The line-up last week was pretty good, and you can’t replace a De La Salle against Folsom match-up, but this week’s group of four top games in Northern California may be just as good considering we’re switching the format before league play begins from inter-section match-ups to the top game from each section.
That, of course comes with one exception, as the marquee game still has to involve De La Salle and the Spartans are in another tough inter-section affair. That coupled with Folsom putting its CIF Sac-Joaquin Section dominance on the line in that section’s game of the week has this week looking like last week in an “Is this the week Volume II” approach.
Buchanan-Clovis (3-1) at De La Salle (3-1), Friday, 7:30 pm
Fending off teams that want to put an end to the Northern California dominance of De La Salle is nothing new, and the 302-game un-beaten streak since 1991 does not include teams from the CIF Central Section, and that’s why the streak is chronicled as against teams north of Fresno since Sparta has faltered twice to Fresno area teams in the past nearly three decades.
Along with two ties during the streak of dominance the Spartans went down twice to early 2000’s CIF Central Section powerhouse Clovis West-Fresno. The bottom line, however, is that was then and this is now.
Last year De La Salle was coming off a nationally televised victory over Nevada powerhouse Bishop Gorman-Las Vegas and traveled to Clovis to face a then Cal-Hi Sports No. 20 ranked Buchanan. The Cal-Hi Sports No. 3 Spartans won 31-24 after leading 14-0 and 28-13 at halftime. Buchanan held De La Salle to three points in the second half but most of the last two quarters then sophomore quarterback Dorian Hale was out with an injury.
The Spartans came away from their impressive 42-27 victory at Folsom with only some “bumps” according to Coach Justin Alumbaugh, and Hale is firing on all cylinders.
Against Folsom, the 6-1, 190-pound junior raced 69-yards to pay dirt from the vaunted veer on the Spartans first drive and eventually ended up with three more rushing TDs on runs of one, two and a 12-yarder on third and goal that gave the Spartans a 42-14 lead before Folsom made a final fourth quarter run. He finished with eight carries for 97 yards.
The question is can the running game of the Cal-Hi Sports No. 3 ranked Spartans that ended up rushing for 288 yards against Folsom get the job done against Cal-Hi Sports No. 23 Buchanan, or will Alumbaugh have to open it up and pass like he contemplated but didn’t do last week? Hale threw a fair amount in the season-opening loss to nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas of Florida, and also against Central Catholic-Modesto, but didn’t have to in a blowout of St. Francis-Mountain View and last week against Folsom he was 5-of-7 for 55 yards.
“We’ve thrown an average of about 20 times a game so far so I’d expect that again tomorrow,” said Alumbaugh on Thursday morning. “We didn’t throw much last week because we found a mismatch up front and wanted to control the clock and ended up with a time possession of almost two to one over Folsom in the first half.
Speaking of up front, last year’s game at Buchanan was won up front although Alumbaugh pulled no punches about how he felt about the Spartans performance, and spoke almost as if they had lost. However, that’s the tradition at De La Salle starting with legendary coach and movie man Bob Ladouceur and carried on by his protégé Alumbaugh. The coaching staff expects and demands total and absolute effort and execution, and the players know it before they ever step on the field.
“This year’s Buchanan looks similar to last year. Physical up front with athletes on the perimeter,” Alumbaugh remarked. “We need to play much better than last year. Our effort, execution and tackling were atrocious. It’s tough to watch that game to be honest.
Last year, Hale and 5-9, 185-pound senior running back Shamar Garrett both rushed for touchdown and 6-1, 185-pound senior wide receiver caught a TD pass from Hale.
Garrett was the workhorse against Folsom with 23 carries for 112 yards. Daley had two receptions for 35 yards.
To beat a quality opponent like Buchanan all three of the Spartans players mentioned will need to have solid games, along with other like James Coby. He had 16 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown.
