Committee Opposes Proposal for State Football Games

A proposal to create two North-South state football bowl games is being opposed by an advisory committee of the Southern Section, the largest of the state’s 10 high school sections.

The timing of the games, which would be played after section championships in December, is a concern cited by several members of the Southern Section executive committee who say they are against the plan because students would miss class time and other attempts to stage such games haven proved economically infeasible.

Rob Wigod, an assistant Southern Section commissioner, said the games were discussed by the section’s football advisory committee and had been “roundly put down.”

Peter J. Saco, commissioner of the state’s Sac-Joaquin Section, proposed the bowl games, which are scheduled for discussion at a meeting of the State Federated Council Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in San Diego.

Saco is proposing that one game be for schools with enrollments up to 1,200, the other for larger schools. The team representing the South would come from either the Southern, Central, City or San Diego section. The opposing team would come from one of the six sections to the north.

The plan does not specify other criteria for selection or who would make the choices. Saco is recommending that the games be played in Southern California because the weather is generally better.

Ken Gunn, principal at Walnut High, cautioned the Southern Section’s executive committee not to be too quick to condemn the idea, the intent of which is to create what essentially would be state large-school and small-school title games.

“If we don’t do it, someone else will,” Gunn said.

The executive committee has not taken an official stance on the games. The proposal is targeted for a statewide vote in the spring.