St. Margaret’s Welch sounds off on behalf of the real little guys

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It didn’t take much to wind up Harry Welch at the Southern Section media luncheon on Monday. The subject of conversation was the enrollment-based State Bowl Championships, in particular, Division III.

According to Cal-Hi Sports’ state rankings by division, St. Bonaventure and Oaks Christian are 1-2 in the running to represent the South in the Division III game, for schools with 1,100 or fewer students.

St. Bonaventure (12-1) plays Hart (12-0-1) Saturday at the Home Depot Center for the section’s Northern Division title, Oaks Christian (10-3) plays Nordhoff (9-3-1) Friday at Newbury Park for the Northwest championship. If either wins, the state’s commissioners will likely choose one or the other to play the Northern California representative Dec. 15 at the Home Depot Center.

This doesn’t sit well with Welch, who guided Canyon Country Canyon to last year’s inaugural State Division I bowl championship and a victory over Concord De La Salle. His top-seeded Tartans (13-0), who have a 27-game winning streak, play third-seeded Brentwood (12-1) Saturday at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

“We are truly a small school. We have 197 boys in the entire high school,” Welch said. “My thought is when the state came up with three division bowls, that Division I was supposed to be the premier, strongest high schools from Northern California vs. Southern California. Division III really was supposed to be for the little guys. ‘Hey, let’s watch the little guy see if they really do play good football, if they know or don’t know how to put their uniforms on.’

“What’s happened, and I say this partly tongue-in-cheek, we have a few private schools that go around and recruit. I look over at [Oaks Christian Coach] Bill Redell, remember he’s my insurance man, and he had 10 Division I players on last year’s team. They don’t just show up. C’mon.

‘Oaks Christian was awesome last year, and they’re awesome this year. They don’t belong in Division III, for gosh sakes. They play Venice. Venice is a terrific team. They can play with anyone. They belong in Division I or II talent-wise. And so does St. Bonny’s.

‘Are you telling me that St. Bonny’s is just a little private school? That’s just an act. Be serious. St. Bonny’s can play with Long Beach Poly and Crespi. In fact, they did play Crespi this year. Oaks Christian and St. Bonny’s don’t belong in Division III. That’s an insult. That just prostitutes the three divisions.

“Here’s the rub. There’s no hope for the small private school that really is a small private school that specializes in the academics and the arts. If I could bring in just 14 kids to St. Margaret’s, we could play Long Beach Poly. That’s not right. St. Margaret’s is never going to go there, and I won’t be part of it. I don’t want that.

‘Saddleback Valley Christian, Brethren Christian, no matter what happens, they will never have a chance of making a bowl game. They ought to be able to go undefeated and say, ‘Hey, what about us?’ Same with Linfield. They made Division III for us little guys. Oaks Christian and St. Bonny’s aren’t little guys. They aren’t. They’re great football programs.”

-- Martin Henderson

-- Image by Karen Tapia-Andersen/Los Angeles Times