Some things don’t ever change

Big night of football. Most eyes will be on Folsom-De La Salle, but this figures to be one of the strongest weeks we've had this season

Now that DLS has again easily disposed of Folsom, can we take a look at projected state bowl games for a few of the divisions;

Open Game; if St. Francis of Mtn. View wins out, they should be NorCal's rep in the Open Game.

Div 1; assuming DLS wins out, they should be the D1 rep from the north. In this scenario, who would they potentially face in playoffs?

This would seem to leave Folsom out of appearing in any state games this year.

Some posters seem to think the demise of DLS is upon us. Note that losing to St. Francis of Baltimore is no disgrace, since that team is a bought and paid for team that 5+ years ago had a huge influx of money from a very rich donor precisely to build a great fb program, much like IMG, MD, and SJB are now doing by stretching the way a team should be built.

I think a lot of folks will be surprised when DLS wins Friday's game. The St. Francis of Baltimore team had what, 15-20 three to five 5 star players? Folsom may have what, 2-3? That will be the big difference in last weeks game vs. this weeks game.

Game Note

On Thursday, Lincoln-San Jose improved to 4-2 with a 47-0 win over Piedmont Hills (3-3). Since an opening 41-14 loss to Leigh, Lincoln has held its last five opponents to an average of eight points per game. Lincoln quarterback Tayden Phillips accounted for more than 280 total yards and five touchdowns.

Player Note

Edison-Stockton 2022 linebacker Nakian Jackson (6-foot-1, 230 pounds) anchors the Vikings’ defense at the second level. He is physical, works around blocks to not get caught up in the scrum and is a good tackler.

JUCO Note

Diablo Valley College (3-1) has four interception returns on the season with Dieontae Malan (Hercules), Antione Tanner (Antioch), Malachi Ward (Bishop O’Dowd) and Jabril White (McClymonds) each accounting for a score. Coming off a loss to Sequoias, Diablo Valley travels to Sierra on Saturday.

Alumni Watch

Colorado linebacker Nate Landman (Monte Vista) is finishing a very good career in Boulder with 46 tackles (39 solo) in five games this year. Coming into the fall, he had 218 tackles and eight sacks over three seasons.

Story to Read

St. Mary’s junior Brooks Wheatley made the move to safety after the Rams started 0-2. That move has been part of the reason for the Rams’ turnaround, which includes a win over Cardinal Newman.

I've been a little surprised he didn't receive more interest coming out of the spring. Good for the Hornets to jump in the mix

I know this is a hot take- and I know it will upset some. But DLS is not immune to criticism on this forum, as is no one else.

DLS got absolutely steamrolled on national TV last night AT HOME, and hardly a peep about it.

After they play Folsom, they will have three losses and not make an SBG game. The time has come.

Contrary to popular belief, I was hoping for a DLS win. West coast bias I guess. I was actually shocked they got embarrassed like that on national TV. Not having a QB or top tier athletes has really exposed them this year. They just can't run the veer and win. Other teams have much better athletes and lines then they do this year.

Sorry- but it's over for them this year.

Game Notes

In a well played, back and forth contest, No. 29 California (6-0) beat No. 25 Clayton Valley Charter (4-2) 19-18. Quarterback Teddy Booras found his favorite target, Jake Calcagno, for a 21 yard touchdown with 15 seconds left. The Ugly Eagles controlled the game early with its ground attack and timely passes, but California had two key momentum shifting plays. Down 12-0, California called a flea flicker to Calcagno for 68 yards to the Eagles’ one yard line. Near the end of the first half, Clayton Valley Charter was on the Grizzlies’ two yard line, but California got a sack on the final play to stay within six points.

No. 3 De La Salle (4-2) saw senior Zeke Berry return the opening kickoff and the Spartans added a blocked punt in the first half to get out to a 24-0 lead en route to a 31-10 win over No. 1 Folsom (6-1). The Spartans ended any hope of a comeback with a 75 yard touchdown pass from Luke Dermon to Cooper Flanagan.

Las Lomas (4-2) held off Acalanes (4-2) 35-34 despite the Dons scoring the final minute and recovering an onside kick. The Knights’ losses have come to Rancho Cotate and San Ramon Valley by a combined eight points.

Player Notes

California senior wide receiver Jake Calcagno (6-foot-0, 160 pounds) is putting together an All-NorCal type season. He is a good route runner, finds the ball quickly in the air and is sure handed. Against Clayton Valley Charter, he made plays at all three levels.

