PCAL Week 1



Gabilan

Thu 08/29 King's Academy (Sunnyvale, CA) at Aptos (CA), 7:30pm- New Aptos coach make his debut vs a tough Kings academy team. Kings Academy 24-14



Thu 08/29 Hollister (CA) at Branham (San Jose, CA), 7:15pm- This matchup could tell us a lot about both teams, Branham has been good at the B levels. Hollister 28-17



Fri 08/30 Palma (Salinas, CA) at Live Oak (Morgan Hill, CA), 7:15pm- Palma did schedule a little better this year than last. Live Oak will be a tough out. Palma 21-20



Fri 08/30 Alisal (Salinas, CA) vs Monterey (CA) at MPC (Monterey, CA), 7:00pm – Alisal is supposedly opening up it’s offense. Monterey already has. Monterey 35-17



Fri 08/30 Alvarez (Salinas, CA) at North Monterey County (Castroville, CA), 7:30pm- Good test for both programs. Alvarez 24-22



Fri 08/30 Los Gatos (CA) at Soquel (CA), 7:30pm-Soquel could be the best team in the PCAL, Los Gatos could be top 4 in CCS. Los Gatos 21-14



Fri 09/06 Salinas (CA) at Valley Christian (San Jose, CA), 7:00pm- Salinas will be in good shape come league, but it may take a game or 2 for this team to start to play well together. Salinas 24-20
THIS GAME IS NEXT WEEK AS SALINAS IS TAKING ITS BYE WEEK 1


Mission North

Fri 08/30 Watsonville (CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:30pm- Bruins are on a mission to prove they belong I the B league. Greenfield 28-7



Fri 08/30 Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA) at Piedmont Hills (San Jose, CA), 7:00pm- I could not tell you anything about Piedmont Hills this year. I know MVC will score a lot of points. MVC 35-28



Fri 08/30 Scotts Valley (CA) at Santa Cruz (CA), 7:30pm – Santa Cruz will have a team and they were able to score at the Jamboree. These are improvements from last year. Scott’s valley 28-0



Fri 08/30 Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton, CA) at Seaside (CA), 7:30pm- This is a very tough first game for a young Seaside squad, that is already facing some numbers issues. SHP 27-7



Sat 08/31 King City (CA) at St. Francis (Watsonville, CA), 12:30pm This Could be one of the better match ups locally. Taking the home team in a squeaker. St. Francis 21-20











Mission South



Thu 08/29 Carmel (CA) at Christopher (Gilroy, CA), 7:15pm – I know what Carmel has coming back, not sure what Christopher has, but this team was very good last year. Carmel 35-34



Thu 08/29 Gonzales (CA) at Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm -Another really good local match up. Taking the home team Trailblazers. Rancho 24-20



Fri 08/30 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Sobrato (Morgan Hill, CA), 4:30pm – North Salinas will be looking to fill its Void at RB, vs a tough Sobrato team. Sobrato 23-16



Fri 08/30 Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco, CA) at Soledad (CA), 7:30pm -On the WCAL feeds SHC has received a lot of crap for scheduling this game. Soledad maybe a tough out this year. SHC 28-25



Sat 08/31 Pacific Grove (CA) at Marina (CA), 7:30pm – The past couple years PG has scheduled teams they know they can beat. I think they do it to piss me off, so I have to pick them. PG 28-14





Santa Lucia (RLS starts their season in week 2)



Fri 08/30 Del Mar (San Jose, CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 7:00pm- Harbor has done a go of scheduling similar programs in preseason. This will help get the confidence up. Harbor 30-24



Sat 08/31 Lynbrook (San Jose, CA) at Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA), 1:00pm – Good to see Pajaro do the same thing as Harbor, lots hope for a similar result. PV 14-7



Sat 08/31 South San Francisco (CA) at San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA), 12:30pm -South San Francisco was one of the better CCS stories last year. After years of barely fielding a team, they made the playoffs and won the DV title. They now play in a B division. South San Fran 28-14

Grant (1-0) at De La Salle (0-0) 7:30 PM Game of the Week

The Spartans start the season with a matchup against the Pacers that have long been asked for from many prep football fans. De La Salle has one of its fastest squads in recent years led by quarterback Toa Faavae, running back Dominic Kelley, defensive back Robert Santiago and defensive back Jaden Jefferson. Grant is coming off a win over Edison-Stockton where new running back Brandon Lambert ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns. Jeremiah Tuiilelia also was disruptive after an All-NorCal junior season.

