7 Friday Night

The De La Salle game at Folsom has come and gone. Chace and Ben discuss De La Salle's win and the fallout as it pertains to the larger NorCal landscape. The hosts actually cover a handful of big picture topics as we get closer to the end of the regular season, doing so as part of a new feature they call "Play or Punt."

Coach Terry Eidson makes his weekly appearance and shares his views on De La Salle's win before the guys pick his brain about the least appreciated third phase of a football game: special teams. After more than three decades of building a top notch special teams unit within the Spartans program, he had a few thoughts on the matter. 

Finally, all three make their weekly predictions, which included picks on several big matchups in the Sac-Joaquin Section this week. Also, if you think William Shatner going to space escaped mention in this episode, you'd be sadly mistaken. Beam into this episode! Football talk awaits.

Wednesday Oct. 6, marks the 20th anniversary of what is arguably considered California's most significant high school football game of all time — and some have made a case it's the nation's most significant high school football game to date. It was the first ever meeting between the nation's top two ranked teams. This special bonus episode features four guests: Two who coached in the game, one who played in the game and one who reported on the game.  

Host Long Beach Poly was ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today, despite the fact that its opponent, De La Salle-Concord, was entering with a national-record winning streak of 116 games. A few other rankings had it flipped, but still. The game reportedly sold 17,000 tickets and 121 media credentials were issued, which included such publications as Sports Illustrated and the New York Times. A combined nine future NFL players took the field that night (including the player who joined us for this show). 

Regular listeners of this podcast are aware that longtime De La Salle assistant coach Terry Eidson is a weekly visitor to our show. And we couldn't let the anniversary pass without seeing if he could roundup some of his closest friends for a chat about the monumental game. He certainly came through. Hosts Chace and Ben welcome legendary Spartans head coach Bob Ladouceur, former De La Salle star QB Matt Gutierrez, one-time De La Salle beat writer for the Contra Costa Times, Joe Stiglich, and of course Coach Eidson.  

This week features NorCal's biggest intersectional matchup of the season when De La Salle-Concord pays a visit to Folsom High. The game between the Spartans and Bulldogs has been circled by many fans for months, and the intrigue has only multiplied now that De La Salle's NorCal unbeaten streak was halted by St. Francis-Mountain View back in mid-September. Naturally, hosts Chace and Ben spend a lot of time talking about this game and its ramifications for both teams involved and how it fits into the season's bigger picture. 

To join in their conversation, the hosts welcomed longtime Sacramento Bee Prep Sports Editor, Joe Davidson, and Cal-Hi Sports co-founder and editor, Mark Tennis. Together, the guys not only break down the big game in Folsom (complete with a few predictions), but also share thoughts on some of the themes to the first half of the season and on some of the other teams that have really stood out. 

The jam-packed episode also features weekly guest, Coach Terry Eidson. He knows a thing or two about facing off against Folsom. Coach shares a few of his thoughts on the game and then compares Clayton Valley-Concord coach Tim Murphy to The Who, The Rolling Stones and KISS. It's true. Finally, weekly predictions are shared on a number of big matchups this week.

Before hosts Chace and Ben dive into an enticing week of high school football matchups, a slightly disgruntled Ben calls for a Football Festivus and an Airing of Grievances. In a get-off-my-lawn digression, Ben shares his thoughts on some recent fan behavior — both good and bad — and dissects the merits (or lack thereof) in students storming the field following a win. 

Once the Festivus is concluded, there's still plenty of football talk to go around. The hosts welcome Nicholas Coronado — the prolific senior quarterback for undefeated Kimball High of Tracy — to talk about Jaguars football, playing in the tough Valley Oak League, and putting a young school and program on the map. 

Coach Terry Eidson also makes his weekly stop and breaks down De La Salle's nationally-televised showdown with St. Frances Academy-Baltimore. Ben and Chace also ask him to share what national TV game weeks are like, having been part of of them for many years with the Spartans. And finally, all three weigh in with game predictions for a dynamite Week 7 schedule across NorCal.   

As NorCal football begins to embark on Week 6, we've already reached the one-third marker of the season. Hosts Chace and Ben reflect on that a bit by naming which team has surprised them the most so far. Two of the more surprising teams — Monte Vista-Danville and El Cerrito — face off in a key matchup this week. That gave Ben, an El Cerrito graduate, a chance to return to his roots and visit a Gauchos practice. There he spoke with the team's outstanding defensive back duo of Robert Freeman and Warren Smith. 

And with Netflix releasing its first look at its series based on Colin Kaepernick's high school days (which enters Pitman High of Turlock into the Hollywood canon), it gave the hosts a fun talking point for Coach Terry Eidson's weekly visit. Eidson shared his memories of being part of the Hollywood process during the production and release of the movie "When The Game Stands Tall." 

