Ranked teams
No. 5 Clayton Valley Charter 20, California 16: For the second week in a row, Clayton Valley Charter won the fourth quarter, and now has improved to 2-0.
The Ugly Eagles scored on about a 35-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Brenden Bush to wide receiver Isaiah Underwood with 1:36 left to play to come from behind and beat California. Last week Clayton Valley did the same thing to Inderkum-Sacramento, scoring in the final period to rally for a 20-15 win.
California, which routed Dublin 63-33 last week under new coach Danny Calcagno, scored all 16 points in the second period and took a 16-7 lead into halftime.
But Clayton Valley Charter cut the margin to 16-13 in the third quarter on a touchdown by Omari Taylor. The Eagles missed what would have been a game-tying field goal midway through the fourth quarter, but they got the ball back on their own 44-yard line with about four minutes to go.
Clayton Valley coach Tim Murphy opted to go with Bush in the second half.
— Mike Lefkow
No. 12 St. Francis 24, San Benito 19: Trying to protect a five-point lead into the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, the St. Francis defense rallied and stopped San Benito on downs to clinch the team’s season-opening victory.
Close throughout, Lancers head coach Greg Calcagno said the Haybalers “gave us everything we could handle.”
A two-pronged running attack controlled the game for the Lancers, led by junior running back and middle linebacker Camilo Arquette and senior running back and defensive back Adonis Hernandez.
“It was fun, but it was the first (game) in 17 months, so we’re all a little rusty,” Calcagno said.
St. Francis aims to improve its record to 2-0 on Friday at 7 p.m. against archrival Bellarmine, which lost its opener Friday at Central Catholic.
— Brendan Cross
No. 15 Los Gatos 45, No. 24 Milpitas 0: Los Gatos scored six touchdowns in the first half in its victory over Milpitas. Running back Adam Garwood got the ball rolling for Los Gatos with an 11-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Garwood would end up scoring two more touchdowns before halftime.
The defense got involved too, earning two first-half safeties and stifling the Milpitas offense. “They take all of the credit and we take none,” said Milpitas coach Kelly King, whose team faces another challenge next week, against No. 16 Wilcox.
Los Gatos is scheduled to visit Santa Clara on Thursday.
— Michael Espinosa
No. 19 Acalanes 35, No. 23 Las Lomas 28: Through the first quarter and a half, Acalanes built a two-touchdown lead, but head coach Floyd Burnsed knew that would not be enough to hold down Las Lomas.
“We got some breaks in the beginning, to go up 21-7… but that lead was not safe,” Burnsed said. “We knew [Las Lomas] was too good to hold down to seven points in a game.”
The Knights eventually took the lead, but the Dons closed the game with two scoring drives, including a 17-yard touchdown run by senior running back Nic Rossi with just six seconds left.
Burnsed also pointed out his senior quarterback Brady Huchingson, who was under pressure all night but still managed to make enough plays.
The Dons will play No. 9 Campolindo next Friday at 7 p.m. in a matchup of 2-0 teams.
— Brendan Cross
No. 25 Oak Grove 45, Overfelt 0: Oak Grove opened its season with a win at Overfelt on Saturday afternoon. Oak Grove senior quarterback Jessie Miller threw five touchdowns and zero interceptions, and senior wide receiver Devyn Parker caught four of Miller’s touchdown passes while racking up over 250 receiving yards.
Senior wide receiver Louis Barber also caught a touchdown and senior slotback Oscar Martinez ran for a touchdown for Oak Grove as well. Senior linebacker Austin Payne, senior linebacker Faasefulu Togiai and sophomore linebacker Quinton Togiai recorded two sacks each for Overfelt’s defense.
Oak Grove looks to improve to 2-0 next Friday at home against Piedmont Hills, while Overfelt will look for their first win of the season at Live Oak next Friday.
— Sofia Scekic
Alameda County
Livermore 21, Amador Valley 7: After three scoreless quarters for both teams, a flurry of points in the fourth quarter led to Livermore ultimately taking the victory over Amador Valley at home. Amador Valley scored the first touchdown, but Livermore responded with 21 straight points to win its second game of the season. Livermore head coach John Wade said his team played great on both offense and defense to win another close, low-scoring game this season. Next Saturday, Amador Valley travels to Granada in search of its first win of the season while Livermore will stay home to face Dougherty Valley on Saturday.
