Los Osos going by the book with jersey selection
Much is being made of the Los Osos High School football team wearing its home jerseys in a potentially season-making 31-28 win over defending CIF champ Rancho Cucamonga on Friday. The game was played at Los Osos, which serves as the home field for both teams but Rancho Cucamonga happened to be the home team on Friday.
Los Osos coach Tom Martinez didn't say the move was done an effort to get under the champs' skin, but he didn't have to.
During the week leading up to the game Martinez consulted the blue book, which stated the visiting team was required to wear "light" jerseys, not "white." Los Osos' powder blue home uniforms were close enough, in his estimation.
"I thought it would help us be a little more intense," Martinez said.
I personally don't see anything wrong with a little gamesmanship; I think the high school level doesn't have enough of it. Rancho Cucamonga and Los Osos, which are a mile apart, don't like each other from the coaching staffs on down to the freshmen. Things like this are innocent enough but help fuel a rivalry that has quickly grown into one of the area's best, impressive considering Los Osos has only been in existence for seven years.
As for the football implications, saying this win saved Los Osos' season may not be an understatement.
There was no shame in going 2-3 against Los Osos' plenty difficult nonleague schedule. But considering three of the CIF-SS Central Division's top 10 teams were looming on the Grizzlies' Baseline League schedule, a Los Osos team that was good enough to take Vista Murrieta to overtime was facing the prospect of missing the playoffs... before beating Rancho Cucamonga on Friday, that is.
Los Osos was shutout by Upland in its league opener and had the Grizzlies lost to Rancho Cucamonga and either Etiwanda or Claremont, they were looking at a sub-.500 record that would have doomed their chances of being the at-large playoff selection.
As of now, I've got them in the playoffs. If they don't finish in the top three in league, they'll assuredly get the at-large selection given that they beat Colony and lost close games with Redlands and Vista Murrieta, the most difficult nonleague opponent of anybody in the Baseline League.
Leave a comment. Ask a question. Or e-mail me at clay.fowler@inlandnewspapers.com
About Clay
Clay Fowler has been covering high school sports for six years in California and Texas. He was born in Dallas, attended the University of Texas and worked in Central Texas before joining the Daily Bulletin staff in 2006.
Email Clay here
Leave a comment