Modesto Sports

Beyer High's Richie Alkire is ready for tonight's debut as a head coach, and he'll quickly find out whether his Patriots are ready for the 2010 season.

Who's the best quarterback in Modesto? Which Valley Oak League team has the best shot at winning the title? What do football players actually do on gameday?

The rafters of the Central Catholic locker room are decorated by photos and names of the Raiders of yesteryear. Each name and face enforces the point to today's Raiders — that they're part of something bigger than just a good football team.

Escalon High football games should be shown on television in black and white. It would be a fitting way to underscore the team-community relationship that somehow has survived nearly unscathed through decades of unfettered growth in nearly every other town. But not Escalon.

If you're looking for certainties this fall, it would be best to avoid the Central California Conference: The only certainty is that the CCC will be the Stanislaus District's most uncertain league.

There's not a school in the Stanislaus District capable of challenging Central Catholic High when it comes to tradition, or its 15 Sac-Joaquin Section football championships.

TURLOCK -- Football success at Pitman High starts with the weights.

Modesto High's football program is rich in tradition, much of the glory is deep in the past. Coach Rod Long was tasked with rekindling that success when he took over in 2001. After going 4-26 his first three years, Modesto is 32-27 with three Modesto Metro Conference titles in six years. The Panthers are aiming for No. 4 this season as The Bee tees up a week of high school football previews.

SALIDA -- The family atmosphere that encompasses all sports at Modesto Christian was something Bruce Pielstick had seen and heard about since arriving on campus April 12, but it didn't sink in until this summer.

The Southern League has a few new faces this fall, as Gustine and Ripon Christian join with hopes that the new environment will be beneficial.

HILMAR -- When the Hilmar High Yellowjackets trot onto the field on Friday nights, they are flanked by local fire engines with lights spinning. The public-address system blares "My Town," Montgomery Gentry's 2002 ode to down-home values.

MERCED -- It's a two-school town where neither has a stadium to claim all its own.

SONORA -- The plant is called Mountain Misery, native to the western slopes of the Sierra, and it oozes a pungent sap that sticks to clothes and skin.

TURLOCK -- Turlock Christian still wishes for a football field of its own. More important, it yearns for its own campus.

The Bee kicks off its 2010 high school football previews today, and our Sports section features the Modesto Metro Conference. Here on modbee.com, we've prepared a special interactive presentation of the records of Stanislaus District teams over the past 10 years. Click the headline to see how your school ranks.