The Richmond High School football team suffered a devastating loss last week.
Forget the 16-13 game at Hercules High School. Somebody torched all Oilers' practice equipment Thursday night. The blaze destroyed the teams' tackling sleds, blocking bags and long boards and melted the surrounding metal cargo container to the ground.
"For three years we've been doing fund-raisers to get all that stuff," said quarterback Chris Caluya, 17, recalling the countless car washes they held and boxes of candy they sold to afford their new equipment.
"We finally got it," Caluya said, "and it was burnt up."
More than $6,000 worth of equipment went up in smoke, coach Lee Fletcher said. The Oilers host the Berkeley High Yellowjackets this Friday and are scrambling to find another school that can lend the team equipment for the night, he said.
Richmond firefighters responded to reports of fire at the school about 11 p.m. Thursday and quickly extinguished it, said Battalion Chief Jim Fajardo. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, he added, but appears to be arson.
Fletcher said the fire hit the Oilers especially hard since the team recently turned around a 38-match losing streak, holding at 2-2 so far.
"We were starting to do good this year," said Fletcher.
Meanwhile, the team is shifting its focus to Friday's game. Sleds or no sleds, the Oilers plowed through plays Monday and practiced tackles.
"We're trying to put everything behind us," Caluya said. "We can't do anything about it now. It's in the past."
Shirley Dang covers education.
Staff writers Karl Fischer and Bill Kolb contributed to this report.
Reach Shirley Dang at 510-262-2798.
Donations for the Oilers football team can be sent to Richmond High School, 1250 23rd St., Richmond, CA 94804. Please make checks out to the Richmond High School football team. For more information, call coach Lee Fletcher, 510-301-1006.
Distributed by the Associated Press
