Fremont v Castlemont photo's click here		Monte Vista v. Berkeley High photo's click here
	St Mary's v Bishop O'Dowd photo's click here		Berkeley High v San Leandro photo's click here

Hoop semi's set for this week

The best teams in the state are now left to get down to the business at hand. Winning a state title. Of course that is a lot easier said then done. In northern California at least three teams have as good a shot as any to add another championship to their display case.

The St. Mary's (Stockton) girls are the defending D3 state champons and they are among the best teams in the country.

Their trademark, full court press is as tough as ever. They are eyeing a date with a vastly improved Bishop O'Dowd squad St. Mary's had their way with in last years NorCal playoffs.

All the top seeds made it trough to the section semi's which means the big boys and girls will be in hand for the NorCal playoffs that start next week.

First there are the sections champs to be crowned and Wed. night features great games all aroud the bay area.

Castro Valley will head over to play Newark Memorial in what should be a very entertaing D1 matchup. Both teams like to run. Newark has been ranked second behind D4 powerhouse Salesian as the best team in the bay all season.

That ranking will get put to the test by a Castro Valley team that battled their way through a tough HAAL league season.

Speaking of the HAAL, Bishop O'Dowd was a perfect 12-0 in league play this year and they will take on a pesky El Cerrito team Wed. night in D3 action.

Head Royce will host St. Joe's in a match up of top D5 teams. Both from Oakland, but St. Joe's plays in the much tougher BSAL and they will be a step up in class for Head Royce.

The Piedmont girls survived marin Catholic 62-59 in overtime and they will move on to the NorCal playoffs. First they are going to try and win a D4 NCS crown this year and that road leads through BSAL rival St. Mary's who beat Colverdale 68-40 Saturday.

The St. Marys boys team will have their hands full when they take on BSAL rival St. Patrick/St. Vincent on the road.

With the expanded state playoff system the pressure is off for a game as everybody still playing is in the NorCal playoffs. What a loss will do to you is put you on the road and in a state like California, the road trip can be can more then a few hundred miles.

If you are a D4 or D5 team that road trip might take you to the top of the state, or bring you down from somewhere near the Oregon border to play a team in the bay area.

Hoop Dreams

It is about to go down. Tuesday night the state playoff took flight as section championships began. In the Bay Area several teams have their eyes on a state title this season.

Defending D4 champion Salesian is back as a top seed despite losing two key players from last years team. Salesian has done just fine without Jabari Brown or Kendall Andrews.

Fresh off a BSAL championship win over St. Joe's last week Salesian will now turn their attention towards a return trip to the state finals. That road starts for them Thursday night.

Bishop O'Dowd is looking to get things started by getting a chance to take a trip down to Bakersfield (that's were the state finals are this year) to play for the D3 title.

They have as good a chance as any to represent Northern Cali at state this season. De La Salle is back trying to punch their own ticket to Bakersfield.

They hope to make it out of Northern Cali in D1. Their main competition appears to be Newark Memorial, Castro Valley, San Ramon Valley and San Leandro all have the capabilities of making something happen in the NCS Playoffs.

On the girls side St. Mary's (Stockton) looks primed to repeat as state champs in D3. The Berkeley High girls should be heard from in D1 as well Carondelet in D2.

The CIF expanded their playoffs this season so that the top four team in some sections will now advance to the state playoffs. This will add an extra week to the state championships, allow more teams to continue their season, create excitement and add revenue to the schools coffers.

That is the good news. The bad news is little, but the added teams will muck up the playoffs a little bit. Some teams should not get a chance to go on because they are not good enough to compete for a state championship.

One section, the CCS (Central Coast Section) that runs the San Jose through Monterey area said they did not want to add two more teams to the state playoffs and will only allow the finalist in each division to more onto the state playoffs.

We are not talking about some rudy putted section here. The CCS is home to several recent state championship teams that have been some of the best in the state of California and the country as a whole.

Rematches are the name of the game in 2009 NCS football playoffs

Three of the five division of NCS football championships are repeats of last seasons finals. Once again De La Salle will go up against the last team from the bay area to beat them in the D1 final.

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The Pittsburg Pirates defeated the Spartans way back in 1991 and no team that hails from what people would call the bay, San Jose to Concord and San Francisco has been able to top De La Salle.

Pittsburg will get one more chance Dec. 14 when they take on the Spartans at Dublin High in the D1 finals. At trip is in the bag for De La Salle if they win.

It looks like it will be in D1 and not the open division which could go to Bellermine out of San Jose who knocked off St. Francis (Mountain View) in the CCS Open division finals.

Marin Catholic was able to hold off an emotional Alhambra team 28-21 to advance to the D3 NCS finals against Encinal ( Alameda) the same team that knocked off Marin Catholic in last years final.

Marin's Chris Adams ran for 104-yards and a touchdown in the win. Alhambra coach Dave Silveira suffered a stroke two weeks ago. Alhambra finished the year 11-2.

	Fremont v Castlemont photo's click here		Monte Vista v. Berkeley High photo's click here
	St Mary's v Bishop O'Dowd photo's click here		Berkeley High v San Leandro photo's click here

Encinal will be waiting for Marin Catholic out in Dublin Dec. 11th at 7pm. The Jets came from behind to beat Miramonte 48-32. Encinal scored 28-fourth quarter points to get over the top.

St. Elizabeth got a chance to play St. Vincent (Petaluma) for a second year in a row in the NCS D5 championships. St. Vincent won last year, but it was St. Liz's turn in 2009.

Monte Vista second half surge continues with a 48-19 pounding of Berkeley High, Round two a bad day for #1 seeds in prep football playoffs

Berkeley High came into their NCS D1 playoff match up against Monte Vista with one of the best defense's, statistically, in the bay area. and the bay's top rusher (Ricky Gavin)

Monte Vista boosted the best passer (Brett Nottingham) and best wide receiver (Bryce McGovern, below) in the bay.

