Red Devils football team opens season with victory days after new Mt. Diablo High football field damaged by illegal fireworks
CONCORD, CA (August 31, 2025) — Mt. Diablo High School and its football team concluded a bizarre week like no other by defeating Terra Linda 52-6 in its season-opening home game Friday night.
However, the game was not in Hart Fairclough Stadium on Concord’s oldest school campus but rather three miles away at Concord High.
Mt. Diablo High had a football schedule unlike any other this year with eight homes games scheduled among its 10 regular season contests. That dream schedule literally went up in smoke when a group of individuals set off illegal fireworks last Saturday evening causing extensive damage to the middle section of the newly installed $1.8 million turf field which was dedicated Mar. 7.
So now, instead of Red Devils football and flag football games on campus this fall, the school is scrambling to find alternate game and practice sites for their teams. The season opener against Terra Linda and the Friday, Sept. 5 game against Vallejo have been moved to Concord High, as the Bears had away games the first two Fridays of the season.
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Finding sites for the balance of home games on other Mt. Diablo Unified School District sites is being worked on by school and district officials. The first Diablo Athletic League girls flag football home game for the Red Devils is on Sept. 22.
Head football coach and new athletic director Fetuao Mua and principal Dr. Markell McCain hold out hope that repairs to the damaged turf that covers from midfield to the 40-yard line in each direction can be completed before the end of the season. Soccer season begins in late November as the next landmark date.
The Red Devils are coming off a DAL Mountain Division championship last fall, the school’s first since 1972. The team has reached the North Coast Section playoffs three of the past four seasons.
Read more stories by Jay Bedecarre.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.