When Alumbaugh mentioned atrocious tackling last year against Buchanan, some of the missed tackles were on running back Kendall Milton. He had all three Bears TDs and 108 yards rushing.
Buchanan is coming off a 19-17 victory over fellow CIF Central Section and Cal-Hi Sports No. 33 Liberty-Bakersfield. After falling behind 10-0 the Bears scored 19 unanswered points, but they did it without the 6-2, 208-pound Georgia-committed five star recruit Milton, and his status for return is still unknown.
First year Coach Jeff Dalbon and his boys opened with a 32-7 home loss to Narbonne-Harbor City, and although Narbonne is No. 7 in both major statewide rankings the Bears were at home, and this week they play a better team in De La Salle and coming into Concord and toppling Sparta will be a tall task, particularly without Milton. He played against Narbonne but according to local sources went out early in week two with an injury in a game Buchanan won 28-14 over Bullard-Fresno.
A loss by De La Salle would be a pretty big upset but not the end of the world. Is this the week it will happen? Not likely.
Cardinal Newman (3-0) versus Liberty (4-0), Saturday, 6:00 pm at Freedom
This is the second half of a home-and-home that Liberty won 31-14 on the road in Santa Rosa last year on a sloppy field, and this year’s game could be very interesting.
Prep2Prep North Coast Section No. 2 Liberty was dropped six notches in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings to No. 19 after struggling for the third straight week. Coach Ryan Partridge and his Lions barely hung on in a 19-14 win at Oakdale. They then won their Honor Bowl game 28-27 in overtime after P2P NCS No. 3 Clayton Valley-Concord missed an extra point, and finally last week they beat P2P NCS No. 4 Monte Vista-Danville 24-21 when a Mustangs last second field goal attempt bounced off the crossbar.
Senior running back Darrion Bartley rushed for 199 yards and a touchdown but Liberty still had to hold on once again.
Oregon-bound 6-6, 210-pound quarterback Jay Butterfield threw for over 300 yards in the season opening 49-24 win over Vacaville and just under 200 yards against Oakdale, but against Clayton Valley and Monte Vista he’s gone a combined 24-for-51 for 216 yards and two TDs and three interceptions.
“Jay hasn’t struggled. We have struggled,” said Partridge with an emphasis on the word we. “His mindset is as always. He wants to win and it doesn’t matter how. He’s our leader and he’s leading us to wins.”
It’s hard to argue with 4-0 and a state top 20 ranking but Cardinal Newman will be no pushover.
Whether Prep2Prep NCS No. 6 ranked Cardinal Newman is in the same league as Clayton Valley and Monte Vista is to be determined, but having seen them scrimmage Marin Catholic and seeing they are similar makes us understand why Liberty dropped in the state rankings.
Marin Catholic absolutely pummeled P2P CCS No. 8 Archbishop Mitty-San Jose and that team has a 47-31 road win over Palma-Salinas and Palma just went into The Corral at Oakdale and came away with a 28-14 victory.
Cardinal Newman is coming off a bye and is rested and pretty healthy. On defense the Cardinals will have to stop Butterfield from completing the long passes and try and contain Bartley.
On offense they will need a solid performance from their quarterback, 6-2, 193-pound senior Jackson Pavitt. Two weeks ago, in a tough environment at Placer-Auburn, Pavitt did the christening of Placer’s new field in a hard fought 30-27 victory in which he completed 28 of 38 passes for 272 yards and three TDs with no interceptions, and he rushed for 45 yards.
The favorite target for Pavitt and a player that is beginning to develop and blossom is 6-2, 175-pound junior wide receiver Tsion Nunnally. He had 10 receptions for 74 yards and two touchdowns.
Junior Shane Moran had 54 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving but he will need to produce for Newman this week.
This is a game that very well could be won in the trenches and Liberty, with 6-1, 265-pound two-way lineman Payton Zdroik leading the way, could have an advantage.
