There is no De La Salle this week in the featured games from the CIF North Coast Section, Central Coast Section and Sac-Joaquin Section but we have three very important league games from each of the section's featured.
Clayton Valley-Concord (4-1) at California-San Ramon (5-0), Friday, 7:00 pm
For our North Coast Section featured game for the NorCal Regional previews we go to the East Bay Athletic League where another new era unfolds.
First, there was realignment last year that created two divisions of the EBAL, a Mountain League that took the top five teams from a competitive equity standpoint, De La Salle-Concord (an unofficial member of the league), California, Foothill-Pleasanton, Monte Vista-Danville and San Ramon Valley, and a Valley League with Amador Valley-Pleasanton, Dougherty Valley-San Ramon, Dublin and Granada as its members.
This year the EBAL – Mountain went to six teams with Clayton Valley joining the league after dominating teams from the Diablo Valley Athletic League and winning every league game since 2012 when Coach Tim Murphy took the helm.
Prep2Prep CIF North Coast Section No. 3 and Cal-Hi Sports overall No. 28 and Medium Schools No. 1 Clayton Valley will get an immediate test in its new league when the Ugly Eagles head south to San Ramon to face the P2P NCS No. 12 California.
Clayton Valley has rolled Turlock, Overfelt-San Jose, Nevada Canyon Springs-North Las Vegas, and Berkeley by a combined score of 180-32, and if not for a missed PAT in overtime against P2P NCS No. 2 and state top 20 Liberty-Brentwood in a 28-27 Honor Bowl loss, the Uglies could very well be undefeated.
Against Liberty the powerful running game Murphy employs had 271 yards with 5-11, 170-pound senior Makhi Gervais getting the bulk of it after rushing for 204 yards and one touchdown on a whopping 45 carries. Gervais action has been limited in the blowouts and he didn’t play against Overfelt, but he’s still rushed for 766 yards and four TDs, and stopping him will be a tall task for California.
Even throwing out the lopsided wins by Clayton Valley, the defense against Liberty was outstanding and only gave up 106 yards rushing and one TD, and 112 yards passing with one TD by Oregon-bound quarterback Jay Butterfield, who they intercepted twice.
If the Ugly Eagles play like they did against Liberty it could be a long night for California despite being at home. Even so, Murphy knows playing on the road, and particularly in their first game in the EBAL will be anything but easy.
“Avoiding turnovers and playing well on the road,” cited Murphy as keys to winning the game. “Both programs run a true system on both sides of the ball. Whoever executes it best will win.”
Host California is undefeated but part of the reason they are only No. 12 in the P2P NCS rankings is they have had some close games against teams some analysts feel they should have won more handily.
The Grizzlies were a 25-12 winner over Nevada No. 13 Churchill County-Fallon, and they handled Granada-Livermore in a 35-14 road win last week, but they had trouble in a 14-12 victory over 1-5 Antioch, almost gave up a 16-0 first quarter lead in a 44-40 victory over winless Freedom-Oakley, and they had trouble scoring in a 12-3 victory over 1-5 Heritage-Brentwood.
Just like Clayton Valley, California likes to run the ball, and why not? Coach Eric Billeci played for and is a disciple of legendary De La Salle coach and movie man Bob Ladouceur, and running the ball is a staple in the offense Billeci uses in the Grizzlies attack. Four running backs carry the load, seniors Belal Alatassi, Hasani Savage and Daniel Desoto, and junior Giovanni Phillips.
There is no question California will have to run the ball against Clayton Valley, and stop the Ugly Eagles running game, and that’s exactly how Billeci sees it.
“Being able to run the ball and keeping them one dimensional without any big plays,” was Billeci’s response to keys to beating Clayton Valley. “Forcing them into fourth and long would be ideal.”
Whether the Ugly Eagles welcome to the EBAL – Mountain Division is a rude one, or whether they establish themselves as one of the leagues’ top teams remains to be seen.
