The local football season is now over for the most part with the CIF State Bowl Games coming up this weekend. But, for our local teams the uniforms have been turned in and equipment stored for the winter.

A few of our schools got into the playoffs for more than one game led by Bradshaw Christian who went to the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Division VI championship game for the first time in seven seasons. They lost in a heartbreaker to Hughson, 40-39.

Cosumnes Oaks played a terrific game at Lincoln of Stockton and then were laid out flat by eventual Division I champion Folsom. Monterey Trail, which earned a first-week bye, looked out manned by Inderkum. Elk Grove handed Vacaville a Division II win thanks to crummy ball control technique. And, Sheldon was just no match for Turlock in a Division I playoff opener.

Inderkum emptied their offensive playbook on Pleasant Grove and had their way with the Eagles in their first return to the playoffs in a few years.

In these days of everyone gets a trophy and playoff brackets loaded with too many average to poor teams, we should expect these kind of results in the first couple weeks of the post-season.

Reflecting back on the 2023 season a trend some football coaches in Elk Grove have been talking about since the end of the pandemic has seemed to have become quite well pronounced. In this Section, and likely in other Sections of the CIF, we have now three classes of football programs; the elite, the goods and the rest.

Look at the teams who have made the Section semi-finals and beyond the past three seasons and it’s the same ones, the elites. I’m talking about Folsom, Oak Ridge, Rocklin and most of the teams in the Sierra Football League, along with Grant, Inderkum, and the parochial schools in the area; St. Mary’s, Central Catholic and Jesuit. You might also toss in the top three teams this season in the Trans Valley League, Escalon, Hilmar and Hughson.

Then there are a similar number of football programs in the region who are in the next pack, “the Goods.” Elk Grove, Monterey Trail and Bradshaw have to be tossed in here along with teams such as Vanden, Vacaville, Woodcreek, Twelve Bridges, Casa Roble, Oakdale, Lincoln of Stockton, Turlock and Downey. You also have to add small schools with solid programs like Woodland Christian, Sutter and Sonora.

Then there is the rest. Competitively speaking, they just aren’t in the same stadium as those above. For proof take any a look at the scoreboards this fall of any of the teams in this group when they played any of the above mentioned. The running clock was turned on in the second half.

The analytics of CalPreps.com backs up this premise. Their top ranked league in this Section is the SFL with a 43.9 rating. Second is the Valley Oak (Central Catholic, Manteca, Oakdale and others) at 17.5. Third is the Tri-City (St. Mary’s, Tracy, the Lodi schools) with a 15.3.

The Delta League, mostly with EGUSD teams, is rated sixth-best with a 7.3.

Thirteen of the Section’s 23 leagues/conferences have negative ratings from CalPreps.

It didn’t used to be this way. The talent base was spread out more. We didn’t have the same few teams playing deep into the playoffs year after year like we do now.

I talked to several football coaches and a couple local administrators about this, and they see the same thing. We remember the years, not that long ago, when Valley and Florin had not only competitive football programs, but strong JV and freshman squads. Now they don’t. Those two schools were a combined 2-18 in a league competitively-ranked by CalPreps.com 22nd out of the Section’s 23 leagues. They struggle to field a varsity squad.

These coaches/admin also note that the elite teams are from one- or two-school towns. Elk Grove has nine comprehensive high schools from basically the city limits, plus a bit of Sacramento County. Folsom has two schools (Folsom and Vista del Lago). El Dorado Hills, one school (Oak Ridge).

These same men with whom I discussed this issue shrugged their shoulders when I asked what could be done to level the football field competitively. It isn’t fun to walk out of stadium after the team on the other sideline just beat you by 50 points. Nor is it enjoyable for most of the guys on the other sideline who know they will beat you by 50. Notice I write, “most.”

Why are the elite schools in that classification? Money and lots of it. Players get lots of things for playing at these schools; t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, sweats, shoes, etc. Facilities are top-notch. Plus, the administration does everything it can to support the football programs. Their boosters and alumni get on board to help. It’s like a “pre-college-type” football program. That’s attractive to the parents of an up-and-coming middle schooler who has some talent.

Discuss the ethical aspects of this all you want, but reality is parents are taking their boys to these schools bypassing the neighborhood high school on their way. That trend doesn’t seem like it will end.

One idea, though, that came up in my discussions recently is the idea of competitive equity in football, not just in setting up the CIF State Bowl Championships. Do it when setting up football playoffs. The Section does have a competitive success rule whereby those schools who consistently are winning playoff games and championships are moved up a Division or two. That’s why Central Catholic, a school of 379 students, played in the Division I post-season.

Why not shove down football programs who haven’t had recent success into the “smaller” divisions?

I would like to hear your ideas and suggestions and I’ll put them into next week’s Citizen. Email me: [email protected]

Dan Bunten passes

Elk Grove High School lost another member of their football past recently. Dan Bunten, who coached for the Thundering Herd from 2000 until his retirement in 2011, passed away Nov. 11 at the age of 74.

Bunten was a Vietnam veteran, won the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, graduated from Western Washington and coached football at Cornell University as an assistant for five years. He returned to Washington in 1988, married his wife, Donna, in 1991 and was the head coach at Bothell High School. He moved to Elk Grove in 2000.

Recently, school principal Rudy Ortega, Jr., told me Bunten was an excellent P.E. instructor and always was light-hearted and friendly.

Bunten’s family asks we donate to our favorite high school football team in honor of Coach Bunten.