With years of Oak Grove dominance in the rearview mirror, the only constant in the BVAL-Mt. Hamilton Division now is chaos.
Just two weeks after Leland complicated matters with a 14-13 win over Live Oak, Santa Teresa has now vaulted itself into the race, handing the Chargers a 14-7 defeat on homecoming, allowing just 149 yards of total offense in the process. Leland’s lone touchdown came on Aidan Swenson’s 96-yard kickoff return after the Saints had taken a two-score lead and Ronald Henry’s late interception sealed the win.
“They take pride in it,” first-year Santa Teresa head coach Steve Papin said of the defense. “The offense has been struggling, but we haven’t given up a defensive touchdown in eight quarters.”
Having previously coached at Gunderson, Independence (for two stints) and Menlo-Atherton (for one year), Papin has been known as an offensive guru. Before becoming a head coach, he served as an offensive coordinator for multiple indoor football teams, mainly in af2, the Arena Football League’s developmental league.
He did coach the defenses for the San Diego Riptide and Central Valley Coyotes in 2005 and 2006, but at the high school level, he’s typically left the defensive responsibilities to his staff while leading the offense. Ali Bhatti was his coordinator the past two years, but Bhatti took over head coaching duties at Independence, leaving Papin to take care of the defense himself.
“This is my first year calling the defense,” he said. “It was too late in the game to hire someone, so I did it.”
Pulling the additional weight hasn’t been easy for Papin, who explained that the extra duties add up to two additional hours of work per day.
“It’s been exhausting,” he said. “We go into games with the mentality that we want to take away what a team wants to do and make them find some other way to beat us.”
That approach led them to a victory over Leland that turned the Mt. Hamilton race into a complete mess. Four teams now sit at 3-1, with Lincoln (5-2, 3-1) and Live Oak (5-2, 3-1) joining the Saints and Chargers. The preseason favorite, Live Oak has a chance to take control once again over the next two weeks, hosting Lincoln this Friday and Santa Teresa next Saturday. Leland visits Piedmont Hills (4-3, 2-2) this week before hosting Overfelt (3-3-1, 1-3) and closing out the schedule with a visit to Lincoln.
Thriller in San Bruno
Late-game drama has been a common theme for Hillsdale this year, but Friday’s trip to Capuchino took things to a new level.
Trailing 35-21 after an Isaac Nishimoto touchdown with three minutes left, Liam Smith converted back-to-back fourth downs before connecting with Tyler Douglass for a four-yard touchdown. After a failed two-point conversion, Matt Spivack recovered the onside kick and Smith hit Caden Wellwood for a 27-yard gain on yet another fourth down conversion before finding Danny Aspillera for a touchdown and linking up with Wellwood again for a two-point conversion.
Capuchino (4-3, 2-1 PAL Ocean) got a Nishimoto touchdown on the first possession of overtime but was stopped on a two-point conversion, and Hillsdale (5-2, 1-1) won 42-41 when Douglass caught a tipped pass for a touchdown and Zach Leighton drilled the extra point.
Catch of the year candidates
Serra’s Petelo Gi has been a menace at running back this year for the Padres. When Hassan Mahasin tore his ACL, Gi also became a major receiving threat. In Friday’s win over Valley Christian, he made what could be one of the best catches of the year in the entire Bay Area, as captured by GetSportsFocus. Roughly 40 miles to the south, Palma’s Logan Saldate made a similarly impressive one-handed grab in the Chieftains’ loss to San Benito.
Cowboys win shootout
Both Salinas and Christopher entered Friday’s matchup having posted elite defensive numbers. The Cowboys had allowed just 58 points across their first five games, while the Cougars, who had been known for porous defenses for years, had found new life under head coach Darren Yafai and held their first seven opponents to a total of 68.
That all changed in a flash Friday night, with the teams combining for 35 points in the second quarter alone as Salinas went on to beat the Cougars 49-34. Spencer Gorgulho threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns for Christopher (4-4, 3-3 PCAL-Gabilan), with one of those scores going to Cody Ahola, who made his return from a serious knee injury that he suffered in a spring scrimmage.
Ahola connected with Mason Pena on a trick play for a 78-yard touchdown as part of a chaotic final five minutes of the second quarter. Salinas (6-0, 5-0) had drawn even on JJ Acevedo’s two-yard run less than a minute earlier.
The Cowboys fired right back after the trick play, scoring on Nyziah Hunter’s 13-yard run, but Gorgulho hit Jaterius Lee for a 60-yard score on the opening play of the next drive. With all three timeouts still at their disposal, the visitors marched back down the field and scored on the final play of the half as Adam Shaffer found Emmerson Cortez for an 11-yard score.
Salinas went on to put up another 21 points in the third quarter, starting with Hunter’s 64-yard reception and capped off by Kyle Nava’s pick six on the final play of the quarter. Shaffer completed 18-of-31 passes for 249 yards, while Hunter had 105 receiving yards on just four catches. Shaffer also ran 19 times for 86 yards and Acevedo had 84 yards on 17 carries.
Unbeaten watch
All 10 teams that entered Week 8 unbeaten emerged with their perfect records intact. For posterity’s sake, the list once again: Burlingame, Cupertino, King City, Los Gatos, Menlo, Salinas, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Serra and St. Francis.
Serra did need to recover a late onside kick and pick up a first down to secure a 28-21 win at Valley Christian, but the Padres led that game 28-0 at halftime. San Mateo made surprisingly easy work of Sequoia, taking control of the PAL-Lake lead with a 35-6 win. Running the triple option, the Bearcats threw just three times, but Giancarlo Selvitella completed all three of those passes to Noah Rodriguez for 94 yards and the defense forced four turnovers.
Cupertino will have a firm test on Thursday night against Gunn, Burlingame hosts Half Moon Bay on Friday and Menlo will travel to Capuchino. King City will have its toughest test on the season as well, hosting Scotts Valley with first place in the PCAL-Cypress Division on the line.
Hard work pays off
Two teams picked up their first wins of the year in Week 8. Seaside won 35-7 to spoil homecoming at Monte Vista Christian, fueling a previously anemic offense with the insertion of Gavin Cortez at quarterback, big plays from Jeter Olivares and the return of left tackle Jamison Alston.
El Camino also tasted victory for the first time this season, winning 17-0 at Mills to spoil homecoming for the still-winless Vikings. Ryan De Bono (9 carries, 93 yards) and Nicholas Santi (11 carries, 66 yards) each ran for scores for the Colts in the winning effort.
