NEWMAN – One of the two Westside high school football programs will be back in weight room this week.

The other will be back next week.

The Sac-Joaquin Section’s Contact Dead Period ends Wednesday – today – for all high school football programs in the section, plus all fall, winter and sports programs that also had to observe the time. The dead period started on July 1.

During these last two weeks, high school football coaches, plus fall, winter and spring sports programs for the 2026-27 school year, were prohibited from any type of communications with student-athletes, including workouts and team meetings.

According to Gustine football head coach Collin Lane, morning workouts in the weight room will continue Wednesday.

“We only have a couple of weeks to get back into shape,” said Lane, “so, every practice is important.”

The Reds players will continue to work out until their first practice, which will be at midnight on Monday, Aug. 3. That is the first day all high school football programs in the section can officially begin practices in helmets and T-shirts/shorts for a few days.

Orestimba football head coach Austin Martins, who is entering his second season running the program, said his Warrior players would start up workouts again on Monday, July 20.

“We want the kids to actually get away and enjoy,” said Martins in an interview with Westside Connect last week.

Orestimba will open its season at Gustine in the annual Battle for the Chief on the Reds’ field on Friday, Aug. 28. The Warriors and Reds play non-league games before starting action in the Trans-Valley and Southern Athletic leagues respectively in mid-September.

Mike Bush is a multimedia journalist who was born and raised in the Stanislaus and Merced County areas. Follow him on X/Twitter @MikeBMultimedia and Instagram @mikebushmedia.