Football notes: Patterson QB is school’s new record holder, teams change divisions & more

Patterson High quarterback Max Medina did more than kick off the 2024 season with a win Friday night against former league rival Merced. He also broke a record.

Medina is now the Tigers’ all-time leader in career passing touchdowns, and he still has nearly two seasons left to play.

In throwing three passing touchdowns Friday night, the junior surpassed former Tiger Damien Paulo, who’d held the mark since the end of the 2014 season. According to football coach Rob Cozart, Paulo finished his career with 59. Medina entered the season tied for the record. After connecting with senior Noah Cozart for all three scores in the season opener, he now has 62 and counting.

“That’s what they’re saying. That’s pretty cool,” Medina said after Friday’s game, referring to breaking the record. “I was fired up. I want to thank my line, my receivers.”

Medina completed 22 of 24 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns. He threw no interceptions.

He still has nine regular season games (and possibly playoffs), as well as a whole senior season to extend the record.

Medina is more than just a sensational quarterback, however. He also stars on the diamond and has received interest from a handful of Division I teams on the West Coast. In baseball recruiting, college coaches cannot contact potential recruits until Aug. 1 of their junior year of high school. Medina said that when the day came, he heard from a number of coaches and has received offers from Cal Berkeley, Air Force and Cal Poly.

The Tigers travel to California-San Ramon Friday for another tough nonleague test.

Enochs players enter record books in win

A number of Enochs football players earned school records in their victory over Beyer. The Eagles claimed their sixth straight Sylvan Bowl win, outlasting the Patriots, 42-15 Friday night. According to head coach Tracey Traub, these players put their names in the record books that night:

▪ Quarterback Johnny Staggs’ four touchdown passes tied the school record

▪ Staggs connected with Brennan Whitten Jr. for a 92-yard touchdown, setting a record for longest touchdown pass

▪ Junior Anthony Brown’s eight catches tied a school record for catches in a game

Ripon Christian finds replacement game

Ripon Christian scrambled to find a Week 2 opponent after the ruling came down that Le Grand High will be forced to forfeit its first three contests after a fight broke out during a home preseason scrimmage with Tranquillity High.

According to the Merced Sun-Star, Sac-Joaquin Section assistant commissioner Will DeBoard estimates between 25 to 30 Le Grand players were involved in the fight during the scrimmage held Friday, Aug. 16. All of the players involved with the altercation would be subject to a three-game suspension, according to section bylaws. With a roster of about 35 players, Le Grand doesn’t have enough players to field a team during the suspensions.

Instead of taking a forfeit victory, the Knights travel to El Capitan Friday night at 7 p.m. The Gauchos won 52-0 over Hug High and the Knights lost a narrow opener at Summerville High, 24-21.

Changes made to D-I playoffs affect CCAL schools

Every Central California Athletic League school now will compete in Division I for the playoffs after Downey and Pitman moved up from Division II starting this year. This happened because the section designated the SJAA a Division III league. DeBoard confirmed with The Bee that in the football playoff format, schools cannot be one division higher than their designated league. That ruling means a lot of schools that play in the SJAA that qualify for D-I by enrollment dropped to D-II. To fill the Division I bracket, Downey, Pitman, Granite Bay and Laguna Creek moved up.

Patterson in D-IV in 2024

Patterson High received news Friday that it’s been moved into the Division IV bracket. The Tigers were originally listed in D-III by the Sac-Joaquin Section when the playoff divisions were released on the section website earlier in August.

The change comes after two programs from the Sacramento area , Valley and Florin, elected to not have football teams due to low turnout, leaving 19 teams competing for 12 spots in the D-IV column.

DeBoard explained that Patterson was the lowest enrollment school eligible to drop down a division. There were schools with lower enrollments, but they competed in Division II football leagues, meaning D-III was the lowest they could drop. Because the VOL is a Division III league, dropping to D-IV was an option.

In 2023, the Tigers advanced to the Division IV section title game where they faced Escalon. They led nearly the whole game before losing in the final seconds on a two-point conversion.