One day after his brother's funeral, Clayton Valley running back Omari Taylor scored the first three touchdowns of the night for the Ugly Eagles, as they surged to a 35-9 victory over Napa in the first round of the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs.
Taylor ran for a pair of scores in the first quarter, including a 30-yarder to put Clayton Valley up two scores with 3:50 left in the opening period. Napa closed the gap to 14-3 at the half on a 30-yard field goal by Erik Vargas.
Taylor's 35-yard jaunt on the Ugly Eagles' first possession of the second half made it 21-3 before Isaiah Newton hit Benito Sandivar for a 10-yard touchdown pass, but that would prove to be the Grizzlies' only touchdown of the game. Erik Christofferson added a five-yard touchdown run with 56 seconds left in the third quarter to push the lead back to 28-9.
Clayton Valley quarterback Jake Kern added a one-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter for the final points of the night.
The Ugly Eagles will now host Foothill in the quarterfinals. Clayton Valley won 41-0 when the two teams met during league play.
Campolindo rolls past Livermore
Senior quarterback Grant Harper completed 10-of-15 passes for 134 yards, but the story for Campolindo was its running game, as the Cougars racked up 263 yards on the ground during a 41-16 quarterfinal win over Livermore.
Brandon Manty led the ground attack with 108 yards on 13 carries, plus a touchdown, while Will Windatt scored twice on the ground. Ryan O'Neil added 61 yards and a score on his nine carries.
Campolindo jumped out to an early lead after Ryan Fritch intercepted Livermore's Shaun Smith on the first play from scrimmage, leading to a four-yard touchdown run by Harper. After that, both teams exchanged kick returns for scores, with O'Neil's 90-yard return putting Campolindo back on top, 14-7.
Livermore scored its lone offensive touchdown of the night midway through the fourth quarter when Smith hit Ritchie Fenton for a 60-yard score.
Campolindo will head to Memorial Stadium in Napa to take on two-seed Vintage in the semifinals.
Montini leads Foothill past San Leandro
Senior Pete Montini got it done on the ground and through the air to help lift his Foothill team past San Leandro, 41-20, in the quarterfinals on Friday night.
The Falcons had lost to the Pirates in overtime way back in the season opener, but Montini and quarterback Bryce Lombardi made sure they put enough distance between themselves and San Leandro in the rematch.
Montini ran for 102 yards and a touchdowns, while adding 96 yards and a score through the air to lead the effort. Lombardi threw for 203 yards and two scores passing, while adding two more touchdowns on the ground.
Next week, Foothill will look for a more dramatic turnaround in its rematch with Clayton Valley.
Vintage defense leads the way
Vintage made sure that it would get at least one more home game, as the Crushers blanked Redwood, 25-0, in Friday's quarterfinal game. Click here to read the full game story by Prep2Prep adult contributor Kyle Foster.
