SAN FRANCISCO – Denair High School kicked off its 2026 football season with a dominating 57-12 victory Saturday afternoon over host Mission at historic Kezar Stadium.
“It was a nice opening week,” said head coach Anthony Armas. “I was happy with the performance, but there’s always room for improvement. It was certainly an improvement from the scrimmage a week earlier” against Riverbank, Rio Vista, Galt, and Modesto Christian.
Located on the extreme southeastern tip of the Golden Gate Park panhandle, Kezar Stadium was once home to the San Francisco 49ers, the Oakland Raiders, and the University of San Francisco Dons, as well as the site of numerous concerts and movies.
Kezar, which seated nearly 60,000 when the 49ers left for Candlestick Park in 1970, was reconstructed in 1990 as a scaled-down, 10,000-seat version more suitable for high school use.
Now, the Coyotes can add their name to the roster of teams connected to the historic venue.
“It was an awesome experience,” said Armas, who guided the Coyotes to a 9-3 record last year and a trip to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 7 semifinals. “The weather was beautiful, the field was perfect, and I think most of the players and their parents were well aware of the stadium’s history.”
Those 49ers teams of the Kezar era featured the legendary “Million-Dollar Backfield” of quarterback Y.A. Tittle and running backs Joe Perry, Hugh McElhenny, and John Henry Johnson. Denair has its own version of a million-dollar backfield – minus the seven-figure paycheck, of course – with quarterback Derek Potter and running backs Bryce Salazar, Connor Hart, and John Wilmoth.
Hart carried the ball 11 times for 135 yards (12.3 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns, while Salazar gained 46 yards on three totes (15.3 per carry). Potter threw the ball just four times, but completed two passes, including a 40-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Harlan Brown.
Wilmoth, meanwhile, did most of his damage on the defensive side, wreaking havoc on the Bears’ first two possessions of the contest. Wilmoth recovered an errant shotgun snap and ran it in from the 2-yard line for a touchdown, then intercepted a pass on Mission’s ensuing possession, helping DHS take control early.
Junior Philip Brigham, a student manager for the varsity squad as a freshman, scored the first touchdown of his varsity career.
“He’s come a long way,” said Armas. “It was great to see him get into the end zone.”
The game’s fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
The Coyotes will see action again this Friday night when they make their home debut at Jack W. Lytton Stadium against South Madera High (1-1) of the Central Section, which started its season a week before the SJS. The Stallions fell to Orosi 35-3 in their opener but bounced back last week to beat Parlier 39-0.
The Denair and South Madera campuses are located about 60 miles apart.
