It’s two weeks into September and league begins this week for most Central Coast Section alignments. The games begin counting for more than just pride this week.
Here are five things we learned from last week’s games:
Sometimes stats do tell story: Occasionally statistics can be mis-leading, such as when a team’s defense plays a bend-but-don’t-break defense and scores just enough to win.
Then there are games where the statistics fit the outcome, such as Half Moon Bay’s 32-3 win against Capuchino.
Half Moon Bay outgained the Mustangs 381-191 and had 19 first downs to 12 for Cap.
The Cougars had two turnovers which is not good, but only half as many as Cap (four).
Half Moon Bay running back Chase Hofmann outgained Cap by himself, rushing for 239 yards and three touchdowns. Also chipping in was Jake Quosig who rushed for 48 yards and completed a 59-yard pass.
Still, HMB coach Keith Holden was not satisfied.
“Although we won, we could still play better,” Holden said. “We were fairly undisciplined.”
Loss will reap benefits: Bellarmine College Prep met Sac-Joaquin Section power Del Oro at home and fell 16-14. But the Golden Eagles (defending state Division II-AA playoff bowl winners) were the best team Bellarmine played in the non-league season and the game will be beneficial in the long run.
“We had opportunities to make plays but we couldn’t quite do it, but you have to give Del Oro credit, they are a very fine football team,” said Bellarmine coach Mike Janda.
It’s not every week Bellarmine finds itself down 16-0 and it could have folded. But the Bells passed the test, rallying to within two points against a strong team on a 9-yard TD pass from Ike Ogbogu to Scott Baumel (and a two-point conversion pass to Jackson Burrill) and Ogbogu’s 19-yard scoring run (the Bells missed the two-point conversion).
Even though this looked like a possible rebuilding season for the Bells, coach Mike Janda has done a quick makeover, as befits a coach who has won a CCS record 272 games since 1984. The Bells will again vie for a West Catholic Athletic League title.
Menlo is a team to be reckoned with: Menlo School defeated Harker 48-0 to run its non-league record to 3-0. The Knights scored 20 first-quarter points to eliminate all suspense.
Charlie Ferguson had touchdown runs of 16, 4 and 67 to lead the Knights. He’s rushed for 595 yards on 51 carries this season and has scored eight touchdowns.
The PAL-Ocean is on the upswing with The King’s Academy (2-0), Menlo, Woodside (3-0) and Half Moon Bay (3-0) all unbeaten. It looks like an anticipated two-team race for the title between TKA and Half Moon Bay has been expanded to include Menlo and Woodside.
Mills is on an upward spiral: The Vikings won their third consecutive non-league game, defeating Andrew Hill 33-0. Mills has now out-scored three non-league foes by a combined 99-25 and will be a threat to win the PAL-Lake title – one year after going 0-5 in that division.
It looks like, with non-league games left against Yerba Buena and Mission-San Francisco, Mills could be 5-0 heading into divisional play under first-year coach Michael Dozier. Bruising running back Saumane Stanley has been a standout for the Vikings.
The SCVAL-De Anza better Bracy itself: Milpitas improved its non-league record to 3-0 with a 50-9 win against North Salinas, displaying again why it is the team to beat in the SCVAL-De Anza.
Tyree Bracy threw for 154 yards and two TDs and his brother Tariq Bracy rushed for 47 yards and one TD and caught five passes for 101 yards and two TDs.
The Trojans are not thin up front, either, boasting a couple of sophomore behemoths on the offensive line in Justin Scrempos (6-7, 310) and Tony Vunipola (6-8, 310).
