Just like in the past we change up the format of the NorCal Regional Games of the Week with most of the intersectional action concluded. We lead with the top match-up in the North Coast Section and then look at the top contests in the Central Coast Section and the Sac-Joaquin Section, but we still have some intersectional action we review that includes Part II of our interview with De La Salle Coach Justin Alumbaugh at practice earlier this week
Antioch (5-0) at Freedom-Oakley (4-1), Friday, 7:00 pm
Based on both the Prep2Prep North Coast Section and NorCal rankings the Bay Valley Athletic League is looking like the top league in Northern California this season and this initial match-up between two of the top teams in the BVAL should be a doozy.
Freedom has dominated recently after having won 11 of the past 14 meetings, and even when Antioch had Najee Harris they only won once and that was a 32-17 home victory in 2015.
On paper it looks like P2P NorCal No. 6 and NCS No. 3 Antioch has the edge since in the one match-up with common opponents the Panthers have a 37-27 victory at California that put them on the map this season. The next week California went to Freedom and came home with a 42-27 victory.
Last year the teams met on the NCS D1 semifinals with Freedom escaping with a 45-39 overtime victory at home. In that game Antioch rushed for 482 yards with senior quarterback Willem Karnthong getting 257 yards and one touchdown. But senior Michigan-committed Freedom running back Giles Jackson had 260 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Falcons senior Quarterback Joey Aguilar had 201 yards passing and two TDs while Karnthong had no TDs and was intercepted twice.
Something to look at for Antioch is was last week in a 47-28 victory over Marin Catholic the Panthers put up 412 yards of total offense but gave up 488 yards on defense.
Freedom got a much needed 37-24 win last week at San Ramon Valley with Jackson scoring three touchdowns and Aguilar had 342 yards passing and four TDs but he was intercepted twice.
Based on the rankings a win by P2P NorCal No. 18 and NCS No. 10 Freedom would be an upset, but with first-year Coach Andrew Cotter and his boys at home and looking at the history of these two teams would make it less of an upset should the Falcons come out on top.
Serra-San Mateo (1-2) versus Archbishop Mitty-San Jose (2-1), Friday, 7:00 pm at Foothill College
Last year was a year of firsts for Serra after Coach Patrick Walsh and his boys not only won a first state championship when the Padres defeated Cajon-San Bernardino, 38-14 in the CIF Division 2-AA Bowl game championship, but they also won an outright West Catholic Athletic League title for the first time in 48 years.
If P2P NorCal No. 10 and CCS No. 2 Serra is going to have any chance of repeating as WCAL champions and making a run at another Bowl game appearance the Padres will need to start strong in league play. They’ve had a week to rest up from a 45-35 loss two weeks ago to Pittsburg.
Senior quarterback Luke Bottari had 292 yards and four TDs passing against Pittsburg, but he was also intercepted three times, and minimizing mistakes could be a factor in this game. The Padres defense, led by E.J. Lahlouh will also need to contain Mitty’s outstanding junior dual-threat quarterback Shamir Bey in what should be his biggest test so far this season, bigger than the 28-21 loss to Menlo-Atherton.
Serra put a lot of points on the scoreboard last year in a 64-21 home win in league and a 52-7 victory in the CCS playoffs, but Bey was just a sophomore and Mitty has a new man at the helm with first-year Coach Sione Ta’ufo’ou and it while Serra is a pretty solid favorite it would not be a total shock if somehow Mitty found a way to win since anything seems possible over the years in the wild-and-wacky WCAL.
Sheldon-Sacramento (4-1) hosting Elk Grove (2-2), Friday, 7:00 pm
We almost moved Sheldon into the group tied at No. 25 in the Prep2Prep NorCal rankings partly due to the fact the Sacramento Bee has then ranked No. 8 and one spot ahead of a Granite Bay team we have in the group, but despite Monterey Trail being No. 12 in the NorCal rankings the lopsidedness of the Huskies 41-6 loss to that team to open the season made us decide to see what they do at home in a Delta League match-up with an Elk Grove team that has won two straight after following up a 41-6 shellacking of Shasta-Redding with a 21-14 Delta League opening win over Davis.
Sheldon was an easy 56-20 winner last year en route to a 6-1 finish in what is a slightly re-aligned Delta League this season.
A banged up Jesuit-Carmichael may still be a favorite like they were last year when they had a rocky start but beat everyone in league, but this match-up may go a long way in determining who might challenge Jesuit this season.