— Sofia Scekic
Contra Costa County
Berean Christian 25, Concord 0: Berean Christian coach Tim Schultz said his team started training for the season on June 8, 2020. The Eagles made the most of the extra work Saturday, winning their season opener.
Schultz pointed to his defense as being a key to the victory.
“Most importantly as a unit, they swarmed to the ball,” he said. “For the most part, we played team defense, which is really what we need to do to win.”
On offense, the Eagles got major contributions from junior running back Jack Winston and Luke Seelye, a junior lineman who scored a touchdown.
The Eagles will play their next game Friday at Ygnacio Valley. Concord will be at home Friday to play Mt. Diablo.
— Brendan Cross
Foothill 38, Dougherty Valley 7: Out to avenge last week’s one-point loss to Livermore, Foothill controlled this game from the start, jumping out to a 38-0 lead at halftime and only surrendering one touchdown to Dougherty Valley.
Falcons head coach Greg Haubner pointed out multiple standout performances, including junior middle linebacker Kenny Olson, whom he penned a “multi-purpose athlete.”
“He had a fantastic game and was really all over the field on both sides of the ball,” Haubner said.
Aside from Olson, junior quarterback Nick Walsh accounted for multiple touchdowns behind a stout offensive line led by junior Brandon Sousa and senior Jackson Konopka.
Foothill will look to improve to 2-1 with a Saturday home game against Dublin at 7 p.m.
— Brendan Cross
Pinole Valley 24, St. Mary’s-Berkeley 12: Tony Freeman ran for two touchdowns and Maurice Savage caught a 30-yard TD pass as Pinole Valley won its season-opener against St. Mary’s.
The game was close until the fourth quarter, when Freeman scored on a 35-yard run. Horacio Perez, who was perfect on extra points and kicked a 30-yard field, added the point after to give the Spartans a 24-6 advantage.
“It was your typical first game,” Pinole Valley coach Luke Bodwin said. “We didn’t scrimmage last week, we’re young, we have five new starters on the offensive line. But we were almost mistake-free in the second half.”
Freeman added an interception to his big day. Pinole Valley also got an interception from sophomore defensive end James Gordon III near the end of the first half.
Savage caught his touchdown pass from junior quarterback Devon Gordon.
Pinole Valley has moved to the Tri-County Athletic League’s Rock Division this season. It is considered the tougher of the league’s two divisions, the other being the Stone. Bodwin said De Anza has also moved to the Rock Division.
— Mike Lefkow
Richmond at Salesian (scrimmage): Salesian, a defending state champion, is still waiting to play its first game. The Pride only scrimmaged Richmond on Saturday because of a low number of available players on both sides. Salesian is scheduled to play its first game at De Anza on Friday at 7 p.m.
— Brendan Cross
Peninsula
Menlo 30, Hillsdale 7: Menlo jumped out to a 20-0 lead before Hillsdale scored its first points and didn’t look back en route to a lopsided win. On Hillsdale’s second possession of the game, senior running back Si’i Tengei opened with a 30-yard run to spark Hillsdale’s offense before Menlo notched three tackles for losses and sacks in the next four plays to force a turnover on downs.
After halftime, Menlo senior Justin Creamer returned an interception for a touchdown before Tengei scored on a 66-yard run to give Hillsdale its only points of the game.
Menlo sophomore kicker Ross Muchnick kicked a 23-yard field goal to open his team’s scoring in the fourth quarter and junior quarterback Sergio Beltran scored on a nine-yard run to give Menlo 30 points on the night.
Next Friday, Hillsdale will face Capuchino at home while Menlo has its bye week before returning to action on April 3 against Capuchino at home.
— Sofia Scekic
Sacred Heart Prep 17, Burlingame 0: Sacred Heart Prep ran its record to 2-0 as Teddy Purcell threw a touchdown pass, Andrew Latu ran for a TD and the defense tightened every time Burlingame threatened in this Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division game in Atherton.
For the SHP seniors, it marked the first time in their four years that they’d beaten Burlingame, coach Mark Grieb said.
