After Acalanes coach Floyd Burnsed, 76 years young, raised his first state championship trophy at Saddleback College in Orange County last month, the football lifer didn’t think about what the title meant for his already-decorated coaching legacy.
Instead, he praised the town that saw him turn the Lafayette school’s program into state champions.
“It’s huge, it’s huge,” Burnsed said in front of Acalanes fans after the team defeated Birmingham of Lake Balboa. “They’ve been big supporters for such a long time, they deserve a great football program.”
No one can argue that Acalanes, which before the playoffs had never even won its section, was a great team this season.
The Dons won a shared Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division title, routed San Marin 24-7 to win the NCS Division IV title, crushed Escalon 49-14 to collect the NorCal 3-AA trophy, and then triumphed 33-21 over Birmingham.
“Three firsts in a row,” Burnsed remarked.
For this, Burnsed is the Bay Area News Group coach of the year.
Burnsed had won 10 league championships and four section titles while coaching league rival Miramonte from 1982-2000, a resume that got him inducted into Miramonte’s hall of fame in 2018.
Winning a fifth section title with Acalanes, which boasted an explosive offense led by speedsters Trevor Rogers and Paul Kuhner, looked to be a long shot when the Dons lost their first three games.
And then, with a chance to clinch the program’s first unshared league title in decades, Acalanes blew a double-digit fourth-quarter lead to rival Campolindo.
Instead of letting the loss derail the team, Burnsed got the Dons to turn the defeat into the motivation they needed to win section, region and state titles.
“This was a spark to fire up our team, to get us through the playoffs,” Burnsed said.
Honorable mention
(Listed in alphabetical order)
Mark Krail, Los Gatos
Krail guided Los Gatos to a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division championship, and then made a run through the Central Coast Section Division I bracket to win the program’s 16th title. Los Gatos then defeated El Cerrito 14-6 to capture the NorCal 2-A crown, and nearly pulled off a miracle comeback in the 2-A state championship game before losing 45-42 to Central Valley Christian of Visalia in Pasadena.
Kolone Pua, South San Francisco
Led South San Francisco to PAL Lake and CCS Division V championships in the program’s second season back from the dead. South City did not play varsity football in 2021 due to low numbers. Went 7-0 in PAL play with a defense that allowed under 10 points per game this season. Beat last season’s CCS Division IV champion, Santa Teresa, 13-7 in the Division V final, winning the program’s first section title since 1989.
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Charlie Ramirez, Pittsburg
Took over the program after longtime head coach Victor Galli retired after the 2022 season, and the Pirates didn’t miss a beat. Won the Bay Valley Athletic League championship and defeated San Ramon Valley 37-21 to win a third consecutive NCS Division I title. Lost the 1-A NorCal title game to eventual 1-A state champions Folsom.
Jordan Seiden, Piedmont
After Piedmont cut its 2022 season short after six games (all losses or forfeits) due to low numbers, little was expected of the Highlanders. Seiden’s team defied all reasonable expectations by going 7-4 and winning the MVAL/WACC Shoreline Division title. Beat Newark Memorial 29-26 in the final game of the regular season to clinch that Shoreline crown.
Darren Yafai, Christopher
Made his last season a memorable one. The retiring coach led Christopher to the CCS Division II final as an eighth seed. The Cougars started 9-0, upset top-seeded Archbishop MItty in the first round of the playoffs, and then had a magical comeback on the road in a semifinal against Menlo School before losing in the final to a Soquel team that went on to capture a state crown.
Bay Area News Group high school sports editor Darren Sabedra contributed to this report. Those eligible for all-BANG honors come from leagues based predominantly in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The news organization’s high school sports staff chooses the players and coaches.
