We’re going to do something a little different than in the past. The NorCal Regional Games of the Week is going to have a recap of the games featured last week, and with all the action in the top match-ups in Northern California, this is the perfect week to kick off something new.
De La Salle 42, Folsom 27
The question a lot of NorCal football aficionados ask when De La Salle faces a challenge from Folsom or some of the other legitimate teams north of Fresno that have tried to topple Sparta since 1991 is the following?
Was this going to be the week? Was Folsom going to do the marching and not the Spartans and make the De La Salle naysayers, and the pundits, prognosticators and self-proclaimed experts finally become experts after failing to ever be correct in predicting the demise of De La Salle? The answer stated quite emphatically by the Spartans last Friday night on the road was not a chance. The result is Sparta continues its unbeaten streak of 302 wins and two ties since they last lost to Pittsburg in the 1991 North Coast Section large school East Bay playoffs championship game.
Junior quarterback Dorian Hale raced 69-yards on the first drive for De La Salle and the Spartans were off to the races, scoring on all of their first four possessions. Folsom did come to life in the fourth quarter but it was only after De La Salle led 28-0 early and 42-14 with 9:19 left to play.
The Spartans defense and special teams did give up some late points but early on it was stout and prepared. They had seen a nationally-ranked opponent in St. Thomas Aquinas of Florida while Folsom had seen nothing like what hit them early in the game.
Besides the play of Hale, senior running backs Shamir Garrett and James Coby, and senior wide receiver Grant Daley, who had a critical 23-yard pass reception on a third-and-21 and De La Salle leading 28-14, all came up with key plays on offense, and the defense, particularly early on, was dominating.
“We wanted to make a statement with our physicality,” remarked De La Salle Coach Justin Alumbaugh. “We wanted to hit and be relentless and we were able to do that for the most part.”
The Spartans ended up rushing for 288 yards as a team and Hale finished with four TDs after adding scoring runs of one, two and a 12-yarder on third and goal that gave the Spartans the 42-14 lead.
Folsom didn’t quit, but to come back from such a large deficit with less than a quarter left in the game against a team like De La Salle is an untenable task.
The Bulldogs scored on an 80-yard drive on their next possession, and after recovering an onside kick they scored again after senior running back Daniyel Ngata, who has 25 D1 offers but was playing on a sore knee, scored on a 1-yard plunge with 4:34 left. Folsom then recovered a second onside kick but the Spartans defense held and they ran out the clock.
This was the fourth time the teams met but the first time at Folsom. In all of the previous meetings the De La Salle loss was the only blemish on the Bulldogs record.
Barring an upset that would be way bigger than if they had lost to Folsom, Cal-Hi Sports No. 3 and Prep2Prep North Coast Section No. 1 De La Salle (3-1) looks ticketed for the CIF state Open Division Bowl Game as the NorCal representative. Folsom is still an overwhelming favorite in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs and could be playing for a third straight CIF state Division 1-AA Bowl Game title.
Folsom (2-1) opens Sierra Foothill League action on Friday against Oak Ridge (3-0) on the road in El Dorado Hills.
De La Salle faces another tough opponent when they meet Cal-Hi Sports No. 23 ranked Buchanan-Clovis (3-1) this Friday at home.
“Health-wise we came out good. Nothing more than some bumps,” texted Alumbaugh early Sunday morning while watching film of Buchanan
That’s good news for the Spartans faithful but something that doesn’t bode well for Buchanan.
Serra-San Mateo 56, St. Mary’s-Stockton 28
If Northern California football fans weren’t convinced Serra is for real they probably are now after another impressive offensive outburst against host St. Mary’s
In our feature last week after attending a Padres practice, the headline was “Can Serra end two streaks in three weeks.” Now, with the win over a St. Mary’s team they had lost to in two previous meetings coupled with the season-opening 58-21 victory over a Pittsburg team they were 0-3 against, they have indeed ended both losing streaks in the first three weeks of the season.
The Padres only led 28-21 after three quarters but they scored 28 unanswered points before St. Mary’s scored with under four minutes to play.
Prep2Prep Central Coast Section No. 2 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 18 Serra (3-0) fell behind 7-0 but after Terrence Loville turned a short pass from Daylin McLemore into a 94-yard touchdown it was 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. Vince Poni rushed for the first of his two TDs in the first half with a 4-yard run to make it 14-7, and his second TD on a 14-yard run gave Serra a 21-14 lead they never relinquished.
Nate Sanchez ran for two TDs in the second half and had a third score on a 20-yard pass from McLemore.
McLemore had 254 yards passing and two TDs, plus he had a 61-yard run for another score.
Besides the 254 yards of passing yardage Serra racked up 282 yards rushing, and the defense held the host Rams in check.
Tyrei Washington, Asar-Alim Moore and Michael Chavez each rushed for a touchdown for St. Mary’s, and quarterback Noah May passed for a TD, but St. Mary’s was outgained 536-293 in total yardage.
So far the strategy of not scrimmaging prior to the season has worked out for Walsh and his Padres.
