Each of the three sections we feature for a top game, CIF North Coast, Central Coast and Sac-Joaquin, have more than one very important matchup that will determine a league champion and playoff seedings, so we’ll feature the three games, one per section, plus an expanded Best of the Rest.
Serra-San Mateo 8-0, 5-0) hosting Valley Christian-San Jose (8-0, 5-0), Saturday, 2:00 pm
Even before the first snap of the season this was already going to be the biggest game of the season for both teams based on where they were ranked in the preseason by Cal-Hi Sports with Valley Christian at No. 17 and Serra in the No. 30 spot.
Since then these two West Catholic Athletic League rivals have been on what seems like an inevitable collision course. Now, other than De La Salle and Folsom, this game gets No. 2 billing as the top matchup in Northern California this season
Prep2Prep Central Coast Section top-ranked Serra and No. 2 Valley Christian have switched back and forth as the top two teams in the P2P CCS rankings, as well as in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings where the Padres are No. 13 in the state and Valley Christian is in the No. 17 spot.
None of that will matter on Saturday in San Mateo in what will almost assuredly be for the West Catholic Athletic League title and a potential preview of the CCS Division 1 title game, but the game took a bit of a twist after Serra standout senior quarterback Daylin McLemore went down with a season-ending injury after breaking his collarbone on a 40-yard run with Serra up 7-0 in the first quarter against Sacred Heart Cathedral-San Francisco last week.
McLemore’s back-up, sophomore Dominique Lampkin, rushed for two first-half touchdowns of 45 and 25 yards and completed a 47-yard touchdown pass to senior star Nate Sanchez in what ended up as a 35-7 victory in a game the Padres led 35-0 at the half. Valley Christian is not Sacred Heart Cathedral and the bottom line is Lampkin will have to pick up the slack in his first varsity start in a game that is for a lot of marbles.
“Everybody has to be better now that Daylin is out,” Serra Coach Patrick Walsh remarked. “If everyone is a little bit better in whatever role they play it may add up to enough to fill the shoes of Daylin. It can’t be on the sophomore quarterback.”
Lampkin obviously will need to have a solid game but Walsh doesn’t want all the pressure on his 5-11, 170-pound signal caller.
“Dom needs to know and execute the plan that is built for him, not try to be somebody he’s not,” Walsh continued. “Hopefully if everyone is a little better he will feel less pressure around him, relax and play football. He doesn’t have to be the engine, the wheels, or the cooling and sound system. He just need to be the driver of the car.”
Sanchez will likely get more touches as the primary receiver and slotback, and senior running back Vince Poni will probably see a lot more carries. Other players to look for to step it up a notch on offense are senior wideout Terence Loville, and sophomore running back Hassan Mahasin.
The defense led by senior lineman Nusi Malani and senior safety Jackson Lataimua, who also will likely see more duty running the ball, will have to be stout against the Valley Christian offense.
The likelihood of Valley Christian changing anything is doubtful, and that means veteran Warriors Coach Mike Machado is going to look to run the ball and control the line of scrimmage and the clock, and let his defense do the rest.
Valley Christian has broken a sweat in league since a 17-7 victory at St. Ignatius in the first week of October, but the cast of characters that Machado will look to for getting the job done against Serra will be the same as all season.
It starts with senior running back/slotback Isaiah McElvane along with junior running back Chase Laubach and senior running back Michael Corini. Senior quarterback Cory Taylor does a lot of handing off but he can pass if called on to and his favorite wide receivers are freshman Jurrion Dickey, McElvane and senior Jackson Stewart.
The stout defense, which has only given up 45 points in eight games and has 438 tackles combined with 64 for loss, with 21 sacks, seven interceptions and six fumble recoveries, is led by budding sophomore star linebacker William Cuddie and senior defensive end/linebacker Anthony Madrigal.
When asked about the keys to the game Machado had this to say. “Take care of the football, make them earn every yards as we must also, solid in the special teams game. The quarterback will be defended the same way. Both are very good athletes.”
Serra would have been a slight favorite with McLemore under center but he’s not going to be the Senior Day, Polynesian Celebration Day quarterback.
“Last year we had a similar game, home field, Senior Day, Polynesian Celebration Day, winner take all game versus St. Francis and we were deeply humbled,” Walsh said. “The seniors remember that and will work to make this experience different.”
Serra lost 42-7 to St. Francis and later lost 38-8 to the Lancers in the second round of the playoffs. Against Valley Christian they also suffered a 37-7 defeat on the road, so if they can pull it off and beat the Warriors is will be a huge boost going into the final week of WCAL play at St. Ignatius next week and then on to the CCS D1 playoffs.
“The mindset is to play a tough brand of Padre football for 48 minutes and if it’s enough we win,” Walsh concluded.
One thing is for sure and that this game should still be a great matchup between the top two teams in the Bay Area.
Monte Vista-Danville (7-2, 3-1) at San Ramon Valley-Danville (6-3, 2-2), Friday, 7:00 pm
For a good part of the season the talk has been about Monte Vista since the Mustangs have occupied the No. 4 spot in the Prep2Prep CIF North Coast Section rankings since they won their season-opener with a 27-22 road victory over Granite Bay and then took care of business last week in a 31-21 win on the road at P2P NCS No. 9 Clayton Valley.
