The high school football playoffs began this weekend across the Bay Area — and there were some thrillers.
The Bay Area News Group’s roundup has you covered.
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On to the roundup …
Central Coast Section
Division I
No. 2 St. Francis 17, No. 7 Sacred Heart Cathedral 14
Kingston Keanaaina carried 30 times for 163 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter as St. Francis edged Sacred Heart Cathedral to advance to the semifinals Friday against another West Catholic Athletic League foe, Archbishop Mitty. Check out Evan Webeck’s game story here.
No. 6 Archbishop Mitty 29, No. 3 Los Gatos 28 (OT)
Danny Scudero caught a pass from Wills Towers near the left sideline for the winning two-point conversion in overtime as Mitty — which won one game last season — prevailed to advance to the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals next week against St. Francis. The game began with Scudero’s 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and was tight throughout. Mitty improved to 8-3. Los Gatos finished 8-3. Darren Sabedra has the complete recap here.
No. 4 Salinas 28, No. 5 Sacred Heart Prep 21
Sacred Heart Prep’s late comeback ended when a Salinas defender knocked away a pass from Mitchell Taylor to Carter Shaw in the end zone as time expired. The victory sends Salinas into the semifinals next weekend against the winner of Saturday’s game between top seed Serra and No. 8 seed Palma. Sacred Heart Prep finished 9-2. Joseph Dycus has all the details here.
Division II
No. 1 Wilcox 56, No. 8 Lincoln-San Jose 14
Seven players scored touchdowns Thursday night as the Bay Area News Group’s ninth-ranked Chargers (10-1) powered into the semifinal round of the Central Coast Section DII playoffs. Quarterback Armand Johnson rushed for 114 yards, scored a TD and passed for another to lead the way. Andrew Palacios ran for two TDs, Ri’yon Cooper went 50 yards to the house on a punt return and Anthan Wingate was 8 for 8 on extra points. Wilcox, which built a 42-14 halftime lead, will host No. 5 seed Bellarmine on Friday. Lincoln, ranked 20th in the BANG Top 25, finished 9-2. “This was a good experience for our kids,” coach Kevin Collins said. The Lions were making their second straight CCS playoff appearance now that the Big Bone game against San Jose has been moved from Thanksgiving Day to Labor Day weekend. Since 2004, four previous nine-win Lincoln teams coached by Collins were forced to miss the playoffs to participate in the Big Bone. Despite the team’s struggles Thursday, Lions freshman receiver Kyan Phillips stood out, catching eight balls for 171 yards and a TD from QB and older brother Tayden Phillips. – Mike Lefkow
No. 2 St. Ignatius 24, No. 7 Half Moon Bay 15
St. Ignatius, playing at home in San Francisco on a cold night, heated up in the second half with 21 points to turn back Half Moon Bay and advance to the semifinals next week against Aptos. Soren Hummel’s touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave SI, which trailed by 12 at halftime, the lead for good. Shayna Rubin has the details from San Francisco here.
No. 5 Bellarmine 30, No. 4 Menlo-Atherton 7
In a rematch of the season opener, a game won by Menlo-Atherton when star receiver Jurrion Dickey was not injured, Bellarmine rolled over the Bears to set up a semifinal game Friday against top seed Wilcox. Nate Escalada threw TD passes on Bellarmine’s second and fourth possessions to help lead the way. Bellarmine improved to 5-6. M-A, which hasn’t had Dickey on the field since its fourth game, finished 5-6. David Kiefer has the full recap here.
Division III
No. 2 Live Oak 49, No. 7 Soledad 9
Jordan Fuentes carried 27 times for 162 yards and a touchdown as the Acorns routed their opening-round opponent. Landon Stump completed 13 of 16 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Xavier Catano was the top receiver with four catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns. Colby Allen had a 49-yard punt return for a touchdown. Live Oak’s defense accounted for four sacks, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal. Live Oak (9-2) hosts the Menlo School-The King’s Academy winner on Friday in the semifinals. Soledad ends up 9-2. — Glenn Reeves
Division IV
No. 1 Sequoia 51, No. 8 Overfelt 50 (2 OT)
Sequoia and Overfelt played an all-time classic on Friday night, with the Ravens beating the Royals in double overtime. After Overfelt (9-2) was stopped on a two-point conversion to start the second overtime, junior running back Luke Ulrich ran in a 4-yard touchdown and junior Brody McKenna kicked in the extra point to win the game for Sequoia (10-1). Alex Simon has the story from Redwood City.