De La Salle senior Zeke Berry (Arizona) has been one of the best players in the region this season. In addition to returning the opening kickoff against Folsom, he was an anchor in the secondary that held the Bulldogs to one touchdown. He is a big hitter who covers a lot of ground and has good ball skills.

Serra senior athlete Hassan Mahasin was lost for the season with an ACL injury, but made news on Friday when he announced his commitment to San Diego State. The multi-position Mahasin is dynamic with the ball as a ball carrier and receiver.

JUCO Note

On Saturday, Feather River (3-0) will travel to Hartnell (2-2) in what will be Feather River’s third road game of the season. Tanner Hall has rushed for 257 yards and six touchdowns.

Alumni Watch

Elijhah Badger (Folsom) had a 22 yard rushing touchdown for Arizona State in a win over Stanford on Friday night. Badger also caught a pass for 19 yards.

Video to Watch

Teddy Booras to Jack Calcagno for the game winning touchdown in Cal’s 19-18 win over Clayton Valley Charter.

Story to Read

Early ready on De La Salle’s win at Folsom. The Spartans are now 5-0 against Folsom in the past 10 years.

Murphy has been offered by Chico State. During the spring season, he averaged 25 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

I saw in the notes from the Sac Joaquin section meeting yesterday Grant was formally requesting to move the football team to the Metro league next year. Probably best at this point.

On a podcast with Jeremey Booth (Program 15), Palo Alto OF Henry Bolte (Texas) was talked about as a potential first round pick in the next draft.

Also, good overall discussion on player development.

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Need contact number for coach at Moreau Catholic.
Also, we need one Varsity and JV contact/game. Home or away within hour of Windsor, Ca.

Joe Passalacqua
Windsor High School
707-477-65868

PALBooster is BACK! and brought us fantastic playoff projections, let's see how this week shakes out:

Mount Hamilton:

Piedmont Hills @ Lincoln: Piedmont Hills rides that OT Victory momentum and rolls Lincoln; 35-6
Overfelt @ Santa Teresa: Santa Teresa bounces back and gets the W; 21-7
Oak Grove @ Leland: Leland goes three fullback wildcat and steamrolls OG; 42-7
Silver Creek @ Live Oak: Live Oak continues where it left off; 35-14

Santa Teresa:

Pioneer @ Leigh: Easily the game of the week here can Pio stop the longhorns?; Leigh 35-14
Branham @ Prospect: Branham has to be chomping at the bit after the last two showings, Bruins 42-21
Independence @ Westmont: Sixers won’t get win number one this week; 34-0
Willow Glen @ Ann Sobrato: Sobrato continues to roll; 21-7

West Valley:

Del Mar @ San Jose: Del Mar wins 2 in a row; 42-0
Evergreen Valley @ Andrew Hill: West Valley Game of the Week; Hill runs away with this one 28-14
Mt. Pleasant @ Yerba Buena: Mt. Pleasant comes out on top; 14-0
James Lick @ Gunderson: Gunderson calls off the dogs for good Karma; 48-0

PCAL Week 7

Not a lot of close games last week, just an odd week where a lot of front runners played bottom dwellers in their respective divisions. Salinas made a statement early in the week, with their victory over Hollister. Salinas is the team to beat in the Gabilan with victories over Aptos and Hollister, now only Palma stands in their way of a undefeated season.

In the Mission, it is Santa Cruz and everyone else. Outside of Gonzales and Soledad, the other 5 teams in the division are all dam near equal. What I am hearing is that the league will give out 3 automatic playoff spots from this division and 1 from the Cypress. That means Monterey, Soquel, Gilroy, North Salinas, and Carmel will battle it out for 2nd and 3rd place. I will have to read up on the tiebreaker scenarios.

The Cypress is shaping up to be a 2-team race with King City and Scott’s Valley. Good news is, according to the guru of CCS playoffs, PALBooster, the 2nd place team here will probably qualify for the postseason.

The Satan Lucia is all St. Francis. They should win this division without any issues, my Pirates will get a chance to avenge the 42-12 beatdown 2 weeks ago, but it will not count as a league game.



