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WILCOX-LOS GATOS: MATCHUP OF PAL BAY POWERS LOOMS
It could be one of the best matchups of the entire season.
Certainly among public schools, the game between No. 11 Wilcox and No. 6 Los Gatos has annually been one of the best in the Bay Area, and this year should be no exception.
Both teams have had excellent seasons thus far heading into Friday’s game at Los Gatos. Wilcox (6-2, 3-0) handled Sacred Heart Prep 35-7 on Friday in Santa Clara. Los Gatos (7-1, 3-0) shut out Menlo School 38-0.
SHP coach Mark Grieb saw both teams in the last two weeks – the Gators fell 42-10 to the Wildcats on Oct. 18. So who does he think is going to win?
“The good news is we’re not going to play either of them again,” Grieb quipped. “Los Gatos is really good. I mean, they’re tough. But they’re both good, so I don’t know. It’ll be a good game. Good matchup.”
What does Wilcox coach Paul Rosa think?
“It’s a big matchup,” Rosa said. “They’re really good. I think we’re getting better every week. I think we should be able to hang in there, and it should be a good game.”
Wilcox has rebounded from an unexpected nonleague loss to Burlingame and won four games in a row by a composite margin of 113. Though the Chargers don’t look back on the 19-18 loss fondly, it set the stage for the growth they have undergone since then.
The early-season matchup featured very few possessions and two fumbles by Wilcox, plus a goal-line stand and subsequent 99-yard touchdown drive by Burlingame.
“That loss was good for us,” Rosa said. “We didn’t play terribly. I’ve got to tip my hat to them. They really shortened the game, and they taught us a lesson. I think we averaged 11 yards per play in that game, and we still lost.
“If you put the ball on the ground, it doesn’t matter how many yards per play you average. You’re going to lose. So that kind of jump-started us. I don’t know how many we’ve won in a row since then, but it’s been a good run, and definitely, that game was good for us.”
– Christian Babcock
WCAL: LEAGUE RACE COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE
St. Francis and St. Ignatius are both in contention for a share of the WCAL title (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the West Catholic Athletic League title is still up for grabs.
After a dynastic Serra team cruised to back-to-back undefeated seasons and romped through league play in the past two years, there are now three teams with a realistic shot of capturing a share of the WCAL crown.
St. Francis (7-1, 5-0) is the only undefeated team in the league and has a victory over St. Ignatius (6-2, 4-1).
The Lancers are in the driver’s seat, but won’t have an easy path to an unbeaten season. They still have to play Valley Christian (5-3, 4-1), which blew a halftime lead at St. Ignatius last week, as well as mercurially-talented Archbishop Riordan.
St. Ignatius is favored to beat its last two league opponents – Sacred Heart Cathedral and Archbishop Mitty – and should finish the season 6-1 in league play.
Valley Christian finishes the regular season with a game at Serra, which has won two games in a row.
The WCAL champion will likely be the top seed in the Central Coast Section Open/Division I playoffs.
– Joseph Dycus
ST. MARY’S-BERKELEY & SALESIAN: HEAD COACHES GO BACK DECADES
St. Mary’s head coach Casey Moreno has known Salesian coach Chad Nightingale for over 40 years (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
In 1983, Casey Moreno and Chad Nightingale shared the field as safeties at Moreau Catholic High.
Over 40 years later, the two are veteran coaches – Nightingale at Salesian and Moreno now at St. Mary’s-Berkeley – and preparing to coach against each other in a crucial Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division game that has title implications.
“This is arguably one of the biggest rivalries in the East Bay,” Nightingale said. “This game not only means a lot to our current kids, but it means a lot to our alumni. It’s just something everyone is going to look forward to.”
The two coaches have kept a strong relationship dating back to when they were both 14 years old. Most years, Moreno and Nightingale would trade film and call each other for advice when they were playing common opponents.
“Chad and I have a unique bond through our participation in football over the years,” Moreno said. “Chad is a great friend and was a great teammate and is one helluva coach.”
They started their coaching careers around the same time in the 1990s, but have never coached against each other in a game when both were head coaches.
That will change this week.
“Our paths haven’t crossed and he’s had some really good success,” Nightingale said. “He had some really solid teams that produced some outstanding talent, collegiate talent. I’ve been at Salesian now 32 years with this being my 29th as head coach.”
St. Mary’s lost two weeks ago to El Cerrito, but the Gauchos forfeited that game and four others after the team used ineligible players in its first six games of the season.
The forfeit win has put St. Mary’s in a position to win a league title as the Panthers are undefeated in Rock Division play going into Saturday’s road game against Salesian, which is tied with El Cerrtio for second in the league standings.
“We’re excited about and very proud of the position we are in because at the end of the day we’ve worked very hard,” Moreno said.
– Nathan Canilao
ST. IGNATIUS: SECOND-HALF WILDCATS STRIKE AGAIN
After St. Ignatius’ 27-13 loss to St. Francis on Oct. 18, SI coach Lenny Vandermade was in an introspective mood.
The Wildcats, famed this fall for their second-half comebacks, lost a 13-0 halftime lead as the Lancers scored 27 unanswered points to win.