Sheldon Coach Joe Cattolico will be looking to pound it on the ground behind senior running back Tyrell Smith, but the visiting Thundering Herd have a just as respectable ground game led by junior Carter Harris.
Who can run it more effectively and stop the other team’s running attack should win with Sheldon a favorite while also having the home field advantage.
De La Salle-Concord (5-0) at Buchanan-Clovis (4-0), Friday 7:00 pm
De La Salle never schedules soft and this year is no different as Sparta will play a fifth state-ranked team when the CIF Central Section No. 2 ranked Bears welcome the Spartans to town in the top intersectional game of the week.
The Spartans haven’t lost to a team north of Fresno in 294 games but Buchanan would like to do what Clovis West-Fresno has done twice during that steak, and that’s topple Sparta.
Buchanan rarely passes so it’s going to be the Spartans run defense led by Henry To’oto’o and Isaiah Foskey that will need to keep the Buchanan offense on the sidelines.
Asked what he’s looking for from his team against Buchanan, De La Salle Coach Justin Alumbaugh had this to say. “We need to be more disciplined on third and fourth down, and as always be physical and tackle well. We want to throw the ball more too.”
Earlier this week at practice Alumbaugh indicated he was pleased with the progression of sophomore quarterback Dorian Hale.
“Dorian has progressed a lot,” Alumbaugh remarked. We’ve started to open up the offense a little bit more and a little bit more each week. I was happy about the way he ran the ball last week. He made that one mistake on a fumble but besides that he broke tackles, he got down hill so I was pleased with his progress.”
“(Andrew) Jones, our other quarterback that played a lot of quarterback for us last year and he’s been helping him to get a good understanding of what’s going on,” continued Alumbaugh. “That’s sort of the good team that we’ve got. We’ve got guys pulling for each other and Dorian’s been coming along. He’s a lot better today than he was a month ago.”
The Spartans have a quarterback that can both run and throw, and it’s a little early to look too far ahead, but after two big losses to St. John Bosco-Bellflower and Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the past two CIF Open Division Bowl games, does De La Salle and Alumbaugh have the formula to beat the top teams from Southern California?
“The teams that are emerging down there, those guys are something else, but if this group continues to work and they continue to do the things that they are capable of, and if we play as the best version of ourselves, we can beat anybody, I don’t care where they’re from, but we’re going to have to do things really, really well.”
Other intersectional out of state match-ups
Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (3-1) hosting St. Mary’s-Stockton (0-4), Friday, 7:00pm
If you look at the win-loss records this looks like a big win for P2P NorCal No. 11 and NCS No. 6 O’Dowd on paper. The Dragons played reasonably well in their loss to De La Salle and pulled it out against Monte Vista last week on a last second field goal, but despite being winless St. Mary’s is still no slouch.
They lost decisively to Pittsburg and national No. 1 Mater Dei-Santa Ana, and they were competitive in their 33-20 loss to Central Catholic-Modesto. Last week they were leading Nevada No. 3 Damonte Ranch-Reno 15-14 after three quarters but could not shut the door in a 20-15 loss.
A win for O’Dowd would be huge heading into West Alameda County – Foothill League play while St. Mary’s badly needs a win to try and turn around a rough start.
San Leandro (1-3) at McClymonds-Oakland (2-2), Friday, 7:15 pm
This is a hard one to figure out but it should be a good game. San Leandro opened the season with what looked like a solid win over Foothill-Pleasanton, but since then that team was beaten soundly by Granada.
For McClymonds it’s a case of will the real Warriors please stand up? Mack took care of Marin Catholic by shutting out team that just piled up almost 500 yards against Antioch, and they weren’t expected to do much against Liberty, but they played poorly in a loss to Palo Alto and barely beat Downey-Modesto last week, albeit both games were on the road.
This game is at home and McClymonds will be favored.
Menlo-Atherton-Atherton (2-1) at Valor Christian-Highlands Ranch (Colorado) (4-0), Friday, 7:00 pm
Menlo-Atherton was rolling along after two wins over WCAL team, Bellarmine and Archbishop Mitty, but two weeks ago they dropped down in the pecking order of both the CCS and NorCal rankings after a 26-20 overtime loss to Palma-Salinas.
How M-A will do against Colorado No. 2 ranked Valor Christian and Nebraska-committed quarterback Luke McCaffrey, remains to be seen, but they certainly will not be favored.
Incidentally, Valor Christian is coached by Luke’s father, former Stanford and NFL star Ed McCaffrey.