One of those seniors was Will Mackie. He moved from defensive end to inside linebacker and came up with huge plays, Grieb noted. The coach also praised safety Beck Anderson and the key plays senior tight end/linebacker Paul Barton made. Barton caught a touchdown on a post route and also saved a touchdown by breaking up a pass.
Purcell had another “awesome game” behind center, added Grieb, a former quarterback himself, at Oak Grove High, UC Davis and with the Arena Football League’s San Jose SaberCats. And like anyone with a QB background, Grieb made sure to single out the line.
“The offensive line deserves a ton of credit,” he said. “Last year when we played Burlingame we tried to protect him and there were just guys coming from all over the place. I really thought our line coach, John Gilmore, did a fantastic job of preparing our alignment. For a young offensive line to be able to hold together and protect the way we did was really pretty outstanding.”
Burlingame, which lost last week 19-10 at Half Moon Bay, fell to 0-2.
— Darren Sabedra
San Francisco
Archbishop Riordan 34, Sacred Heart Cathedral 20: In this most unique of high school seasons, these longtime West Catholic Athletic League rivals played Saturday in what was technically a non-league, season-opening game. They are slated to meet again on April 17 at Kezar Stadium as part of the league schedule to close out the season.
Saturday, Riordan got two defensive touchdowns — one on a scoop and score — to win on its renovated home field that opened near the end of the 2019 season.
“We’ve had this home field for over a year and we’ve barely used it,” Riordan coach Mark Modeste said. “It was a really good day. I am super happy for the kids. I told the kids the emotion of a win or loss is always palpable. But today was a little different. I just felt really, really happy for them. So overjoyed for them that they got to experience a game situation and be successful.”
Aden Jackson scored on defense, picking up a loose ball and returning it to the end zone, and also had a TD on a reverse. Kemoeatu Kefu returned an interception for a touchdown and Fazon Ruth ran for a score.
— Darren Sabedra
South Bay
Leland 35, Lincoln-San Jose 14: Quarterback Nathan Wright and running back Mark Eby each accounted for three touchdowns to lead Leland past Lincoln in the season opener for both schools.
Wright threw for two TDs and ran for another while Eby rushed for two scores and caught one of the touchdown passes from Wright. Sid Thadani caught the other TD pass from Wright.
Leland led 21-7 at the half and extended the margin to 35-14 after three quarters.
Nick Ames and Jack Ryan had sacks for Leland. The junior defensive linemen give Leland impressive size up front. Ames measures 6-foot-5, 225 pounds and Ryan is 6-3, 240.
Lincoln coach Kevin Collins said just getting on the field to play a game was a win for both schools.
“This is not a normal year,” he said. “The whole perspective is different.”
— Mike Lefkow
Lynbrook 13, Cupertino 7: In a tough defensive battle, Lynbrook prevailed on the road over Cupertino. Cupertino struck first with a touchdown in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
A pick-six by Lynbrook junior linebacker Jalen Lakstigala sparked the Vikings to put the team on the board before halftime but his team still trailed 7-6 entering the break after the extra point was not converted.
With Cupertino still holding onto a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter, Lynbrook senior quarterback Lucas Liang ran the ball into the end zone with less than a minute left on the clock to put Lynbrook up by six.
Cupertino did not have time for a comeback attempt on Saturday but will face Monta Vista next Friday in search of its first win of the season. Lynbrook will travel to Sunnyvale next Friday to take on Fremont.
— Sofia Scekic
Piedmont Hills 27, Santa Teresa 20: Piedmont Hills won a back-and-forth contest against Santa Teresa, which got on the board with a touchdown with three minutes to go in the first half. Roland Legaspi quickly answered for Piedmont Hills with an 89-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game before the break.
The game remained tied until late in the fourth quarter when defensive back Kameron Golbaz returned a fumble 30-yards for a touchdown to seal it.
Piedmont Hills coach Matt Kiesle commended his team after the win.
“Our defense was excellent and kept us in it. Glad to have that first win under our belts,” Kiesle said.
Santa Teresa coach Ajene Palmer remained positive after the loss. “The outcome of the game was not what we wanted but we fought, we played well,” he said.
Palmer will try to lead his squad to victory next Friday when Santa Teresa visits Leland. Piedmont Hills visits Oak Grove next Friday.
— Michael Espinosa