Neither had what you would call big games, Nottingham threw for 267-yards, but he did connect for three touchdowns and Bryce had 116-yards receiving and a score.

McGovern now has 100-receptions and 1,987-yards receiving on the year.

It was more then enough to get past Berkeley who could not get anything going after a first quarter drive got them into the end zone.

That score answered a Monte Vista touchdown, but Berkeley High missed the extra point to make it a 7-6 Monte Vista lead and it was all Monte Vista after that.

Nottingham finished off a 80-yard drive with a one yard touchdown run the first time Monte Vista had the ball.

Berkeley High came right back, running the ball for 77-yards of a 90-yard drive that was finished off with a Logan Murdock to Ashton Collins 13-yard TD pass.

Bad day at the top for prep football teams

It started Friday night with Del Oro coming back to beat the top seed in the Sac-Joaquin D2 section (St. Mary's - Stockton) 30-29. St. Mary's was a favorite to go to state and just about everybody was hoping a match up against defending state champion Grant was two weeks away.

Grant held up their end of the bargain with a 66-12 pasting of Fairfield in their second round game. They have a date with 12-0 Rocklin next Saturday night at Folsom High.

Down in the bay area St. Mary's (Albany) was the number one seed in D4, but they could not get past Justin-Siena losing 22-21. St. Mary's was in control of the game leading 21-14 late in the third quarter and driving at the Justin-Siena 11-yard line.

You can probably guess what happened next. If you can't then I will tell you. A turnover happened. Justin-Siena recovered a St. Mary's fumble that stopped the last scoring chance St. Mary's would have in the game.

That would prove costly. Orion Kamins scored from five yards out and Justin-Siena rolled the dice electing to go for two with 1:43 left in the game.

Justin-Siena quarterback Eddie Aguayo hooked up with Jordan Grubbs with a two yard pitch and catch for the winning points. St. Mary's had jumped to a 13-0 lead with the help of a game opening onside kick.

Justin-Siena came back to take a 14-13 second quarter lead. St. mary's put up seven point right before the half when Francisco Torres hit Najee Lovett with a 24-yard TD pass with 12-seconds left.

How about Valley Christian (Dublin) out there in D4. Let me say that again, way out there as in miles traveled to play and win two playoffs games.

Valley Christian is back home after a three hour bus ride to play and win 30-29 in overtime at Middletown. Middletown got the ball first in OT and had no problem scoring a touchdown.

They kicked an extra point to put the pressure on Valley Christian. No sweat. valley scored on their first play of overtime and there was no hesitation to go for two.

With the season on the line Ryan Toney ran untouched into the end zone. Game over. Valley Christian did not even have a varsity football team last year and look at them now.

In the D4 Semi's with another long road trip waiting for them Friday. This time it is up to Napa to face that same Justin-Siena team that knocked off #1 seeded St. Mary's.

One of the best section's in the state is about to get down to serious business next weekend. The NCS D2 has four teams with a total of five losses between them left.

Casa Grande (11-1) v. Montgomery (10-2) go at it in one semi final while top seeded Petaluma (12-0) and Eureka (10-2) meet in the other semi.

Eureka is fresh off a 54-0 shutout of a decent Ygnacio Valley team while Petaluma kept their season alive with a 28-14 win against defending section champion Cardinal Newman.

Two teams few thought would still be in the playoffs in any division is Washington out of Fremont and College park (Pleasant Hill). They are two of the lowest seeds still playing

Washington has hit the road and it has been a road well traveled. A win at California High (a team Washington beat the first game of the year) and College Park, who Washington beat 31-9 in the second round of the NCS D1 playoffs between 11th and 14th seeds.

A date at Pittsburg is on tap for Washington after Pittsburg got past Deer Valley 26-0, ending Deer Valley's perfect season at 11-1. Deer Valley had beaten Pittsburg three weeks ago in a first place battle in the DVAL, but Pittsburg got them when it counted.

Now Pittsburg has a good chance to make the NCS D1 Final. That is something few thought possible two weeks ago. Some call it the luck of the draw.

De La Salle, Monte Vista and Berkeley High were all on the other side of the bracket from Pittsburg High. Some feel that the real D1 championship game is going to be played this Friday at De La Salle when the Spartans host Monte Vista.

Monte Vista gave De La Salle all they could handle before the Spartans came out on top 28-21 in EBAL action a month ago. That loss was followed by two more, 24-21 in over time to San Ramon Valley and 41-37 to Foothill.

Monte Vista must have been wondering what was going on, but since that three game losing streak Monte Vista has reeled off five in a row and their reward in a date with De La salle, the team that started all that mess in the first place.

Miramonte (Orinda) ended the run of a Novato team that has played for the D3 NCS championship the past few years. Miramonte has had their season ended by Novato two of the last three years in the playoffs.

This time Miramonte posted a 17-0 shutout that earned them a date with the top seeded Encinal Jets next Friday night at Encinal. The Jets pounded Fortuna 48-22.

The other half of the semi's in D3 features Alhambra against Marin Catholic, both 11-1 up in Marin. This could be a dandy.

Marin Catholic's only loss was a season opening 29-28 loss to St. Ignatius. Alhambra has been just as impressive. They also lost their first game of the year 37-14 to D1 playoff team College Park.

Prep football kicks off this weekend

The CIF football playoffs brought out the stars during the first weekend. Players all over the bay shined helping their teams win. Foothill's quarterback Sean Mannoin set an NCS record with 581-yards passing in their 59-37 pasting of James Logan in a D1 first round game.

Mannion had five touchdown passes in the win. Cameron Rowland did most of the dirty work catching 14-passes for 308-yards receiving, but just one touchdown.

How about Patrone Woods lll over at Ygnacio Valley. The senior running back was a force in YV's 48-41 win over Alameda in the first round of the D2 playoffs.

