Adventure Christian launches football program under seasoned coach

When Adventure Christian High School decided to start a football team, Deane Surface was ready with the playbook and the vision. A former Sacramento State quarterback and coach, Surface had been away from the sidelines for nearly two decades, serving as a pastor and running his construction business. But when Adventure began expanding its high school offerings three years ago, Surface pitched the idea of Friday night lights to the school's administration in hopes of building a community around the sport. "I told them that if they're going to launch a high school, they need to have a football program," said Surface. "There's this culture that football brings to school. It rallies everybody together and it's one of those things that just draws people closer. People will rally around it. This area is a football-rich environment." This fall, Surface's idea takes the field as Adventure's 8-man program kicks off its inaugural season with him at the helm. With the Roseville school being in close proximity to football powers Rocklin, Whitney and Granite Bay, Surface sees the launch not as a competition against bigger schools but as the start of something that could one day grow into another stalwart on the gridiron. "Eventually, our goal is really to build this program up and then to begin to advance into 11-man football," said Surface. "We want to move into Division VII, then Division VI. We want to be competitive just like everybody else." Surface has been a varsity head coach before. He was at the helm of Capital Christian from 1995-98 before joining the staff at Sacramento State. He says he used his connections in the coaching world to talk to former teammates and colleagues about how to build a program the right way and prioritize sustained success. "I probably have done 40 or 50 interviews and phone calls and meetings with just different people to try and help me put things into context," said Surface. "We've had some hiccups, and we've had some challenges, and we had some bumps in the road, but that's exactly what happens when you're starting things up. Things don't go as you planned. Thankfully, I've had a lot of great influences around me. I called up some of my former college coaches, bought them lunch, and we sat up there and drew up plays for three or four hours." Like most first-year programs, Adventure doesn't have an abundance of athletes ready to buckle up their chin straps and take the field, but there is plenty of football IQ and athleticism on the team. Surface says he has made the offense simple enough to learn but complex enough to keep the opposition guessing. While the Warriors are young, they are building for the future. Surface ends each practice preaching the importance of character and emphasized building a strong culture from the jump. "I've taken a three-headed approach to this in being intentional, being consistent and being accountable. So those three principles of what I've built everything on, and I've tried to teach these kids from day one," said Surface. "That really has been the foundation from day one that we are going to continue to build upon." The Warriors kick off their season Aug. 22 at Foresthill.