http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Defense-is-thriving-at-McClymonds-Oakland-9204248.php
With only five returning starters, a roster of 28 (including just six linemen), the McClymonds-Oakland football team entered this season feeling more than a little vulnerable.
“We look like we could be in trouble,” head coach Michael Peters said before the season.
Looks can be deceiving.
The six-time defending Oakland Section champions have rolled two quality opponents — El Cerrito and previously 17th-ranked Moreau Catholic-Hayward — by a combined score of 67-13.
Trailing 7-6 at Moreau on Friday, the Warriors scored 35 unanswered points to win 41-7. They held Jullen Ison, The Chronicle’s reigning East Bay Player of the Year, to 130 yards on 25 carries with no touchdowns.
McClymonds’ superior speed, outside pressure from Khalani Runnels and Ramone Sanders, plus the linebacker play ofPaul Scott and Xavier Cannady, kept Ison from breaking any runs longer than 15 yards.
Peters said Cal head coach Sonny Dykes was at the game and offered Scott a scholarship over the weekend. At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Scott ran on McClymonds’ league-champion 400-meter relay team.
“He’ll be one of those hybrid linebackers in college everyone is looking for,” said Peters, whose son Marcus was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Chiefs in 2015. “He has lots of room to grow and he can really move.”
Offensively, 2015 OAL Player of the Year Jerrell Alberty rushed for more than 100 yards for a second straight game and backup sophomore quarterback K’aun Green subbed for starter Emoreea Fountain (ankle) and threw three second-half TD passes.
Fountain should be ready for Friday’s home game with Southern Section small-school power Paso Robles (2-0).
“I’ve been most pleased with how we’ve rallied to the ball and the quick improvement of our makeshift line,” Peters said Monday. “Younger guys are really stepping up.”
McClymonds is not the only early-season surprise story:
Acalanes-Lafayette: The Dons, who were 54-58 the previous 10 seasons, are 2-0 and outscored Alhambra-Martinez and Skyline-Oakland by a combined 74-7 under 68-year-old coach Floyd Burnsed, who is in his first season at the school. Junior quarterback Robby Rowell (6-2, 185) has thrown for 571 yards and seven touchdowns. The Dons play at another upstart, Heritage-Brentwood (2-0), on Friday before traveling to No. 15 Analy-Sebastopol on Sept. 16.
Riordan: The Crusaders (1-1) were supposed to fall flat after a senior-laden breakthrough 2015 season. But following a 21-12 loss at then-No. 25 Hillsdale-San Mateo, Riordan stunned then-No. 16 Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton 19-3 on Saturday.
Half Moon Bay: The defending Central Coast Section Division V champs graduated five first-team all-league players, including Utility Player of the Year Matt Spigelman, but have regrouped nicely under coach Keith Holden to beat larger schools Saratoga (27-26) and Burlingame (43-34).
Redwood-Larkspur: The Giants (2-0), seeking their first winning season since 2008, have scored 86 points in wins over Mt. Eden-Hayward and Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa. Redwood is the only unbeaten team in the nine-squad MCAL.
Peninsula Athletic League Ocean: Considered the weakest of the three PAL divisions, the six Ocean squads are a combined 9-3.
Briefly: Justin Argenal is the new De La Salle-Concord basketball coach, replacing A.J. Kuhle, who resigned after one season to spend more time with family. Argenal, a former player at De La Salle, has coached at Cal State East Bay and Cal State Dominguez Hills. … The CIF announced that its Small School Open Division Bowl football game has been replaced by a second Division VI game.
Mitch Stephens is national football editor at MaxPreps.com.
Chronicle top 25 football
Rk
Team
W-L LW
1. De La Salle 2-0 1
2. St. Francis 2-0 4
3. Monte Vista 1-0 5
4. Pittsburg 2-0 6
5. Clayton Valley 1-1 2
6. Valley Christian 2-0 7
7. Bellarmine 2-0 8
8. Milpitas 2-0 12
9. Antioch 1-1 3
10. Freedom 2-0 9
11. Serra 0-2 11
12. Miramonte 2-0 13
13. California 2-0 20
14. Concord 1-1 10
15. Analy 2-0 19
16. Marin Catholic 1-1 21
17. Campolindo 1-1 23
18. Bishop O’Dowd 1-0 24
19. McClymonds 2-0 25
20. Cardinal Newman 1-1 18
21. San Leandro 1-1 14
22. Foothill 0-2 15
23. Los Gatos 1-1 22
24. Hillsdale 2-0 NR
25. Piedmont 2-0 NR
With only five returning starters, a roster of 28 (including just six linemen), the McClymonds-Oakland football team entered this season feeling more than a little vulnerable.
