It looks like the BVAL had a few more twists and turns left in what’s been a zany season all around San Jose.
Oak Grove’s bid for a fifth straight league title is alive and well after a 35-34 win over Lincoln, Independence has one last test to try to complete an unbeaten year and the West Valley Division and its lone automatic playoff bid comes down to one final game after an upset that nobody could have seen coming.
There are five teams within a game of first place in the Mt. Hamilton Division, but at least the league’s playoff picture is simple. Lincoln remains committed to playing in the Big Bone Game on Thanksgiving rather than going to the postseason like the rest of the section, meaning that a league title would be an ultimate achievement for the Lions. Since Lincoln isn’t going to the postseason, the other four teams in the mix for the title will have the league’s playoff berths and be spread amongst the three Open Divisions based on enrollment.
The title, though, is much less straightforward. The simplest part is that Oak Grove would be the champion with a win, even if there’s a share for first with Lincoln, by virtue of last week’s victory, in which Malique Sumler scored the go-ahead touchdown with three minutes left to win a captivating back-and-forth affair in which neither team led by more than eight points.
Leland, Live Oak and Piedmont Hills all sit a game back at 4-2, with Live Oak comfortably beating Santa Teresa, 35-7. Leland topped Piedmont Hills 42-35 as Carson Yates hit Trevor Johannes for the winning 27-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left. The only way for any of the three teams to claim a share of the title would be for both Oak Grove and Lincoln to lose this week. Live Oak hosts Oak Grove, while Lincoln will head to Piedmont Hills for a massive clash in styles, with the Lions’ deep rushing game against a Pirate team led by dual-threat quarterback Gabriel Reclusado. Leland, in theory, has a much easier game, with a trip to last-place Westmont, but with the Chargers posed to entire a WCAL-heavy Division II field, the road ahead is anything but easy.
Independence and Overfelt have locked up the two top spots in the Santa Teresa Division, with the 76ers at a perfect 9-0 overall and 6-0 in league play. Overfelt has just one loss, which came against Del Mar, and with a win Friday at Independence, the Royals would be able to spoil the Sixers’ perfect season and split the league title. With the head-to-head victory, Overfelt would be the true champion, effectively making it a winner-take-all game. Wilow Glen (6-3, 4-2) and Del Mar (6-3, 3-3) are each expected to reach the postseason as well in what’s been one of the best “B” divisions ever since the section introduced power leagues.
For all the complexity up top, the West Valley Division is a simple race, even for all the parity within the BVAL’s lowest division. Hill hosts Mt. Pleasant in a winner-take-all game on Friday, with the victor claiming the league championship and reaching the postseason while the loser will be handing in equipment next week.
With a deep ground attack and a defense that’s allowed 15.4 points per game, Hill looked to be one of the favorites in the league, and the Falcons dropped their three nonleague contests but have been almost impenetrable against West Valley opponents, allowing no more than 14 points in any of those games. However, the inability to score on Friday proved costly in a completely unexpected 12-3 loss to Evergreen Valley (3-6, 3-3).
Like the Falcons, Mt. Pleasant lost all three nonleague games, but coming off a 1-9 season last year, not much was expected of the Cardinals. A league-opening win over San Jose got the first win out of the way, but after that, a loss to San Jose made it look like another rebuilding year for the Cardinals. Since then, they’ve rattled off four straight wins, all by at least 13 points, and they’ve put up at least 32 in each of those wins behind the legs of Noah Cruz, a league MVP candidate. Now, the Cards have a chance to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Though Hill has been the more highly-touted team this season, it’s not like the Falcons have been juggernauts for a long time themselves. Their last playoff berth came in 2013, and they went winless in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
