A Doug's Life: Here's a fix for the Menifee Bowl dilemma

Commentary by Doug Spoon, Editor

It was inevitable that, with the fast growth of Liberty High’s football program, someone would kick off Menifee Bowl week with the question, “What about the Bison?”

To those who may not know, the Menifee Bowl annually matches Paloma Valley High and Heritage High in a high school football game. Since the game’s inception in 2010, the winner has been presented a Menifee Bowl trophy, symbolic of the city public school championship.

Two years ago, Liberty High opened as a third area public high school. Technically it is not a Menifee high school because it is located next door in Winchester, but a large percentage of the students live in Menifee and the school is part of the same district as Paloma Valley and Heritage.

It took a couple years for Liberty’s football program to get up and running at varsity level competition, but clearly the Bison are there now. After a 2022 season in which they posted a 9-2 record, the Bison this year are 3-0 and look like a team to be reckoned with.

So while Paloma Valley and Heritage compete this Friday in the Menifee Bowl, Liberty will be in San Diego, playing a nonleague game against Del Norte. Either Paloma Valley (currently 2-1) or Heritage (0-3) will be crowned the city champion. Is that fair to Liberty? Probably not, but fixing the problem would take some time.

First, you must answer the question, “Does a non-Menifee school deserve to be playing in the Menifee Bowl?” We say yes. All these kids grew up playing together and are considered part of one larger community. Rather than playing for the city championship, just consider them as playing for the Menifee Bowl championship.

So assuming it’s appropriate for Liberty to be eligible for the Menifee Bowl, the next question is, “How do you fit three teams into a game that only has room for two?”

The solution would be a Menifee Bowl series.

Let’s say Paloma plays Heritage in game called Menifee Bowl 1. The next week, Liberty plays Heritage in a game called Menifee Bowl 2. The following week, Paloma plays Liberty in a game billed as Menifee Bowl 3. The team that wins two of those games is declared Menifee Bowl champion. If each team wins one game, they basically share the championship.

Of course, a few things would have to happen to make this possible. Schools sign contracts at least a couple years in advance to play nonleague opponents. For instance, last year Liberty played at Hemet, and this year Hemet played at Liberty. All three Menifee Bowl teams are in different leagues, so those three games would take up a portion of each team’s nonleague schedule. Coaches and athletic directors would have to agree to make that happen.

So it couldn’t happen for at least a couple of years. Liberty could finish this season undefeated and have no claim to the Menifee Bowl championship – although the debate of whether the Bison were the area’s No. 1 team could be a lively one, depending on how the other two finish.

This season, each team has the opportunity to become champion of its own league, regardless of the Menifee Bowl. And if they do well enough during the regular season, those teams will have the opportunity to play for a CIF divisional title. Those definitely are accomplishments worth shooting for.

As far as the Menifee Bowl goes, that’s up to the school administrators and coaches. If the public wants a three-team competition for the Menifee Bowl title, the public can make their feelings known. If the schools want it, they’ll have to work together in scheduling such a series.

Here’s hoping it can be worked out sometime in the near future.