Frosh-only football continued at Cordova High, until 2013, when the program was disbanded. Courtesy photo

Cordova High School is missing the boat by not offering a frosh football team.

For decades in Rancho Cordova, the annual Mills-Mitchell game was a must-see event. Thousands of fans packed Cordova Stadium on the last Thursday afternoon of the season to bear witness to Cordova’s future. 

However, the winds of change began to swirl in the early 1990s. Mather AFB closed. Mills and Mitchell were reconstituted as sixth-eighth grade middle schools. Ninth graders would now go to Cordova. 

Frosh-only football continued at Cordova High, until 2013, when the program was disbanded. Since that time the Varsity has had only one winning season (2018, not including a 3-2 record during an abbreviated 2020 COVID season).

Cordova has made great strides in recent years. Gone is the revolving door of head coaches; accountability has improved, and the Junior Lancers show promise with more kids playing now than at any time in several years.

The missing link: ninth grade football. Here’s why it must return:

Skill Building and Development

Currently, Cordova allows frosh to compete at the junior varsity level alongside sophomores, juniors and in a few cases, seniors. This is bad practice on many levels, not the least of which is inherent physical and emotional advantages older kids possess. There is no reason to have ninth graders on the JV team if many of them are not getting consistent playing time necessary to develop their skills. A frosh-only team better prepares players for a JV and, later, varsity experience. Frosh football also allows young athletes to learn and make mistakes in a less intimidating environment than JV or varsity, preventing early burnout.

JP Dolliver, Cordova’s third-year varsity head coach, agrees.

“I would be very excited about this. We’d have a lot more kids come out knowing that they have a ninth-grade team to go to, instead of JV,” said Dolliver.

Dolliver knows full well the challenges the lack of a true frosh program presents. Twenty players on the JV team this year were ninth graders.

“Overall development would be better to keep those players down at their level. You can discourage kids if your JV team is freshman-heavy and not competing. It’s hard on the kids,” said Dolliver.

Secondly, the lack of a true frosh football program contributes to an exodus of Cordova kids to other schools that offer ninth grade-only football. Folsom, Vista del Lago, Jesuit, Bradshaw et al all have strong frosh-only programs that work in cohesive unison with their respective youth football, JV and varsity counterparts. 

Cordova High needs to return to this model.

Encouraging Numbers

Peter Maroon, Athletic Director for the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, said Cordova High School’s overall athlete participation numbers are trending in the right direction. Last year, about 30 percent of Cordova’s student population, or 564 students, played sports. The year before it was 27 percent. 

Those numbers contributed toward 83 kids playing JV and varsity football last fall, 38 varsity, 45 JV. But the numbers come with a caveat: a drop off does exist in sophomores and juniors that result in a thin margin for a true junior varsity team.   

“I’d love to see (frosh-only football) happen,” said Maroon. “Our Junior Lancers program is healthy, the kids are buying into football at a young age. We no longer have a carousel of head coaches. If I’m told we have 30 kids who want to play frosh football, we’ll get it done.” 

The Junior Lancers are one of the cornerstones to Rancho Cordova’s football landscape. Four levels of play for fourth through eighth graders. The sweet spot, the fertile ground for future Cordova High teams.

Longtime Rancho Cordova resident Beth Terrill, president of the Junior Lancer is fully on board with restarting ninth grade football.

“Absolutely. Sorely needed. This would contribute to the ebb-and-flow of the entire football program,” Terrill said.

According to Terrill, the Junior Midgets (mostly seventh graders) and Midgets (eighth graders), collectively fielded about 50 kids in 2025, approximately 80 percent of whom attend and will graduate out of Mills and Mitchell middle schools.

The two younger teams, the Junior Pee Wees (6- to 9-year-olds) numbered 38 last season; the Pee Wees (9- to 11-year-olds), had 30 players. All four groups have shown good growth over the past three years -- numbers commensurate with overall student growth at Mills and Mitchell. The three-year average of graduating eighth graders into Cordova is about 250 students, which reflects Rancho Cordova’s standing as one of the fastest-growing communities in the region. 

Through the tireless work of the Rancho Cordova Athletic Association, opportunities for youth to participate in athletics in Rancho Cordova, in particular football, have never been greater.

Superior Facilities

Cordova High School’s athletic facilities are top-shelf – and getting better. A state-of-the-art weight room was unveiled in early 2024, offering students everything from free weights, squat racks, benches, CrossFit and cable machines. 

Over the next few years, Cordova Stadium will undergo major renovations to improve overall fan experience. Better-quality seating; a new press box, field turf, reconfigured snack bar, a showcase area honoring past Cordova athletic stars, an expanded merchandise area and much more.

Affordability

Various estimates suggest re-starting ninth grade football could be costly. Dolliver’s take: funding, equipment and resources are not an issue. Rancho Cordova has essentially a sports booster Super-PAC: the Rancho Cordova Student Athlete Coalition (RCSAC), funded by Measure H. RCSAC was created by the Rancho Cordova City Council in 2023, and pays for nearly all athletic equipment and accessory needs at CHS. 

Amy Strawn, principal at Cordova High said, “A ninth grade team would be phenomenal. I’m all for it. We have a great Junior Lancers program. I really believe in the student/athlete of keeping that rigor high.”

Rebuilding a football program must include a Strategic Plan, realistic expectations and goals. And most importantly, a realistic timeline.

Any re-start of frosh football would also involve scheduling complexities and the ever-evolving nature of commensurate competition. But the building blocks are there.

As Hall of Fame Coach George Allen once said, “The Future is Now.”

That could not be truer for Cordova High School’s football program.

Mike Marando is a former sports writer, a 1973 CHS graduate and current President of the Rancho Cordova Sports Hall of Fame