SAMOHI — The Santa Monica High School football team will play in its first ever “Blue-Gold Game” on Saturday in honor of Athletic Director Norm Lacy, who passed away of a heart attack last weekend.
The intersquad scrimmage at the Samohi track will be preceded by a raffle and a silent auction in order to raise funds for the Cody Williams Recovery Fund as well as the Samohi football program, as requested by Lacy’s family, Head Coach Travis Clark said.
“It means the world,” Clark said of the opportunity to pay tribute to Lacy. “He was Santa Monica football, and when I say Santa Monica I’m talking about the entire community.
“Words can’t even describe how important this is to me and obviously a lot of people that cherish Santa Monica football.”
The scrimmage was originally scheduled as a fundraiser for Vikings junior linebacker Cody Williams, who suffered a serious spinal injury in a game against Leuzinger in September. Now, with the passing of Lacy, the game will also serve as a tribute to the late athletic director.
Bringing up Williams and Lacy’s names has been a common theme at recent football practices, Clark said.
“Since Cody’s injury, we’ve been breaking with a ‘One, two, three, Cody!’ Yesterday they did two of them — a ‘One, two, three, Cody!’ and a ‘One, two, three, Lacy!’” Clark said Wednesday.
Saturday’s no-pads, limited-contact scrimmage will bring a close to spring football and will last “45 minutes to an hour,” Clark said. A large turnout is expected.
“Everybody’s going to be out there, like the family and friends, the alumni. It’s going to be a good time to hang out,” said sophomore cornerback Kori Garcia, who is one of multiple starters Clark intends to hold out of action.
Clark anticipates the scrimmage will become a yearly occurrence.
“For as long as I’m involved with the program, this will be a tradition,” he said.
The event is open to the public. Festivities begin at noon. The Vikings will host a lineman competition at 1:30 p.m., followed by the scrimmage at 2 p.m.
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