Schools

Gauchos' Conduct Criticized by Sports Columnist

A Santa Rosa Press Democrat article accused the El Cerrito High football team of unsportsmanlike conduct in its Friday game, and a regional high school sports commissioner wrote to the El Cerrito principal about the issue.

In its semi-finals playoff game Friday, the El Cerrito High football team displayed unsportsmanlike behavior and a lack of class, according to an article by the high school sports columnist for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

In the Gauchos' 40-20 victory over Analy High of Sebastopol, the El Cerrito team committed 17 penalties – including punching an Analy player – and Richmond police cleared the field before the final handshakes because of the "ugly vibe," wrote columnist Bob Padecky.

Patch has requested comment from El Cerrito High Athletic Director George Austin, Head Football Coach Kenny Kahn and Principal David Luongo. Attempts to get information from Richmond police Monday were unsuccessful.

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Commissioner intercedes

In a follow-up article, posted on the Press Democrat website Monday night, Padecky reported that the commissioner of the North Coast Section (NCS), Gil Lemmon, sent an email to Principal Luongo Monday in response to Friday's game. (El Cerrito plays in the NCS, one of the largest of the 10 regions in California for high school sports. El Cerrito defeated Analy in the semi-finals for the championship of NCS Division III.)

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Lemmon outlined for Luongo the conduct he expects to see this Saturday night when El Cerrito plays Marin Catholic for the Division III championship," Padecky wrote. One expectation is that only football equipment be present on the sidelines, Padecky said, a reference to a report that an El Cerrito coach was carrying a baseball bat on the sidelines.

Lemmon also said he learned of inappropriate language at the game from interviewing game officials.

“There should be no trash-talking, no matter what," Lemmon was quoted as saying in Padecky's second article. "There can be no foul-mouth behavior.”

According to Padecky, Lemmon did not say he viewed El Cerrito's behavior as worse or better than Analy's and that he believes there was "fault on both sides.” Lemmon said he did not write to Analy because Analy is no longer in the competition this season.

At the same time, Lemmon said he was shocked that the coaches and two teams didn't shake hands at the end of the game, Padecky said.

Padecky's original article

In his original article, Padecky quoted an Analy player saying, "Write that they are doing it (talking smack) the whole game." 

Padecky said he witnessed an El Cerrito player punch an Analy player in the 4th quarter.

When the Analy team arrived at the field at DeAnza High in Richmond, they were met by hecklers "the minute we got off the bus," Analy coach Dan Bourdon was quoted as saying.

Padecky acknowledged that the El Cerrito team was faster and displayed superior skills, which he framed in contrast to El Cerrito's large number of penalities. "Usually, when a team is flagged 17 times for 142 yards, it doesn’t win 40-20." (The Contra Costa Times said the Gauchos had 18 penalties for 139 yards.)

Padecky also acknowledged one instance of apparent out-of-line behavior on the Analy side: "In the interest of fairness, one of the game officials did approach an adult standing on the Analy sideline and said, 'You’re not helping the situation.'"

"I wonder how good El Cerrito — the No. 1 seed in NCS Division 3 — could be if it was disciplined?" Padecky wrote. "If it kept its mouth shut? If it didn’t throw punches? If it didn’t act like a punk? Imagine, with all that talent, if El Cerrito could play under control. Wow. It would be a devastating force."

He concluded that the El Cerrito team apparently didn't get "the memo" about "playing with class."

Mixed reactions from those who saw the game

Patch received mixed reactions from those who watched the game.

A sports photographer said the 2nd half of the game "did get did get pretty ugly with all the unsportsmanlike penalties."

At the same time, he said in an email, there seemed to be bad conduct on the Analy side too: "I do remember hearing one of the EC coaches ask the ref, 'Hey ref, can you keep an eye out for number ##, he keeps calling my player a bitch.'  So I would have to say both teams were at fault."

El Cerrito High math teacher Linda O'Connor said she "never saw anything that made me uneasy."

"The crowd was excited and spirited but not aggressive in any way," O'Connor said in an email. "The players were celebrating but nothing out of the ordinary. There was no talk at school today (Monday) of anything untoward happening. None of my friends or former students who attended noticed anything either."

An Analy parent at the game with family members, who asked not to be identified, said El Cerrito "played a great game" but objected to the ugly words, especially in the second half.

"There was smack talk with both teams," the Analy parent said in an email. "El Cerrito had more penalties, which seemed to raise the emotions. There was unsportsmanlike conduct again with both teams but more so with the Gauchos (again my opinion)."

"Maybe that is part of the sport," the parent continued. "... I didn't like that the attitudes seemed to be okay. Then when I was leaving with my family, adults from the Gauchos were smack talking to us while we were walking out. I looked at them in surprise because we didn't do anything. We were smiling and leaving the game."

Correction: A section of this article about a Press Democrat article reporting comments by the North Coast Section commissioner quoted the commissioner saying only football equipment should be on the field and incorrectly said that the comment was made in response to a report of El Cerrito Coach Kenny Kahn carrying a baseball bat on the sidelines. The Press Democrat article did not say it was Kahn who was reported carrying the bat. It did not name the coach. This article has been corrected. Patch regrets the error.

---------------------------

If you were at the game, we'd like to know what you saw. And we'd like to hear from those connected to the schools. We'd appreciate reactions from readers who weren't at the game too. You can share your perspective in the comments.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here