The prep football season is only about six weeks away, but it's never too early to take a peek at some of the more interesting pre-league games on the CCS schedule:
Manteca vs. Wilcox, 4:30 p.m., Aug. 29, Levi's Stadium -- Wilcox was destined to play at the San Francisco 49ers' brand new home if it could get a waiver from the CCS allowing it to play a game before the normal, first allowable contest. That waiver was granted overwhelmingly by CCS schools, including the SCVAL reps who unanimously thought it to be a great idea. And it is. Regardless of how strong either team is -- and Wilcox has been tough in recent years -- this figures to be one of the biggest events ever for Wilcox athletics, getting to play in one of the first football games at the Niners' billion-dollar, state-of-the-art football temple. Manteca will be no less excited.
“They can get on a big stage under the lights," Wilcox coach Dan Brown said.“It’s just a football game, but we understand the magnitude of it. What a neat way to start up a high school football season.”
Wilcox narrowly defeated host Manteca last season. This game was originally scheduled to be played a week later at Wilcox until the 49ers came calling with an offer to play at their new digs. (De La Salle will meet Jesuit-Carmichael in the nightcap on this grand day at Levi's).
“I think both teams are run-orientated," Brown said. "We did lose a couple of key players from last year, but we have a corral of running backs. Adam Hernandez has big-play potential. Manteca is physical. There’s a bit of a revenge factor [since we beat them last year].”
Mitty at Los Gatos -- 7 p.m., Sept. 5: Mitty won this showdown 28-14 last season at Foothill College. But Los Gatos went on to defeat St. Francis 31-14 in the CCS Division II title game and returns star running back Joey Wood. The Monarchs were 9-0 to start last season and finished as WCAL co-champs, with its only two losses to CCS Open champ Serra. Mitty is loaded with returnees and outstanding players.
“We opened up with them last year," Los Gatos coach Mark Krail said. "It was quite a way to get out of the gate. They’re a tough team. They have some good athletes, so It’s a good learning experience to gear up for our league schedule.”
Regarding scheduling such a strong opponent, Krail said: “You don’t want to kill your team in the preseason, but you want to stretch them in the competition level.”
St. Francis vs. Palma -- 7:30 p.m., Sept. 12, Rabobank Stadium (Salinas): The Lancers had an up-and-down season in 2013, with wins against Palma (26-0) and Serra (41-34), but three WCAL losses by seven points or fewer. However, the Lancers seem to be on the rise with the addition of transfer four-star lineman Thomas Toki from the state of Washington and highly touted quarterback Kamalii Akina from Texas -- though Akina has not been announced by second-year coach Greg Calcagno as the starting quarterback. Palma gets the Lancers in its swanky, second-year, home digs (Rabobank) and will hope to ambush the brown and gold.
“We schedule those types of games to find out where we are," second-year St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. "We just need to build off of what we were able to do last year.”
Added Calcagno, son of legendary former Lancer coach Ron Calcagno: “We think the WCAL is one of the toughest in Northern California. And to play teams of that caliber, that will get us tested. They’re very tough to beat, but that’s what we sign up for.”
St. Ignatius at Terra Nova -- 7 p.m., Sept. 12: Terra Nova traipsed up to the Sunset last season and, behind the arm of then-junior QB Anthony Gordon, rolled the Wildcats 50-33. Gordon threw for 403 yards and three touchdowns. Iconic Tiger coach Bill Gray is retired now, but TN shouldn't miss a beat under former offensive coordinator Tim Adams who is now leading the Tigers. Adams has Gordon back to operate the Tiger spread, but will face stiff opposition in S.I. led by its own outstanding QB, Ryan Hagfeldt.
“First of all, John Regalia is one of the top high school football coaches in California," Adams said. "His team is always well-prepared and this will be the third year in a row we’ve played S.I. The Wildcats will be highly motivated and well prepared."
Terra Nova has lost 20 of 22 starters and Adams knows his young players will have to mature early.
“We’re not big, we’re not exceptionally strong, but we work extremely hard," he said. "We’ve got five young coaches that have come in and done an outstanding job. That’s something that’s been a real positive note. We’re kind of in a reloading phase. We’re going for a sixth (consecutive PAL title). We schedule top-notch teams and SI is no exception.”
Despite, the talent loss, Terra Nova is strong throughout is three-level program and draws from an area that ranges from south of Pacifica to Daly City to the north. Gray's successor is cautiously optimistic.
“We’ll have the defense ready to play," Adams said. "It’s been an exciting time. Our summer has proved that we’re going to be OK and hopefully we’ll transition well into the fall camp. I can’t make any promises, but we’ll compete.”
Palo Alto at San Benito -- 7 p.m., Sept. 12: Palo Alto begins the coach Jake Halas era with a formidable pre-league schedule of Sequoia and San Benito on the road and Mitty and Palma at home. Paly won this game 28-7 last season, but finished 6-6 in the final season for QB Keller Chryst (now at Stanford) and coach Earl Hansen (retired). The Vikings were young on the line last season and should be improved in that area. San Benito defeated Pioneer (31-14) and Alvarez (37-7) last season and had an eight-game unbeaten streak as recently as 2011, and hopes to improve on its 7-6 record of a season ago.
Milpitas at Valley Christian, 7:30 p.m., Sept. 19: Milpitas lost a lot of talent with QB Ronnie Reed, running back Squally Canada and WR Tre Hartley now graduated. But the Trojans always have size and skill. They will be sorely tested by the host Warriors who will contend for a WCAL title, led by Texas commits -- and brothers -- Kirk Johnson and Collin Johnson. Kirk is a running back and Collin a receiver. The Warriors have plenty of other weapons such as running backs Tre McCloud and Mark Quinby. It was Quinby who bedeviled the host Trojans last season in a 48-24 Warrior victory.
Aptos at Granite Bay, 7 p.m., Oct. 3 -- Former Aptos two-sport star Ernie Cooper -- beginning his second stint as the Granite Bay coach -- hosts his alma mater in what promises to be an interesting showdown. Aptos is the defending CCS Division III champion. Granite Bay is always stout. Not only should the football be good, but the nostalgia will overflow as Cooper stands on the opposite sideline from the school where he was a star baseball catcher and two-way football standout.
Cooper, the former Harbor of Santa Cruz coach, was Granite Bay's first mentor and established it as a power, winning 10 league titles, five section titles and a victory in the 2012 CIF-State Division I playoff bowl against Long Beach Poly.
Cooper was named the Cal-Hi Sports and MaxPreps coach of the year in 2012. His teams have traditionally run the fly offense popularized by former Santa Cruz County coaches Phil Maas, Sonny Stupek and Roger Sugimoto (offensive coordinator) at North Monterey County and Mark Speckman at Gilroy.
John Murphy contributed to this report.
