No Friday Night Lights for Hercules, Kennedy-Richmond
HERCULES — A glimpse at the football stands at Hercules High on Friday at 5 p.m. made one think a practice might be occurring on the field.
But a game was starting in a matter of minutes in front of 50 fans, two hours earlier than originally scheduled. The West Contra Costa Unified School District confirmed on Wednesday that it was moving its home varsity football kickoff times to 5 p.m. for the remainder of the season in the aftermath of a shooting last weekend outside one of its games.
Students from the district could attend with proper identification, while other students could attend if accompanied by an adult.
The crowd filled in somewhat by halftime with approximately 200 fans in the stands, but the 48-0 victory by Kennedy-Richmond over Hercules had a quiet start.
“It was pretty different. Left school a little earlier than we usually would,” said Kennedy’s Trey Baker, who scored three touchdowns against Hercules. “Good time frame, though. No dangers.”
Hercules coach Larry De Mons also liked the new time.
“It’s a little bit better to play at 5, if you ask me, because the kids, they have less time to go off campus,” De Mons said. “For us, it’s a plus. We leave from campus at 3:30, we walk over here, then we can hit the field about 4:30.”
“It is what it is, It’s got to be for the safety for the kids. We enjoy Friday Night Lights, but whatever our district superintendent says, we agree with him 100-percent,” Kennedy coach Greg Marshall said. “I’m a believer football is football. If you are a football player, you can play nine in the morning, 11 in the morning, six at night, seven at night. Just get the refs, get the field, let’s go.”
The schools affected by the time changes are De Anza, El Cerrito, Hercules, Kennedy, Pinole Valley and Richmond.
On Sept 27, three teenagers were wounded and others were sent running for safety after a shooting as spectators were leaving a De Anza High football game, Richmond police told this publication on Sept. 28.
Both Baker and Marshall were at the game. Baker said he remembered everybody running back into the stadium right when the game was about to end in the fourth quarter.
“It didn’t happen on De Anza’s campus at all. It’s a miscommunication that everybody is saying,” Marshall said. “The shooting took place off-campus. We were at the game. We were safe. Honestly, we didn’t hear any gunshots. We didn’t realize everything happened until we left the stadium.”
Tonight, Kennedy dominated Hercules in the first half, taking a 42-0 halftime lead on its way to keeping its record perfect at 6-0 (1-0 in the Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division). Hercules fell to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in Rock Division action.
A hero for the Eagles was Baker, who affected the game in more than one way. The 6-foot senior rushed for a game-high 143 yards on six carries, scored the game’s first touchdown on a 31-yard interception return, and later in the first half returned punts for touchdowns of 41 and 50 yards. It was his first game as an Eagle, as he sat out five games after transferring from El Cerrito.
Kennedy’s Elijah Cannon added scoring runs of 27 and nine yards. The Eagles also scored on runs of 1-yard by Bobby Williams and 13 yards by Devon Gilbert.
Defensively, Kennedy’s Sateki Lavulo and Jaylen McDaniel both had two sacks and Jamario Washington grabbed an interception. Hercules gained only 32 yards in the game.