Borges returns as Stone Ridge Christian football coach

With his new team crowded into the first few pews of First Baptist Merced’s chapel, Keith Borges talked not about Xs and Os, but about opportunity.

The new Stone Ridge Christian High School football coach told a story about his son, Matthew, and the Borges’ first experience with the small private school. Borges said his first three-year stint was his favorite experience of his career and that he and his son were both better people for having been a part of the Knight family.

Borges, who coached the Knights from 2006-08, was introduced to the school as the new coach on Friday. He made a brief speech to the team and exchanged handshakes and introductions with each of them individually afterward.

“I’ve had the coaching itch since I walked away from Stone Ridge eight years ago but, because of my job, didn’t have the time to commit to it,” Borges said. “I’m officially retiring from that position this summer and will start working at my wife’s business full time. My old job always had me out on the road, but being part of a business here in town will allow the flexibility to give the program the time it deserves.

“I love football, but when I came to Stone Ridge and was immersed in this faith-based environment, I got so much more out of it. I found that teaching and facilitating the growth of young people is the most rewarding thing there is. And that was one of the major appeals of coming back.”

Borges takes over a Stone Ridge program that went 24-4 the last two seasons, winning two Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII titles and playing in a NorCal Championship game last season. Coach Art De Jager resigned to focus on his dairy farm full time.

The team is graduating 11 of its 28 players but returns a number of key contributors, including 1,500-yard running backs Jonathan Collazo and Shane Casillas.

“What the previous coaches accomplished was amazing,” Borges said. “The idea is take what they’ve started and continue to build upon it and grow. I’m not even going to talk about repeating going 13-2, but I plan to keep the program successful. The idea will be to win a conference title every year. If you can do that and get yourself in the playoffs, you can see where it goes from there.

“I’ve got to imagine that 80 to 85 percent of the things they did we’ll keep exactly the same. The biggest thing that won’t change is their CrossFit training. The first thing that stood out to you about last year’s team was their strength and endurance. It was a huge part of their success. Maintaining that level of fitness is going to be one of our top priorities.”

Borges hasn’t coached since the 2008 season, but brings a lengthy résumé before that.

He’s had coaching stints at Cal, Portland State, Sacramento State, Cal State Northridge and spent six years at Merced College in the ’90s.

“We were looking for someone who could maintain the program and continue to use the gifts that we’ve got,” said Stone Ridge principal Randall Postmus. “Winning has been great, but we’re obviously not expecting a repeat of last year every season, and football is about so much more than just wins and losses.

“It’s nice bringing in someone already familiar with the culture, the requirements it takes to succeed at a small school and has seen the progress we’ve made as a campus.”

Borges said he’s going to wait and see what his coaching staff and personnel look like before deciding on offensive and defensive schemes. He said that some of the previous regime’s coaches have expressed interest in staying and helping out, and he has a handful of individuals from outside the program that he’s looking to bring in.

Stone Ridge will open the 2016 season at home against El Capitan on Aug. 26.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Borges returns as Stone Ridge Christian football coach."