California School For Deaf Is Football Powerhouse

The top high school football team in the Bay League doesn't do much trash talking. The Fremont-based Eagles let their 10-2 record talk for them. 

 

They're the California School for the Deaf -- and this year, they came within a win of a berth in the Section title game, the California equivalent of a state title, according to the Fremont Argus.

 

The CSD were featured by Sports Illustrated this season, and it's easy to see why: the 19 players and coach are all deaf and communicate via American Sign Language and large color-coded signs, the newspaper reported. They're one of 10 teams vying for a $25,000 grant from the magazine, the newspaper reported.

 

"Some might call us disabled, but that can be extra motivation for us," said quarterback Carlos Lopez, who ran coach Warren Keller's no-huddle offense to perfection. The team's speed -- the Eagles like to have another play in motion seven seconds after the previous play was called dead -- along with the fact that there's no signals for the other team to pick up on both have proven advantageous.

 

The team set a school record for wins and scored 349 points in 11 games, the newspaper reported. This is their first league title win since 2002, and second since 1991.

 

In the playoffs, they beat Tomales, 26-6, before St. Vincent De Paul of Petaluma edged them out of contention, 13-12.