca said. “”We forced four turnovers and that’s another positive and our defensive line and defensive backfield played well. We (moved the ball) occasionally and that gives us hope.”
Plus, the Warriors have Jay Oca -- still another positive.
GETTING OLD: Before Saturday's South City versus Serra game, Warriors assistant Calvin Sadhu who I'd never met spotted me taking photos on his sideline and asked me a few times who I was. I thought maybe he was going to kick me off the sideline ... or worse.
But then I told him I'm from Prep2Prep and all was good. Chatting with him briefly we came to the realization Calvin's uncle, David Sadhu, was on my playground (I was a rec leader) back in the late 1970s. This is just more evidence I'm older than dirt.
THURSDAY NIGHT'S ALL RIGHT: The Leigh vs. Andrew Hill football game scheduled for last Friday that was suspended due to an unfounded bomb threat has been re-scheduled, according to @LeighAthletics. It will now be this Thursday at 7 p.m. at Leigh, with the frosh-soph game at 4 p.m.
Also, don't forget Friday's Carlmont vs. San Mateo game is at 7 p.m. at Carlmont due to San Mateo's not completed bleachers. It was originally scheduled for San Mateo.
RING THAT BELL: The Bellarmine football team is not only 3-0 on the field, but making an impact off of it.
Last summer the Bells continued their tradition of supporting the Sacred Heart Community Center's Pack-A-Back Drive to supply school supplies for 2,800 needy students.
Supplies were gathered in late July and early August and then delivered on August 8.
Said Bell star Anthony Guttadauro on the BCP web site: "As the Bellarmine football team, we not only play the game itself, but also pride ourselves in fulfilling our motto of being 'Men for Others.' ... "For about two weeks, we brought in backpacks, paper, pens, binders, and all sorts of school supplies. Our team goal was to donate enough school supplies that we could fill the entire back of Coach Amarillas's truck - and we did it!"
Nice going, Bells.
FREE CLINIC: Donovan Blythe's free skills academy sessions for elementary and middle school boys and girls start Saturday.
Blythe is the Eastside College Prep girls basketball coach. The school is in East Palo Alto (1041 Myrtle Street) and is perennially strong in the sport, despite low numbers. More information: donovan@blythesbasketball.com or kevin@blythesbasketball.com.
Briefly: Former Mitty basketball star Connor Peterson will have surgery for a torn labrum, tweets Monarch coach Tim Kennedy ... Santa Rosa High girls basketball coach Steve Chisolm has resigned, according to the Youth Sports Network ... Sacred Heart Cathedral volleyball star Madison Murtagh has committed to USF.
John Murphy is the Web Content Manager of prep2prep.com. He may be reached at jmurphy@prep2prep and followed on Twitter at @Prepcat
