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Serra standout: ‘Nice to be back with my brothers’
Malakai Hoeft is back in his comfort zone, back in the defensive secondary for the Serra Padres, back where he started as a sophomore when the San Mateo powerhouse reached a state championship game.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hoeft left Serra for West Herriman, Utah, where he played his junior season at Herriman High.
How’d that go?
“Oh, man, it wasn’t that good, to be honest,” Hoeft said Saturday. “Just had to adjust a lot more. I played on both sides of the ball over there.”
Herriman went 6-6.
Hoeft returned to California over the summer and on Saturday was a difference-maker at safety as Serra — the Bay Area News Group’s top-ranked team — rolled to a 41-7 victory over previously undefeated and sixth-ranked Bellarmine.
“He is a unique player,” Serra coach Patrick Walsh said after the victory. “He really showed up today. Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games, and that’s what Malakai did today.”
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When Bellarmine threatened to score in the opening quarter after Serra took a 7-0 lead, Hoeft intercepted a fourth-down pass near the goal line and returned it 38 yards.
“Our front made it a lot easier for our backend,” Hoeft said. “They made (the quarterback) scramble a lot, get him out of the box and just throw random stuff. When that happens, that’s how I got one of my picks.
“It’s nice to be back with my brothers. I’ve got my zone covered. If anything comes deep, that’s me.”
Bellarmine: How to bounce back
Bellarmine had hoped that Saturday would amplify all the success it had over the first month of the season.
Instead, it was more of the same for the Bells against Serra.
The Padres nearly shut out Bellarmine for the fourth consecutive time.
It took a huge punt return by Philip Miller, who alertly picked up the ball and ran as Serra tried to pin the Bells deep in their own territory in the fourth quarter of a game that the home team led 27-0.
Two plays after Miller’s return, Ramy Nijmeh caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Nate Escalada for the Bells’ first points against Serra since 2016, ending a stretch of 15 consecutive scoreless quarters.
Ultimately, the mistakes — turnovers, penalties — piled up for Bellarmine, something coach Jalal Beauchman addressed in his postgame meeting with his players.
“I told them it’s one thing if we played a great game and lost to this team,” Beauchman said. “It’s another thing when we make those kinds of mistakes. If we fix the mistakes, the next time we play a good team — and who knows what could happen if we play this team again — but if we clean up the mistakes, we will be in better shape.”
Bellarmine visits Mitty on Friday.
More challenges for De La Salle
De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said a month ago that his team was starting a really tough four-game stretch. The Spartans were 2-0, having beaten St. Mary’s-Stockton and Monterey Trail-Elk Grove, and were about to begin a string of games that would show where they stand.
De La Salle has gone 1-2 so far after a 42-28 loss at home on national TV to Baltimore powerhouse St. Frances Academy on Friday.
“That’s a really good team,” Alumbaugh said. “What we learned is that we’re not a really good team right now. We’ll watch the film and we’ll have to start looking at what we need to do to do that.”
The fourth game in this run won’t be any easier.
De La Salle travels on Friday to play undefeated Folsom, the top-ranked team in Northern California. The Bulldogs have outscored six opponents this season 316-51.
Folsom has had great teams over the past decade but is 0-4 against De La Salle dating to 2012.
No doubt the Bulldogs will be aiming to feast on Friday.
Alumbaugh said “it’s exciting” to be challenged.
“It’s important to test yourself like this,” he said. “And it’s important to learn what we’re doing wrong.”
SRV QB targets everyone
San Ramon Valley quarterback Jack Quigley doesn’t play favorites.
During a 42-0 rout at Foothill on Friday, the third-year starter for the eighth-ranked Wolves (4-1) completed 10 of 11 passes in the first half.
He targeted six receivers, none recording more than two catches.
“There’s nobody he won’t throw it to,” SRV coach Aaron Becker said. “He’s willing to target them all.”
On the opening drive alone, he connected with four different teammates and found junior Trevor Scott in the end zone for a 9-yard TD.
He also hooked up with fellow senior Tanner Salisbury for scores of 23 and 27 yards on consecutive possessions in the second quarter.
What’s his secret?
“All the guys, we have a really good connection going back to summer workouts,” Quigley said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids on our team and we just really worked hard this offseason and leading up into this season. I feel really comfortable with everyone.”
— Vytas Mazeika
Midseason surprises
We’re now at a point in the season where we can determine which teams are pleasant surprises.
Bellarmine and Monte Vista are the most obvious.
