NCS denies Newman’s request for football co-championship

SAN RAMON - The Cardinal Newman football team will not get a North Coast Section football banner.

After poor air quality from the deadly wildfires in Butte County made completion of the NCS football tournament impossible, section officials voted Nov. 14 to award no team a championship title if the championship title game could not be played. In a second vote, the committee voted to advance the team to the NorCal Regional tournament that had a better head-to-head record and if that didn’t decide it, a coin would be flipped.

Cardinal Newman, the top seed in Division 3, opted for the coin flip. They lost and Eureka, the No. 2-seed, advanced to the NorCal Regional tournament. On Friday, Eureka lost its NorCal regional game at home to Menlo-Atherton, 27-20.

The Cardinals finished the season at 11-1, winning the inaugural North Bay League-Oak Division title with a perfect run through league play. Their only loss was to Liberty of Brentwood, which beat Newman 31-14 on Sept. 14. Liberty is playing in the state championship game Saturday vs. Sierra Canyon in Division 1-A, the second-largest division being contested.

The NCS Division 3 game was the only outcome that was determined by a coin flip. The rest of the teams passed on a chance to play in the state tournament and played out the NCS section tournament, including Middletown’s victory over Salesian Prep to win the Division 5 title.

Cardinal Newman dean of students Graham Rutherford submitted a request to section officials that co-champions be named immediately following the Nov. 14 meeting. The request was submitted weeks before Cardinal Newman lost the coin flip and the title was vacated. On Monday, the executive committee denied the request.