Finally, the boys share thoughts on the teams they saw in person during Week 5, and go through their usual game picks for the upcoming week.  

The show may have produced an emergency pod surrounding St. Francis-Mountain View's NorCal streak-busting win over De La Salle-Concord, but there was still PLENTY of spillover into this week's episode. First off, Chace and Ben invited St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno onto the program to talk about his big win and its aftermath. 

At the same time, they invited his distant relative of the same last name (but different pronunciation), California-San Ramon coach Danny Calcagno. The hosts talked to the Grizzlies coach about his team's 3-0 start, its 70-point night at Freedom-Oakley and his son Jake who's already caught eight TD passes for Cal. 

There was more St. Francis-De La Salle talk when regular guest Terry Eidson joined the show. Coach Eidson made his displeasure at being left off of the emergency pod very clear, but settled down to take his turn adding insight to the Lancers win and the end of a streak he'd been a part of over three decades. Finally, Coach Eidson and the hosts make their usual game picks for the week. 

When St. Francis-Mountain View pulled off its seismic 31-28 victory over De La Salle-Concord on Friday night — becoming the first Northern California team in 30 years to beat the Spartans — hosts Chace and Ben decided an emergency podcast was in order. 

The hosts welcome old friend and colleague, Damin Esper, who has spent the past three seasons as the primary color analyst on the De La Salle TV internet broadcasts. Esper shares his take on the game and what the atmosphere was like at Ron Calcagno Stadium. The three guys also share thoughts on the West Catholic Athletic League finally getting its upset, how the NorCal pecking order shakes out in the aftermath, and what's next for the North State's most famous program. 

The first big rivalry game of the season — the Holy Bowl between Jesuit-Carmichael and Christian Brothers-Sacramento — gets center stage in this episode. Hosts Chace and Ben invite Jesuit coach Marlon Blanton onto the show to talk about the rivalry and share thoughts about his team's Week 3 win over Granite Bay. With the Northern California edition of the Honor Bowl taking place as well this week, the guys also discuss the 20th anniversary of 9/11. They reflect with both Coach Blanton and recurring guest, Coach Terry Eidson, on an important role high school football played in communities across the country in the immediate days following the tragedy. 

The show also welcomes newest North Coast Section-record setter, Casa Grande-Petaluma senior QB Jacob Porteous. Chace and Ben ask him about his 647-yard passing performance against Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa and life as the new big man on campus. 

Finally, there's talk of fantasy football drafts, Chace's lack of dedication, and plenty of game predictions. Coach Eidson is now watching film to make his picks. Find out what player he called a "rumbling ball of butcher knives." Week 4 of NorCal football has arrived, and 7 Friday Night is here for it.

After the second week of regular season football in Northern California featured several game cancellations due to wildfire smoke, hosts Chace and Ben talk about the wild cancellation/rescheduling frenzy. As part of the conversation, they welcome Clayton Valley High co-coach Nick Tisa to discuss his team's manic four-day stretch that involved multiple bus trips to Turlock. The Ugly Eagles were finally able to play their game on Monday night, so the hosts asked him about that as well as being on AQI watch again for the Friday's game scheduled at Del Oro-Loomis. 

The jam-packed episode also features its first student-athlete guest as San Ramon Valley-Danville offensive lineman Jackson Brown joins the show to discuss his recent commitment to Cal. Chace and Ben also pick his brain about having the Wolves' opener smoked out and what they expect from their Top 20-showdown with visiting Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland on Friday. They might have asked him about his name resemblance to a certain musician as well. 

And recurring guest Coach Terry Eidson returned to have a laugh and chat about the wacky national story of Bishop Sycamore — the Ohio-based "team" that managed to lie its way into a nationally-televised game against IMG Academy last weekend. Coach Eidson also offers his first game picks of the season, and the co-hosts follow with their usual run of predictions. 

Bay Area high school football returns this week, so Ben and Chace literally take the show on the road for a visit to Pittsburg. That's the location of the biggest game of the week as SportStars Magazine's No. 3-ranked Pittsburg High hosts No. 4 Serra-San Mateo. The hosts share a conversation with head coach Victor Galli about his super-talented Pirates squad and a half-decade of battles against Serra and Padres' head coach Patrick Walsh — of whom he has close to 30 years of history as peers and De La Salle-Concord alums. Coach Terry Eidson returns to share memories about both Galli and Walsh, and to also share his love for the atmosphere of Friday nights in Pirates Stadium. It's also revealed that Coach Eidson and Galli co-manage a fantasy football team in which they rarely see eye-to-eye (shocker!). PLUS, another week of predictions and a new segment called "Fill The Gap."