In spite of its loss Saturday, Bellarmine has returned to the Bay Area’s circle of elite programs under Beauchman, in his second season. The Bells are 4-1 and have beaten Menlo-Atherton, San Leandro, Central Catholic-Modesto and Riordan. No cupcakes on that dish. This after four straight losing seasons.
Monte Vista is 5-0 after going 0-6 last spring. The previous coach, Matt Russi, stepped down after the disappointing season, and eyebrows were raised when former Cal and NFL running back C.J. Anderson was hired.
About three months later, the Mustangs are No. 10 in the Bay Area News Group’s Top 25, the defense is yielding less than 10 points per game, and in a three-week stretch, Monte Vista beat James Logan, Liberty and El Cerrito. Not bad for a guy whose coaching experience consisted of one year as a volunteer assistant for the Golden Bears.
There are other surprises, too, many of them more under-the-radar programs than Bellarmine and Monte Vista.
Leland is 4-1 and in the driver’s seat to win the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. The Chargers became the frontrunners after beating Live Oak 14-13 on Friday night.
“Internally, we don’t look at ourselves as a surprise,” said third-year coach Kelly King Jr., the son of long-time Milpitas coach Kelly King. “We had 10 sophomores up two years ago. We had the foundation of a good team. But I can see how people on the outside view us as a surprise.”
The team’s stars are senior running back Mark Eby, who has rushed for 500 yards and six touchdowns, and two-way lineman Jack Ryan.
The Chargers will be favored to win the rest of their regular-season games, league contests beginning with a visit from Oak Grove on Thursday.
King is taking nothing for granted.
“We’re thinking of Oak Grove as the team that has run the Mt. Hamilton for the last 20 years,” he said.
Dougherty Valley, which started playing football in 2007, has never had back-to-back winning seasons. The Wildcats are 5-0 this year heading into league play in the Valley Division of the East Bay Athletic League.
“I didn’t expect to be 5-0 at this point,” said second-year coach Roberto Clemente, whose name defines greatness. “But I’d rather be a surprise than not be.”
Clemente admits he doesn’t know what to expect over the next five weeks, when his team will play league rivals Foothill, Granada, Livermore and Dublin plus a non-league contest at Mills on Oct. 29. Dougherty Valley is 3-27 against its four EBAL opponents.
“I have Murder’s Row coming up,” the coach said.
Clemente is Dougherty Valley’s fourth head coach in the last five years.
“We’ve got a lot to do to stabilize this program,” Clemente said. “We want to create a culture. We’re preaching to these guys that there’s no difference between Dougherty Valley and California, San Ramon Valley, Monte Vista or Dublin.”
Four of his assistants — Michael Spivey, Tyler Eastman, Cameron Grove, Martin Walker — are DV alums. What better way to sell the program than with former Wildcats, Clemente suggests.
“I’ve been teaching at Dougherty Valley for 10 years,” said Clemente, who estimated the student population at about 3,400. “Basketball and wrestling have flourished. The athletes are there.”
— Mike Lefkow
Grades, community service, free training
First-year Tennyson coach Dave Pangelina has his team off to a 5-0 start after succeeding Terry Smith, who left the Lancers to become an assistant coach with the Bay Area Panthers, an indoor football team that will play in San Jose.
Pangelina, 30, also operates A.C.T.I.O.N Athletic Training, a gym in Hayward that focuses on weight lifting, speed and agility training. A.C.T.I.O.N. stands for Actively Creating Teamwork In Our Neighborhood.
One of the main purposes of his gym, Pangelina said, is to provide a place to train for athletes whose parents may not have the financial means to afford a gym membership. In that case, athletes can train for free as long as they maintain a 2.5 grade-point average and participate in community service.
“Good grades and community service are a form of payment,” Pangelina said.
Despite being based in Hayward, the Tennyson coach said he has some clients from San Jose, as well as a few athletes from the St. Francis football team.
— Mike Lefkow
Peek ahead
De La Salle (3-2) at Folsom (6-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Is this the season Folsom finally breaks through against De La Salle?
Valley Christian (4-1) at St. Francis (4-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Valley has won four in a row against St. Francis, including an OT thriller in the spring.
Clayton Valley (4-1) at California (5-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: California has been great this season, but this will be its biggest test to date.
Benicia (3-2) at Campolindo (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.: Campolindo has won two in a row; Benicia has lost two of its past three.
Acalanes (4-1) at Las Lomas (3-2), Friday, 7 p.m.: When these DAL Foothill Division rivals met in the spring, Acalanes won 35-28.
Hillsdale (4-1) at Menlo (5-0), Saturday, 3 p.m.: Hillsdale has allowed 60 points all season; Menlo QB Sergio Beltran threw seven TD passes last week.