The Bay Area high school football season will cross the halfway point this weekend.
It’s Week 6 of 11 before the playoffs start in November.
This weekend’s big matchups include Archbishop Mitty traveling to Serra, Pittsburg playing host to McClymonds and Menlo-Atherton opening league play at Half Moon Bay.
There will also be a battle of unbeaten teams in San Jose as Branham visits Lincoln.
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Here is the Week 6 preview and schedule:
Top matchups
Thursday
Aragon (3-1) at Burlingame (2-2), Thursday at 7 p.m.: Aragon has had a strong start to its season. The Dons’ only loss was 32-28 at Lincoln-San Jose on Sept. 9. in that game, Lloyd Walter filled in for two injured running backs and led Aragon with 226 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns. Burlingame has gotten a breakout year from senior Lukas Habelt, who is averaging 20 yards per catch while also leading the team in rushing with 185 yards. Senior Joey Nawrocki has 149 yards as his backfield partner. Pass-rusher William Hroziencik has three sacks and should make his presence felt on the outside. When these teams last met, Burlingame won 41-0, the Panthers’ seventh victory over Aragon in 12 games since 2004. — Joseph Dycus
Friday
No. 11 Archbishop Mitty (4-0, 1-0) at No. 1 Serra (4-0, 1-0), 7 p.m.: Mitty won just once and lost to Serra by 41 points last season. So no matter what unfolds Friday night, it’s clear the San Jose school is heading in the right direction under coach Danny Sullivan. But being the visiting team in any game at Serra, especially for the San Mateo school’s only night home game of the season, is no easy task. Mitty will take its chances behind veteran quarterback Wills Towers, who has thrown for 813 yards and 11 touchdowns, and receivers Danny Scudero and Ben Kim. The Monarchs have wins over Palma, Mountain View, Santa Teresa and Sacred Heart Cathedral. Serra is not just the Bay Area News Group’s top-ranked team, but it’s also the No. 1 team in Northern California. The Padres have well-noted road victories over Folsom and De La Salle, a home win over Central Catholic-Modesto, and a win last week at St. Francis to open West Catholic Athletic League play. They’ve done it behind standouts such as LB Jabari Mann, SS Joseph Bey and QB Maealiuaki Smith. Serra hasn’t lost to Mitty since 2014. — Darren Sabedra
No. 5 McClymonds (3-0) at No. 3 Pittsburg (3-1), Friday at 7 p.m.: Pittsburg’s brutal non-league schedule will finally end on Friday night when it plays host to Oakland powerhouse McClymonds in what might be the game of the week. Both teams had byes last week. Two weeks ago, Pittsburg was dominated up front by Folsom and committed a number of self-inflicted mistakes in a 23-15 loss. McClymonds has pass-rushers such as Gregory Kenny III (2.0 sacks) and Malik Richardson (5.0 sacks) who can pressure passer quarterbacks into difficult or hurried throws. If Pittsburg star Jaden Rashada has time, he has playmakers such as Zack Card (275 yards and two touchdowns) who can take any pass the distance. McClymonds will lean on its halfback duo of Jaivian Thomas and Tajir Golden (20.7 yards per carry on 12 attempts) to score against Odera Okaka and a slew of Pittsburg stalwarts on the line. — Joseph Dycus
MORE FOOTBALL
No. 7 Menlo-Atherton (2-2) at No. 19 Half Moon Bay (4-0), Friday at 7 p.m: A week after losing a nail-biter against Wilcox, Menlo-Atherton will try to snap its two-game losing streak against a strong Half Moon Bay team. M-A’s Jurrion Dickey, a transfer from Valley Christian, has lived up to his five-star billing. He has 453 yards and six touchdowns receiving through four games. Sherrod Smith has run for 320 yards and is averaging almost 10 yards per carry as he brings balance to the M-A offense. This is a PAL/SCVAL Bay Division opener for both teams. Half Moon Bay has scored over 35 points in every game. Running back PJ Modena (173 yards rushing per game) is the engine behind Half Moon Bay’s strong run game. He has scored six touchdowns on the ground and one receiving. Dio Lucido has two interceptions and will likely be asked to slow down Dickey. — Joseph Dycus
No. 14 Amador Valley (3-1) vs. No. 24 Menlo (3-1), 7:30 p.m.: This game was supposed to be played Sept. 10 at Menlo, but the heat wave in the Bay Area that week limited practice time for the Knights. Eventually, the teams agreed to meet Saturday at Amador Valley, a switch the Dons need to take advantage of. After Menlo, four of AV’s next five opponents are Clayton Valley, San Ramon Valley, De La Salle and California. The Dons are a Division I school in the North Coast Section, and even though there are only 11 teams in that division, all but Monte Vista are making a case for the eight-team playoff. Menlo’s remaining schedule isn’t a plate of cupcakes, but the Knights were 10-0 last year and got seeded fourth in Division II of the Central Coast Section playoffs. So Menlo likely has more margin for error than Amador Valley. The Knights have already played a D-I school from NCS, getting whacked by Freedom 38-14. Senior QB Jake Bianchi, who measures 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, has passed for 628 yards and six touchdowns. He has a nice target in 6-3, 218-pound TE Cort Halsey. But the Dons have only allowed 29 points all season, partly because d-linemen Brady Nassar (6-5, 245, Colorado commit) and James Rothstein (6-6, 240, several offers) limit the time the quarterback has to throw. — Mike Lefkow