St. Mary’s-Stockton (0-1) at Central Catholic (1-0) 7:00 PM

This week will tell us a lot about each team that had differing results in week one and remaining questions. The Rams lost on the road at Bishop Manogue (21-14) despite a big offensive day from junior Kenneth Moore III (195 total yards, two touchdowns). Central Catholic overcame a halftime deficit to win at Pleasant Valley 28-21. The Raiders ran 16 more plays than the Vikings and ran for more than 200 yards, but also gave up seven yards per carry. The Rams have won the past two games in this series.

Vanden (1-0) at Campolindo (0-0) 7:00 PM

Vanden flashed a good passing combo last Friday in a 35-19 win over Cosumnes Oaks. Kalani Mcleod went 15-for-19 for 255 yards and three touchdowns with Caleb Jones accounting for 115 of those yards and three touchdowns. Campolindo doesn’t return many starters, but brings back running back Micah Parker, TE/DE Crosby Kelly and are promoting a good JV squad. Last year snapped an 11 year run of double digit victories for the Cougars.

Vacaville (1-0) at Granite Bay (1-0) 7:00 PM

Granite Bay was hit with some transfer losses, but started out well with a 34-10 win over Rio Americano. Quarterback Nick Harris is back from injury and hit a number of big plays in the opener (11-for-13, 203 yards) with Joseph Cattolico being his top receiver. Vacaville is coming off a strong opener in beating Escalon 23-21. Quarterback Jimmy MacNiven threw touchdowns to Jimmy Cline and Jaden Beamon-Santos. Noah Wilcox had 19 total tackles in the win.

Amador Valley (0-0) at El Cerrito (0-0) 7:00 PM

Amador Valley has moved from the Valley Division to the Mountain Division and returns quarterback Tristan Ti’a. El Cerrito has holes to fill after going 12-2 last season, but received a key incoming transfer with Fresno State quarterback commit Jonathan Craft. He is expected to be in action on Friday, according to the Bay Area News Group. Last year, El Cerrito beat the Dons 14-7.

St. Ignatius (0-0) at San Ramon Valley (0-0) 7:00 PM

St. Ignatius gives the WCAL four teams in the Top 20 rankings with quarterback Soren Hummel, a nice group of skill players and a pair of talented linemen with John Mills and Isaia Vandermade. They travel to Danville to take on a Wolves squad that prepares for life without Luke Baker. Rhett Thompson is expected to step in at quarterback and he has reinforcements behind him with No. 1 overall prospect Marco Jones and wide receiver Owen Scott.

Riordan (0-0) at McClymonds (0-0) 7:00 PM

Riordan took a big leap in 2023 to become one of the top teams in Northern California. This year, the expectations turn to titles being the WCAL, CCS, NorCal, State or maybe a bundle of a few of them. Chris Lawson is one of the region’s top two-way players and the Crusaders boast the top offensive line in the region. McClymonds is scheduled to play two Top 10 teams in the region and have added a quarterback to watch in Berell Staples. Rahsjon Davis is a Top 25 ranked junior at wide receiver and defensive back.

Los Gatos (0-0) at Soquel (0-0) 7:30 PM

Los Gatos was on the cusp of being a Top 20 team to start the season and could be the top public school in the CCS. Linebacker Henry Masters is one of the top defenders in the section and the Wildcats’ offensive line will be strong led by Cal Poly bound Leo Cocchiglia. Soquel is coming off a 13-2 season and the 4-AA State Title behind a defense that gave up 10 points per game. They also return quarterback Sam Whelan as they try to unseat Salesian in the Gabilan Division.

SATURDAY

Bellarmine (0-0) at Menlo-Atherton (0-0) 1:00 PM

Bellarmine is expected to be in the bottom third of the WCAL, but this matchup has always been a good barometer for the power of the WCAL and public schools in the CCS. In year one under head coach David Diaz-Infante, the Bells went 2-8 (beat Menlo-Atherton 17-14) and return defensive lineman Henry Clark. Menlo-Atherton went 5-7, but bring back quarterback Xander Eschelman and Washington bound defensive end Devin Hyde.

Inderkum (1-0) at Marin Catholic (0-0) 2:00 PM

Inderkum has a game in hand and it produced a quality win over Monterey Trail (27-21). Inderkum quarterback Ricky Cole threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns in the win, but now the Tigers head to Kentfield for an afternoon contest. Marin Catholic starts the season with a strong core of quarterback Caedon Afsharipour, wide receiver Braiden Bachich-Dixon and offensive lineman Sam Connelly. While it is an early season game, this will serve as a measuring stick game when comparing the NCS and SJS.