Though not necessarily by choice, the Calistoga High football program appears to have settled in semi-comfortably into its role as an eight-man program in the third year of head coach Mike Ervin’s second tour of duty as head coach.
The 1962 Calistoga High graduate coached the Wildcats from 2006-2010, during which time Calistoga had three CIF North Coast Section playoff appearances. Paul Harrell was the head coach from 2011-2014 before resigning, at which time Ervin returned after coaching stints with the North Bay Rattlers along with Santa Rosa and Tomales High Schools as an assistant coach.
Since making the transition to the North Central League III, which is designated for eight-man football, the Wildcats have gone 11-5 combined in the last two seasons.
In preparation for the 2017 campaign the Wildcats did not have formalized spring football practices like most other schools but have had the weight-room open since January and will continue to do so during the summer from Monday-Thursday. The workout program will also involve conditioning.
Mark Galindo, Scott LeStrange, Vince Venegas, and Troy Alvarado return to the coaching staff. LeStrange and Alvarado were with Ervin’s staff in his first stint. Venegas played for Ervin in his first tour of duty. The staff will also involve four newcomers: Ron Risi, Robinson Galvez, Cris Flores and Marcos Escalante. Flores and Escalante played at Calistoga for both Ervin and Harrell. Risi has 30 years of experience coaching in the Bay Area, most notably as a line coach and defensive coordinator at Pinole Valley.
Calistoga made the move to eight-man football after the 2014 season, when the JV team had to forfeit its season after five games based on have too many players academically ineligible.
The NCL III will have a different look in that the league will be divided into North and South. The latter will consist of Calistoga, Tomales, Rincon Valley Christian, Branson, Potter Valley and Stuart Hall. The North will be comprised of Upper Lake, South Fork, Roseland Prep, Round Valley, Laytonville and Upper Lake. The thinking behind this move is to limit games that are forfeited.
Calistoga will play its five league games with its non league contests featuring Anderson Valley, Round Valley, Loyalton and Roseland Prep.
In the past, Calistoga football had the option from game to game of playing 9-man or 11-man football. That option ended the year Harrell took over for Ervin in 2011.
Other factors have also contributed to hastening Calistoga’s move to the NCL III in that Div. V in the NCS became much more loaded with the addition of Middletown, Salesian (Richmond), John Swett (Crockett), St. Helena and St. Patrick’s (Vallejo), to name a few. Some of those schools have enrollments of 500 and change.
Calistoga, however, is in that ‘tweener stage in that it has enough players to become an 11-man program but the problem is finding a league nearby with enough competitive equity.
The dilemma the Wildcats face is that for every two year block where they go 14-7 like 2012-2013, there are also two year stretches where 2-18 in 2011 and 2014 are just as likely. Based on early returns, Calistoga can at least stay consistently competitive in NCL III. Given that football sets the tone for the athletic program, such a scenario becomes significant.
The Wildcats would get housed on a regular basis in the NCL I but the NCL III is too limiting on a long-term basis. On a given year, Calistoga has enough numbers to fill a JV and varsity team but the rest of the NCL III with the exception of Upper Lake does not have that luxury. With no games to play, the JV kids’ best playing time was after the varsity youngsters contributed to building big leads.
However, given the overall decline in football participation throughout the United States, Calistoga football remaining in the NCL III for 8-man football is not such a far-fetched notion.
The only viable option if Calistoga wants to return to 11-man football is the BFL, where the Wildcats competed in 2012 and 2013.
It’s just a matter of how much do the Wildcats covet a return to 11-man football?
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