“I durst not laugh for fear of opening my lips and receiving the bad air.” ~ William Shakespeare
Sadly, Saturday’s Damonte Ranch football junior varsity and varsity games have been cancelled due to the poor air quality. The decision was not reached lightly, and other options were considered including Damonte making the trip to Manteca, however, due to other events taking place in the area, buses were not available. The forecast calls for continued winds from the southwest pushing more smoke into our area. The air quality index has consistently been above the 151 threshold for outdoor events and activities in our area. Practice time has been difficult to come by this week, resulting in Damonte only practicing once this week.
With this in mind, the Mustangs next game will be a home contest with the Reno Huskies on Friday, September 23rd. It’ll be a reunion with former Mustangs as the Huskies coaching staff boasts a number of former Damonte players and coaches including CJ Wintch, Carson Pitts, Tyler Holman, and Cody Killgore.
Following the Reno game, the Mustangs go on the road to Douglas, a must-win if the Mustangs want to secure a playoff spot. Spanish Springs will then host the Mustangs which will be a key test to see where the Mustangs fit in the playoff race. Then the “Battle for the Cross Saw” at Galena. Some of the faces on the Galena sideline should look familiar, the Grizz have four former Damonte Ranch Football Program coaches on staff: Aaron Cook, Jim Kyte, Tony Amantia, and Joe Lawrence. Senior night is the last regular season game of the year and the Mustangs will host Earnie Howren and the Bishop Manogue Miners.
This unexpected time-off comes at a good time for the Mustangs who still have a couple players nursing injuries. The Reno game could be the first game of the year with the Mustangs at, or close to, full strength.
ABOUT YOUR AUTHOR – Lynn Ault covers Damonte Ranch athletics for Battle Born Preps and is also the youth pastor for Hope Community, a south Reno church. His wife teaches math at Damonte and both his kids graduated from the school as well.
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