After every win, the varsity football team gathers in their locker room and chants, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Shortly after the chanting, the sound of a sledgehammer echoes throughout the locker room, breaking a stone slab that is a testament to their victory.
As soon as the Grizzlies win a game, they decide the player of the game and hand him a sledgehammer to break the slab engraved with the name of the team they just beat.
“We started it in my sophomore year, and we’ve been doing it ever since,” senior varsity quarterback Arjun Banerjee said. “I don’t think any other school does it, I think that’s what’s unique about us.”
The tradition of breaking these stone slabs is relatively new. It was introduced by former freshman football coach Garry Fife in 2022, and varsity head coach Danny Calcagno has run with it.
The Grizzlies have broken nearly two dozen slabs over the past two-plus seasons, including a half dozen this season as Cal has jumped out to a 6-0 start. Last year, team broke eight out of the 11 slabs.
But Calcagno knows there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done for his team to smash slabs after the final four regular season games.
“We’ve played good enough to win, but you know, we also know that the remainder of our schedule is pretty hard, so we have to play better,” Calcagno said. “We want to get better every week.”
The next target is San Ramon Valley (5-2), which the Grizzlies host tonight at 7 p.m. The Wolves beat Cal twice last season, including a 35-7 win in the NCS playoffs.
“San Ramon Valley kind of holds a special place, just because I have so much hate for them,” junior wide receiver Darius Brown said. “This year will be the year that we [can]break it, and hopefully I’m the one that breaks it.”
Cal also plays at Monte Vista and De La Salle on Oct. 24 and Oct. 30, respectively, before concluding the regular season at home on Nov. 7 against Amador.
Most of the players have been together for a while and have developed a strong bond with Calcagno.
“I think we’re really close,” Banerjee said. ΅We have a good brotherhood, good community. We work super hard, and I really think we can go far in the playoffs this year for sure.”
Calcagno said he also enjoys being at Cal because of how hard the team works and how they’re extremely coachable.
Due to the strong bond and the energy the team carries, most of the players believe they will go far this season. The team is hopeful it will break all the slabs this year, but they understand it’ll be the ultimate challenge.
“I know De La Salle is gonna be hard,” senior varsity linebacker Jacob Stickevers said. “That’s gonna be tough, but hopefully we can get it done. This could be the year, right?”
And if it is, the slab will be waiting in the locker room to be smashed.
