When the Central Coast Section Division II brackets came out, there wasn’t much separating the top teams from those competing for the more prestigious Open Division title.
No. 1 St. Francis, No. 2 Mitty and No. 6 Wilcox have all been ranked in the Prep2Prep CCS Top 10 for most of the season. And while it wasn’t much of a surprise that the top two seeds cruised in the first round, Wilcox was not expected to make such quick work with a very strong Christopher squad. But perhaps the talented Chargers are peaking at the right time.
No. 5 Leland at No. 1 St. Francis, Friday (7 pm)
The host Lancers have acquainted themselves with the BVAL over the past several years and now get another shot at a BVAL team for the right to play for the Division II title.
In 2013, St. Francis began its run to the Division II title with a win over BVAL-WV champ Andrew Hill. Two seasons ago, the Lancers opened their title run with a victory over BVAL-WV champ Overfelt.
And in 2011, St. Francis defeated Oak Grove in the first round of the Open Division playoffs before losing in the semifinals.
In Leland, the Lancers will be facing a team that has struggled to maintain consistency. At no point during the season have the Chargers won more than two games in a row, finishing 4-3 in the BVAL-Mount Hamilton Division and 6-5 overall.
In the past few seasons, Leland featured a very balanced attack, but this year the Chargers have been extremely run-heavy, averaging nearly 300 yards per game on the ground compared with under 80 per game through the air.
Senior quarterback Kevin Cance (1,187 yards rushing, 19 TDs) is a very good runner and fellow senior Chuck Culberson (1,064, 12) provides the power.
St. Francis is also a predominantly running team, led by junior Lutoviko Ahoia (725 yards, 6 TDs), who picked up the slack when senior Devin Hurtado (436, 6) was limited primarily to defensive duty in the middle of the season.
PREDICTION: St. Francis 27, Leland 13
No. 6 Wilcox vs. No. 2 Archbishop Mitty at Foothill College, Friday (7 pm)
The regular season did not go entirely as planned for the sixth-seeded Chargers, but talent has never been a question with this group and they might be peaking at the right time.
Wilcox was originally scheduled to play its first game of the season at Levi’s Stadium, but ended up having to host Manteca, losing 20-14. Then after winning its next five games – including the re-scheduled Levi’s date against crosstown rival Santa Clara – Wilcox proceeded to drop three of its next four, including a stunning 35-19 loss to Fremont.
But after a solid effort against No. 1 Los Gatos that resulted in a 28-13 defeat, the Chargers controlled the game against a very good Christopher team, winning 28-13. In that contest, the vaunted Wilcox secondary picked off four passes, including one by junior linebacker Jacob Kenney, who also contributed two sacks.
For the season, the Chargers intercepted a whopping 26 passes – including seven by junior Manu Turituri – and returned six of them for touchdowns.
The Wilcox secondary may find that difficult against the run-oriented Monarchs, who are quarterbacked by a self-described linebacker in senior Brett Foley (682 passing yards, 7 TDs; 320 rushing yards, 6 TDs). Senior Dakari Monroe (326 rushing yards, 264 receiving yards, 7 total TDs) is a big-play threat.
PREDICTION: Mitty 24, Wilcox 13