Woods rushed for 198 yards and five touchdowns, caught a 49-yard TD pass, threw a two-point conversion and intercepted a pass while playing linebacker in the win.

Berkeley High's Ricky Galvin was up to his old tricks with 223-yards rushing and three touchdowns in Berkeley's 38-7 pounding of San Leandro Saturday night. Berkeley now gets a home date with the high powered offense from Monte Vista.

Monte Vista is led by strong armed quarterback Brett Nottingham blew out Heritage 63-37 Friday night. Can Monte Vista do something no other team has been able to do this year, stop Ricky Galvin.

In case they stack the line to try, Berkeley showed they can pass the ball a little bit. Berkeley has yet to face a team that throws the ball as well as Monte Vista.

With all the offense in the game, Galvin is the Bay's leading rusher and Nottingham is the Bay's leading passer, it could be the defense's that could decide this one.

Their were some upsets and their were some blowouts as California got their high school football playoff season underway. Teams were given a rude awakening during the opening week.

Take Pinole Valley. They were fresh off their upset win at Berkeley High that cost Berkeley a perfect regular season. Pinole's reward was a first round game in the D2 playoffs at Eureka.

It started out well for Pinole Valley. They returned the game's opening kickoff for a touchdown. Final score, Eureka 61 - Pinole Valley 7. Lets just say this one got away from Pinole.

Washington (Fremont) felt a little disrespected when the playoff seeding's came out last Sunday. Washington, out of the Mission Valley Conference finished the regular season 8-3 and in second place.

Glad they made the playoffs sure, but a road game at California High was waiting for them in the first round of the NCS D1 bracket.

Washington not only had a better record then Cal High (5-6), they beat Cal High 30-28 in the first game of the year.

Washington showed that first win was no fluke with a 19-7 win. Scoring first was bad news for some teams and Cal High was one of those teams. They moved the ball right down the field and scored a touchdown the first time they had the ball.

Washington got into the end zone the next two times they had the ball and they never looked back. Next up for them is College Park, a 34-21 winner over Amador Valley.

College Park has been in the playoffs the last three weeks needing to beat Clayton Valley and Ygnacio valley to to make the playoffs with a 5-5 record.

Alhambra took care of business, beating Bishop O'Dowd 35-21 in the first round of the NCS Dlll playoffs. Richard Calhoun ran wild against O'Dowd, rushing for 280-yards and four touchdowns in the win.

It is hard to expect much when your team starts out the season with six losses. That turned into a recipe for success for the Fremont (Oakland) Tigers in the OAL.

Fremont came back from a 13-0 hole to bounce Castlemont from the playoffs. Fremont will play Oakland Tech, the team Fremont beat for their first win of the season.

Fremont overcame four turnovers and they will try to win their first Silver Bowl in school history. Fremont did not score until quarterback Ivan Nisa connected with Jonathan Atchan on a 35-yard pitch and catch on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Tim Hackett scored from a yard out later in the 4th and when Nisa converted the two point conversion Fremont was up 14-13 with four minutes to play.

Running back Sione Tupouata scooted in from 22-yards out with two minutes left in the game to put castlemont away.

Now that rematch with Oakland tech who could not have asked for a better team to play in the Silver Bowl then Fremont. Making it was great for Tech, who whitewashed McClymonds 28-0 in a rematch of last weeks Tech win.

There was little action at the top of each bracket. De La Salle (D1) pounded American 44-0, Encinal shutout Sonoma Valley 28-0 and they are the top seed in the D3 bracket.

A dream came to an end in the first round of the CCS D1 playoffs. Pioneer had rolled to a 10-0 regular season record to lock down the top seed.

5 & 5 Serra came calling and knocked off Pioneer 38-21. Serra got 117-yards rushing and a back breaking 44-yard touchdown run from Alex Bravo to put Serra up 31-21 with 4-minutes left in the game.

Serra jumped out to a 17-0 lead before Pioneer woke up and got to within 21-24.

For a complete list of scores and state wide playoff brackets click here

Is it really the last week of high school football ?

Well, yes it is and if you are like me, you must be wondering how we got to this point this fast. Did I miss something. Nope, just one more chance to win a game and and some credentials to make the playoffs.

There is some good news for potential playoff teams out in the North Coast Section.

After years of allowing only 12-teams to make the playoffs. the NCS has adopted a 16-team field.

Any team that has a .500 record, a .500 record against teams in their division or a .500 record against teams in their league will be eligible for the post season.

This should help the outside of the power conferences to make the playoffs. People have long complained about the love teams from Contra Costa County get when it comes time to pick and choose playoff teams in high school football.

With four extra slots to fill teams like Los Lomas (4-5) and Campolindo (5-5) still have a shot at the playoffs this year. What better way for the two teams to end their season then playing each other with a .500 record on the line and a likely playoff spot.

The Mission Valley league has three teams on the bubble heading into the season's final week. Kennedy (4-5), American (4-5) and Newark Memorial (5-4) all have a chance at making the post season.

Newark has the best chance. They are will finish with a record of .500 or better. Newark also has the easiest game left on the schedule, going up against 0-9 Mission San Jose Friday night.

Kennedy is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They need one more win to get back to .500 in league play and overall. They go up against a James Logan team that is looking to head into the NCS D1 playoffs with a head of steam.

American takes on an up and down Valley Christian (Dublin) team that has won five games with an average score of 44 to 9. Valley Christian has been out scored 38 to 15 in their losses.

League races take shape as the playoff near

San Leandro went into their game at Bishop O'Dowd knowing a win would all but put away yet another league title for them. After 101pts being scored in the game San Leandro came away with a 58-43 victory.

San Leandro seemed like they were on their way to a harder then they thought 28-14 win. That was the score at the start of the fourth quarter.

