Fifteen months after the clock struck zero on the last high school football season played in California, the sport is back.

It’s a soft opening across the Bay Area this weekend with a handful of games on the schedule. Next weekend nearly everyone is back or at least scheduled to be back.

In this most unusual spring season, which opens one year after the sports world shut down because of the coronavirus, there are no guarantees. One or two positive COVID-19 tests, coupled with contact tracing, can put teams back on the sideline or notably short-handed.

Given what we saw last fall in college football, we suspect more than a few will hit some coronavirus bumps before the season ends in mid-April. Does anyone remember how many football games Cal played in 2020?

Four.

But that’s OK, at least in this high school season.

In the campaign to convince policymakers to give high school football a chance, safety was at the forefront of the discussion. The kids, the coaches said, were in safer hands under high school supervision than on a club team, which some kids had turned to because there was no high school option.

Like it or not, testing and contact tracing are part of the safer hands.

The tireless return-to-play campaign was persuasive enough to convince Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s health officials to give high school football coaches and players a chance, an opportunity to prove that the sport can be played safely amid the pandemic.

Teams hit the practice field about a week after Newsom announced on Feb. 19 that restrictions would be loosened and are grateful for the chance to play actual games, even in March.

“I am looking at this season as an opportunity,” said Capuchino coach Jay Oca, whose team is scheduled to play Friday night at San Mateo. “Our seniors deserve it so much. Not just my seniors. But every senior, every senior out there on every football program all over California, they all deserve it.

“For the guys that have been on varsity for three years, for the guys that have been playing in their program for four years, for the guys that are hopefully getting looked at and going on to the next level, it’s for those guys.

“For me, my senior year wasn’t successful as far as winning and losing. But it was so important to me as a football player. I am just glad we can give this gift to these guys.”

It was 454 days ago that the last high school football season ended in California.

Eighty-nine days after that final game of the 2019 season — St. John Bosco’s victory over De La Salle in the Open Division state championship — high school officials pulled the plug on the state basketball championships just as professional and college sports officials were canceling or pushing pause on their seasons.

That was exactly one year ago today.

And on the first anniversary of the California Interscholastic Federation’s decision to end the basketball season just shy of the finish line, high school football is back.

March Madness, let us introduce you to Friday Night Lights.

Football schedule

EBAL Valley

Saturday

Foothill at Livermore, 7 p.m.

Peninsula Bay

Friday

Burlingame at Half Moon Bay, 7 p.m.

Peninsula Ocean

Friday

Capuchino at San Mateo, 7 p.m.

Non-league

Friday

Campolindo at Freedom, 7 p.m.

Sacred Heart Prep at Aragon, 7 p.m.

Saturday

Clayton Valley Charter at Inderkum, 7 p.m.

Dublin at California, 7 p.m.

Granada at Heritage, 7 p.m.

Monte Vista at Acalanes, 7 p.m.

St. Mary’s-Stockton at De La Salle, 7:30 p.m.

San Ramon Valley at Las Lomas, 7 p.m.

Schedule changes

If there has been a schedule change, please let us know at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.

How to report results/game details

We encourage Bay Area coaches or team statisticians to email the final score and key scoring plays (a few stats, if you have them) to highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com right after each game. Please include the school names in the subject line.

Predictions

Look here as the Bay Area News Group’s Darren Sabedra and correspondent Mike Lefkow make their Week 1 predictions.