With all action for Week 1 in the books, it’s time for a quick look at the weekend that was around the North Coast Section.
- With Pittsburg’s loss to Serra on Saturday, the Bay Valley Athletic League went 1-5 for the week and is now 3-9 as a league for the season. But while it might be a down year, some of the results have to do with the tough scheduling that is a trademark for the league.
- Despite Napa’s overtime loss to Nevada Union on Friday, it has still been a banner start for the Napa-area teams. Vintage, American Canyon, Justin-Siena and St. Helena all cruised to victories this week, meaning the five schools have a combined record of 9-1 after the first two weeks.
- The Diablo Athletic League and East Bay Athletic League continue to flex a little muscle. Las Lomas’ win over Bishop O’Dowd was the high mark for the DAL’s Foothill Division on Friday, but Acalanes’ win over Sacred Heart Cathedral and Miramonte’s bounce-back victory over Fortuna also register as solid victories. In fact, the DAL-Foothill went 5-0 this week as Campolindo also rolled past Deer Valley and Alhambra edged Northgate.
The EBAL-Mountain Division had both Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley out of action this week, but the rest of the league took care of business. De La Salle thumped Central Catholic-Modesto, Foothill raced past Heritage, California held off Antioch and Clayton Valley turned back Turlock. Valley Division member Amador Valley also beat a top opponent for the second straight week, this time dispatching Milpitas.
- Recognition for best turnaround this week has to go to Washington-Fremont. The Huskies were routed and blanked by Encinal in their opener, and faced an Alameda team which did not allow a point to Oakland Military in its season-opening win. So all Washington did was explode offensively in a 47-27 win over the Hornets, led by 308 yards and five touchdowns on the ground by Douglas Turner, a win which indicates the Huskies could definitely be a top-three team in the MVAL.
- Another top turnaround award has to go to El Molino. The Lions were manhandled by St. Bernard’s in their opener, but scored in three different quarters and blanked Sonoma Valley on Friday, 21-0. Junior quarterback Weston Lewis threw for 232 yards and ran for two scores in the win.
- As far as individual performances go, it’s hard to top the nights had by Foothill’s Pete Montini and St. Bernard’s senior Will Omey. Montini scored four first-half touchdowns in the Falcons’ win over Heritage, while Omey threw for 308 yards and six touchdowns as the Crusaders rolled past Hoopa Valley, while running for 90 more yards.
- When American fell victim to Novato last week, snapping the Hornets’ 20-game losing streak, it was doubtful that the Eagles would earn a victory of their own. They didn’t wait long to dispel that notion, however, winning 21-6 against a Tennyson team which shared a league title last year but is off to an 0-2 this season, with bad losses to Newark Memorial and American.
- Oakland Military Institute is finding that the transition to varsity football can be a difficult one, as the Grizzlies were blanked for the second straight week, this time falling 40-0 to Mills-Millbrae.
- As far as the scoreboard is concerned, Piner has been the most dominant program to start the season, competition notwithstanding. The Prospectors routed Novato on Saturday, 53-0, one week after blitzing Cloverdale, 55-0. Of course, the win over the Hornets looks a little more impressive considering American’s win over Tennyson.
- We don’t normally pay a lot of attention to eight-man football, but the start to the season by Cornerstone Christian-Antioch has to register with a few people. The Cougars beat South Fork 68-12 to open the season and followed that up with a 76-6 thrashing of Round Valley this Friday.
- Emerging names to keep an eye on: San Leandro’s Amari Roberson, Tamalais’ Aidan Newell, Acalanes’ Brady Huchingson, St. Vincent de Paul’s Kai Hall, Washington-Fremont’s Douglas Turner, Santa Rosa’s Randy Clay and Kennedy-Richmond’s Gonzalo Ambriz.