The two teams combined for 59-fourth quarter points.San Leandro quarterback George Roberson scored three times in the fourth, the last on a 72-yard run to put the game away.

Bishop O'Dowd quarterback Matt Balich was 12 of 23 for 162-yards and two TD's in the 4th. The win improved San Leandro to 6-2, 5-0 in the HAAL and kept them one game ahead of Hayward High with two games to play.

Ygnacio Valley scored 21-fourth quarter points to bust open a 14-all tie in the 35-14 win over Clayton Valley over in the DVAL. Ygnacio Valley is now 7-1, 3-0 in league play and tied with Concord High.

YV needs to keep it going because guess who is up next, Concord High and their dynamic flanker Forrest Hightower Nov 6th at home.

Archbishop Mitty got past St. Francis 28-14 to keep their undefeated season alive. Now 7-0-1, Mitty is in the driver's seat for a WCAL crown and they are one of the highest rated division two team in Northern Cali.

Mitty has one more test with a road game at Serra Nov. 7th. A win and a home game against 1-6 Riordan is all that's left in the way of a perfect regular season and the number one seed in the CCS playoffs.

If Mitty wins the CCS Championships a trip down south to Carson and the CIF State Championships might be in the cards for Mitty, from San Jose.

Palo Alto took a step towards winning a De Anza league title with a 34-12 pounding of Los Gatos (3-1, 6-2). The left Palo Alto with a 3-0 league record (6-1-1 overall).

Only Wilcox (3-1, 6-2) sands in the way of Palo Alto winning the De Anza this season. Wilcox and Palo Alto play 11/13 at Wilcox.

Amador Valley continued to roll with a 34-16 win against San Ramon Valley. Amador's Matt Banahan was all over the place. He had one pick six with his three interceptions. Banahan also returned a punt 52-yards for another score.

Amador stayed a game back of De La Salle, who rolled over Livermore 56-0. De La Salle still has games against Foothill and California High left before they can lay claim to another EBAL title.

Encinal stayed out in front of the BSAL with a 55-19 pounding of St. Patrick/St. Vincent. St. Mary's is right behind them at 6-2, 4-1 in the BSAL after beating John Swett 42-7.

Over in the City Washington (6-2, 4-1), Lowell (4-3, 4-1) and Galileo (4-3, 3-1) are have just one loss in the AAA league play. Washington's title hopes got a boost when they out lasted Galileo 44-34 last Friday.

Lowell beat Washington, but lost to Galileo. Washington has the best overall record of the three, but their loss to Lowell will come back to hurt them.

Deer Valley gets over Pitt, Amador Valley comes back for huge win and Mitty makes a statement in San Jose

It was a big weekend of high school football. A few leagues were decided last week. The ACCAL, Bay Valley, WCAL and HAAL were some pictures that cleared up a great deal.

Berkeley High went out and pounded El Cerrito 50-0 on the road. Running back Ricky Galvin returned after missing Berkeley's game last week against Richmond High to score three touchdowns in the easy win.

Many thought El Cerrito would give them a game, but with their hardest game in league play behind them, Berkeley High can now look fine tune themselves for a playoff run.

One league that is always in doubt is the WCAL over in the West Bay. Archbishop Mitty and Bellarmine hooked up last Friday night at San Jose City College with a share of first place on the line.

Mitty got past Bellarmine in an instant classic, 28-27 in double overtime. Mitty is now 7-0 and the last undefeated team in the WCAL. The league title will go through St. Francis.

The Lancers (6-1) host Mitty and Bellarmine in the next two weeks.

Oakland Tech makes early statement in the OAL, De La Salle takes control of the EBAL, Valley Christian off and running in Dublin and Pittsburg sets up big match up with Deer Valley in the BVAL

Things are beginning to heat up around the bay as league schedules get into full swing. The last league to start play was the OAL and if the first game is any indication, Oakland Tech appears headed towards another Silver Bowl run.

Run is exactly what Tech halfback Ryan Murphy did against Oakland High.

With Pac 10 scouts in the stands Murphy put on quite a show. 233-yards and three touchdowns later Murphy and Tech were off to a 1-0 start in the OAL.

It took one quarter for the Tech offense to heat up. After a scoreless first quarter Murphy took over the game. Oakland High, already missing their staring quarterback (Charles Cobbs) lost back up Virgil Cobbs in the first quarter to an ankle injury.

Cobbs was hurt after he busted up the middle for a 30-yard gain. Cobbs was pulled down from behind and his ankle folded up underneath him.

Without much of a passing threat, the Tech defense simply went out and stopped the run. O-High could only manage 47-yards of offense.

Valley Christian (Dublin) is new to varsity football. They played a season of JV before making the jump to the Varsity level. By the way things looked when they took on new league rival St. Elizabeth (Oakland), VC will be a force to be reckoned with.

All you had to do was look at the sidelines. Fred Sims, an outstanding coach who has won league titles with less then twenty players, had six players behind him to sub in.

Valley Christian head coach (and former Oakland Raider) John Parrella had over thirty on their bench. Those numbers plus the running of Jr. Jeremiah Walters and the play making of wide receiver Camryn Harris Valley Christian beat St. Liz 41-8.

Pittsburg High shook off the bad news that their outstanding tailback (Erick Dragan) would be lost for the season to pound Heritage 46-20 in BVAL action Friday night.

Pitt might not have Dragan, but they do have wide receiver Robert Jiles. Jiles put Pitt on his back, 110-yards receiving, two touchdowns80-return yards and an interception on the goal line to prevent a Heritage touchdown.

Pittsburg quarterback Julius Mozee broke out of an early season slump with four passing touchdowns in the game.The win set up a huge game next week when Pitt takes on Deer Valley in a battle for first place in the BVAL.

Deer Valley got 198-yards rushing on just eight carries and three TD's from Kristoff Williams in an easy 49-19 win over Freedom (0-6, 0-4).

