The focus this week goes back to the CIF Central Coast Section and the West Catholic Athletic League in particular for the top billed game, but the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section has three big games and what might be the top match-up in Northern California is in the CIF North Coast Section’s Bay Valley Athletic League where unbeatens P2P NCS No. 2 Pittsburg and No. 5 Freedom tangle. That matchup is being written up by P2P Pittsburg student contributor Jesus Cano in his BVAL preview.
Valley Christian-San Jose (8-0, 5-0 West Catholic Athletic League) at St. Francis-Mountain View (7-1, 4-1 West Catholic Athletic League), Friday, 7:30 p.m.
The wild-and-wacky WCAL doesn’t necessarily have to be so topsy-turvy and if Valley Christian can hold suit and win on the road at St. Francis this Friday night in a battle of the Prep2Prep CIF Central Coast Section No. 1 and 2 teams, they will take charge of what is certainly one of the toughest leagues in Northern California.
Does history count in this match-up or should it matter? Bellarmine has dominated the WCAL recently and prior to this year but in the battle of these two teams it’s been pretty even the last four meetings.
The Lancers won 21-16 last year on the road but lost at home two-years ago 21-14 in double overtime. In 2013 it was St. Francis in a razor thin 28-27 victory.
Is there any reason to believe this game may not come down to a final possession? That’s certainly looking like the case with these two teams’ recent history.
Valley Christian sits atop the P2P CIFCCS rankings and is No. 21 in the state in both the Cal-Hi Sports and Maxpreps rankings. The Warriors have played a solid schedule that includes P2P CIFNCS No. 8 Campolindo-Moraga and Pleasant Valley-Chico, but both of those teams have suffered losses since playing Valley Christian.
The biggest win for Coach Mike Machado and his boys was a 28-7 win at home over cross-town league rival Bellarmine, but two weeks prior to that win it took double overtime to put away a visiting Archbishop Mitty team in a 38-31 victory, and that Monarchs team lost 42-0 at St. Francis.
Valley Christian will rely on the running of senior Javon Sturns and Isaiah Rodriguez, plus dual-threat senior quarterback Miles Kendrick. The defense is led by undersized but hard-hitting senior middle linebacker Trent Laubach.
St. Francis rebounded from its 41-40 overtime loss to Serra-San Mateo with the Mitty romp and then a 35-7 win last week at Sacred Heart Cathedral-San Francisco. A big win for the Lancers was an 8-7 grinder on the road at P2P CCS No. 4 Palma-Salinas. They also have a 34-14 win at an Atascadero team tied with Arroyo Grande for first place in the CIF Southern Section Pac-8 League.
The key to the Lancers will be the running of senior D1 prospect Cyrus Habibi-Likio, with help from sophomore Opeti Fangupo and others. St. Francis throws a little more than Valley Christian but it remains to be seen if junior quarterback Reed Vettel and the passing game will be a factor. One of the leaders of the Lancers defense is senior Pete Calcagno, the coach’s son.
If Valley Christian can ride the bus back to San Jose with a victory the WCAL is pretty much wrapped up since they will conclude league play with Sacred Heart Cathedral in San Francisco in two weeks.
Should P2P CIFCCS No. 2 St. Francis prevail with the home field advantage, they will be tied with Valley Christian and 5-1, and if Serra wins at home against Riordan-San Francisco, the Padres will also be 5-1 creating a logjam and a who’s beaten who scenario since Serra’s lone loss in league is to Valley Christian.
A lot of the story of who comes out victorious is likely to be which team wins the battle at the line of scrimmage and is able to control the ball and the clock, plus the intangibles which St. Francis Coach Greg Calcagno addressed on Thursday morning.
“To me the key is which team limits their turnovers and mistakes,” Calcagno told Prep2Prep. “Both teams like to run the ball and play good defense so I don’t think it’s going to be a shootout. It’s about limiting mistakes and keeping the ball off the turf.”
Prep2Prep student contributor Joe Perrino will be on hand to provide game coverage.
CIF North Coast Section
Monte Vista-Danville (8-0, 7-0 East Bay Athletic League) hosting San Ramon Valley-Danville (6-2, 5-1 East Bay Athletic League, Friday,
The battle for a big chunk of territory on the southwest side of Mt. Diablo could very well have been the big game of the week but it’s certainly a close second to the WCAL clash.
Prep2Prep CIF North Coast Section No. 4 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 11 state-ranked Monte Vista can wrap up the East Bay Athletic League with a win and then head into De La Salle next week with no pressure on them. A win over a San Ramon Valley team that had De La Salle on the ropes will go a long way toward legitimizing the Mustangs who are only No. 49 in the Maxpreps power rankings since their only non-league game was a win over Deer Valley-Antioch.
P2P NCS No. 14 San Ramon Valley was hurt in the rankings by a loss to Foothill but has been climbing up. A win here would propel them way up and put them in a position to share the league title if they can win again next week at P2P NCS No. 6 California-San Ramon.
This likely will be an air battle with Monte Vista’s Washington-bound Jake Haener, but San Ramon Valley got six TD passes last week in a 49-0 win over Dougherty Valley-San Ramon
CIF Sac-Joaquin Section
Davis (4-4, 4-1 Delta League) at Grant-Sacramento (6-2, 3-2 Delta League), Friday, 7:15 p.m.
We could have gone with Oakdale at Manteca, or with Folsom at Rocklin since Folsom is No. 2 in the P2P CIF Sac-Joaquin Section rankings, but the Modesto area teams are a little lower in the rankings, and Rocklin is out of the running in the Sierra Foothill League race, therefore the focus shifts to the Delta League match-up between P2P SJS No. 9 Davis and No. 11 Grant.
No one could have imagined Davis being where they are after starting out 0-3 but they’ve beaten P2P SJS ranked Elk Grove, Sheldon-Sacramento and Franklin-Elk Grove, and if they can add Grant to their list they could possibly win the league title with a win next week at Monterey Trail-Elk Grove.
The host Pacers are smarting after dropping out of first place with their defeat at the hands of a P2P SJS No. 10 Sheldon team they are tied with for second in league. This could be a very interesting game if Grant comes to play and there’s no reason to think they won’t in front of a home crowd.
