Early-season football means not only non-league games, but teams playing opponents from different sections altogether. Though limited in number, these games can help create a sense of which sections are stronger than others, which can help factor into placing teams for regional championship games and state bowl games come December. With three weeks in the books, how do teams from the Central Coast Section stack up against outside competition?
Central Section (record: 0-1)
Only one CCS team has played against a team from the Central Section, and it wasn’t pretty. St. Francis-Watsonville drove down to San Luis Obispo and was handed a 42-7 thumping by host Mission Prep.
North Coast Section (record: 9-5)
Thus far, CCS teams have gotten the better of NCS foes, highlighted by Saint Francis’ stunning 31-28 win over De La Salle. Other WCAL teams have enjoyed triumphs as well, with Bellarmine delivering a 41-6 thrashing at San Leandro and Riordan going 3-0 against NCS sides from three different counties. Aptos also owns a 49-0 win at Campolindo in a game many expected to go down to the wire.
Northern Section (record: 1-0)
The only game a CCS team has played against a Northern Section opponent was a neutral-site showdown between Menlo-Atherton and Pleasant Valley at the Honor Bowl in Brentwood, a game the Bears won 34-0.
Oregon (record: 0-1)
Four of Menlo-Atherton’s five non-league opponents are from out of the section, and of those four, one is from out of state. Tualatin, from the Portland metro area, came to M-A in Week 2 and beat the Bears 44-33.
Sac-Joaquin Section (record: 2-2)
Three WCAL teams have faced Sac-Joaquin opponents, with Valley Christian beating Capital Christian, Oakdale blowing out Mitty and St. Mary’s-Stockton pulling away in the second half to top St. Ignatius. The other game was hastily assembled, with Los Gatos and Monterey Trail meeting at Soquel after both teams dealt with cancellations from a mix of COVID and air quality issues. The Wildcats topped the Mustangs 42-20.
San Francisco Section (record: 3-0)
It’s no surprise that CCS teams have gotten the better of AAA schools, especially considering that the San Francisco public schools didn’t even play during the spring. The most impressive of those wins so far is Jefferson’s 16-3 victory over a Lincoln team that’s dominated the other San Francisco schools and won a pair of low division state championships. Overall, CCS teams are outscoring San Francisco public school teams 140-9.
Sequoia tightens up
Perhaps the Sequoia Ravens took offense to being highlighted as the most porous defense in last week’s CCS Notebook.
Facing a second straight PAL-Ocean foe - and a notoriously aggressive one at that - in Capuchino, Rob Poulos’ squad allowed just seven points and none after the first quarter in a surprising 21-7 win. Jamison Howard scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 10-yard run with 9:02 left, then forced a fumble to stop Capuchino at the Sequoia 40 three minutes later to set up Thomas Flynn’s touchdown pass to Jack Kern to put the game away.
“We got back to basics,” Poulos said of his team’s performance on defense. “I reached out to a friend of mine who’s a very good defensive coordinator and used some of his suggestions to clean up our tackling while I simplified our scheme. We played a lot of hero ball Weeks 1 and 2, and when we were able to get back to team football and our individual assignments, we saw much better results.”
Up next for Sequoia is a home tilt with a Hillsdale team that has put up 42 points in each of its last two games.
Bearcats top Scots
San Mateo was one of the whipping boys of the PAL last year, going 0-6 and getting outscored 216-76. They opened the fall with a 34-0 victory over an admittedly rebuilding Saratoga team, then, after losing a chance at a shot against Half Moon Bay to COVID protocols, pulled out a surprising 28-21 win over a Carlmont team that had hung tough with PAL-Bay squad Terra Nova just a week earlier.
Junior quarterback Giancarlo Selvitella, who took his bumps when forced into a starting role but gained valuable experience in the spring, ran for the go-ahead touchdown with 59 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and completed 3-of-4 passes for 75 yards while directing the triple option.
Greenfield makes waves
Greenfield has long been an afterthought in the Central Coast Section. The last time the Bruins had more than three wins was 2011 and their most recent playoff appearance came in 2010 and they have never won a playoff game.
On Thursday night, though, they showed they may be the team to beat this year in the PCAL-Santa Lucia, pulling out a surprising 33-25 win over Mission Division foe Gonzales. Is it possible the Spartans were placed in a higher division than they belonged? Certainly. But that shouldn’t dim the luster of this win for Greenfield (1-2). The Bruins last faced the Spartans in 2018 and were unceremoniously beaten 62-0.
Anthony Morales, feeling side effects from receiving his second COVID vaccine dose early in the morning, caught two touchdowns from backup quarterback Chris Zavala as the Bruins overcame an early 19-0 deficit. He then delivered a clutch 101-yard pick six with Gonzales (0-2) threatening to retake the lead in the fourth quarter.
Despite giving up three early scores, head coach Adam Barsenas was especially impressed with his defensive line, citing the defense’s seven sacks.
Hard work pays off
A Milpitas team that handled the spring season as glorified scrimmages, then took a pair of lopsided defeats against strong NCS opponents got to celebrate a victory for the first time since 2019 with a 14-3 win at Silver Creek.
Odds and ends
In last week’s examination of extreme scores, James Lick was mistakenly omitted after allowing 61 to Harbor in their first game. NCS foe Irvington doubled down by putting up 53 on the Comets, leaving them as the defense with the most points allowed per game of any CCS defense. Their next chance to make things right will come against Gunn this week to round out the non-league slate before entering BVAL-West Valley competition.