Last week 12-1 Overall 64-19



Gabilan



Thu 10/07 Salinas (CA) at Seaside (CA), 7:30pm -It is obvious Seaside should be in the Mission or Cypress, they are completely overmatched. Salinas as much as they want - 7

Fri 10/08 Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA) at Alisal (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm – If Alisal wants a chance at the playoffs they need to win this game. Alisal 21-12

Fri 10/08 Palma (Salinas, CA) vs Alvarez (Salinas, CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm – Palma and that fast paced offense will be on full display vs an overmatched Alvarez squad. Palma 48-7

Sat 10/09 Aptos (CA) at Christopher (Gilroy, CA), 3:00pm – Part of me thinks Christopher may have a chance of catching Aptos off guard with a Saturday afternoon game. Would not be surprised if it is close early, but Aptos is too good not to win. Aptos 34-14



Mission

Fri 10/08 Soledad (CA) at Gilroy (CA), 7:30pm – I think Gilroy is better, but they did not look it last week vs Soquel and took the L. Soledad defense has given up 40 + points its last 2 games against NS and Monterey. Mustangs bounce back. Gilroy 28-14

Fri 10/08 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Gonzales (CA), 7:30pm -North Salinas should have no problem with Gonzales. North Salinas 35-14

Fri 10/08 Carmel (CA) at Santa Cruz (CA), 7:30pm – Carmel’s defense has only given up 3 points in its last 6 qtrs. It shut out Gonzales, who despite being winless, still was averaging 17 points a game. I dop not think Carmel’s Defense is good enough to shutout Santa Cruz, but they may cause some issues. Santa Cruz will win, But Carmel will give them their closest game of the year. Santa Cruz 28-16

Fri 10/08 Monterey (CA) at Soquel (CA), 7:00pm -Soquel got off to a slow start losing to Scotts Valley and Hillsdale. But now they have won 3 in a row including an “upset” over Gilroy last week. Monterey is 4-1 but a weak schedule outside of Santa Cruz, who beat them badly. This game will go a long ways towards the playoffs. Monterey 28-24



Cypress

Fri 10/08 Sequoia (Redwood City, CA) at Scotts Valley (CA), 3:30pm – Little late for a non-league game, but the PAL Lake division had South SF pullout of the season late. Nice job by both administrations to put a game together. SV should roll. Scott’s Valley 31-7

Fri 10/08 King City (CA) at Watsonville (CA), 7:00pm KC needs to be careful here and not get full of themselves or read to many headlines. They are a good team and have a chance to do something special. I hope they stay focused vs a Dangerous Watsonville team. King City 24-18

Sat 10/09 Pacific Grove (CA) at North Monterey County (Castroville, CA), 2:00pm I like it, NMC playing a Saturday afternoon game like the old days. PG had a week off to recuperate after their stunning loss to Ranch San Juan. Last time I picked PG they lost, so…Pacific Grove 24-21

Sat 10/09 Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA) at San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA), 4:00pm The Headsets must be down as SLV has not looked Really impressive this year. But I think they will get by Rancho San Juan. SLV 28-17



Santa Lucia

Fri 10/08 Stevenson (Pebble Beach, CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:30pm- RLS has been a bit of a disappointment this year, I know it is only 3 games, but I was hoping for better. The squeaked by a below average Pajaro team last week. This may be the most competitive game in the PCAL this weekend and Greenfield has played some decent football. But I am still taking my Pirates RLS 35-34.

Fri 10/08 St. Francis (Watsonville, CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 7:30pm – Harbor has the best record in the PCAL Santa Lucia division at 4-1. This is great news for a long time struggling program. Unfortunately for Harbor, they have played only one good team, and got blown out. St. Francis is a pretty good little program, that just keeps winning. St. Francis 35-14

Will update this each day to see how the games are trending.

Enterprise (7 picks for average of 6.14)
Pleasant Valley (1 pick for average of 1)

Clayton Valley Charter (7 picks for average of 5.85)
California (1 pick for average of 2)

Las Lomas (5 picks for average of 4.2)
Acalanes (3 picks for average of 3.33)

Folsom (4 picks for average of 2.25)
De La Salle (4 picks for average of 1.5)

Turlock (6 picks for average of 4.833)
Downey (2 picks for average of 5)

Antelope (7 picks for average of 5.57)
Woodcreek (1 pick for average of 4)

Davis (8 picks for average of 8)
Lathrop (0 picks)

St. Francis (8 picks for average of 8.125)
Valley Christian (0 picks)

Terra Nova (5 picks for average of 6.25)
Sacred Heart Prep (3 picks for average of 4.5)

Menlo (7 picks for average of 7.42)
Hillsdale (1 pick for average of 1)

Game Note

Since winning the section title in 2014, Enterprise has had six straight losing seasons. This fall, they are 6-0 behind dual threat quarterback Demarreya Lewis-Cooper. He has almost 1,400 total yards and 19 touchdowns. On Friday, they will play at Pleasant Valley and will try to get their first win over the Vikings since 2014. Enterprise is currently the No. 2 team in the Redding area.