“We look like we could be in trouble,” head coach Michael Peters said before the season.
Looks can be deceiving.
The six-time defending Oakland Section champions have rolled two quality opponents — El Cerrito and previously 17th-ranked Moreau Catholic-Hayward — by a combined score of 67-13.
Trailing 7-6 at Moreau on Friday, the Warriors scored 35 unanswered points to win 41-7. They held Jullen Ison, The Chronicle’s reigning East Bay Player of the Year, to 130 yards on 25 carries with no touchdowns.
McClymonds’ superior speed, outside pressure from Khalani Runnels and Ramone Sanders, plus the linebacker play ofPaul Scott and Xavier Cannady, kept Ison from breaking any runs longer than 15 yards.
Peters said Cal head coach Sonny Dykes was at the game and offered Scott a scholarship over the weekend. At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Scott ran on McClymonds’ league-champion 400-meter relay team.
“He’ll be one of those hybrid linebackers in college everyone is looking for,” said Peters, whose son Marcus was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Chiefs in 2015. “He has lots of room to grow and he can really move.”
Offensively, 2015 OAL Player of the Year Jerrell Alberty rushed for more than 100 yards for a second straight game and backup sophomore quarterback K’aun Green subbed for starter Emoreea Fountain (ankle) and threw three second-half TD passes.
Fountain should be ready for Friday’s home game with Southern Section small-school power Paso Robles (2-0).
“I’ve been most pleased with how we’ve rallied to the ball and the quick improvement of our makeshift line,” Peters said Monday. “Younger guys are really stepping up.”
McClymonds is not the only early-season surprise story:
Acalanes-Lafayette: The Dons, who were 54-58 the previous 10 seasons, are 2-0 and outscored Alhambra-Martinez and Skyline-Oakland by a combined 74-7 under 68-year-old coach Floyd Burnsed, who is in his first season at the school. Junior quarterback Robby Rowell (6-2, 185) has thrown for 571 yards and seven touchdowns. The Dons play at another upstart, Heritage-Brentwood (2-0), on Friday before traveling to No. 15 Analy-Sebastopol on Sept. 16.
Riordan: The Crusaders (1-1) were supposed to fall flat after a senior-laden breakthrough 2015 season. But following a 21-12 loss at then-No. 25 Hillsdale-San Mateo, Riordan stunned then-No. 16 Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton 19-3 on Saturday.
Half Moon Bay: The defending Central Coast Section Division V champs graduated five first-team all-league players, including Utility Player of the Year Matt Spigelman, but have regrouped nicely under coach Keith Holden to beat larger schools Saratoga (27-26) and Burlingame (43-34).
Redwood-Larkspur: The Giants (2-0), seeking their first winning season since 2008, have scored 86 points in wins over Mt. Eden-Hayward and Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa. Redwood is the only unbeaten team in the nine-squad MCAL.
Peninsula Athletic League Ocean: Considered the weakest of the three PAL divisions, the six Ocean squads are a combined 9-3.
Briefly: Justin Argenal is the new De La Salle-Concord basketball coach, replacing A.J. Kuhle, who resigned after one season to spend more time with family. Argenal, a former player at De La Salle, has coached at Cal State East Bay and Cal State Dominguez Hills. … The CIF announced that its Small School Open Division Bowl football game has been replaced by a second Division VI game.
Mitch Stephens is national football editor at MaxPreps.com.
Chronicle top 25 football
Rk
Team
W-L LW
1. De La Salle 2-0 1
2. St. Francis 2-0 4
3. Monte Vista 1-0 5
4. Pittsburg 2-0 6
5. Clayton Valley 1-1 2
6. Valley Christian 2-0 7
7. Bellarmine 2-0 8
8. Milpitas 2-0 12
9. Antioch 1-1 3
10. Freedom 2-0 9
11. Serra 0-2 11
12. Miramonte 2-0 13
13. California 2-0 20
14. Concord 1-1 10
15. Analy 2-0 19
16. Marin Catholic 1-1 21
17. Campolindo 1-1 23
18. Bishop O’Dowd 1-0 24
19. McClymonds 2-0 25
20. Cardinal Newman 1-1 18
21. San Leandro 1-1 14
22. Foothill 0-2 15
23. Los Gatos 1-1 22
24. Hillsdale 2-0 NR
25. Piedmont 2-0 NR
