Hooked on high school football

Thomas Lawrence grew up in a football town.

David Witte has seen his share of crazy football games.

Jim Crandell watched football games in Wisconsin.

Joe Cortez was going to be a teacher until he graduated from high school.

Rich Estrada remembers his days of watching football in the Bay Area.

Ron Agostini will continue to play a part of high school football from a different angle.

All of these members of the print/online Journalism and TV media remember their addiction to football that has carried over to today. Their stories go back to 1977, when I was still in the early years of elementary school.

Each of us, along with hundreds of print/online Journalism, TV and Radio media in the Sacramento region, anxiously await for the upcoming football season. High school football teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section start practices on July 31 that begin with conditioning week. On Aug. 7, prep grid teams can strap on their shoul-

der pads and helmets.

Two of the four Lodi-area football teams — Tokay and Liberty Ranch — open their seasons on Friday, Aug. 25 with non-league games; Tokay plays at Heritage of Brentwood and Liberty Ranch at River City of West Sacramento. Lodi and Galt will open their pre-season schedule on Friday, Sept. 1.

Lawrence has been the prep sports writer for The Record in Stockton for the last three years. He grew up in Oakdale, where football and rodeo are king. Lawrence didn’t strap on a helmet and shoulders pads, though.

“I never thought much about high school football, despite attending high school in a town that’s in love with the sport,” Lawrence said. “My first newspaper job (Redding Record Searchlight), and one of my first assignments was covering a Northern Section championship game between Foothill of Palo Cedro and Paradise. As soon as I hit the sideline, I was enamored with every bit of the experience: The smack-talking before the game, the hits, the dirt clods flying to-and-for, the coaches barking into their headsets. I was hooked.”

Witte, who has been the News-Sentinel’s sports editor for almost two years, has his stories to share. Originally from the Fresno area, Witte played baseball and soccer growing up. His first football assignment was in 2007 during the off-season. His first football game was covering Clovis East.

“They ran the double-tight (offense),” recalled Witte. “Run every play. They would pass, maybe, twice a game. They would win games that way.”

Prior to coming to the News-Sentinel, Witte was sports editor at the Los Banos Enterprise. Some of the football games that stood out during his tenure was the 2010 Los Banos-St. Mary’s game that St. Mary’s won 34-20. But that ending came the next afternoon, as a car accident knocked out electricity that affected two prep football playoffs games in Stockton.

Another game Witte remembers is the 2012 Escalon-Los Banos playoff game that ended with Escalon winning 42-35 in four overtimes. “That was fun,” Witte said. Crandell is the sports director for KTXL Fox40 in Sacramento. He has been at the station for 30 years. In recent years, Crandell and Kristina Werner, chief meteorologist at Fox40, have been hosting Final Quarter, which airs from 11-11:30 p.m. every Friday during the high school football season. The recap games of that week that includes videos and scores from around the region.

Going back to when he was in junior high school, Crandell clearly recalls his first taste of high school football growing up in Wisconsin.

“Every high school game was a big event in my hometown of about 12,000 people,” recalled Crandell. “It’s interesting to me that most aspects of those Friday night games way back then have held steady through the years.”

Estrada works as a stringer for The Record, and has his own Website — blackhatfootball.com — that is dedicated to high school football, 365/24/7. Prior, he was the prep sports writer and reporter for The Modesto Bee for 27 years.

Growing up in the Bay Area, Estrada and a group of his friends would sneak into football games at Diablo Valley College by following the team through the gate as they were part of the squad in some capacity.

“Almost always worked,” Estrada said.

Estrada feels high school football brings a city or town together.

“Because the sport is important to a whole lot of people, and not just those playing it and watching it in person,” Estrada noted. “It reverberates throughout the community in football towns, and I love the fact that you can be a great high school football player — but that doesn’t always transition into being a great college player. That gives us lots of talent diversity.”

Cortez is the regional sports editor for The Modesto Bee and the Merced Sun-Star. He was convinced he was going to have a life in education after he graduated from high school.

“Thirty-two years ago, when I graduated high school, I thought I wanted to be a teacher,” Cortez said. “I soon realized I just wanted summers off. But the thought of working with students always stayed with me.”

Shortly after graduation, Cortez stumbled into a part-time job with the local newspaper and parlayed that into a 31-year journalism career.

“Looking back, I’ve spent a great number of those years working with young student-athletes, and in my own little way I’ve played a small part in their high school journey, chronicling some of their achievements along the way,” Cortez said. “That’s been rewarding. And I still get a charge out of walking the sidelines on Friday nights. It's still a thrill.”

For most of the last 50 years, Agostini has seen his fair share of high school football games. Recently, Agostini was offered a buyout from The Bee after 40 years last month.

Agostini started his Journalism career In 1967, as he worked as a correspondent for The Record and The Bee. Then a junior at East Union High of Manteca, Agostini would call in results of East Union football games. He said The Bee paid him 20 cents per copy inch.

“I’ve been chasing those Friday Night Lights,” said Agostini, who was East Union’s student president his senior year. “I had no idea what its going to be like.”

While attending Delta College, Agostini had a full plate of academic studies and played on the school’s men’s golf team. At the same time, he became the first correspondent for the Manteca Bulletin. He graduated from Fresno State in the early 1970s.

“At Fresno State, I wasn’t covering high school football,” Agostini said.

After working as a staff writer for the Selma Enterprise, a weekly newspaper in the Fresno area, for a year, he returned north as the new sports editor for The Bulletin.

He clearly remembers when he started at the Bee — May 1977. He’d cover high school football from that year until 1992. But from 1993 through 2009, Agostini was a columnist for The Bee, and spent time covering collegiate and professional sports for The Bee.

“I’d be going out occasionally,” Agostini said.

When The Bee started editorial staff reduction in 2009, according to Agostini — who has also covered four Super Bowls during his time at The Bee — found himself back on the sidelines on Friday nights again. He also covered Modesto Junior College football games on Saturdays.

“I ended up the last eight, nine years reverting back when I started in the first place,” Agostini said. “I found out I still enjoyed it, and loved talking to the kids. You can’t do this job and not love it.”

Agostini said he plans to attend East Union football home games this season. That is because he started a practice during his time at the Bulletin of honoring former East Union alumnus who suited up for the Lancers and made names for themselves on the fields or courts. Before each East Union football home game, the alumnus honored would help hold the banner for the team to run through.

“I’m looking forward to doing that,” said Agostini, whose brother Jim, and his son Chad have overseen it over the years.