Cal head coach Eric Billeci said his team would find out really fast at Friday's scrimmage where it stood.
Public address announcer Macio Henry repeatedly referred to the Powerhouse Jamboree as the gathering of four of the top teams in the state of California. Both seemed to be correct in a high-quality, hard-hitting four-way scrimmage at Los Medanos College Friday night.
Billeci could not have been more pleased with how his team began its portion of the jamboree, as its offense took the field against the first team De La Salle defense. Two quick passes from returning quarterback Cameron Owen moved the Grizzlies inside the Spartan 10-yard line, and two plays later they had reached the end zone, surprising many along the silver-and-green sideline.
It would not, however, be a sign of things to come, as the Spartan defense stiffened for the remaining 15 minutes of the session, led by a hard-charging and fundamentally sound defensive line
For a while, De La Salle showcased an interior defensive line featuring junior Khalil McKenzie and senior Sumner Houston side by side. The result was predictable – despite a few nice completions from Owen, the Grizzlies struggled to move the ball for the remainder of the period, finding very little success on the ground against the front seven of the Spartans.
On the other side of the field, Pittsburg was busy reaching the end zone against James Logan. Senior Harris Ross ripped off a 40-yard touchdown run, and junior quarterback Keith Walker showcased some play-making ability, completing play-action passes and using his feet to lead the offense to four scores in the 17-minute period.
The Pirates' defense then continued the early success started by the offense, holding the Colts scoreless for the first nine minutes of the period. Logan reached the end zone just once -- on a pistol zone read play -- despite limited playing time in the period for Pittsburg defensive captain Noah Palega.
After giving up one score on defense to start the scrimmage, the De La Salle offense took the field intent on showing their league rivals a few new wrinkles in the Spartans' arsenal.
Showing off more shotgun and spread formations than they typically utilize, quarterback Chris Williams showed that he is ready to lead the offense to new heights this season. The muscular senior set the tone for the period when he broke loose on a scramble, running over a Grizzlies defender en route to a 20-yard gain.
That play set up their first score a minute later, as John Velasco took the pitch from Williams and ran over a Cal safety into the end zone.
Their next three scores happened in a flurry, as Williams connected through the air to three different receivers. A quick slant resulted in one score, a tight end pop pass covered 40 yards on the next play for a third score, and track star Marquis Morris flew past Cal's secondary to haul in a deep play-action post route for another tally.
By the time the 17-minute period was over, the Spartans had reached the end zone five times.
The top matchup of the evening happened during the second session, as Pittsburg and De La Salle squared off, renewing a rivalry that has continued to brew across four decades now. Pittsburg quickly showed the Spartans, and a nearly packed home side of the junior college bleachers, that they intended to play a physical brand of football.
Harris Ross broke three would-be tackles on an off-tackle power play, gaining 14 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Two plays later, Ross headed outside, broke another tackle, and outran the De La Salle secondary into the end zone.
The Pirates had a golden opportunity to put the ball in the end zone on the very next play, but Walker, playing in his first high school football contest, overthrew an open receiver in the end zone off a play-action design.
Walker bounced back, though, completing a screen pass and keeping the ball on a naked bootleg to get the Pirates down to the Spartans' 5-yard line. Ross took it from there, running through the arms of two defenders into the end zone once more.
The Spartans defense tightened over the final eight minutes of the period, however, as both teams allowed their second and third-team units to get plenty of playing time.
Offensively, the Spartans reminded Pittsburg that they, too, liked to play a physical brand of football.
De La Salle used a mixture of veer plays and play-action passes to move the ball in chunks, culminating in a 1-yard score on a speed option play.
A few minutes later, Williams threw for another score, this time on a Spartan trademark – the quick post off the play-action dive look. Williams continued to set the tone for the De La Salle offense, taking off on a scramble and running over members of the Pirate secondary in the process. An outside veer play resulted in a short touchdown, their third and final score of the period, allowing the Spartans to outscore the Pirates, 3-2.
On the other side of the field, Cal and James Logan waged a mostly back-and-forth battle outside of the red zone, with two early scores by Cal's offense providing the only tallies for either team.
As the starters mostly rested during the final periods for all four teams, a few obvious conclusions were in place. De La Salle once again appears to have improved, and will be expected to win all of its games en route to another state playoff bowl title.
Pittsburg has an extremely physical and hungry group, blending experience and leadership with youthful talent, and not only can be expected to compete for another BVAL title, but also possibly go unbeaten in the regular season.
Cal High is once again a solid, fundamental team with a strong line, hard-running backs, and an accurate quarterback. It will be interesting to see it square off with teams such as San Ramon Valley and Monte Vista in what could be an epic EBAL season.
And James Logan, while breaking in many new starters after losing so many seniors off last year's NCS runner-up squad, may have some growing pains with a tough schedule early, but appears to have enough talent to make a run towards the playoffs and be formidable by late in the season.
Nate Smith is a former head coach at Liberty. He has written this article exclusively for Prep2Prep. You can follow him on Twitter @coachnatesmith.