Deer Valley broke open a close game midway through the second quarter when Williams ran 69-yards for a touchdown that made the score 21-10. Deer Valley (6-0, 1-0) plays at Pittsburg next Friday for what should be the league championship.

Speaking of league championships, the De La Salle Spartans have just one more hurdle in front of them in their quest for a second EBAL title in two years.

De La Salle pounded a good San Ramon Valley squad 42-17 at home Friday night. The game started out well for San Ramon Valley.

They marched right down the field and had a first and goal from De La Salle's 3. They gained two yards in four plays and De La took over from there.

The Spartans took the ball the 97-yards for a touchdown and they would never look back. Terron Ward continued his tear, rushing for 275-yards and four touchdowns in the win.

Ward now has 673-yards rushing and five TD's in his last two games.

Amador Valley made a statement, knocking off Monte Vista 24-21 in overtime. Amador Valley has taken a back seat to Monte Vista and Cal High in the EBAL the past couple of seasons, but they are now 5-1 and in second place in the rugged EBAL.

Their only loss of the season was a 31-21 set back to De La Salle in which they led 14-3 at the half.

Mitty, Bellermine and St. Francis are all tied atop the WCAL with 3-0 league records. Mitty is still perfect (5-0), Bellermine and St. Francis are right behind them at 5-1.

Mitty and Bellermine go at it Friday night (Oct. 23rd) at San San Jose City College. The winner will be sitting pretty, but they will still have to get by St. Francis who has games with Bellermine and Mitty still to come on their schedule.

St. Francis and Serra battle for WCAL lead

The biggest game to date s played in the rough and rugged WCAL went down last week and St. Francis came away with the 27-24 win against Serra. Field goal kicker Spencer Rogers did the honors with a game winning, 27-yarder with 3-seconds left in the game.

The game was far from over. The ensuing kickoff was fumbled, but a Serra player picked up the ball and kept running, trying to score before getting tackled. Some St. Francis players thought the game was over and they ran onto the field to celebrate.

Oops, penalty and one more play for Serra, at the St. Francis 48 no less. A Andrew McAlindon to Austin March pass play looked like it might go the distance, but March was finally tackled just 12-yards away from pay dirt.

Game over. St. Francis quarterback Kyle Miller had another strong game with 243-yards passing and three touchdowns. The left St. Francis in a three way tie for first place in the WCAL at 2-0 with Bellermine and Archbishop Mitty, both from San Jose.

St. Francis plays Mitty Oct. 30th and Bellermine the week after that. Speaking of Mitty. They are 5-0 and the last un beaten team in the WCAL.

Mitty has put up over 40pts in three of their five games and they average 33pts a game while only giving up 10 per contest. You can go a long ways with that kind of scoring differential and that is what Mitty is trying to do.

They are currently one of the highest ranked teams in the NorCal polls and they have an eye on a berth in the CIF D2 State Championship game.

The OAL is starting to raise a few eyebrows in eve of the league opening weekend. Oakland Tech knocked another team from the ranks of the un-beaten. One week after giving Mt. Diablo their first loss of 2009, Tech beat Ygnacio Valley 26-13 at home Friday night.

Ryan Murphy and DiAndre Campbell did most of the damage for Tech, now 4-1. They will head into the OAL regular season with a head of steam.

Waiting for them will be Oakland High, small in numbers but big in heart in what could be the game of the year in the OAL. O-High (2-2-1) have a win over Campolindo, a closer then it looked 28-6 loss at San ramon valley and a tie against Liberty (Brentwood).

These are teams O-High would have lost to two season ago. The OAL as a whole has 11-pre season wins, the most they have had in a few years. Castlemont at Mack and Fremont at Skyline round out the first week of OAL play.

San Leandro showed everybody in the HAAL that to win the league you will have to go through them after smashing hayward High 66-20 last week.

San Leandro has taken a couple of looses on the chin this year. A close game entering the fourth quarter turned in to a 36-7 loss to Bellermine. Valley Christian turned the trick on San Leandro th next week 24-7. Since then San Leandro has put up 62, 55 and 66 points in three straight wins.

San Leandro is tied for first place in the HAAL at 2-0 with San Lorenzo and Bishop O'Dowd, who play each other Saturday.

The Marin County League has it's game of the year on tap Saturday when Novato travels to Kentfield to take on Marin Catholic. Both teams are 2-0 in league play and a win will go a long ways towards a league title in 2009. Complete games schedules click here

De La gets hit in OT, Berkeley High gets big win at home

The demise of the De La Salle (1-2)  football program might have been a little premature. After two games, 20pts and a 30-6 loss to the 4th ranked team in the nation (Don Bosco, Ramsey New Jersey),  De La Salle hosted national powerhouse Lakeland (Florida) Friday night with an ESPN2 national audience watching.

After spotting Lakeland a 14-0 lead the Spartans gave life to their season by scoring 21-striaght points to take the lead. That was one more point then De La Salle had scored in two games this season.

Lakeland (4-0) came into the game out scoring their opponents   116-7, and 88-0 in their last two.

Lakeland jumped out a 14-0 lead by way of a Jarred Haggins to Javares McRoy 15-yard s pass in the first quarter. Lakeland linebacker Quayshwan Nealy went high for an interception that he turned into a pick six two plays later and it looked like they might roll up De La Salle.

The Spartans Defense came up with the play of the game a few minutes later. Alex Taylor put a hit on Ben McRoy, forcing a fumble at Lakeland’s ten yard line. Terron Ward would punch it in four plays later and De La Salle had life down 14-7.

Lakeland fumbled the ball two plays into their next drive and the Spartans recovered on their 40-yard line. De La Salle running back Tyler Anderson then went on a 52-yard touchdown run that featured at least five broken tackles before having to out sprint a very fast Lakeland defense to the end zone.

