The West Catholic Athletic League schedule is a seven-game meat grinder, but that has hardly stopped its eight teams from testing themselves in the first three weeks of the season.
Some teams, like preseason favorites Archbishop Riordan, enter the WCAL’s universal bye week in good shape. Others, most notably Saint Francis and Serra, have taken their lumps against extremely challenging non-league slates.
The Crusaders (3-0) are the only WCAL squad to run the table in non-league play. Riordan opened with a comfortable win over a McClymonds team that later beat Saint Francis, then shut out Monte Vista in Danville before coming out on top Saturday in a 42-35 shootout over Pittsburg.
Quarterback Michael Mitchell Jr., a Vanderbilt commit, threw two long touchdown passes to Judge Nash, who will play at Harvard next year. One went for 92 yards to help the Crusaders build an early 21-point lead — a lead Riordan started building with a 78-yard touchdown run by Adonyae Brown on the second play from scrimmage. Brown finished with three scores on the ground as Riordan held off every Pirates rally.
Bellarmine also looks to a much-improved unit, although coming off a winless 2024 season, the Bells did not play as tough of a non-league schedule as the rest of the league. They throttled Los Altos 61-6 on Friday to improve to 2-1, with both wins coming at home.
Valley Christian and Archbishop Mitty both won easily as well in Week 3. The Warriors welcomed Patterson from the Central Valley and handled business in a 42-11 victory, with their opportunistic defense forcing a pair of interceptions. The Monarchs scored 28 points in the second quarter en route to a 35-0 pasting at Menlo-Atherton as Lazaro Faraj-Washington had two rushing touchdowns and Lucca Edwards gave Mitty a jolt with a touchdown on a punt return.
St. Ignatius became the second WCAL team with a loss to East Bay public school powerhouse Acalanes, as the Wildcats squandered a 21-point lead late in the first half and lost 42-35. Bobby Gomez completed 14 of 22 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown to tie the game in the third quarter.
Saint Francis, Serra and Sacred Heart Cathedral were all thumped against three of the best teams in the state, with the Lancers falling 40-0 to De La Salle, the Padres taking a 42-0 loss at St. John Bosco in Southern California and the Fightin’ Irish losing 49-7 at Folsom. Saint Francis and Serra are still looking for their first win as league play starts in the final weekend of September.
To open WCAL play, St. Ignatius hosts Mitty, Riordan travels to Saint Francis and Bellarmine welcomes in SHC on Sept. 26. Valley Christian will host Serra the following evening.
Soquel rolls past Carmel to stay perfect
After tight wins over Los Gatos and San Ramon Valley, the Knights were all over Carmel on Saturday afternoon, earning a 49-0 victory over the Padres to improve to 3-0 and continue staking their claim as the team to beat in the Pacific Coast Athletic League.
Salinas, Monterey and Palma may have something to say about that, and all will get their chance, but the Knights moved up to No. 4 in the MaxPreps CCS rankings after the blowout, just behind a Los Gatos team they have already beaten.
Senior quarterback Sam Whelan was 8-of-9 passing for 199 yards and three touchdowns, though his lone miss was an interception. Soquel averaged nearly 12 yards per rushing attempt, led by Jayden Keller (seven carries, 101 yards, two touchdowns), Kelton Forbus (eight carries, 75 yards) and Keyandre Bailey (three carries, 73 yards, one touchdown).
Chase Petersen intercepted two passes for the Knights, and Ethan Mopress returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown as Soquel dominated in all three phases of the game.
And Carmel is typically no pushover. The Padres went undefeated and won a state championship just last year, and Saturday was their first shutout loss since 2003.
Sacred Heart Prep earns big win at Half Moon Bay
The Gators improved to 2-1 by handing the Cougars first loss of the year, winning 37-27 on the road Thursday night. Maxime Morrelle did a little bit of everything for SHP — the senior rushed for 94 yards on 15 carries, threw a 52-yard touchdown pass on a trick play and had a 67-yard pick six as the Gators scored the first 30 points of the second half.
SHP has won back-to-back games following a home loss to Sacred Heart Cathedral in Week 1 and should be a contender in the Peninsula Athletic League-Bay Division alongside Los Gatos, Wilcox and rival Menlo School. The Gators went just 1-4 in the Bay last year but still won the CCS Division IV title. They avenged a home loss to Half Moon Bay from a season ago and have a senior-laden roster with plenty of varsity experience.
The Cougars still look like favorites in the PAL-Ocean, with an impressive overtime win at Burlingame already on their resume. Their toughest in-league competition may come from Woodside, which shared the El Camino Division title last year and has outscored its first three opponents in 2025 by a combined 134-13.
