Two weeks are in the books, and the top teams are already beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
League play starts for the East Bay Athletic League, while the rest of the section continues to play in some elite non-league battles. Here, we look at the top games from within NCS schools. And don’t forget to also check out Harold Abend’s NorCal Games of the Week feature.
No. 15 Foothill (0-1) at No. 2 San Ramon Valley (1-0), Friday, 7 pm
One of the biggest EBAL clashes happens right out of the gate, as the Wolves look to live up to pre-season billing against a Foothill team also expected to be strong this year.
One of the big question marks all of a sudden in play for the visiting Falcons is how long it will take Fresno State commit Ben Wooldridge to recover from a sprained shoulder suffered in Foothill’s season-opening loss to San Leandro. If he still can’t go, then AJ Duval will get his first start after throwing for 160 yards and two touchdowns in relief of Wooldridge in the opener.
San Ramon Valley, meanwhile, displayed a stifling defense in its season-opening 27-7 win over Tracy, who put up 51 points last week against Buhach Colony. It also had a balanced offensive attack, as Clark Baker threw for 174 yards and two scores, while Tristan Sinclair and Daniel Medley combined to run for 156 yards.
Foothill has won three straight in the series, including a tense 33-27 win last season. San Ramon Valley won five in a row previous to the last three meetings.
No. 6 Antioch (2-0) at No. 13 San Leandro (1-1), Friday, 7 pm
The Panthers are getting it done with defense and a balanced offensive attack, orchestrated by junior quarterback Willem Karnthong. A season-opening shutout win over Lincoln-Stockton now looks even more impressive after the Trojans hung 47 points on Pitman-Turlock last week, one week after Pitman had blanked Napa.
The trio of Karnthong, leading rusher Dalaan Green, and Omari Harris has combined for nearly 600 yards on the ground in the first two games. Gaudie Campbell leads the team in receiving, with five catches for 105 yards.
San Leandro, meanwhile, lost some luster from its season-opening win over Foothill when the Pirates fell on the road to Liberty last week, 28-21. For the second straight week, Alvonte Thornton had a big game, but the Lions were able to contain Jermaine Jackson, something Foothill was not able to. The Pirates were also missing quarterback Qiyam Islam in the loss to Liberty.
Antioch has won all three recent meetings between the two programs, with a 26-3 win in 2015 serving as the closest game of the three.
No. 20 El Cerrito (2-0) at No. 14 Campolindo (1-1), Friday, 7 pm
Campolindo continues its rugged non-league schedule against an El Cerrito team which is established as the early favorite for the TCAL-Rock this year. The Gauchos rolled past an athletic Ygnacio Valley team in its opener, before slugging past De Anza last week. The defense has allowed a total of 21 points in the two games.
The host Cougars, meanwhile, faced MCAL power Marin Catholic in the opener, falling to the Wildcats, before senior quarterback John Torchio put on a show in last week’s 47-28 win over St. Ignatius. Torchio threw for 298 yards and a touchdown, while running for 109 yards and three more scores.
These programs have not met since 2013, but featured a back-and-forth series in the seven meetings they had between 2008 and 2013. The Cougars won four of their seven games during that stretch, but El Cerrito won the last game between the teams, a 49-34 win in the 2013 NCS Division III semifinals. The Gauchos won the section title that year.
No. 22 St. Bernard’s (2-0) at Moreau Catholic (0-2), Friday, 7 pm
The unbeaten Crusaders make the long trek down from Eureka in a possible preview of a Division IV playoff game down the road. St. Bernard’s has raced past two higher-division programs to open the season, scoring a combined 84 points in wins over El Molino and Casa Grande, while the host Mariners have dropped a pair of games to defending state champions, St. Patrick-St. Vincent and McClymonds.
“After watching game film, I can tell you that Moreau Catholic is the best 0-2 team I have seen,” said St. Bernard’s coach Matt Tomlin.
St. Bernard’s features its prolific passing attack, led by NCS passing leader TJ Campbell, who has 714 yards and eight touchdowns through two games. He will likely find a bigger challenge this week, facing a Moreau secondary which includes players such as LJ Anderson, Josh Pullum, Maxwell Anderson, Adonis Forrest, and Fresh Ison.
The Mariners, meanwhile, are looking to get their offense untracked after scoring just seven points in the first two games, facing a pair of elite defenses. Junior Adi Anderson has 169 yards on the ground in the two losses, while Forrest has been the team’s top receiver, with five catches for 71 yards.
This is the first meeting between the programs. In a side note, Tomlin was the offensive coordinator for the 2011 Windsor team which went undefeated and won the NCS Division II title. That team was led by head coach Rob Gatrell, who is currently the assistant head coach at Moreau Catholic, under former teammate Andrew Cotter.
Ferndale (2-0) at Fortuna (1-1), Friday, 7:30 pm
If you are looking for a rivalry game packed with history and emotion, look no further than the annual Milk Can Game between these two programs, separated physically by a short picturesque stretch along Route 211, just off Highway 101, north of the Avenue of the Giants.
The rivalry dates back more than 100 years, and pits two towns full of pride and familiarity with one another. This year, the visiting Wildcats are led by new head coach Justin Griffith, who took over for longtime coach Kim Jorgensen. Griffith was a longtime assistant at the school where he played before taking the top spot.
Fortuna, meanwhile, is led by 10th-year head coach Mike Benbow, who is also the school’s athletic director. Quarterback Zac Claus had a strong outing in the Huskies’ 34-21 win over South Medford, and they also carry with them the emotion and support for teammate Bailey Foley, who was able to be brought of his coma early this week but is still hospitalized with swelling on the brain after suffering a stroke.
Fortuna has won the last four rivalry games, but Ferndale won nine of the previous 10 games prior to that.
Best of the Rest
Las Lomas (1-1) heads to Northgate (1-1) for the annual Battle of the Creek. Head coach Doug Longero has the visiting Knights looking improved in his return to the programs, while Northgate shook off a season-opening loss to Damonte Ranch-Reno with a 38-36 win over Deer Valley last week. The host Broncos have won two straight and four of the last five in this rivalry, that prior to 2010 was dominated by Las Lomas.
Livermore (2-0) has won its first two games for the third straight season, but things get much more difficult this week in the Cowboys’ EBAL opener, hosting California (1-0). The Grizzlies routed Logan in their opener, and have won at least 13 straight games in the series with Livermore.