Los Gatos (5-0, 1-0) at Wilcox-Santa Clara (3-2, 1-0)[Friday, 7:00 pm
Defending CIF state Division 3-A Bowl Game champion Wilcox has played a very tough schedule just as they have since Coach Paul Rosa took the helm four years ago and they should be more than prepared for a Los Gatos team that despite having a very success is off to its best start since.
Both teams have explosive offenses with Wilcox depending on the running game led by the coaches’ son Paul M. Rosa, and Los Gatos using a combination of running and passing to average just over 45-points per game.
Rosa, who missed two games with a groin injury, is still not 100-percent but even so his Chargers will be favored in this De Anza League showdown.
For a complete preview on the game with stats and quotes click here.
Rocklin (5-1, 2-0) at Folsom (4-1, 1-0) , Friday, 7:00 pm
Many analysts feel the Sierra Foothill League from top to bottom is the toughest league in Northern California, and they may have a good argument, since not only has Folsom had success in the post season, but other SFL teams as well.
So, while there were a couple of other great games in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section its east of Sacramento to the foothills where we land for our featured game for the section.
Defending CIFSJS Division I and CIF state Division 1-AA Bowl Game champion Folsom continued its dominance of the Sierra Foothill League that goes back to the Bulldogs winning every game since they moved over from the Delta League in 2014, but two weeks ago they had to come from 33-14 down with 10 minutes left in the third quarter to score 22 unanswered points to pull out a 36-33 victory over Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills in their League opener.
Then, last week many expected a Prep2Prep Central Coast Section No. 5 and previous Cal-Hi Sports top 50 ranked Menlo-Atherton-Atherton to give Folsom a game, but it was anything but a contest in a 49-0 shellacking by the Bulldogs.
Senior quarterback Jake Reithmeier rumbled 26-yards for a first quarter rushing TD and the rout was on. Reithmeier followed that with a 12-yard TD run, a 57-yard TD pass to Austin McMillan, an 8-yard TD pass to Deshawn Lynch, and then Dylan Richard came up with a 20-yard pick six to make it 35-0 Folsom at the half.
Part of the reason this is such an important game in the SFL is because of Rocklin. The Thunder upset the apple cart last week when Coach Jason Adams and his boys hosted, toasted and then roasted in a 28-22 victory the same Oak Ridge team that had Folsom on the ropes.
That brings up the big question. Can Rocklin do what no one has done in over five years and beat Folsom in an SFL game?
Last week the defense and special teams excelled for Rocklin. The defense had four sacks and an interception, and kicker Cole Becker played about as key a role as possible after booting three field goals from 36 yards and 37 yards, and then a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter for the game’s final points that took away an Oak Ridge opportunity to send the game to overtime with a field goal of their own.
Beating Folsom at home is going to be a tall order, but who knows. If the Thunder can stay close maybe Becker will have a chance to win the game with a long field goal.
Best of the Rest
Prep2Prep CIF NCS No. 6 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (4-1) takes on P2P NCS No. 15 Rancho Cotate in Rohnert Park, and since 2015 Newman has won the games that counted with the Cougars and captured the North Bay League title outright each of the past four seasons. For a link to the Rancho Cotate feature for the Media Guide click here.
We’ve given our readers a steady diet of De La Salle-Concord (4-1) each week to start the season, and while the Spartans game with host Monte Vista (4-1) is not one of the featured games, and Sparta is expected to march out of Danville with an East Bay Athletic League – Mountain Division victory, it will be interesting to see how well the Mustangs do this year against De La Salle.
Besides Rocklin at Folsom another big game in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section is in the southern portion of the section in the greater Modesto area where Manteca (3-2, 0-1) visits Oakdale in a matchup of arch rivals from the Valley Oak League. It’s never easy playing in The Corral at Oakdale (4-2, 2-0) but the losses the Mustangs took were to state ranked Liberty-Brentwood in a close game and a questionable loss to P2P CCS No. 9 Palma. Oakdale will be looking to take control of the league against an upset-minded Buffaloes that are coming off a heartbreaking 27-26 home loss to Central Catholic-Modesto.