The Spartan’s would pull ahead on their next possession with an eight play, 61-yard drive  that  quarterback Scott Herting finished off with a short touchdown run.

It was 21 at the half and each team could only muster a field goal in the second half as both defense dug in. Lakeland had to sweat out a 39-yarder with 3:20 left in the game by Thomas Dietert to tie the game.

The kick never looked like it was going through, but it did on a line and the game was headed to overtime.

Lakeland got the ball first in OT and they wasted little time getting into the end zone. On the first play of OT quarterback Jarred Haggins pitched the ball McRoy on an end around and he turned on the jets, flying into the end zone.

The Spartans did not have any problems getting into the end zone themselves. One their first play quarterback Scott Herting hit Bo Walker over the middle for a touchdown and a one point Lakeland lead.

De La Salle head coach Bob Ladouceur let his team go for it, but Lakeland’s Davonte Gilmore stopped De La Salle’s Tyler Anderson at the one on a two point conversion try to win the game.

Berkeley High got another great game from running back Ricky Galvin and the Yellowjackets defense made sure it would hold up in their 18-16 win at home against Pittsburg.

Galvin rushed for 233-yards and scored all three touchdowns in the win. It was Ricky's fourth game of over two hundred yards rushing for Berkeley High this year and the Yellowjackets needed every bit of them to knock off Pittsburg in a battle of NCS D1 contenders.

Pitt took the lead when tailback Erick Dragan ran it in from 13-yards out. Galvin answered back with a 55-yard touchdown scamper of his own.

The teams would spend the rest of the game trading the lead. Pitt led 16-12 at the half. Galvin put the game away with the only score of the second half, a 34-yards touchdown run with 7-minutes left in the game.

Berkeley's defense took over from there. The win means Berkeley High has a great chance of going un defeated this year and it was the biggest win in the three years that head coach Alonzo Carter has been running the show in Berkeley.

How about the OAL. A week after getting beat around the bay, Oakland teams showed that they are improving. Oakland High had the biggest victory of the weekend by knocking off Campolindo 32-21 in non league action.

Sure Castlemont, Fremont and Skyline are winless with a combined record of 0-8, but the top half of the OAL is 6-4. Non league wins are hard to come by in the OAL.

Oakland Tech (2-1), McClymonds (2-2) and Oakland High (2-1) have played well. Oakland Tech came into their game with Pinole Valley as the highest scoring team in the Bay Area, averaging 51-points a game.

They were held in check by Pinole Valley who won the game 16-14. Mack got past Valley Christian (Dublin) 27-17 behind a big play offense. Quarterback Robert Brigham hooked up with Marcus Peters on touchdown passes of 53 and 31-yards. Mikal Hardy also scored when he returned a kickoff 90-yards.

Coming off a 64-2 shellacking last week, Skyline High went into their game at Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) not knowing what would happen. A win happened.

Skyline raced to their first non conference win in a couple of years, getting past O'Dowd 31-28 with a late, 43-yard touchdown from Darius Rucker.

O'Dowd's Mario Brown rushed for 172-yards on 31-carries and had three rushing touchdowns. Castlemont needed 50pts to get past St. Elizabeth (Oakland) saturday.

Jakari Johnson rushed for 236-yards and four touchdowns in the win.

The OAL has one more week of non league play before heading into what should be one of the most hotly contested league seasons in a while.

Deer Valley kept their season rolling right along with a 24-21 win over James Logan. Deer Valley improved to 3-0 with the win. the game was tied at 7 late in the third quarter.

Four touchdowns later the game turned on an interception by Logan's Victor Johnson in the end zone with 10-second left in the game. Johnson made the mistake of trying to run it out of the end zone.

He was stopped at the 3-yard line. Two plays later running back Joseph Stubbs fumbled the ball at the four and Deer Valley's Brierly Lindberg made the short field goal to win the game.

The East Bay Athletic league had a great weekend. Foothill beat rolled over Miramonte 31-10. The win was the 200th at the school for head coach Matt Sweeney.

Sweeney, in a way, has come full circle. In his very first game as coach of Foothill back in 1986 Miramonte beat foothill 42-0. Monte Vista got a 300-yard day and five touchdowns from Jr. wide receiver Bryce McGovern in their 54-21 rout of Heritage.

McGovern scored on passes of 68, 21, 25,75 and 15-yards. Monte Vista gained 682-yards of offense in the game. Amador Valley pasted Del Norte 64-8.

Granada continued their hot start by blowing out Castro Valley 50-7. Granada's George Atkinson had another big game with 123-yards rushing.

Pittsburg v. Berkeley High, De La Salle v Lakeland highlight week three of prep football in the Bay Area

When Berkeley High host Pittsburg High Friday night it will be for more then just bragging rights. The winner of this game will head into their league schedule with a notch on the belt.

Both Pittsburg and Berkeley High and trying to figure out just how good they are.

Pittsburg has had, by far, the tougher schedule then Berkeley High. Granite Bay and Monte Vista, both undefeated and among some of the favorites to make a run at a state title appearance handed Pitt both of their losses.

Berkeley High is 3-0, but the teams they have beaten have a combined 1-7 record this year. The Yellowjackets will get their first test this week end against the battle tested Pittsburg High team.

the game will feature two feature backs, Berkeley High's Ricky Gavin and Pitt's Erick Dargan. Both teams will try and make the other pass. Berkeley's Gavin has rushed for more the 200-yards the past two weeks in wins over Freedom and Castro Valley.

De La Salle will try and get over their loss last week to Don Bosco in New Jersey. They will have to when nationally ranked Lakeland comes calling Friday night.

The Spartans national rankings could be on the line. De La Salle has only scored 20-points in two games this year. A three headed monster in running the show at quarterback for the Spartans.

They need one of the three to step up and become the starter. Running back Terron Ward has been the whole show, but if he gets stopped de La has not had anybody else to turn to.

