As temperatures are expected to rise throughout the San Joaquin Valley, area high school football teams are bracing and making changes to their game schedules.
Will DeBoard, director of communications for the CIF's Sac-Joaquin Section, says although the Jesuit-Folsom High School game is the only Sacramento-area game impacted as of Tuesday afternoon, he anticipates more changes for local schools by the end of the week since the current Friday forecast is 110 degrees for Sacramento.
Below is a list of kickoff time changes for area games due to this weekend's record heatwave:
FRIDAY
Folsom vs. Jesuit moved to Folsom High
- Junior Varsity kickoff: 6 p.m.
- Varsity kickoff: 8 p.m.
Galt vs. Ripon
- JV kickoff moved to 6 p.m. with varsity to follow
Enochs vs. West
- JV kickoff moved to 6 p.m.
- Varsity kickoff moved to 8:15 p.m.
Waterford vs. Hughson
- JV kickoff moved to 7 p.m.
- Varsity kickoff moved to 9 p.m.
Ripon Christian vs. Stone Ridge Christian
- Varsity kickoff moved to 7:30 p.m.
Lathrop vs. Hilmar
- JV kickoff moved to 6:30 p.m.
- Varsity kickoff moved to 8:30 p.m.
Lincoln (Stockton) vs. Pitman
- JV kickoff at 5:30 p.m.
- Varsity moved to 8 p.m.
Sierra vs. Central Valley
- JV kickoff moved to 6 p.m.
- Varsity kickoff moved to 8 p.m.
Laguna Creek vs. Franklin (Elk Grove)
- JV kickoff moved to 6 p.m.
- Varsity kickoff moved to 8 p.m.
Sonora vs. Lodi
- JV kickoff moved to6 p.m.
- Varsity kickoff moved to 8 p.m.
Pacific Grove vs. Orestimba
- JV kickoff moved to 6 p.m.
- Varsity kickoff moved to 8:15 p.m.
Cosumnes Oaks vs. Pleasant Grove
- JV kickoff moved to 6 p.m.
- Varsity kickoff moved to 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Delta Charter vs. Sierra Ridge Academy (Rite of Passage) varsity game moved to 10 a.m. (from 1 p.m.)
There will be no charged time outs for JV games since they are being played earlier and in hotter temperatures so players can get water and take breaks whenever necessary. That could also push varsity kickoff times back to later at night.
DeBoard says he hasn’t heard of any games being moved to totally different days, however, with some schools sharing stadiums he says he wouldn’t be surprised if some games were moved to Thursday this week.
There is no written rule in the CIF’s constitution regarding heat or weather, DeBoard said, and scheduled games as the schools have a lot of local control and determine what’s safe or not for their student athletes.
The schools talk to the visiting team and officials from the Northern California Officials Association (NCOA) to agree on a time change as necessary. Artificial turf, which is on many high school football fields, gets hotter than grass so that’s another thing taken into consideration when discussing player safety in extreme heat.
This story will be updated as it develops.
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