1. Despite some typical season opener sloppiness, St. Mary’s got a very good 38-28 win over Clovis West. I will get more into 2026 wide receiver Kenneth Moore III in the next thought, but the Rams rolled with two quarterbacks on Friday (senior Samson Hunkin and sophomore Drew Rasmussen), had a strong running game led by senior Asante Carter and a defense that held Clovis West in check outside of three big plays.
2. Now onto Moore, who is one of the top sophomores in the region. The Rams utilized him in multiple ways in the opener. He ran good routes to get open down the field, showed he can take a short pass and go and was a tough runner on jet sweeps. His lone touchdown came on a 15 yard sweep to start the second half. He has offers from San Diego State, San Jose State, Portland State, Cal, Arizona, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
3. Outside of the Rams, Folsom and Oak Ridge were the other Top 5 teams in action in Week 1. Folsom shut out Monterey Trail 35-0 as sophomore quarterback Ryder Lyons had two touchdowns and the Bulldogs added a defensive touchdown. Oak Ridge had no trouble with Spanish Springs-Nevada 54-14 with the Trojans leading 28-0 at the half. Both teams have tough second games as Folsom travels to Serra and Oak Ridge hosts Grant.
4. Senior Bryson Davis and Manteca announced on Friday that they shouldn’t be overlooked despite graduating NorCal Player of the Year Blake Nichelson. Davis was a workhorse in the opener with 36 carries for 315 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-35 win over Vista del Lago.
5. On the other sideline was Air Force bound Matt Long, who had six catches for 230 yards and four touchdowns in a losing effort. Vista del Lago would motion him out of the backfield and he was a difficult cover to pick up in space. Quarterback John Koett had more than 300 passing yards and five touchdowns.
6. Granite Bay got nearly 200 yards on 40 combined carries from Cal junior commit Carter Jackson and sophomore Isaiah Ene in a 27-13 win over Elk Grove. The Grizzlies came into the season as the third ranked team in the Sierra Foothill League and have a challenging non-league that includes a section final rematch against Manteca, Pittsburg and Vacaville.
7. A passing combination to track this fall is Del Oro’s Caden Pinnick and Tommy Poe (Sacramento State). The duo connected four times for 89 yards and three touchdowns in a 50-34 win over Inderkum. Add in Pinnick’s running ability and these two will have a big impact on the Golden Eagles’ prospects this season.
8. Jeremy Plaa is one of the best coaches in the section at reloading year to year and the Knights got off to a fast start in a 50-33 win over Lincoln-Stockton. New starting quarterback Carson Lamb completed 70 percent of his passes for 320 yards and five touchdowns. He was also the team’s leading rusher at 75 yards and a score.
9. Earlier this week, the first 2025 football player rankings were released with notes on players 1-10, 11-20 and 21-30. The SJS has the top ranked player in Oak Ridge tight end Kaleb Edwards, but the Bay Area has the next seven players. 12 of the top 14 come from the NCS and CCS. Seven of the top 30 players are offensive linemen led by Valley Christian’s Champ Taulealea.
10. One more takeaway is despite conference upheaval, Cal and Stanford each have one local commitment in the 2025 class. Granite Bay's Carter Jackson is headed to Berkeley while Tennyon offensive lineman Siosiua Vete is a recent commit for Stanford.
2. Now onto Moore, who is one of the top sophomores in the region. The Rams utilized him in multiple ways in the opener. He ran good routes to get open down the field, showed he can take a short pass and go and was a tough runner on jet sweeps. His lone touchdown came on a 15 yard sweep to start the second half. He has offers from San Diego State, San Jose State, Portland State, Cal, Arizona, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
3. Outside of the Rams, Folsom and Oak Ridge were the other Top 5 teams in action in Week 1. Folsom shut out Monterey Trail 35-0 as sophomore quarterback Ryder Lyons had two touchdowns and the Bulldogs added a defensive touchdown. Oak Ridge had no trouble with Spanish Springs-Nevada 54-14 with the Trojans leading 28-0 at the half. Both teams have tough second games as Folsom travels to Serra and Oak Ridge hosts Grant.
4. Senior Bryson Davis and Manteca announced on Friday that they shouldn’t be overlooked despite graduating NorCal Player of the Year Blake Nichelson. Davis was a workhorse in the opener with 36 carries for 315 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-35 win over Vista del Lago.
5. On the other sideline was Air Force bound Matt Long, who had six catches for 230 yards and four touchdowns in a losing effort. Vista del Lago would motion him out of the backfield and he was a difficult cover to pick up in space. Quarterback John Koett had more than 300 passing yards and five touchdowns.
6. Granite Bay got nearly 200 yards on 40 combined carries from Cal junior commit Carter Jackson and sophomore Isaiah Ene in a 27-13 win over Elk Grove. The Grizzlies came into the season as the third ranked team in the Sierra Foothill League and have a challenging non-league that includes a section final rematch against Manteca, Pittsburg and Vacaville.
7. A passing combination to track this fall is Del Oro’s Caden Pinnick and Tommy Poe (Sacramento State). The duo connected four times for 89 yards and three touchdowns in a 50-34 win over Inderkum. Add in Pinnick’s running ability and these two will have a big impact on the Golden Eagles’ prospects this season.
8. Jeremy Plaa is one of the best coaches in the section at reloading year to year and the Knights got off to a fast start in a 50-33 win over Lincoln-Stockton. New starting quarterback Carson Lamb completed 70 percent of his passes for 320 yards and five touchdowns. He was also the team’s leading rusher at 75 yards and a score.
9. Earlier this week, the first 2025 football player rankings were released with notes on players 1-10, 11-20 and 21-30. The SJS has the top ranked player in Oak Ridge tight end Kaleb Edwards, but the Bay Area has the next seven players. 12 of the top 14 come from the NCS and CCS. Seven of the top 30 players are offensive linemen led by Valley Christian’s Champ Taulealea.
10. One more takeaway is despite conference upheaval, Cal and Stanford each have one local commitment in the 2025 class. Granite Bay's Carter Jackson is headed to Berkeley while Tennyon offensive lineman Siosiua Vete is a recent commit for Stanford.
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