Serra put a stop to the year long win streak over at Encinal. Serra running back Adonis Smith busted loose for 268-yards of his own in the Padres 28-13 win.

The performance of the week has to go to Sacred Heart Prep tailback Matt Walter. Sacred Heart beat Valley Christian (Dublin) 42-23 last week. After spotting Valley Christian a 9-0 lead Walters and SHP's defense took over the game.

Walters finished the game with just 13-carries, but they went for 321-yards and six touchdowns. It was the first loss of the season for Valley Christian a first year varsity program.

The North Coast Section takes in on the chin in week two of prep football

From coast to coast NCS football teams lost showdowns from New Jersey to Sacramento, Ca. De La Salle went on the road to try and beat Don Bosco in Ramsey, New Jersey.

It was no contest. De La Salle tailback Terron Ward fumbled the ball on the Spartans first play and Don Bosco wasted little time, scoring four plays later. Don Bosco would go on to a 30-6 win.

The loss was the worst for head coach Bob Ladoucer since 1979. The usually potent De La offense was held to 52-yards of total offense. That is a modest touchdown drive for the Spartans of the past 25-years.

Next up for them is Lakeland, Florida at home. De La will need to make one of their runs if they are to make it back to the state finals for a 4th year in a row. De La Salle has scored just 20pts in two games.

I can't remember the last time a De La Salle team averaged ten points a game. Twenty points is a slow half for De La Salle.

Pittsburg High ventured up to Folsom High to take on Granite Bay in the Battle in the Capitol that featured four games between NCS and San Joaquin sections schools.

Pitt held with Granite Bay for a half, but they could stop Granite Bay's offense in the second half in the 30-20 loss. Granite Bay went ahead 3-0 before Pitt got on the board when Erick Dragan ran it in from 19-yards out.

Granite Bay outscored Pitt 27-14 the rest of the way. Dragan led the way for Pitt with 110-yards rushing, one touchdown and a pick. He was hurt during the game and did not return with a injury to his left knee.

In a battle of teams that have made the state finals Central Catholic (Modesto) manhandled Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 36-12. De Oro (Loomis) came from behind to knock off Cal High 9San Ramon) 28-21 in the night cap.

Encinal gets ready for their showdown with Serra High (San Mateo) with a 45-18 pounding of a good El Cerrito team on the road Friday night. Encinal rushed for 463-yards in the win.

Sophomore tailback Jon Trotter rushed for 208-yards and two touchdowns. Jr. Jonathan Allen added 141-yards rushing on just 11-carries and a score.

The only thing Encinal could not do against El Cerrito was stop running back Andre Williams. Williams accounted for all three Gauchos TD's with five catches for 152-yards and 14-carries for 99 more.

Encinal will now get ready for one of the most important games in their recent memory when they host Serra Sept. 18th at 7pm.

The James Logan High football team had a down year in 2008. They are trying to rebound this year and they looked good in a 32-29 loss to the east bay's second team, Monte Vista.

Monte Vista got 299-yards passing from UCLA bound quarterback Brett Nottingham in the win.

Berkeley High's Ricky gavin continued his hot start by rushing for 216-yards and two TD's. It was the second in a row that Gavin ran for more then 200-yards in a game for 2-0 Berkeley High.

The Yellowjackets have a filler game against Castro Valley before their showdown with Pittsburg High in Berkeley Sept. 25th. That game and one against arch rival El Cerrito could be the last remaining chances for Berkeley High to lose before the playoffs start.

The OAL made some noise last week with three blowout wins. Oakland Tech beat Mission San Francisco 72-6, Oakland High blew out Marshall 41-7 and McClymonds trounced De Anza 40-0.

True they did not beat the best teams out there (2-5 combined record) but Oakland Tech and Mack struggled with these teams last year so the blowouts could be a sign that the OAL is on it's way to being more then just a one team league.

Who ever wins the OAL has been a pretty good team over the years, but the rest have not made much noise. This could be one of the most exciting OAL races in recent memory with three to four teams playing for a chance to win the Silver Bowl in 2009.

De La salle tested early, Washington (Fremont) stuns Cal High and the ghost of Piedmonts A-11 is alive and well during the first week of football

Nobody really knew what to expect when the Piedmont High football team took to the field in their 2009 season opening game against Sir Francis Drake. Piedmont had gained fame due to a offense that was so unusual that all 11-players were eligible to catch a pass.

Centers and guards were able to go out a catch a pass in the good ole' A-11, a brain child of head coach Kurt Bryan and offensive coordinator Steve Humphries. The offense was designed to give smaller schools a chance to compete with the powers that be.

With budget cuts and team rosters getting smaller by the year, the A-11 seemed like a winner. Not so fast. The National High School Federation (NHSF) laid down the law during the past off season which mandates that four players with numbers from 50 to 79 must line upon the line and block.

They can't go out in a pass pattern and catch a pass. The can, however, still throw the ball, run with it and catch screens.

Why and how would a down lineman run the ball or catch a screen ?

At Piedmont they do. The new rules still allows for as many shifts as they like as long as they have enough players on the line of scrimmage at the snap of the play.

Piedmont tested the boundaries of the rule book when they gave down lineman George Fullerton the ball on a Statue of Liberty play in the first quarter that gained 7-yards.

Piedmont then showed how potent their revised offense is when lineman Carl Hendrickson shifted out of the slot in an overloaded formation with two quarterbacks and moved back into the backfield. He took a hand off for a 78-yard touchdown.

Piedmont won the game on the field and in the rule books. Some of the formations they used against Drake were three down linemen with six players split out wide.

Two quarterbacks lining up behind the center at the same time and dozens of possibilities for which way the ball is going to go. The trick of the offense is in the way they use their ineligible players before and after the snap of the ball.

Any offense player can do what ever they want to do behind the line of scrimmage. that is the key. If you do not have a big offensive line, you can play smaller players in those spots, but spread out the field and make the other team guard all of the options.

