Le Grand embracing history as Mariposa heads to ‘The Fog’ for semifinal playoff game
Officially the Le Grand High football stadium is named Geary-Fontes Stadium, but it’s affectionately called “The Fog.”
Anyone who heads out to the stadium in the early evening this time of year can see why it earned the nickname.
“The fog rolls in around 5:15 p.m. and it just sits on top of you,” said Le Grand coach Aaron Martinez. “It’s unique. It almost looks like it’s the smoke from the barbecue. It shows up this time of year. You have to play deep into November to experience it.”
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, their season is still alive and they’re just one win away from playing for a section championship.
The No. 3 seed Le Grand (6-5) will host rival No. 7 Mariposa (6-5) in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII semifinals on Friday night at “The Fog.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
This will be the 102nd time the two teams have played in the 88-year history of the rivalry of the two schools who are separated by just 31 miles on Highway 140.
Mariposa holds the edge in the series wih a 58-39-4 all-time record against Le Grand.
“This is very special,” Mariposa coach Robert Stitt. “There’s great tradition and it’s a great rivalry. We wouldn’t want to play anybody else right now.”
The two teams played just three weeks ago in the regular season finale with the Bulldogs winning 24-20 at the Mariposa Fairgrounds.
“The last game was a typical Mariposa-Le Grand slugfest,” said Martinez.
Special teams played a big factor in the Bulldogs’ win in the first matchup with Le Grand blocking two punts and an extra-point attempt.
“We just made too many mistakes,” Stitt said. “We’ll be ready to go this Friday.”
This will be the first time the two schools have met in the playoffs since the Grizzles defeated the Bulldogs 9-7 in the 1995 section championship game.
Martinez was a junior on that 1995 Bulldogs team.
Martinez and his coaching staff are embracing their history as they try to earn their way back to their first section championship game since 2013. It was eight years ago that the Bulldogs were winning the fourth of four consecutive section banners.
All of the Bulldogs coaching staff either coached or played on those teams that were coached by Martinez’s older brother Rick Martinez, who now is the head coach at Golden Valley.
“We’ve talked a whole lot about it,” Aaron said. “It’s a pretty sweet deal because a lot of these kids were part of the run we went on. They were the little kids playing in the back area. I’m not sure they knew what was going on, but now they get it.”
Aaron Martinez has done everything he can to get the message across that this team has an opportunity to do something special.
He’s had members of the 2010 team, which was the team that started the run, talk to the team during a pregame meal earlier this year.
Rick Martinez and former Le Grand coach Raul Alvarez both talked to the players during practice on Wednesday.
Mariposa has its own motivational speaker this week in longtime basketball coach and athletic director Trace DeSandres, who will speak to the team this week.
“There’s nobody better than coach DeSandres,” Stitt said. “He’s coached here for many years. He’s our motivational speaker. We’re excited about this week and he’s our secret weapon.”
Playing their rival from up the mountain only adds to the big-game feel that will permeate “The Fog” on Friday night. The stands will be packed, the crowd will be loud and the fog will ominously hang over the stadium.
“I don’t know if you can write a better script with Mariposa coming down to play us,” Martinez said. “We’ve always had strong support from the community. Le Grand is small-town football. There’s not a whole lot of businesses in town, but the ones that are there will be shut down on Friday night Our fans are loud and supportive.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 12:54 PM.
