GUSTINE - Who is going to get custody of The Chief this year?
That will be decided on Friday at Gustine High School Stadium, which is the site of the 80th edition and regular season rivalry varsity football game between host Gustine and visiting Orestimba. The game is scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m.
The winner will get The Chief, a 6-foot wooden trophy featuring a Native American in full headdress. The trophy started during the 1988 season.
The visiting Warriors won the 2025 contest, 26-0. Orestimba has a five-game winning streak over the Reds, dating back to the fall 2021 season. The two schools played football in the spring of 2021 but not against each other due to restrictions from the pandemic.
Gustine, technically, had a hold of The Chief for two years. The Reds posted a 29-22 win over the Warriors in a Southern Athletic League game in the 2019 season.
The two high schools have been battling on the gridiron since the 1940s, and is one of the longest rivalries among California high school football programs.
“It’s a rivalry game,” said Gustine head coach Collin Lane. “Our players understand that, our coaches understand that, and the community understands that. There are a lot of families connected to both programs, so there’s obviously some pride involved. At the end of the day, it’s still a football game. We have a job to do and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Orestimba head coach Austin Martins added, “This game means a lot more than just starting the season 1-0. This is a rivalry that generations of people in both communities have grown up with. Our players understand that when they put that jersey on Friday night, they aren’t just representing themselves or our football program. They’re representing their families, former players, alumni, our school and the entire Newman community.”
A new season means new goals for Lane, his coaching staff and players. Retaining The Chief is one of them.
“The motivation is pretty simple: We want to win,” Lane said. “The guys who were here in 2019 aren’t the guys playing now. We’re not going to spend a lot of time talking about what happened seven years ago. This is a new team, a new season and a new game. We’ll prepare, we’ll play, and we’ll see what happens.”
This game is huge for the school hosting the game.
“There’s more attention around campus,” Lane said. “You can feel that it’s different. But we’re not changing how we prepare because it’s Orestimba. We’ll have our normal schedule, practice, meetings and preparation. The opponent doesn’t change the process.”
Martins added, “As you get closer to Friday, there is a different energy around campus. Our students are talking about it, teachers are talking about it, former players are reaching out and our kids hear about the game everywhere they go.”
The drive from Orestimba, in Stanislaus County, to Gustine in Merced County is 5.1 miles and takes approximately 10 minutes.
“I expect us to travel extremely well for this game,” Martins said. “Even though we’re technically the road team, Gustine is right down the road, so I believe you’re going to see a good crowd.
“That’s one of the things that makes this rivalry special. You’re going to have two communities packed into that stadium, and there will be a lot of purple and gold on our side. Our players notice that.”
Once Friday shows up, it is go time for Orestimba and Gustine.
“Everybody knows what is happening that night,” Martins said. “For the players, our job as coaches is to keep the main thing the main thing and that is doing our jobs and getting the job done. We don’t have to convince our kids that this game matters. They know.”
Lane added, “I would expect a good crowd. It’s the first game of the season, and it is Orestimba. Those things generally bring people out. But our concern is the players on the sideline and on the field. We can’t control the crowd. We can control how we prepare and how we play.”
The reason for the two schools playing each other in preseason the last three seasons, counting this season, is because Orestimba, due to its higher enrollment, was moved into the Trans-Valley League during the current league realignment cycle that is from 2024-28. Gustine remains in the SAL. The two schools would end league play facing each other.
Martins and his Warrior coaches and players are getting pretty excited about Friday’s opener.
“A lot of us have connections to this rivalry that go back years,” said Martins, who is a 2016 Orestimba graduate. “Out of the 15 coaches we have on staff in our program, 12 have been a part of this rivalry as a player - that’s special in itself.”
Former Warrior and Reds players, Martins added, are probably talking about Friday’s upcoming game.
“You also hear about it from former players, parents, family members, teachers and people in the community all week,” Martins said. “There are bragging rights involved, but more than anything, there is a tremendous amount of pride involved.”
Both teams are preparing for Friday’s battle that should be a dandy one.
“We’re proud of what we have accomplished in this program and this rivalry, and obviously we want to keep that streak going,” Martins said. “Our players understand the history, and they don’t want to be the group that is on the wrong side of history, but we can’t think of that.
“The message this week is to play loose and play fast. We must bring it from the first snap and not let off the gas.None of those previous wins are going to put points on the scoreboard for us Friday night. This year’s Gustine team doesn’t care what happened in 2021, 2022, 2023, or any other year, and neither can we. We have to earn it again.”