San Ramon Valley has quietly loomed in the lurch of this ultra rivalry and last week the Wolves made a huge statement with a 24-21 win on the road at California and they jumped from No. 16 to No. 7 in the P2P NCS rankings
With De La Salle part of the East Bay Athletic League – Mountain Division but ineligible to win the league championship a victory by Monte Vista would wrap up the league title and almost assuredly earn the Mustangs the No. 4 seed in the NCS Division 1 playoffs.
Both teams have losses to De La Salle and wins over Clayton Valley and California, but San Ramon Valley has a loss to a Foothill-Pleasanton team Monte Vista tripped.
A win by San Ramon Valley would tie them with Monte Vista for the league championship but despite the Foothill loss the NCS competitive equity formula favors head to head action so it would likely earn the Wolves the No. 4 seed.
Monte Vista played well against Clayton Valley with senior D1 recruit Nate Rutchena shining on both sides of the ball with an acrobatic 19-yard TD catch and on defense he had a 29-yard scoop and score, and 16 tackles with two for loss.
San Ramon Valley got a monster game from running back Jacob Hillman after the senior rushed for 224 yards and two TDs against California, but even so it took a 23-yard field goal on the game’s final play to secure the victory.
“They’re a very good, well-coached football team,” Monte Vista Coach Matt Russi said of San Ramon Valley after the Clayton Valley victory. “It’s the old cliché about rivalries and throwing the records out.”
Indeed. Since taking the Mustangs reins in 2017 Russi has lost three-straight to the Wolves, including twice last season in league and in the NCS D1 playoffs.
The bottom line is this game appears as though it will determine the fourth and fifth seeds in the NCS playoffs.
St. Mary’s-Stockton (5-4, 4-0 at Lincoln-Stockton (9-0, 4-0), Friday, 7:00 pm
There are a lot of big games that will decide league titles in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section but this week we head to Stockton to give some love to a match-up that will decide the Tri-City Athletic League championship.
For a good part of the season outside of Stockton St. Mary’s has been off the radar screen after Coach Tony Franks and his boys lost four of their first five games. A closer look shows that all four of the losses are to teams ranked highly by Cal-Hi Sports.
St. Mary’s played P2P NCS No. 2 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 23 Pittsburg tough in a 42-35 season-opening loss. After blowing out Sacramento Bee CIFSJS No. 17 Central Catholic-Modesto the Bee’s No. 4 ranked Rams lost 56-28 to the P2P NCS No. 1 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 13 ranked Serra-San Mateo team that pinned a lone loss on Pittsburg. They traveled to Cal-Hi Sports No. 4 Mission Viejo and got trounced but they played P2P NCS No. 1 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 3 De La Salle as well as any team from Northern California other than Folsom in a 56-17 loss. Since then Franks and his Rams only real test came in a 28-14 league win at a Tracy team that lost 62-41 to Lincoln. The result is St. Mary’s is up to No. 4 in the Bee’s rankings.
The competitive equity resume of Lincoln so far has been not real strong and they haven’t faced anyone near the level of St. Mary’s, but even so the Sacramento Bee has them ranked No. 5 in the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Last year Coach Anthony Martinez and his Trojans lost 48-20 at St. Mary’s, and they lost 42-7 at home two years ago. Lincoln has not beaten St. Mary’s in its last 18 tries since they beat them 55-21 in 2005.
Could this be the year the worm turns?
Best of the Rest
A lot of the pundits, prognosticators and self-proclaimed experts have already written off Bishop O’Dowd (3-6, 3-1) but the reality is if they can beat visiting Encinal (8-1, 3-0) they will earn share of the West Alameda County Conference – Foothill Division. The last three were outright titles and with a win on Friday night after a disastrous start and a league loss to San Leandro, Coach Napoleon Kaufman and his Dragons could be looking at a fairly high seed in the NCS Division 3 playoffs.
Sacramento Bee CIFSJS No. 7 Cosumnes-Elk Grove (7-2, 4-1) travels to upstart and the Bee’s 11th-ranked Davis (8-1, 4-1) with the Delta League title on the line. Cosumnes Oaks has a bit of a head-scratching 14-7 loss to a Franklin-Elk Grove Davis beat 47-21 last week, but Davis has a 42-35 loss to an Elk Grove team Cosumnes Oaks beat 23-12. This match-up could be a doozy.
Sacramento Bee CIFSJS No. 6 Capital Christian-Sacramento (7-2, 5-0) will be favored against unranked Vista del Lago-Folsom (8-1, 5-0) with a huge advantage for veteran Coach Casey Taylor and his Cougars in the team’s competitive equity resume. Capital Christian has two losses and they were lopsided, but one is to highly regarded Vista Murrieta-Murrieta and the other is Arizona No. 1 and nationally-ranked Chandler, so Taylor and his boys have already been to the mountain, and they also have a 32-7 win over Cosumnes Oaks, whereas Vista del Lago hasn’t left the Sacramento Metro area and they only top team they’ve played is the Bee’s CIFSJS No. 20 ranked Placer-Auburn, and they suffered a 45-34 home defeat for their only loss.
This is the third straight year Inderkum (9-0, 5-0) has won its first nine games but for the Sacramento Bee CIFSJS No. 2 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 40 ranked Tigers to win the Capital Valley Conference outright they will have to win on the road at Roseville.