“Liberty is a really athletic and big team,” Cardinal Newman Coach Paul Cronin remarked. “Keys are we need to be great with our eye discipline and low pad level. Securing the ball on offense is big and also forcing some turnovers.”
The game is being played at Freedom like the first designated home game last week against Monte Vista that was played at cross-town Heritage. The Liberty stadium is undergoing a facelift with new bleachers, ticket office, snack shack, bathrooms and a weight room/field house. It is scheduled to be ready for the October 4 game with Antioch.
Folsom (2-1) at Oak Ridge (3-0), Friday, 7:00 pm
Is this the week Volume II certainly applies in this game as Folsom comes off two blowout wins over Jesuit-Carmichael and Antelope, and then a decent showing last week in a 42-27 loss to De La Salle to open Sierra Foothill League action where the Bulldogs have not lost since coming over from the Delta River League in 2014, a streak of 30 straight wins against opponents in what many consider the toughest league in Northern California.
In fact, since 2012 Folsom has only lost two games including the playoffs to a team from the SJS and that was a regular season loss to Sacramento and then a loss to St. Mary’s-Stockton in the Division I playoffs, both in 2016, so their dominance in the section has been impressive.
Unless De La Salle were to fold, first year Coach Paul Doherty and his boys are likely ticketed for a shot at a third straight CIF State 1-AA Bowl Game title if they win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs where they are the favorites.
Oak Ridge is the first team standing in their way, and while the Trojans have played Folsom close, including a 17-16 loss in 2016, last year was not close at all as the Bulldogs won in a 62-6 blowout.
Last week Oak Ridge didn’t play and won in a forfeit over Nevada Bishop Manogue so they should be rested while Folsom like most teams that face De La Salle are likely feeling it physically.
Even so, Folsom has the offensive weapons with the duo of 5-10, 190-pound senior running back Daniyel Ngata, who has two dozen D1 offers, and 6-1, 185-pound senior wide receiver Elijhah Badger, and he has 16 D1 offers. Quarterback Jake Reithmeier, a 6-1, 205-pound senior, had 321 yards and three TDs against De La Salle with two of them going to Badger who had 15 receptions for 175 yards.
Oak Ridge has been throwing the ball in its two games played with new starter and 6-2, 190-pound junior Justin Lamson throwing for 527 yards and seven TDs with no interceptions, but those opponents were Lincoln and Vacaville, and not Folsom.
Our Sac-Joaquin Section game of the week could very well be competitive but Folsom will be a considerable favorite despite being on the road.
Hillsdale (3-0) at Sacred Heart Prep (2-1), Saturday, 2:00 pm
Our Central Coast Section game of the week is the epitome of the so far topsy-turvy state of the section outside of the West Catholic Athletic League.
Sacred Heart Prep was looking impressive after rolling past Carlmont and then posting a 28-21 win over St. Ignatius two weeks ago, but then the roof caved in for the Prep2Prep CCS No. 13 ranked Gators in a 40-0 drubbing at the hands of host Half Moon Bay in a game in which they only had 116 yards of total offense.
Now, for the second straight week Sacred Heart Prep faces an unbeaten team from the PAL – Ocean Division when they host a Hillsdale team that stunned a then unbeaten Mills last week when Dylan Loftus connected with Parker Crouse for a 71-yard touchdown with 2.9 seconds left in the game.
Sacred Heart Prep Coach Mark Grieb likes to mix it up but likely is going to try and establish the running game that was totally shut down by Half Moon Bay. After rushing for 161 yards and two TDs against St. Ignatius 6-0, 220-pound senior running back Tevita Moimoi could only muster 25 yards on 12 carries last week in the Half Moon Bay debacle.
After passing for 355 yards and two TDs in his first two game 6-1, 170-pound junior quarterback Teddy Purcell was only 8-of-15 for 80 yards and no TDs last week.
Despite the blowout loss last week Sacred Heart Prep will still be a big favorite but it’s looking like nothing is certain so far this year in the Central Coast Section.
