Hillsborough planning for a blackout

Posted Sep 23, 2009 by Bill Ward

Updated Sep 23, 2009 at 08:27 PM

If all goes as planned Friday night, Hilsborough High’s Chelo Huerta Field will be the site of the school’s first “blackout” when the Terriers host Alonso.

That’s when the football team will finally get to unveil their new black jerseys, supplied by Under Armour. The uniforms, which sport white numbers bordered in red, will mark the first time in the program’s history players will wear all black for a home game. According to head coach Earl Garcia, the Terriers became known as “The Big Red” because they’ve always worn red uniforms for home games since 1904.

The blackout had been planned for Hillsborough’s home game two weeks ago with longtime rival Plant. But foul weather canceled that meeting and the Terriers have been forced to wait to show off their new uniforms.

Garcia says the blackout won’t be limited to their jerseys. The school has also been selling black Terriers T-shirts to the students and faculty at Hillsborough. He’s even looking for black smoke to replace the usual white that his players run through just before kickoff.

“That [black smoke] has been hard to find,” Garcia said. “We may have to burn a few tires if we can’t find it anywhere else.”