What a difference a year makes. last season Cal High (San Ramon) smashed Washington (Fremont) 41-0 in the first round of the NCS Playoffs. Washington was last years MVAL champ and the loss did not sit well with the team or anybody else in the league.

Guess who came to town to open the 2009 season, yep California. this time Wash was ready for them, pulling out a come from behind 30-28 win. The victory was capped off when David Ross fired a 6-yard TD pass to Cedric Lousi in the final 10-seconds of the game.

Bellermine broke open a close game with 28 second half points in their 36-7 win over San Leandro Friday night. It was a big game for both since the eyes of the state championship committee is always watching.

Pittsburg High turned up for their big match up with Granite Bay with a sloppy 27-8 win over Burbank High 9Sacramento). Pittsburg did their best Oakland Raiders impersonation by committing 21-penalties in the win.

Running back Erick Dragan rushed for 151-yards and two second half touchdowns. Pitt next plays at Folsom High against Granite Bay Saturday in the Battle in the Capitol featuring teams from the Bay, Modesto and Sacramento area's.

Football season is back

Players can't wait. The start of school also brings on the start of football season and the dream of winning a state championship. Will De La salle make it back for a fourth year in a row.

They are king out here in the bay area but not in northern California or the state anymore after watching Grant knock off Long Beach Poly in the CIF Open Division title game last year.

The Spartans season ended with a loss to Centennial in the D1 championship game so they are coming into the season as hungry as ever.

They have been to the state championships all three years. Let's not forget about defending state champion Grant from Sacramento.

The return of the state championships have led to teams scheduling other teams they would not normally play. Everybody wants to have a heavy weight on their schedule to help their chances of getting a bid to the CIF State Championships.

Blasting a bunch of weak teams and going undefeated might not get you picked over a 10-1 team that played well but lost to a good opponent. You have to schedule your pre conference teams wisely.

Now teams from different areas are trying to play each other in order to help their cases at the end of the year when the selection committee picks the teams to play for state.

The race for the open and division one state championship berth seems to be between De La Salle (Concord) and Grant (Sacramento). Out of the two, De La Salle has the most challenging schedule.

The Spartans open up with the all ways tough Serra (San Mateo) before heading off to New Jersey to face Don Bosco. Don Bosco came back to beat De La last season.

The Spartans return to face Lakeland, Florida Sept. 25th at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill.

Grant made quiet a bit of noise last year when they beat Long Beach Poly in the Open division title game. The one thing that could kept them out of the Open game this year is their schedule, which is not as tough on paper then De La Salle's.

Their hardest game appears to be against Bellevue (Washington) who finished 14-0 last year. Only two other teams on Grants schedule in 2009 had a winning record last season.

Only Rosemont (6-5) and Burbank (9-4) were above water in 2008. Grant will have to win big and impress people during what could be a rebuilding year for Grant.

San Leandro will find out early what kind of a chance they will have to go to state. Their first two games are against San Jose powers Bellermine (12-1) at home and Valley Christian (10-3) on the road.

The Bell's follow up San Leandro with the always tough St. Mary's (Stockton) in their home opener before they head into the rugged WCAL season.

Berkeley High has a big game at Ponderosa Saturday. The Yellowjackets have big plans but they play in a small league. Beating a good Ponderosa team, they were 7-3 last season, would help Berkeley High's chances of getting into the playoffs at the end of the season.

Berkeley High will not cost through the ACCAL. El Cerrito has a lot of experience on their offensive line, returning all five starters from a year ago and Pinole Valley will be heard from as well.

How about Encinal out of Alameda. They ripped through a perfect season in 2008, collecting a NCS D3 title along the way with one of the most exciting teams around.

They are back and are looking to make some noise early with a week two match up with Serra (San Mateo). That is a step up for Encinal and head coach Joe Tenorio knows Encinal will have to beat teams like Serra to get a chance to go to the CIF State Championships.

The Jets must replace a couple of play makers who graduated last year. Quarterback Jonathan Brown, DB Dominique Sashington and wide WR/DB Xavier Milton were all over the place in 2008 as Encinal finished 13-0.

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Track and Field heads into state championships

Both North and South will meet up towards the middle of the state when the CIF State Track and Field Championships take place at Buchanan High in Clovis, Ca.

Athlete's from all over the state will try and take home a state title. Each of the ten sections had their championships during the past week. The results show their will be several great races next next, just outside Fresno.

One such race will be in the girls 200m dash. Last year a young Ashton Purvis was on her way to a sweep of the 1 and 200m dashes at the state finals.

Way ahead of the curve, she could not hold off a hard charging Jessica Davis who did not take the lead over Purvis until the last twenty feet of the race.

Davis and Ashton should hook up again. Ashton set a Meet of Champions record with her 23.60 to win the 200 Saturday. Jessica ran 24.24 to win the Southern Section Saturday, but she ran 23.68 the week before.

Long Beach Poly's Sophomore Akawkaw Ndipagbor was given a reality check when Turquoise Thompson (Gardena Serra) beat her in the Section finals 53.45 to 53.54.

Thompson, a senior, attended Long Beach Poly her first two years in high school. The Southern Sections relay teams were smoking last weekend.

All nine of the 4x100 and 4x400m relay teams that made the finals of the Southern Section qualified by time to the state meet on the girls side.

2009 CIF State basketball finals  

Can't stop, Won't stop - The Mack Attack is back in the State Championships

The McClymonds High boys basketball team made history last Saturday at Arco Arena when they held off Monte Vista to claim their third D1 NorCal title in a row.

The tiny school from West Oakland made history when they became the first school in California to make the division 1 championship game three years in a row.

D1 is the hardest bracket in the state and it is a testament to the program that has seen star players graduate and a new head coach take the controls since their streak started. Photo's click here