I'm 400 miles away from the Bay Area right now, visiting what they call the Inland Empire. But last weekend's CCS action made an impact and here's what I know:
ALL ABOUT TEAM FOR MICHAEL ALVA: It happened with 10 seconds left in the third quarter of Friday night's game. Fremont offensive lineman Michael Alva went down following a play and didn't get back up. He was carted away with what was later diagnosed to be a broken bone in his back -- but not before getting some love from his teammates and raising his arm to the Firebird crowd and his teammates -- indirectly helping Fremont to a 22-12 victory. Alva, coach Jake Messina said on Sunday, is out for the season. His contributions will be remembered, though.
--PLACE LOOKS THE SAME: I thought it over and decided my visit to the Woodside football field on Friday night was my first since 1973. Leroy Klozeman was playing for Serra back then and played a game at Woodside en route to earning a scholarship to Washington State. Now his son Colin Kloezeman is playing defensive end for Woodside and doing a nice job.
THE HAKA IS COOL: A few years ago at the Riverside Press-Enterprise, I reported how the Redlands East Valley football team did the haka before a game. It went on to win like 50-0. Then the athletic director for the losing school wrote an email all bent out of shape because he thought the traditional ancestral war cry of New Zealand disrespected his team. Uh, OK.
Fremont did the haka after its win against Woodside and it seemed harmless to me -- the difference perhaps being the Firebirds performed it on its own sideline, away from the other team. Seemed like they enjoyed it and the other team was not offended and so why not? Would now like to see Sacred Heart Cathedral break into a little River Dance.
MERCURY WILL ENJOY DOWNTOWN SAN JOSE: As the Merc's Darren Sabedra detailed on his blog the other day, the Media News institution is leaving its old digs where it had been since 1967 and is moving into offices in the downtown area. I lived in the downtown myself for 1 1/2 years until relocating north and have some observations.
The food is excellent, with all manner of upscale restaurants to suit many different tastes and there's always a personal favorite, Pizza My Heart, which is a good start. City Bagels was my fav for coffee and there's a youthful vibe in the area with San Jose State so close. Welcome to the neighborhood, Merc, though I've already come and gone.
LOS GATOS HAS CHARACTER: The Wildcats fell to St. Mary's-Stockton 35-32 when a last-ditch drive ended with a turnover near the goal line. Los Gatos had already rallied to within three points with a few minutes left by scoring a touchdown and recovering an onside kick.
Should we be surprised that a team coached by Mark Krail and that includes Joey Wood, Dru Brown and Jack Jarnigan wouldn't quit when things got tough? Nope. That's why Los Gatos is a threat to win another section title and can't be counted out of any game no matter how far it's behind or how much time is left.
THE MONARCHS ARE BACK: If they ever left, that is. It was hard to know what to make of Mitty after an opening loss to Los Gatos and an easy win against Palo Alto. But then the Monarchs downed formidable Pittsburg -- the last NorCal team to beat De La Salle (1992) -- 13-7 at Foothill College.
Luke Allen scored the winning TD with 2:17 left with a 5-yard run and earlier had a key interception.
Said Allen to the San Mateo Times' Glenn Reeves: “Pittsburg is a big team, physical and strong, but our linemen started dominating. Conditioning played a big role."
OAK GROVE WILL BE OK: Team records are important to pollsters, I suppose. Some teams are 3-0 heading into league after playing weak schedules. By contrast, Oak Grove is 0-3 after losing to powers St. Francis, Valley Christian and San Benito and Serra is 1-2 with losses to state heavyweights De La Salle and Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks.
More important than records is how teams have performed against strong teams, the health of players, how much potential firepower a team has, etc. I think winless Oak Grove will be fine in the BVAL-Mt. Hamilton where Santa Teresa, Willow Glen, Piedmont Hills and Pioneer all head into league with 2-1 records. The Eagles may not win this division, but they'll be
competitive.
WCAL OPENS WITH DOOZIES: Valley Christian and Serra -- teams mentioned by various media outlets as pre-season favorites -- meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday on the hilltop; unbeaten Sacred Heart Cathedral travels to Foothill College to take on Mitty; and on Saturday two unbeaten teams in Bellarmine and St. Ignatius clash up in San Francisco.
Valley Christian showed it's vulnerable with an off game against powerful Milpitas. defending CCS Open champion Serra is still dangerous, but star running back Kava Cassidy (broken collarbone) is out; and Mitty (2-1) has played a tougher schedule than SHC, but never count a team coached by Ken Peralta, the last man to take Riordan to a WCAL title. All intriguing games.
