Despite public pressure to move a Central Coast Section football final between San Francisco rivals St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral from San Jose to the City, the section isn’t relocating the game.
The Division II final will be played at San Jose City College on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“We’re not going to Kezar (Stadium),” CCS commissioner Dave Grissom told the Bay Area News Group on Monday. “It’s not happening.”
The commissioner added, “I have been in multiple conversations with Sacred Heart Cathedral and SI. We are in agreement the game will be at San Jose City as originally scheduled. Period, end of story. That’s where we’re going. This game’s gonna be one o’clock Saturday. We are excited to have those two communities at the game on Saturday.”
Speculation has persisted since late last week that the section could move the game to the City. The pressure intensified on Saturday afternoon when State Assemblyman Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, issued a statement that the game should not be played in the South Bay.
“The championship football game between Sacred Heart Cathedral and St. Ignatius, our city’s oldest sports rivalry, belongs in San Francisco, not over an hour away in San Jose,” Haney said.
Grissom said that the CCS has been under contract with San Jose City College since October and has already paid its contractual obligations for the venue.
He added that the situation would be different with two Monterey County schools in a potential section championship matchup, as Rabobank Stadium in Salinas works with the section to keep potential dates open in anticipation of an opportunity to host a game.
Playing at Kezar Stadium requires the section to handle its own staffing and site services, which are already set up at San Jose City College and Rabobank. Grissom said the CCS is already staffed at SJCC for Saturday’s games.
“One of the issues that our section has, we just don’t have great facilities north of Santa Clara County for situations like this,” Grissom said. “I talked to both schools yesterday and just came to the realization that it just wasn’t going to work. We just logistically couldn’t put it together. So we’re at San Jose City, and we’re excited to be at San Jose City.”
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