A.A. Stagg High Football

Countdown is almost complete as Stagg prepares for season in on-campus stadium

By Scott Linesburgh
Record Staff Writer
August 25, 2010 12:00 AM

STOCKTON - Stagg High varsity football coach Don Norton met with his players in January and told them there were 272 days until the start of this season.

He said they should prepare themselves to build on the success they had in 2009 and get ready to play in a new stadium.

Two-hundred-seventy days down, two to go.

The Delta Kings and five other area high schools begin the 2010 season on Friday. The schedule begins in earnest on Sept. 3. Stagg travels to Chavez for a matchup at 7:15 p.m. Friday, and like every team, the Delta Kings begin with a clean slate and plenty of enthusiasm.

But Stagg might be more excited than some other teams. The Delta Kings are coming off an 8-2 season and their first Sac-Joaquin Section playoff appearance since 1999, and they have an on-campus stadium for the first time in their 52-year history.

Stagg plays its first home game on Sept. 10 against Franklin.

"We should be enthusiastic. Look at this field; you can not ask for a better gift than this," Norton said after Tuesdays practice.

"They are enthusiastic about the field and the season. The one thing that we try to stress here is for these guys to really enjoy the game. For 90 percent of these kids the last chance they will have to play organized football is in high school. We want them to have fun with it."

The Delta Kings seemed to be having a good time Tuesday, despite the sweltering heat. They ran hard and followed every command from the coaches. Some players have been counting down the days since Norton set his timeline.

"We started at 270-something days, and we used that as a goal. We have been counting down, and now we are right there," senior cornerback Louis Thomasson said. "It is exciting to almost be there, and you have to keep working hard. You are not under the radar any more. You don't want to go 8-2 and turn around and go 2-8."

Stagg had played its home games at Pacific's Stagg Memorial Stadium and other Stockton Unified School District campuses, including Edison and Chavez. That changes this season, thanks to a sparkling facility funded by Measure Q, which voters passed in 2008, with metal grandstands and a FieldTurf surface that features sidelines painted in Stagg's school colors, brown and gold.

The team has been practicing on the field while construction crews added the finishing touches, and Norton organized a four-team scrimmage last Saturday with Galt, Sierra and Franklin of Elk Grove to test out the lights.

"Everything went great, and the people from the other schools were impressed," Norton said.

Stagg senior quarterback Francisco Ortigoza said it's a great feeling not to have to have to practice at the schools baseball field and bus someplace else for home games.

"They were talking about (the stadium) during our sophomore year, so it is going to be great to stay here and play a game," Ortigoza said.

But the debut of Stagg stadium still is three weeks away. The focus now is on Chavez and trying to make the long days in the weight room and on the practice field pay off with a opening-night win.

"It went by so fast," senior tight end and linebacker Matt Hanson said, "and now we are ready to play again."
Contact reporter Scott Linesburgh at (209) 546-8281 or slinesburgh@recordnet.com.

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100825/A_SPORTS/8250325

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