Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) roundup of the best action in high school football from the second weekend of the fall season. Check back every Saturday for scores, highlights and top performers from the weekend’s games, updated throughout the day.
Ranked teams
No. 3 Pittsburg 31, Wilcox 26
Pittsburg built a sizeable cushion on the road Friday night but had to hang on late to hold off hard-charging Wilcox. Vytas Mazeika has the details in his story here.
No. 4 De La Salle 49, Cathedral Catholic 21
Back at home after last week’s stunning loss on the road to St. Francis, De La Salle fell behind again 14-0. But this time, the Spartans roared back and rolled over San Diego power Cathedral Catholic. Read Evan Webeck’s story here.
No. 6 California 41, Milpitas 7
California struck for three touchdowns during a five-minute stretch of the second quarter while improving to 4-0 on the season. After Milpitas (1-3) tied the score 7-7 in the first minute of the second quarter on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Tyberius Egorerua to Isaiah DeLuna, the Grizzlies went to work. California QB Teddy Booras threw a 48-yard TD pass to favorite receiver Jake Calcagno to make it 13-7. It was their second hook-up of the game. In the first quarter, Booras and Calcagno connected on a 53-yard touchdown. About four minutes later, Devan Love scampered 28 yards as the Grizzlies widened their lead to 20-7. One minute after that, Elijah Cernak raced 25 yards with an interception to put the game out of reach at 27-7. In the second half, Booras threw a touchdown to Macray Madruga, then Love had another rushing touchdown to complete the scoring. — Mike Lefkow
No. 7 McClymonds 33, Marin Catholic 22
Marin Catholic had allowed only seven points in its first three games. Friday, McClymonds, playing on its home field in Oakland, did damage through the air and on the ground against the Wildcats defense to stay undefeated. Phil Jensen has the story here.
No. 9 Bellarmine 28, Central Catholic-Modesto 21
Bellarmine scored a touchdown in the final minute and sealed the victory over Central Catholic with an interception in the end zone as time expired at San Jose City College, winning by the same score that Central Catholic beat the Bells in Modesto in the spring. Darren Sabedra has the complete recap here.
Damonte Ranch-Reno 31, No. 14 Acalanes 30
Junior Joe Brown had a night he won’t soon forget. The running back/place-kicker for Damonte Ranch scored a touchdown, was 4-for-4 on extra points and kicked the winning field goal in the visitor’s upset win over previously unbeaten Acalanes (3-1). The Mustangs (1-3) never led until Brown booted the winning three-pointer with about eight minutes left. Quarterback Luke Souza threw two touchdown passes for Acalanes, Dante Montgomery had a 40-yard touchdown run and Miles Bergman took an interception 80 yards to the house for Acalanes. But the Dons (3-1) hurt themselves with mistakes, the big one being a penalty on a kickoff return that erased six points from the scoreboard. Acalanes did get to the Damonte Ranch 20 with just over a minute left to play, but an interception ended that threat. Mustangs quarterback Cooper Anderson had a big game, throwing for two touchdowns and running for a third. — Mike Lefkow
No. 15 Monte Vista 21, No. 16 Liberty 14
Monte Vista stayed undefeated as tight end Jack Endries caught two touchdown passes from Dyllan Devitt to lead the way. Curtis Pashelka has the full story here.
Campolindo 34, No. 20 San Leandro 27
In a back-and-forth game in Moraga, Robby Horst scored on a 2-yard run in the final minute to break a 27-27 tie and lift Campolindo to its second victory of the season. The host Cougars (2-2) had lost two in a row, including a 49-0 rout at home against Aptos two weeks ago. Campo fell on the road to Liberty 13-7 last week, a sign that coach Kevin Macy’s inexperienced team was moving in the right direction. Friday, the Cougars took a big step forward against a San Leandro team that opened the season with wins on the road over Cardinal Newman and Freedom before losing decisively at home to Bellarmine last week. Campo struck first Friday as Dashiell Weaver connected with Michael Coane from 28 yards out for a 6-0 lead. Cameron Palmer’s 6-yard run gave San Leandro a 7-6 advantage. Weaver’s 42-yard pass to Robbie Mascheron reclaimed the lead for Campo, which eventually built a 27-13 cushion before San Leandro stormed back on short TD runs by Devan Daniels and Palmer. Next Friday, San Leandro (2-2) plays host to Granada and Campo will be back at home to face Hayward. — Darren Sabedra
East Bay
Heritage 41, James Logan 15
Heritage built a 34-7 lead after three quarters and coasted to victory over winless James Logan (0-4). Quarterback Jacob Wasso and receiver Jeremiah Ruffin celebrated homecoming by hooking up on three touchdown passes for the Patriots (2-2), and star running back Devon Rivers scored three times. “We played well,” coach Dave Fogelstrom said. “We did a lot of growing between the Clovis East game and this game.” Heritage lost to Clovis East 35-14 last week. — Mike Lefkow
Foothill 49, Freedom 6
Foothill blew out Freedom with 28 points in the first 12 minutes. Foothill (3-1) bounced back from its only loss of the season last week behind quarterback Nick Walsh, who threw four touchdown passes. Also reaching the end zone for the Falcons were Kade Millard, Kenny Olson, and Tony Schillaci Freshman wideout Chris Lawson caught his third TD pass of the season. “We did a lot of things right on offense,” coach Greg Haubner said. “We ran the ball efficiently.” The Falcons go on the road next week to take on Pleasanton rival Amador Valley. Freedom has dropped three in a row since beating Hayward in its opener, The schedule has been brutal — San Leandro, California, Foothill — and Freedom is a young team. — Mike Lefkow
South Bay/Peninsula
Leland 28, Pioneer 0
The visiting Chargers (2-1) pulled away from Pioneer in the second half in the Battle of the Den — aka Almaden Valley. Mark Eby scored his second touchdown to give Leland a three-TD advantage in the third quarter, and Pierre Goldstein finished off the scoring with a 38-yard run in the fourth quarter. Nathan Wright opened the scoring in the first half on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. Pioneer fell to 1-2. — Phil Jensen