A New Era for North Coast Section Football
The 2026 high school football season opens in the North Coast Section with a slate of games that have already generated buzz among coaches, players and fans. After a year that saw Cardinal Newman capture a championship pennant alongside Elsie Allen, the league is poised for another dramatic chapter as realignment reshapes traditional rivalries.
Twelve schools are moving into new leagues, creating divisions such as REC‑Valley and REC‑Mountain that aim to pair programs with similar competitive histories. St. Vincent and American Canyon, both state champions in 2024, now find themselves in a league that includes three teams that reached the Open/Division 1 playoffs in the past two seasons, raising the stakes for every matchup.
Cardinal Newman’s Ambitious Campaign
Under first‑year head coach Kenny McMillan, Cardinal Newman enters the season ranked No. 30 in the state preseason poll and scheduled to face powerhouses like Folsom, De La Salle and Archbishop Riordan. McMillan, who previously coached at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Santa Margarita, brings a blend of college‑level experience and a playing background at Junipero Serra in San Jose.
The team returns a talented core and adds high‑caliber transfers including Eazy Crichton, Josh Bunni, Colin Doreen and James Curoso. The coaching staff believes the new roster can translate offseason momentum into on‑field success, especially as the transfer market in the NCS grew by 15 percent during the 2025‑26 school year, bringing recruits from as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.
The broader realignment seeks to eliminate blowouts by ensuring that strong programs meet other strong programs, while also giving struggling teams a fairer path to playoff contention. Smaller programs in the REC‑Mountain division, which featured three winless teams last year and only one winning record in 2025, now have a clearer chance to compete and potentially rise through the ranks.