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Modesto Christian football causing havoc in TVL schedule
Hughson football 1
Hughson High football made plans to replace the troubled Modesto Christian squad on their schedule, but then a message from the Crusaders’ coach saw the stand-in drop out and now the Huskies’ Nov. 1 game is in question (Journal file photo).

HUGHSON — Modesto Christian’s moribund football program, which hasn’t scored a single point in three losses to start the 2024 campaign, will play as an independent for the remainder of the season, throwing the Trans-Valley League schedule into chaos, according to TVL principals who were on hand at a meeting Tuesday at Hughson High School.

The Crusaders started the season with a scant 17 players on the roster. Six of those players are freshmen.

Modesto Christian, which has no junior varsity or freshman squads, will also play the 2025 campaign as an independent.

MC representatives — most notably head coach Michael McFadden, who coached last season at Turlock Christian — made assurances before the start of the season that the Crusaders would fulfill their league obligations. But with four players sidelined last week, it became clear that MC was not up to playing in the Trans-Valley League, perhaps the toughest small-school conference in all of California. 

Modesto Christian will honor its 2024 TVL commitments (if it can), but league opponents are free to seek a replacement, since the Crusaders offer little in the way of competition.

“Everybody’s actively looking for other teams, but it’s pretty late,” said Hughson principal Loren Lighthall. “Modesto Christian has been good enough to honor its commitments.”

Hilmar (2-1) has already struck a deal with Summerville to take MC’s place on Oct. 18. That game will be played in Tuolumne. That means the Yellowjackets will have to make a second trip to the gold country in a span of 14 days since they were already slated to travel to face Sonora on Oct. 4.

Orestimba High, meanwhile, will take on the Crusaders this Friday night — MC’s homecoming game.

The Warriors (3-0), who were realigned into the TVL from the Southern League, opened the season with a lopsided 56-12 win against overmatched Gustine, the Reds’ ancient SL rival. After an easy 42-14 win over Johansen (Modesto), Orestimba had to scramble to find a replacement for Le Grand, which saw a handful of players suspended three games due to a benches-clearing altercation during an Aug. 16 scrimmage. The Warriors were able to pick up James Lick (San Jose) at the last minute, and won 42-0. Now, OHS is forced to play Modesto Christian as a tune-up for a TVL showdown Sept. 27 in Sonora — currently the highest ranked TVL team according to MaxPreps.com.

If MC had come to the realization earlier in the summer that it wasn't TVL-caliber, Orestimba would've had time to seek out a tougher opponent.

Hughson, the preseason favorite to win the TVL, is in an even tougher spot. 

The Huskies rolled the dice earlier this season and wagered that there was no way MC would be healthy enough to honor their Nov. 1 matchup on the last week of the regular season. So, Hughson scheduled St. Joseph (Santa Maria) — a team with 11 consecutive Central Section playoff appearances — in that slot. However, McFadden contacted Knights’ head coach Pepe Villaseñor with a message that read: “Hey Coach, I’m the head coach at Modesto Christian High School. I wanted to reach out to you and let you know that my athletic director had a meeting with the TVL and assured them we would have a team for the whole season, and we would play Hughson High School (which is a league game) …” The message went on to say, “I want you to have a heads up we will be adding Hughson back to our MaxPreps schedule as part of our league schedule and will play that game on Nov. 1.”

Wary of the confusion, St. Joseph asked to be released from the Hughson agreement, and Hughson obliged.

Here’s the tricky part: Even though the Huskies are free to seek a replacement, there’s not a guarantee that can done four weeks into this season. And there’s no guarantee the injuries won’t continue to pile up and force the Crusaders to fold the season entirely.

If that scenario occurs, Hughson would play a game against Hilmar on Oct. 25, then have no game on Nov. 1 -- which would likely mean a loss of about $15,000 in gate and concession stand revenue.

And, if Hughson were to secure a first-round playoff bye, it wouldn’t play the following week, either. 

If the Huskies were, for example, the No. 4 playoff seed, they could potentially face a playoff opener against a No. 5 seed coming off a momentum-building victory … all while not having played in 21 days.

Even playing MC would be, in essence, a bye, since any coach with a modicum of compassion would play the starters for just a couple of series.

All this doesn’t bode well for a Hughson team that is aiming to be sharp heading into the playoffs and seeking a third consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section title.

How bad have things gotten for Modesto Christian? The Crusaders were defeated 12-0 in their opener by River Islands, a first-year school that doesn’t have seniors and lost 41-0 to Franklin (Stockton) and 58-0 to Chavez (Stockton) — two perennial doormats of the San Joaquin Athletic Association. 

MC then fell 42-0 to Berean Christian (Walnut Creek) on Sept. 6, and 73-0 to Stone Ridge Christian last week.

While Stone Ridge is a solid program, it very likely would be a last-place team in the TVL — a league whose members have combined to win five state championships since since 2018, and 11 section titles since 2017.