In the News: Academics a Driving Force in South City’s Turnaround

 

By Terry Bernal, Daily Journal staff

 

Dec 2, 2023

 

South City’s Soblessed Mauia, right, Ryder DeAsis, middle, and head coach Kolone Pua celebrate after the Warriors recover a fumble late in the CCS Division V championship game Saturday, Nov. 25 at MacDonald High in San Jose. (Terry Bernal/Daily Journal)
 

It’s no secret coaches Frank Moro and Kolone Pua brought South City football back from the abyss last season.

 

After South City didn’t field a varsity team in 2021, the longtime coaching partners returned to the sideline last year to breathe new life into the Warriors’ once and future proud football program. But who could have predicted the two would bring the varsity team so far so fast?

 

South City’s old-school approach has opened the door to a brand-new varsity football world, as the Warriors are set to make the first CIF Northern California regional tournament appearance. On the heels of winning the Central Coast Section Division V championship last Saturday against Santa Teresa, South City is now set to host Colusa High School in the Division 6-A Nor Cal regional championship 6 p.m. Saturday at South San Francisco High School.

“They’re big and they love to throw,” Pua said of the Colusa RedHawks, who are 12-0 on the year, and coming of a Northern Section Division IV championship. “The kid (senior quarterback Bo Coronado) is a lefty and he’s got some pretty good receivers.”

 

The RedHawks have some Nor Cal experience. They are making their second straight appearance in the Division 6-A tournament and fell 21-0 to Atascadero in last year’s opener in the Nor Cal regional championship.

 

South City, at 12-1 overall, has been a marvel defensively. With five shutouts on the year, the Warrior defense held Santa Teresa scoreless in the CCS title game, despite the 13-7 final score. The Saints scored their only points on a blocked punt and a recovery in the end zone, as the Warriors outgained them 272-118 in total offense.

 

Colusa runs a spread option, similar to the one South City faced not only against Santa Teresa, but the previous week in the CCS Division V semifinals against Leland.

 

“It kind of helps us a little bit because we’ve played against these types of offenses before,” Pua said, “but I think these guys are really fast, and they move really well as a team.”

 

The reason the South City Warriors are in a position to make such historic strides, however — more important than the shutdown defense, or the blistering backfield led by junior Elijah Fields on offense — is because of the team’s success in the classroom. When the 2021 season was canceled due to low player turnout, the leading culprit was academic ineligibility.

 

This was Moro’s mission in returning to the varsity helm in 2022. The longtime coach originally served as varsity head coach from 2003-13 and was an assistant coach under both Mike Tenerowicz and Ben White starting in 1985. During that time, starting in the late 1990s, the Northern California Chapter of the National Football Foundation, presided over by former El Camino principal Robert Keropian, chose South San Francisco High School as one of several Bay Area schools to be funded through the Play It Smart program, spanning through 2008.

In the wake of Play It Smart ending at South San Francisco in 2008, Moro worked to maintain the academic focus.

 

“When that ended, I just took the blueprint of study halls and academic support and just used it,” Moro said.

 

Moro is still an on-campus teacher. While he is set to retire from coaching at the end of the current season, he plans to teach through the 2024-25 school year. He returned as head coach for one season in 2022 and agreed to stay on the football staff as an assistant coach this season. It is also Pua’s second stint with the Warriors, having served as an assistant coach during Moro’s first tenure.

 

“That’s what we did before when we were coaching,” Pua said, “was, your grades, if you didn’t have grades, we didn’t want to see you.”

 

When Moro initially retired from coaching in 2013, his heir apparent was Jay Oca, who ran the South City football program from 2014-16. Oca was also an on-campus teacher and continued the emphasis on academics. When Oca left to take the head football coaching job at Capuchino in 2017, South City hired the first of three off-campus coaches.

 

“When I came back (in 2022), we went back to doing what we did,” Moro said.

 

South City’s players now have weekly study hall sessions, usually on Wednesdays. They also have to submit regular progress reports from their teachers to see the football field. Even their in-class participation is encouraged, as Moro instituted a mandatory rule for football players to sit in the front row of their classes with open seating charts.

 

Being an on-campus teacher allowed Moro to identity and encourage students to play football. The team that had under 20 players on roster to start the 2022 season entered the 2023 postseason with 35 on roster.

“We are sometimes the only presence that is making sure the grades are good and also the behavior — but we have good parents here so, that’s sometimes not an issue,” Moro said. “But it’s always good to have another set of eyes looking over it.”

 

As fate would have it, several former South City coaches enjoyed banner years this season. Capuchino, with Oca in his seventh year at the helm, advanced to the playoffs for the first time during his tenure. The last time the Mustangs went to the CCS playoffs was in 2015 under White, another former South City coach.

 

White now coaches at Orosi High School in Tulare County. He took over the varsity program in 2017 and has led the Cardinals to six straight postseason appearances, including a 10-2 record this year.

 

Moro said there is a common link between the success of all these programs.

 

“As far as making sure grades and behavior are part of the package,” Moro said. “It’s not just x’s and o’s.”