“I hate the scrimmage and I always have. I’m always afraid of injury in a meaningless competition so why do it,” Walsh said. “Less football is ok in 2019. Further we swapped out the scrimmage with the end of the year conditioning test and strength test to focus on our overall physical and mental toughness.”
After breaking the second losing streak in three weeks did it feel good for Walsh and his boys, and what did he tell them after the game?
“Yes, but I caged with a sarcastic tone saying, ‘don’t be late to the 3-0 banner and ring ceremony on Monday,” Walsh answered. “Meaning, at Serra, the only thing that matters is WCAL play. It’s always been that way at Serra whether coming off a 0-3 or 3-0 preseason.”
After a well deserved bye, West Catholic Athletic League play begins for the Padres in two weeks against Archbishop Riordan-San Francisco at Jefferson High in Daly City.
With two home losses to Bay Area teams sandwiched around a blowout of Central Catholic-Modesto, St. Mary’s (2-1) will need to re-group in a hurry as they travel to Orange County for a match-up with Cal-Hi Sports No. 7 Mission Viejo.
McClymonds-Oakland 41, Campolindo-Moraga 21
Three-time defending CIF state small school Bowl Game champion McClymonds (3-0) continues to roll but they had to turn it on in the fourth quarter with a 28-point outburst after the Warriors trailed 21-13 after three quarters.
Gary Alexander rushed for two second half touchdowns with the second one giving Mack a 27-21 lead it never relinquished. He finished with 139 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
A 75-yard TD pass from Dreyan Paul to Da’Veonne Sanders with 1:13 left pretty much sealed the deal, and then with Campolindo in desperation mode a 30-yard pick six by defensive back Edward Jones, who has 12 D1 offers, closed out the scoring.
Campolindo (3-1) was in a different atmosphere than they are used to, but it wasn’t playing in West Oakland that beat them but the Prep2Prep North Coast Section No. 8 Cougars wore down according to sources at the game.
Valley Christian-San Jose 34, Clovis West-Fresno 12
It’s never easy for Bay Area teams to play in Fresno against a quality opponent, but after the Prep2Prep Central Coast Section No. 1 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 15 ranked Warriors spotted the hosts a 6-0 lead, and then only led themselves 14-12 at the half, the offense came alive and the defense stiffened in the second half resulting in a solid victory over a previously state-ranked Golden Eagles.
It’s no secret Valley Christian Coach Mike Machado likes to run the ball and will not come off that game plan unless he has to throw, and in the end against Clovis West he didn’t.
Valley Christian rushed for a whopping 333 yards on 44 carries with two running backs going over the 100-yard mark. Junior Chase Laubach had two TDs rushing and 104 yards, while running back and track star Isaiah McElvane had 132 yards rushing and one TD when the solid D1 prospect with several offers broke loose on a 61-yard run.
The defense was led by William Cuddie. The sophomore linebacker had 12 tackles with five for loss, including his third and fourth sacks of the season.
Machado and his Warriors have a bye this week and in two weeks they open at home against a St. Francis team that rebounded from two lopsided losses to state ranked Corona del Mar-Newport Beach and De La Salle with a 44-12 victory over Oak Grove-San Jose.
Palma-Salinas 28, Oakdale 14
Sometimes it’s hard to figure things out. After Oakdale gave P2P NCS No. 2 Liberty-Brentwood all it could handle at home, but then barely survived on the road at CCS No. 10 Aptos, it appeared they might have what it took at home in The Corral to handle Palma, but Coach Jeff Carnazzo and his Chieftains handled the running game of the hosts in a solid victory, particularly after opening the season with a 47-31 home loss to Archbishop Mitty.
Prep2Prep CCS No. 12 Palma (2-1) led 14-7 at the half but Oakdale tied it up at 14-14 in the early third quarter, but from there the defense shut the door and it was the Palma running game that closed things out with two second half rushing touchdowns.
After rushing for 282 yards and four TDs in the Mitty loss and 170 yards and four TDs in a 35-21 win against Sacred Heart Cathedral, senior running back Anthony Villegas showed he could run against what had looked like a solid Oakdale defense after rushing 18 times for 157 yards and two touchdowns, including s 62-yard romp.
Sophomore quarterback Luke Rossi only completed four passes in 19 attempts, but one of them went for an 81-yard TD to senior wide receiver Jon-Jon Berring.
Palma now has a bye and that gives them two weeks to prepare for a cross-town host Salinas team that was No. 5 in the CCS rankings but that could change after a 52-28 loss at Clovis last Friday night.
Best of the Rest
It wasn’t a game we featured in our Best of the Rest previews because it wasn’t an intersection game. However, in what could be considered a bit of a stunner in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section, Monterey Trail-Elk Grove (3-1) went across town to Cosumnes Oaks, and after three impressive victories including a 48-6 shellacking of P2P NCS No. 13 San Ramon Valley-Danville last week, the Sacramento Bee Sac-Joaquin Section No. 2 ranked Mustangs lost a 36-35 heartbreaker.
The junior combination of Cosumnes Oaks quarterback Anthony Grigsby and wide receiver Austin Taylor connected on a 20-yard TD pass with 30-seconds remaining to pull off the upset.