In the aftermath, Vandermade lamented that SI couldn’t bring its patented second-half magic to that day’s matchup.
“It’s very interesting, because we actually played a better first half this game,” Vandermade said. “Usually, we play a better second half. Kudos to them. They made the adjustments they needed to, executed down the stretch and really made their plays.”
SI’s second-half magic was back in San Francisco this past Friday. The No. 5 Cats, down 13-3 at the half to No. 7 Valley Christian, used an Odhran Kenny field goal, Ty Hicks touchdown catch and Jarious Hogan TD run to score 17 unanswered and win 20-13.
Post St. Francis, Vandermade expressed hope that SI could put two excellent halves together at some point.
“You try to look at those things and say, ‘Hey, look, this is what we’re capable of doing if we do our job for 48 minutes,’” he said. “And we have yet to do that. Tonight, we played a good first half but didn’t put it together in the second half. But we point to those positives. We have to play 48 minutes and not flinch.”
The Wildcats still haven’t done it yet. But if they do, they’ll be a team to watch in the CCS playoffs. In the meantime, they still have their strong second halves to fall back on.
– Christian Babcock
MT. DIABLO: COACHING STAFF ROCKS FLY KICKS
The Mt. Diablo coaching staff wearing Nike sneakers during the Red Devils’ 49-0 victory over Berean Christian (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
At Mt. Diablo, no one – including the players – has better shoe game than the coaching staff.
Looking up and down the sideline, the Mt. Diablo coaches are rocking sneakers that are worth hundreds of dollars from retro Air Jordans to classic Nike Air Maxes.
“The game is fresh in them,” said head coach Fetuao Mua, who was wearing a pair of Metallic Red Nike Air Foamposite Ones. “They all played in college recently and they bring their own flavor to the game. The kids just picked up whatever we was putting down.”
– Nathan Canilao
SEQUOIA: RAVENS FINALLY GET HEALTHY
Just over a month ago, Sequoia’s season was on the brink of being lost. The Ravens lost four straight games to start the year, and with a tough league schedule ahead, the road to a PAL Ocean Division title wasn’t going to get any easier.
But since then, the Redwood City school has won four in a row, which includes victories over Half Moon Bay and Milpitas, to move into the league championship picture.
Coach Frank Mems Jr. credits having his full team available the last four games as the reason Sequoia has found success.
“We knew we just had to get healthy; we weren’t healthy to start the season,” Mems said. “It was really a feeling out process for the kids.”
Sequoia was most notably without star running back Jordan Crockett V for the first four weeks of the season as he was sidelined with an injury. But since he has returned, he has racked up 612 yards and seven touchdowns with the Ravens winning all games he has played.
Sequoia was put in a tough spot to start the season as Mems was hired in June and its football field had to undergo renovations throughout the summer, adding more pressure to a team that didn’t have its impact players early on.
But the Ravens have stayed resilient.
“It’s been a great maturation period, working with them,” Mems said. “We really inherited their grittiness and they’ve really bought in.”
– Nathan Canilao
PEEK AHEAD TO WEEK 10
Friday
Gunn (8-0) at Saratoga (6-1-1), 7 p.m.: A Gunn victory would set up a winner-takes-all matchup against Jefferson in the season finale.
No. 3 St. Francis (7-1) at No. 7 Valley Christian (5-3), 7 p.m.: St. Francis can clinch at least a share of the league title with a win.
No. 11 Wilcox (6-2) at No. 6 Los Gatos (7-1), 7 p.m.: A rematch of the CCS Division I title game, and the de facto league championship matchup for the PAL Bay Division title.
No. 12 Acalanes (6-2) at Campolindo (4-4), 7 p.m.: Acalanes can stay on pace to capture its first unshared league title in decades with a victory over Campolindo.
James Logan (3-5) at No. 15 Bishop O’Dowd (6-2), 7 p.m.: Logan shouldn’t be any pushover for O’Dowd, with the Colts winners of three of four in league play.
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Cameron Palma leads San Mateo to crucial win over Half Moon Bay
No. 22 Amador Valley (5-3) at No. 20 Monte Vista (5-3), 7 p.m.: A matchup of Division I bound quarterbacks in Monte Vista’s Brayden Turner (Fresno State) and Amador’s Tristan Tia (Oregon State).
No. 1 De La Salle (7-1) at No. 9 California (7-1), 7 p.m.: What can California’s Jhadis Luckey (25 total touchdowns) do against NorCal’s best team?
Castlemont (3-4) at Oakland Tech (5-3), 7 p.m.: Oakland Tech has looked like the OAL’s second-best team in league play, defeating Skyline and Fremont by a combined score of 94-0 over the past two weeks.
Saturday
No. 8 Serra (4-4) at No. 10 Archbishop Riordan (4-4), 1:30 p.m.: A year older and wiser, can Riordan avenge last season’s 53-7 shellacking in San Mateo?
Burlingame (6-2) at Capuchino (7-1), 7 p.m.: The best teams in the PAL De Anza Division. Capuchino will lock up the league title if it wins and The King’s Academy loses.