When we went to this new format last week we said we would try to rotate which of the three sections featured would be the lead. Last week we led with the Central Coast Section and the Serra at Bellarmine matchup, and what a shocker that was with the Padres blitzing the Bells 48-0. Will the same hocus pocus prevail in this week’s featured game leading the way from the North Coast Section?
NORTH COAST SECTION
NCS No. 3 Pittsburg (3-1) at NCS No. 4 Freedom (5-0), Friday, 7 pm
This Bay Valley Athletic League opener between North Coast Section No. 3 Pittsburg and No. 4 Freedom is the top game in Northern California after just edging out the Sac-Joaquin Section featured game between Oakdale and Manteca.
Pittsburg is higher in all other rankings as well including Cal-Hi Sports, NorCalPreps and MaxPreps, and rightfully so. The Pirates have played one of the toughest non-league schedules in Northern California, and had their game with James Logan not been wiped out by the heat wave weekend they almost assuredly would be 4-1 with a lone loss to state top five and national top 10 Centennial-Corona.
The Pirates were beaten soundly by Centennial to open the season but there probably isn’t a team in Northern California that could give that team a game except De La Salle and Folsom and this year that might not even be the case.
Another thing is Centennial was the first game for junior Justin Boyd at quarterback after he replaced Trey Turner who was injured the week before the season began. What an initiation for Boyd, but maybe it has had a silver lining. Since then, Boyd has run the offense exactly the way coach Vic Galli has wanted him to.
After the Logan game was wiped out he led the Pirates to a 35-28 victory at Serra and we know what that team did to Bellarmine this past week. Boyd then passed for six TDs in a 62-20 win over Berkeley that wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Finally, Boyd passed for a TD and ran for another in a 35-13 win over a Vacaville team that had one-point losses to Sac-Joaquin Section No. 2 Oak Ridge and No. 3 Granite Bay.
Junior running back Premier Murphy has come through as well. He had 149 yards rushing and three TDs against Serra and also had a solid game against Vacaville. Another player that has shined is senior wide receiver A’jae Boyd, Justin’s cousin.
A big positive for Coach Vic Galli is 6-3, 285-pound lineman Jacob Bandes is back from his swimming pool accident to bolster the line.
One thing that could be a negative for Pittsburg is they have only played four games with the Logan wipeout and a bye last week. The win over Vacaville was solid but it was two weeks ago.
“We had a great two weeks of practice, Jacob (Bandes) is back at full strength, and Justin (Boyd) is getting to know the quarterback position better and is improving every day,” Galli said.
“They have some pretty solid skill guys and good talent on the outside we have to defend, and I have a lot of respect for Coach (Kevin) Hartwig,” Galli continued. “Last year was their year, they took it to us and they got us, but this ain’t last year.”
What this year is for Freedom is running back and league MVP Ronnie Rivers, quarterback Jonathan Pierce and a lot of other talent has graduated, but senior and top receiver Baylei Coston and sophomore wideout Giles Jackson are back and Joey Aguilar has emerged at quarterback and is doing a great job.
The Falcons soared against Bishop O’Dowd in a 42-21 victory but it was only 28-21 at the half and O’Dowd is a solid Division III team but they’re not Open Division material quite yet. San Leandro isn’t an Open level team either and in their 40-28 victory over that team they trailed 28-19 at the half. The defense has been able to pitch shutouts in the second half against those two teams after problematic first halves, but those teams are not Pittsburg.
Since 2002 Pittsburg is 67-12 in the BVAL and they’re 13-5 against Freedom including last year’s two losses.
Asked for his keys to victory Hartwig was to the point. “We need to play mistake free football and execute our game plan.”
One advantage for Freedom is the game is at home and Oakley should be rocking on Friday night.
CENTRAL COAST SECTION
CCS No. 5 Archbishop Mitty (4-1, 2-0 West Catholic Athletic League) at CCS No. 3 Serra (3-2, 2-0), Friday, 7 pm
For the second straight week Serra is in the CCS featured game. Last week when they got top billing they turned some heads with a 48-0 shellacking of a host Bellarmine team that the week before lost 14-7 to Mitty.
Both teams have losses to teams from the Sac-Joaquin Section, with CCS No. 3 Serra falling 41-13 to SJS No. 5 St. Mary’s-Stockton and CCS No. 5 Mitty losing their season opener 47-21 to SJS No. 7 Sacramento before winning four straight.
Sacramento is legit and gave SJS and state top 10 Folsom a real game but it’s likely going to be hard for a Mitty defense that gave up that many points to Sacramento to be able to hold Serra in check. The Monarchs offense can score, as is evidenced by a 30-23 win over CCS No. 6 Menlo-Atherton, but we can’t help but look at the fact they only scored twice against Bellarmine and that was at home.
Serra coach Patrick Walsh is likely not going to change a thing and will continue to mix it up with passing and running. Senior Isiah Kendrick rushed for 125 yards and two TDs in limited action against Bellarmine. Junior quarterback Luke Bottari seems to be gaining confidence and improving every game. He was 13 of 17 for 220 yards and two TDs in limited action against Bellarmine.
Walsh is getting the ball in the hands of 6-3, 210-pound Washington State-bound Patrick Nunn. He now has 27 catches this season for 372 yards and three touchdowns. He had one TD receiving and also had a 53-yard TD run against Bellarmine.
Mitty hasn’t been 2-0 to start the West Catholic Athletic League since 2013, when they went 6-1 and tied Serra for first place in league in Matt Haniger’s last season at the helm. After back to back 3-4 seasons, third-year coach Keith Burns has Mitty back in the mix and a win over Serra would be huge.
Shamir Bey, a 6-3, 190-pound sophomore has been making his mark as the Monarchs quarterback. His 1-yard plunge with 14 seconds left won the game against Bellarmine after he had rushed for Mitty’s first score that tied the game at 7-7.
For Mitty to win, Bey is going to have to come up not just big, but huge, and he will need help to get it done.
SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION
SJS No. 6 Manteca (4-1, 1-1 Valley Oak League) at SJS No. 9 Oakdale (4-1, 2-0)
For the Sac-Joaquin Section we go to the Valley Oak League for this rivalry that has been dominated by Oakdale and particularly in the past five years where the Mustangs have won the last three years and four of the five.
Last season, en route to a Sac-Joaquin Section Division III title and then a CIF Division 3-A Bowl Game championship, they bested the Buffaloes 30-22 at Manteca. Prior to that they were a 45-14 winner at home in 2015 and they won 42-21 in 2014 on the road. Manteca won 35-20 at Oakdale in 2013, and in 2012 when Oakdale was the SJS D3 winner and CIF Northern Regional Division II champion, they won 28-7 at Manteca.
Manteca has been higher ranked this season at No. 6 in the SJS rankings and all the other major human rankings, and that is based on a 22-20 win over CCS No. 1 Valley Christian. They did suffer a 31-14 home loss two weeks ago against Central Catholic and that could be telling. Despite being No. 9 in the SJS rankings, Oakdale’s lone loss is 45-29 to Folsom at home, and based on that they could be the favorite
The Buffaloes need to win to stay in the Valley Oak race while Oakdale needs the win to keep pace with a Central Catholic team they meet in the final week of the regular season.
Oakdale is going to pound it on the ground and try to control the clock, and unless Manteca can keep the Mustangs offense off the field it could be a tough battle for them.
