San Andreas League cancels all football games

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The San Andreas League canceled its football games this week because of poor air quality caused by wildfires in the area.

Colton Coach Harold Strauss, whose team was scheduled to play Friday night at Pacific, was hoping the league wouldn’t resort to cancellations. However, by a vote of 5-1 among the league’s athletic directors and principals Wednesday afternoon, with Colton the only dissension, it was decided the games would not be rescheduled.

Four years ago, when fires entered the city of San Bernardino, the SAL also canceled its games, while others in the area played or rescheduled. Strauss was hoping league members had learned from the experience but, as football coach of the only SAL school outside the San Bernardino Unified School District, he was in the minority.

‘We could have played the games last time,’ he said. ‘It’s tough when you’re sending kids home. What are they going to do? We’ve been in school all week and have been practicing indoors.’

Strauss even had an alternate site lined up at Hesperia High, but now he plans to use his players in some sort of volunteer capacity. Colton canceled classes on Thursday and Friday as well.

‘We’ll try to get our kids involved in the Red Cross or something,’ he said.

Besides the Colton at Pacific game, the Cajon at Arroyo Valley and San Gorgonio at San Bernardino games, also scheduled for Friday, were canceled.

- Dan Arritt

-- Image from pubs.usgs.gov