Bearcat football team ranked No. 19 in the U.S.
Paso’s Evan Espinoza, Jacob Stanko, and Michael Horne lead the Bearcats’ defensive line against the advancing El Capitan Vaqueros in 2014. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Railsback
Coach Rich Schimke is CIF Coach of the Year
Paso Robles High School varsity football ranked 19 in 2014 out of all the small schools — those whose enrollment is generally fewer than 1,000 students — in the nation, according to MaxPreps. According to MaxPreps, the rankings are based on the MaxPreps computer rankings.
Paso Robles High School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Tom Harrington said he found out about the football team’s ranking right before Christmas when someone forwarded the story about the rankings on MaxPreps.
“It’s great for the students to be recognized like that,” Harrington said.
Though the rankings below have Paso Robles listed as having been ranked No. 10 last year, both Harrington and Head Football Coach Rich Schimke said this it the first time that Paso Robles has been nationally ranked. Schimke said that the ranking could have been higher had the team finished the year out healthy, which he also attributes to the team’s loss at the Regional Bowl.
The win, he said, goes back to the players, which he said are a “great group of kids.” He said that the core varsity team has been together for two years and five of them have been on the varsity team for three years. He said the team had a great deal of experience, which allowed him to give them more responsibility and make more decisions. “They didn’t disappoint,” he said.
The team when 8-0 for the eight home games it hosted this past season, which Schimke said was a goal of the team. It was also the team’s first CIF win in 14 years.
Harrington added that Schimke was named CIF Head Coach of the Year as the Bearcats won the CIF Championship in 2014. An honor that was announced this week.
“It’s very humbling. It’s a nice honor,” Schimke said. “When you have a good group of players, it’s easy to get.”
National football rankings for small schools in the United States:
1. (last time 5) Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.), 12-2, 64.6
2. (1) Marion Local (Maria Stein, Ohio), 15-0, 62.4
3. (2) American Heritage (Delray Beach, Fla.), 11-2, 60.0
4. (9) Coldwater (Ohio), 14-1, 59.9
5. (6) Sedro-Woolley (Washington), 13-1, 58.3
6. (15) Campolindo (Moraga, Calif.), 16-0, 56.1
7. (3) El Capitan (Lakeside, Calif.), 14-1, 55.0
8. (NR) Boone Central/Newman Grove (Albion, Neb.), 13-0, 53.3
9. (NR) Calvary Baptist Academy (Shreveport, La.), 12-1, 53.1
10. (20) Maine-Endwell (Endwell, N.Y.), 13-0, 51.6
11. (11) Muskegon Catholic Central (Muskegon, Mich.), 14-0, 51.6
12. (NR) Canadian (Texas), 15-0, 51.4
13. (NR) Benedictine (Savannah, Ga.), 13-2, 49.9
14. (4) Tumwater (Washington), 12-1, 49.8
15. (NR) Minster (Ohio), 12-3, 49.3
16. (14) Bishop Hartley (Columbus, Ohio), 11-3, 48.6
17. (NR) Madison Academy (Madison, Ala.), 14-1, 48.5
18. (NR) Rossville (Kansas), 14-0, 48.3
19. (10) Paso Robles (California), 13-2, 48.3
20. (NR) Aquinas (David City, Neb.), 12-1, 48.0
21. (NR) Bishop Guilfoyle (Altoona, Pa.), 16-0, 47.8
22. (NR) Davis (Oklahoma), 15-0, 46.8
23. (NR) Union City (Tennessee), 14-0, 46.6
24. (NR) Cameron Yoe (Cameron, Texas), 12-4, 46.6
25. (NR) Oak Grove (Missouri), 13-2, 46.5
