Bay Area high school football certainly doesn’t have fancy multi-million dollar stadiums and widespread passion found in places like Texas.
But the region does provide its own unique color on fall Friday nights.
Pittsburg has its renowned marching band. Terra Nova has a field tucked in a tree-lined ravine just minutes from the Pacific Ocean.
Oakland Tech’s stadium offers a classic stone facade in the heart of downtown. St. Francis has a student section appropriately named “The Rage Cage.”
And that’s just a taste of what the Bay Area brings to the table.
With nearly 150 high schools in the Bay Area News Group’s coverage area, the sheer number of options offers something for everyone.
From our vantage point, here are the 12 best places to watch high school football, based on atmosphere, scenery, history, quality of football and – of course – menu offerings at the snack shack:
(If we missed someone, please email us at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com and we’ll follow up with a readers’ version of this list)
Let’s get started …
No program puts on a game-day show quite like Pittsburg, a place that has everything one could ask for when seeking a high school football experience. The famed “Pride of Pittsburg” marching band – which has dozens of talented musicians – is a bombastic spectacle unlike any other in the Bay Area. Dozens and dozens of musicians flawlessly execute elaborate routines before the game and at halftime. During the game, they provide the soundtrack of what is usually a Pirates victory, as Pittsburg is one of the Bay Area’s perennial powerhouses and should be again this season. If fans get hungry while at a game, Pittsburg has a plethora of options. Tri-tip sandwiches, tacos and lumpia are just a few menu items.
Located right off East Main Street in one of Silicon Valley’s hubs (see Netflix), Los Gatos High’s Helm Field is a perfect setting for high school football. It has been the home of 16 Central Coast Section champions. The team, coming off a state championship appearance, is always well coached by Mark Krail and plays a quality slate of opponents. Given the proximity to downtown, fans are a quick walk away from a diverse selection of restaurants and entertainment before games.
If historical significance was the only metric being measured, then De La Salle’s Owen Owens field would have a case for No. 1 in the nation. It’s the place where Bob Ladouceur led the Spartans to many of their record 151 consecutive victories between 1992 and 2004. A stadium that’s been immortalized in both film and print, and featured in nationally-televised games on ESPN. A field that icons such as Maurice Jones-Drew, Amani Toomer and Henry To’oTo’o once dominated. Its small, almost cramped dimensions add to the experience, especially when students pack out the bleachers in the end zone. When the iconic split-back veer is working like a green machine, it can even feel like a fan has been transported back to the program’s golden era.
Located in a coastal town isolated from the rest of the Bay, just getting to Terra Nova is an adventure. You will need to cruise next to the steep cliffs on scenic Highway 1 alongside the Pacific Ocean and drive past the now world-famous Pacifica Taco Bell. Once you get to the stadium, you’ll have to navigate a few hilly roads before making it to the parking lot. The field itself is carved into a ravine and surrounded by evergreen trees.
A breathtaking view of the nearby hills is the backdrop of one of the most scenic venues in the Bay Area, El Cerrito’s home field. Tucked inside a dense neighborhood, the stadium rises above the houses and streets like a cathedral. Built in 2016, Memorial Stadium shares a name with the late Frank Milo, who led the Gauchos football program for 20 years. The field was originally built in 1940, and the renovation brought about new stands, an updated press box, a refurbished home sideline and artificial turf.
The student section – packed to the brim with teenagers ready to scream and chant for two hours – is one of the best parts of high school football. And nobody has a better student section than St. Francis, a bunch intimidatingly dubbed “The Rage Cage.” For big games, students dress in all-white and send talcum powder floating above the masses. After touchdowns, the entire area is enveloped in a bright white cloud as students launch the substance into the air LeBron-style. That home-field advantage helped St. Francis stun De La Salle and snap the Concord power’s 30-year NorCal unbeaten streak in 2021. One of the stadium’s other unique features is the massive “Bay Tree” that casts a shadow behind the west end zone.
For fans of Saturday afternoon football, Brady Family Stadium is the place to be. Named in honor of the greatest quarterback in NFL history (sorry, Joe Montana) and Serra’s most famous alum (sorry, Barry Bonds), the venue has been a house of horrors for opposing teams for years. The San Mateo sun creates a pocket of heat on the synthetic turf field that can make visiting schools wilt. The game-day production provides some charm, too. In between the third and fourth quarters, the public address announcer implores fans to applaud both the hometown Padres and the opponent, with fans singing along to a rendition of “Sweet Caroline.”
The North Coast Section hosts its Open Division and Division I title games at Dublin High for a reason. Arguably the East Bay’s nicest facility, and certainly its largest, Dublin’s stadium was renovated in 2019 and sits next to its equally state-of-the-art basketball gym. Unlike some of Bay Area stadiums, parking is no issue at this huge public school. Finding a seat won’t be an issue, either, since the stands stretch from one 10-yard line to the other.
As far as football stadiums go, the South Bay is home to some nice ones. But standing above the rest – literally – is Valley Christian’s home field in South San Jose. Located on the appropriately named Skyway Drive, fans overlook the surrounding neighborhood and enjoy an unobstructed view of downtown San Jose in the far distance. The concession stand is also a cut above the rest, offering everything from tri-tip, burgers, hot dogs, candy, churros, tacos and more.
If you want to watch a high school football game in a former NFL venue, look no further than Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park. The 49ers played their home games there until 1971. It was the site of Jim Marshall’s infamous wrong-way “touchdown” in 1964. Nowadays, Sacred Heart Cathedral plays its home games on one of the region’s few remaining grass fields. Once capable of holding around 60,000 spectators, the venue now holds about 10,000. It also has 1,000 seats from the since-demolished Candlestick Park. Kezar is located next to the city’s world-famous Haight-Ashbury district.
Located on Broadway Street in North Oakland, Tech’s classic facade and large grass lawn in front of the stadium immediately stand out compared to the dense city streets. The white stone architecture also provides a unique backdrop during Oakland Tech football games, which are played on the same field that Marshawn Lynch and Josh Johnson once dominated. Because of its location, walking to a diverse set of restaurants and shops in The Town before games is easy.
Literally across the street from Stanford Stadium, and arguably a more enjoyable game-day product than watching the Cardinal to boot. El Camino Real separates the high school from the world-renowned university that current Palo Alto assistant coach Andrew Luck once called home. The sounds of trains whizzing by is a common occurrence as a fence and trees divide the stadium from Caltrain tracks. The high school team also has a history of success. The Vikings have won CCS titles in each of the past two seasons, and back in the late 2000s, Palo Alto captured a state crown behind stars such as Davante Adams.