Player Note

Lincoln 2022 linebacker Jordan Wagner (6-foot-0, 190 pounds) has 59 tackles and three sacks for the Fighting Zebras, who are 3-2 after shutting out Placer last week. He is aggressive playing near the line of scrimmage and has a good first step to blow up running lanes.

JUCO Note

Foothill is off to a 3-0 start with defensive lineman Sam Kolokihakaufisi (San Mateo) tallying 18 tackles (six for loss) with a team high three sacks. Coming up this weekend, Foothill will take on Merced (3-2).

Alumni Watch

Iowa is hosting Penn State on Saturday in the weekend’s biggest college football game. Hawkeyes’ quarterback Spencer Petras (Marin Catholic) has completed 62 percent of his passes for 943 yards and seven touchdowns. He also has three rushing scores.

Story to Read

This is a listen instead of a read, but SportStars did a great podcast looking back on the historic 2001 matchup between De La Salle and Long Beach Poly. It was the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 national matchup.

Video to Watch

49ers Sac-Hi Sports did a wonderful story on Ceres’ Verlis Smith, who has overcome a lot in life to just be here. He is also the top receiver for the Bulldogs.

Game Note

Davis-Modesto has won more than six games in a season just once in the MaxPreps era (going back to 2004). This year, they are off to a 6-0 start with an average margin of victory of 26.5 points. The Spartans play Lathrop on Friday in a matchup of the top two teams in Western Athletic Conference.

Player Note

Benicia 2022 RB/LB Janari Boone (6-foot-0, 190 pounds) is a good two-way player for the Panthers and a player that should be on the radar. At linebacker, he flows to the ball and has the speed to run down plays. On offense, he hits the holes hard and has some agility to make the first defender miss.

JUCO Note

City College of San Francisco is averaging nearly 50 points per game as part of its 5-0 start. Quarterback Jack Newman is completing nearly 70 percent of passes for 1,709 yards and 18 touchdowns with just two interceptions. His top receiver has been Jeffrey Weimer.

Alumni Watch

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris (Antioch) has the most receptions of any running back in the NFL through four games in his rookie season. Harris has 26 catches for 178 yards and a score. He has rushed for 185 yards and a touchdown.

Story to Read

The Bay Area News Group had a good wraparound look at the Bay Area, including the undefeated start for the coaching career of CJ Anderson at Monte Vista.

Video to Watch

A forgotten senior prospect is San Ramon Valley’s Tanner Salisbury, who stood out as a sophomore for the Wolves before spending a season at Mater Dei. Here are some early season highlights.

14th annual Nor Cal Tip Off Classic Schedule


Saturday November 27 at Dublin High School

Game 1: 9:30 AM Dougherty Valley (San Ramon) vs Woodside Priory (Portola Valley)


Game 2: 11:00 AM Lincoln (Stockton) vs Clayton Valley (Concord)


Game 3: 12:30 PM De La Salle (Concord) vs Elk Grove


Game 4: 2:00 PM Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) vs Inderkum (Sacramento)


Game 5: 3:30 PM Riordan (San Francisco) vs Grant (Sacramento)


Game 6: 5:15 PM Oakland Tech vs Vanden (Fairfield)


Game 7: 7:00 PM Modesto Christian vs San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno)


Game 8: 8:30 PM Dublin vs Campolindo (Moraga)

Game Note

In the four games De La Salle and Folsom have played, the Spartans have tallied eight interceptions. In the other 54 games Folsom played in those seasons, the Bulldogs threw 40 interceptions. De La Salle likely needs to force at least one turnover on Friday to get a win.

Player Note

Menlo-Atherton senior WR/DB Jeremiah Earby has 19 catches for 529 yards and five touchdowns. He also has a team high three interceptions. Earby is committed to Cal.

Alumni Watch

I've watched a few of the Tampa Bay Bucs games this year and have been impressed with how defensive tackle Vita Vea (Milpitas) controls the middle of the line. I saw him play as a senior against Palo Alto and couldn't believe when he took off for a long TD run. It is the first play on this highlight.

Article to Read

NCS Breakdown on four games from this past week from Harold Abend of Prep2Prep.

Video to Watch

Blake Nichelson has had one of the best seasons anywhere in NorCal and capped last week's comeback over East Union with a walk-off interception return

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