No. 16 California (3-1) at Granada (2-3), 7 p.m.: After being outscored by 75 points during a 1-3 start, the Matadors bounced back impressively last week, walloping San Leandro 34-8. Admittedly, the Pirates might have their worst team in almost two decades, but Granada dominated. It led 20-0 at the half and 34-0 before San Leandro scored midway through the fourth quarter. Junior quarterback Quinn Boyd was 10 of 16 for 351 yards and three touchdowns. Receiver Kekoa Barcinas had four catches for 183 yards and two scores. Granada is a young team with deep sophomore and junior classes, so there will be growing pains. The Grizzlies are young themselves. Quarterback Jayden Macedo, leading rusher Devan Love and top receiver Stavi Booras are all juniors. The defense has suffered most of the growing pains in the past two weeks. California yielded 599 yards in a 34-14 loss to Pittsburg, and it gave up 433 rushing yards in a 36-35 overtime win at Antioch. California should win this game, but not necessarily by the 28 points (42-14) predicted by calpreps.com computer. — Mike Lefkow
Branham (5-0) at Lincoln-San Jose (4-0), 7 p.m.: Branham is in one of the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s “B” divisions. Lincoln is in the league’s “A” division. But don’t let that fool you. These teams are evenly matched. Calpreps.com’s computer projects Lincoln to win 35-31. “That’ll be fun,” longtime Lincoln coach Kevin Collins said the day after his team’s victory last week over Gunderson. “They do a good job. I just watched their film. They’re good.” The teams have played two common opponents — Leigh and Gunderson. Branham beat Leigh by 15 and Gunderson by 50. Lincoln beat Leigh by three and Gunderson by 32. Branham’s William Augenstein and Lincoln’s Tayden Phillips are dual-threat QBs. Augenstein has passed for 817 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for 688 yards and 13 TDs. Phillips has thrown for 617 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 355 yards and seven TDs. Lincoln is 6-0 against Branham in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present), but this is the teams’ first meeting since 2015. — Darren Sabedra
Saturday
No. 8 Bellarmine (2-2, 1-0) at No. 23 Archbishop Riordan (3-1, 1-0), 2 p.m.: Bellarmine has won two in a row since opening the season with road losses against Menlo-Atherton and McClymonds. Ben Pfaff scored three touchdowns last week as the Bells began WCAL play with a 34-14 victory over St. Ignatius. In the previous game, a 25-6 win at San Leandro, the senior ran for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Parker Threatt threw for 219 yards and a TD against SI. Riordan made history last week, winning on the road over Valley Christian for the first time in program history. Freshman Michael Mitchell Jr. threw two TD passes in the victory. In addition to Valley, the Crusaders have beaten Granada and Tamalpais. In the MaxPreps era (2004-present), Bellarmine is 17-0 against Riordan, including a 38-6 victory last season. — Darren Sabedra
No. 18 Clayton Valley (1-3) at Jesuit-Carmichael (5-0), 2 p.m.: Never before in his 11-year coaching career at Clayton Valley has coach Tim Murphy faced a more daunting situation than he does now. The Ugly Eagles are 1-3, and Saturday they will visit undefeated Jesuit. The Marauders, coached by former De La Salle star Marlon Blanton, are the third unbeaten team Clayton Valley has faced this season. CVC’s three defeats are by a total of 13 points, but with San Ramon Valley and De La Salle still ahead, a loss to Jesuit means the Uglies would be facing their first sub-.500 season since 2007, when they also started 1-3. Jesuit is ranked No. 70 in the state by the calpreps.com computer, well above the Eagles at 156. They are averaging 30 points per game and allowing 12. They gain over 70 percent of their yardage on the ground, and on defense they love to rush the passer. They have 18 sacks. Clayton Valley is passing more this season, and it’s worked out well. Quarterback Christian Aguilar has passed for 939 yards and eight TDs. The Eagles are averaging 29 points per game. Trouble is, they allowed 29 ppg in their three defeats. Until CVC shores up its defense, significant improvement may come slow. — Mike Lefkow
Schedule
Thursday, Sept. 29
EAST BAY
Bay Valley
Antioch at Deer Valley, 7 p.m.
SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA/SF
PAL/SCVAL El Camino
Los Altos at Sequoia, 7 p.m.
PAL/SCVAL Bay
Burlingame at Aragon, 7 p.m.
PAL/SCVAL Lake
Lynbrook at Mills, 7 p.m.
Non-league
Independence at Santa Teresa, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 30
EAST BAY
Bay Valley
Heritage at Freedom, 7 p.m.
Non-league
Bethel at Benicia, 7 p.m.
California at Granada, 7 p.m.
De Anza at Piedmont, 7 p.m.
Vallejo at Dougherty Valley, 7 p.m.
Hayward at Dublin, 7 p.m.
Irvington vs. Healdsburg at Rec Park in Healdsburg, 7 p.m.
College Park at Livermore, 7 p.m.
Castro Valley at Moreau Catholic, 7 p.m.
Mt. Diablo at Richmond, 7 p.m.
Foothill at San Ramon Valley, 7 p.m.
SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA/SF
BVAL West Valley
San Jose at Del Mar, 7 p.m.
Mt. Pleasant at Hill, 7 p.m.
Willow Glen at Evergreen Valley, 7 p.m.
Lick at Yerba Buena, 7 p.m.
PAL/SCVAL De Anza
Homestead at Palo Alto, 7 p.m.
Milpitas at Los Gatos, 7 p.m.
Wilcox at Mountain View, 7 p.m.
PAL/SCVAL Bay
Menlo-Atherton at Half Moon Bay, 7 p.m.
PAL/SCVAL Ocean
Capuchino at Carlmont, 7 p.m.
San Mateo at Jefferson, 7 p.m.
Hillsdale at Terra Nova, 7 p.m.
PAL/SCVAL El Camino
Gunn at King’s Academy, 7 p.m.
Cupertino at Santa Clara, 7 p.m.
PAL/SCVAL Lake
Fremont-Sunnyvale at El Camino, 7 p.m.
Saratoga at Monta Vista, 7 p.m.
Woodside at South San Francisco, 7 p.m.
West Catholic
Mitty at Serra, 7 p.m.
St. Francis at St. Ignatius, 7 p.m.
Non-league
Branham at Lincoln-San Jose, 7 p.m.
Live Oak at Piedmont Hills, 7 p.m.
Silver Creek at Oak Grove, 7 p.m.
Pioneer at Leland, 7 p.m.
INTERSECTIONAL
Oakland at Acalanes, 7 p.m.
Kennedy-Fremont at Fremont-Oakland, 7 p.m.
St. Bernard’s-Eureka at Oakland Tech, 7 p.m.
McClymonds at Pittsburg, 7 p.m.
Stone Ridge Christian-Merced at Ygnacio Valley, 7 p.m.
Windsor at Skyline, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 1
EAST BAY
Non-league
San Lorenzo at St. Mary’s-Berkeley, 1 p.m.
St. Patrick-St. Vincent at Salesian, 1:30 p.m.
SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA/SF
West Catholic
Bellarmine at Riordan, 2 p.m.
Sacred Heart Cathedral at Valley Christian, 6 p.m.
Non-league
Gilroy at Christopher, 2 p.m.
INTERSECTIONAL
Clayton Valley at Jesuit-Carmichael, 2 p.m.
Millennium-Tracy at Kennedy-Richmond, 2 p.m.
Menlo School at Amador Valley, 7:30 p.m.
How to report results/game details
We encourage Bay Area coaches or team statisticians to email the final score and key scoring plays (a few stats, if you have them) to highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com right after each game. Please include the school names in the subject line.
Predictions
Look here as the Bay Area News Group’s Darren Sabedra and Joseph Dycus and correspondent Mike Lefkow make their weekly predictions.
Source: www.mercurynews.com