Prep spotlight: ‘Tears from everybody’ as Gunderson football coach leaves for Arizona

Welcome to Prep Spotlight, our feature that sheds more light on the Bay Area’s high school sports scene. For tips and story ideas, email highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com. If you haven’t already, please subscribe. Your contributions keep us going.

---

FORMER GUNDERSON COACH EXPLAINS EXIT

Sometimes, you just need a change.

That’s the conclusion now-former Gunderson football coach Jason Harrison came to after weighing his options. Harrison had been leading Gunderson four years as its head coach after playing for the Grizzlies in his high school days.

But it was actually another Grizzly — former NFL wide receiver James Jones — who influenced Harrison to pick up and move down south to Arizona.

“James Jones and my other friend, Tim, they moved out here, five years ago, six years ago,” Harrison said. “They’ve always been telling me, ‘Come on, J, come on man. Get out here.’ And it was just time, man. It was time.”

Harrison will continue coaching at ALA Queen Creek, a joint middle-high school in the Phoenix area. He leaves behind a strong program for new coach Felipe Avelar, who will guide Gunderson into the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Santa Teresa-Valley Division for the first time in three years.

Gunderson went 7-4 overall and 6-0 in the BVAL West Valley last fall, making its first CCS appearance since 2016. Harrison consulted on Avelar’s hire and believes the program is well set up for continued success.

“It was tough, man,” Harrison said of departing. “Emotions and tears from everybody. I was at our banquet. It was pretty emotional, because the kids, it took a lot to buy into what they bought into. And we were a family. They believed in me and trusted me. They were shocked and sad, but they understood at the end of the day. They understood this decision I made, and that we were gonna miss one another.”

– Christian Babcock

ST. FRANCIS NAMES NEW ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

Matt Maguire, who had served as St. Francis’ interim athletic director since the departure of former AD Therren Wilburn in Decemeber, has officially been hired as full-time Director of Athletics, the Mountain View school announced Thursday.

Maguire is a Lancer alumnus from the class of 1998 and has taught and coached at St. Francis in addition to his role in athletic administration.

“We are thrilled to have Matt Maguire step into the role of director of athletics,” St. Francis vice principal for campus life Michael Pilawski said in a release. “As a former Lancer student-athlete, coach and parent, Matt has a deep understanding of our school. He knows where we are headed and has a clear vision for our athletic program—one that is committed to pushing us forward and building on our standards of excellence.”

– Christian Babcock

BASEBALL: IS DAL FOOTHILL THE EAST BAY’S TOUGHEST LEAGUE?

All eyes have been on the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division.

Five of the league’s six baseball teams have at least six wins through the first month of the season. Clayton Valley Charter, Campolindo, Benicia, College and Acalanes have all made the latest Bay Area News Group rankings.

Last year, all of the DAL’s teams except for Clayton Valley went to the North Coast Section playoffs. Clayton Valley is currently the only undefeated team in the league, starting the year with eight straight wins.

“The teams are really well coached,” Campolindo coach Julian Fiammengo said. “We have good players and good talent in this area. The teams we compete against are really good, so there’s no freebies in this league.”

– Nathan Canilao

OAKLAND TECH CHALLENGES ITSELF EARLY

Oakland Tech is no stranger to challenges.

The Bulldogs are only 5-4 through nine games this season, but they have played a gauntlet of a schedule that includes losses to Berkeley, Castro Valley, Bishop O’Dowd and Albany.

Lining up tough competition was no accident.

“It’s another year of making a challenging schedule and learning how to play big games,” Oakland Tech coach Chris McClarty said after his team’s 13-6 loss to O’Dowd on Saturday.

Oakland Tech used a similar strategy last season. The Bulldogs opened the 2024 season 1-5, but rallied late to make it to the NorCal Division V semifinals.

“I wanted to make sure we played teams like Berkeley, Castro Valley and O’Dowd,” McClarty said. “It’s just to prepare our boys for that stretch in the postseason similar to what we had last year.”

– Nathan Canilao

PITTSBURG STAR STAYS PATIENT

Pittsburg junior JJ Robinson has scary power. Whenever the BYU commit steps up to the plate, opposing outfielders usually take a step or two toward the outfield.

But lately teams have tried to pitch around him, letting the 6-foot outfielder take first base before risking a potential long ball into the outfield.

Robinson has stayed patient even if pitches in the zone are few and far between. In Pittsburg’s thrilling 7-6 win over Campolindo on Thursday, Robinson was walked on four pitches in his first two at-bats but finished 3 for 4 with two doubles.

“I just have to wait for my pitch and make sure I don’t miss it,” Robinson said. “I might get a pitch in the zone once a week, once a game, but I just can’t miss that one pitch. I got to capitalize on the pitcher’s mistake every time.”

– Nathan Canilao