One of country's top high school football events heightens awareness to the military, freedom and lives never forgotten.
Football and the military will be forever linked. Strong leaders pushing fearless young people to the limit.
It's that all-for-one, one-for-all selfless attitude for the good of the greater good which both coach and commander preach and demand.
So, it's sort of a natural progression to sponsor and support one of the nation's top high school football events with a military group, in this case, the Honor Group, founded by Mark Soto.
Soto isn't just a promoter — a sort of filthy term really – he's the event heart and soul, a vivacious, spirited former Del Oro and
Granite Bay (Calif.) assistant football coach whose two sons have deep military ties.
His younger son Benjamin is an army recruiter and his 26-year-old son Joshua and what he and his comrades have endured is at the core of the 2013 Honor Bowl.
Joshua was a member of the 1,000-strong 3rd Battalion 5th Marines (3/5), which lost 25 soldiers and 200 more were wounded in a 2010 Afghanistan invasion. Josh, a former defensive lineman at Granite Bay, was one of the wounded and has since retired from the military.
He was was one of the lucky ones.
Six of his closest brethren — including former Granite Bay teammate Victor Dew — were killed.
No, football isn't war at all, and the analogies of gridirons as battlefields can certainly be insulting and at the very least, trite.
That said, Mark Soto loves football. His dad was a coach. His brother coaches at Lincoln.
But promoting this event, heading the Honor Group, is his calling. A call to arms, of sorts. Over the last several years he's reached out to his own brethren of sorts – the football coaching community — and found a true brotherhood to help make a huge event like this thrive.
It helps to be as passionate, upbeat and driven as Soto.
"I would say 99 percent of coaches have a kid or know a kid who has a relative or someone they know who has been involved in the military," Soto said. "They understand the plight of soldiers and so many great people have raised their hands and want to help."
Such as Del Oro's Casey Taylor, whose father served in Vietnam. His Golden Eagles have been in the previous two events and will not only play once, but twice in the 2013 Honor Bowl.
Del Oro opens the event today at home in a rematch with James Logan, a team it upset last year 20-13 en route to turning its season around.
The Golden Eagles, the 2011 State Division I Bowl championships, opened 0-4 last year but after its win over then undefeated Logan, which went 12-2 and lost to state Open champion De La Salle in the North Coast Section finals, Taylor's team won six of seven and reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II semifinals.
"It's been a great run (at this event)," Taylor said. "It's for such a great cause for our troops and veterans and I feel very blessed and honored to use our team as a vehicle to honor these guys."
Del Oro lineman
Tanner Woods, one of four sophomores on the 2011 state-title team, put the whole thing succinctly. His grandfather served in Vietnam and his has two close friends currently in the military.
"War is an ugly thing," he said. "The men that go through it. … they deserve the highest honor."
Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks coach Kevin Rooney, whose team will play Del Oro next week in the big Oceanside portion of the event, makes a great distinction between the military and football.
Both his parents served in the Navy in World War II.
"We play a game for fun," he said. "There are a lot of similarities to military in terms of how we prepare. But our deal is a game. I think this kind of event helps kids gain a perspective. What military people do is a lot different from what we're doing. "
And that's just fine. Good, in fact, Soto said. His mood is neither somber or down. Humble, but extremely upbeat when rattling off the series of events scheduled for next week's Oceanside two-day event.
Dignitaries like U.S. Marines: Colonel Willie Buhl and Staff Sgt. Tim Chambers will be honored. Buhl is the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment who was part of the 3rd Battalion 1st Marines.
He'll lead the ceremonial coin toss before next week's first game.
"That will be an emotional ceremony for many people," Soto said.
Chambers, nicknamed the Lone Marine, has stood at attention for up to four hours saluting at the Rolling Thunder Sunday, an annual Memorial Day event held in Washington D.C.
"The salute is painful but Sgt. Chambers said it's a way of thanking and welcoming our service members home," Soto said.
There will be a parachute jump to open the festivities, large LED screens for fans to see all the action and more than 150 volunteers from the families of the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines alone making sure the event is run smoothly and focused on football and the men and women of the country who have served.
"All the volunteers are ready to roll," Soto said.
As are the teams.
See capsules of each team next week2013 Honor Bowl
Friday, August 30 At Del Oro HSLogan (Union City) at
Del Oro (Loomis), 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 6 At Oceanside HSSerra (Gardena) at
Oceanside, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 7At Oceanside HSNotre Dame (Sherman Oaks) vs. Del Oro, noon
Upland vs
Oaks Christian (Westlake Village), 4 p.m.
Centennial (Corona) vs.
St. Bonaventure (Ventura), 8 p.m.
Kevin Rooney, Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks head coach
Del Oro coach Casey Taylor.
Matt Logan, Centennial-Corona football coach