No. 2 Mountain View 48, No. 7 Homestead 23
Mountain View (4-7) got production on the scoreboard from its offense and defense in its first-round win against Homestead. Running back Arturo Hernandez had two touchdowns and the defense scored three times. Andre Guimaraes Jr. returned a fumble and Viliami Selina and Drake Wilkening each had a pick-six. Wilkening also had a touchdown reception. Sammy Ahmad threw a touchdown pass to Wyatt Hook and Charlie Casteneda and Zachary Acton each ran in for a touchdown for Homestead. Mountain View will play host to Branham on Friday. Homestead finished 4-7. – Jesús Cano
No. 3 Branham 49, No. 6 San Mateo 28
Leading 27-21 at halftime, Branham took command with two touchdowns in the third quarter as the third-seeded Bruins won on their home field in San Jose to set up a semifinal Friday at Mountain View. William Augenstein tied the score 7-7 with a 7-yard run, tied it again 14-14 with a 40-yard TD pass to Jason Armer and gave Branham a 21-14 lead with a 50-yard scoring pass to Dylan Derhammer. His 18-yard TD run made it 42-21 and his 24-yard TD pass to Elias Antillon completed the scoring for Branham. The Bruins improved to 10-1. San Mateo finished 7-4. – Darren Sabedra
No. 4 Santa Teresa 31, No. 5 St. Francis-Watsonville 10
Jayden Arevalo threw two touchdown passes as Santa Teresa (6-5) advanced to play at No. 1 Sequoia in a Friday semifinal. The Saints took the opening kickoff and scored on a 42-yard pass from Arevalo to Jeffrey Kerr. After St. Francis tied it up, Casey Carr’s 25-yard field goal gave Santa Teresa a 10-7 lead at halftime. A 7-yard scoring pass from Arevalo to Noah Gardere made it 17-7. Following a field goal that cut the lead to 17-10, Richard Salazar returned the subsequent kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. A Joseph Tapia interception set up Evan Smith‘s 2-yard scoring run. — Glenn Reeves
Division V
No. 1 Westmont 42, No. 8 Willow Glen 34
In a back-and-forth game, Westmont’s Jacob Lang was the star of the night. He rushed for five touchdowns – three from at least 36 yards – as the host Warriors survived a scare from Willow Glen. Lang’s 27-yard run cut the deficit to 14-13 and his 14-yard run pulled Westmont to within 21-20. He put Westmont in front 27-21 with a 5-yard run and reclaimed the lead for the Warriors with a 36-yard run. After that score, he also was on the receiving end of Zackary Zepeda’s two-point conversion pass that gave Westmont a 35-28 advantage. Lang finished the scoring with a 51-yard run in the final minute. Zepeda scored Westmont’s first TD on a 27-yard run. Willow Glen’s Cedeno Chavez threw TD passes of 33 yards to Julian Gaona and 29 yards to Dylan Dallas and ran for a score. Westmont (10-1) will play host to No. 5 seed Monterey on Friday, Willow Glen finished 7-4. – Darren Sabedra
No. 2 Palo Alto 38, No. 7 Stevenson 18
Declan Packer threw four touchdown passes — all 42 yards or longer — as Palo Alto (5-6) moved on to a semifinal matchup at home Friday against Seaside. After a 25-yard field goal by Gerardo Becerra initiated the scoring, Packer connected with Kai Bussey on a 47-yard touchdown pass. Then after getting the ball back after recovering a fumble on a squib kick, Packer hit Leon Unga with a 53-yard pass to make it 17-0. Jack Newman‘s 23-yard run for a touchdown gave Paly a 24-6 lead at halftime. Stevenson scored first in the second half to draw within 24-12 before Packer passed to Amani Elfadil for a 42-yard touchdown and Jason Auzenne on a 49-yarder to make the score 38-12 after three quarters. Lincoln Tutor had an interception for the Vikings. “Offensively it was our best game, for sure,” Palo Alto coach Dave DeGeronimo said. “Declan was unbelievable.” Stevenson finishes 6-3. — Glenn Reeves
North Coast Section
Open/Division I
No. 1 De La Salle 40, No. 8 James Logan 14
James Logan’s Anthony Delguidice returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, putting host De La Salle in an immediate hole. The Spartans responded with 19 points to close out the quarter and 14 more in the second for a 33-7 halftime advantage. DLS cruised from there as Charles Greer (two rushing TDs) and Journey McKoy (two receiving TDs) led the offense and Chase Tofaeono was a welcome presence on defense after the standout tackle missed the entire regular season because of foot injuries. De La Salle (8-3) advanced to the Open championship game Friday against Pittsburg at Dublin High. James Logan finished 7-4. – Darren Sabedra
No. 2 Pittsburg 55, No. 7 Antioch 22
Victor Galli, who is stepping down as Pittsburg’s coach after the season, will get one more crack at De La Salle when the two teams meet for the Open Division title next Friday night at Dublin High. The No. 2-ranked team in the Bay Area News Group Top 25 overwhelmed arch-rival Antioch (4-7) for the second week in a row, taking a 35-6 halftime lead and scoring three more touchdowns in the third quarter. Quarterback Jaden Rashada, who made plenty of news a day earlier when he flipped his college destination from Miami to Florida, threw two touchdowns and ran for another in the first half. Then in the third quarter, backup QB Marley Alcantara took over and threw for three more touchdowns. Galli, who has been at Pittsburg for 21 years, has never beaten his alma mater, with 15 straight losses against De La Salle dating back to 2003. But with an all-star cast that includes receivers Rashid Williams (Washington commit) and Zachary Card (Oregon State), his last shot may be his best. Williams caught two TD passes from Rashada. Card had a 60-yard TD run to open the scoring and caught a 36-yard TD from Alcantara. The Pirates (10-1) have plenty of other talented players to use against De La Salle. But the Spartans are hot, having won five in a row after a 3-3 start. Also, they haven’t lost to a North Coast Section opponent since the Pirates beat them in 1991. The winner of next Friday’s contest qualifies for the CIF State NorCal regional game. The loser plays the winner of the Clayton Valley-Liberty Division I semifinal, with a berth in another NorCal regional game on the line. – Mike Lefkow
No. 3 Clayton Valley 42, No. 6 California 21
Christian Aguilar passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Nicholas Khashabi added two rushing TDs as the Ugly Eagles advanced to the Division I semifinals. Clayton Valley (7-4) will host fourth-seeded Liberty (8-3) next Friday night. Aguilar opened the scoring with his touchdown run, then threw TD passes to Daven Amos and Emilio Strange to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter. The Grizzlies (5-6) answered with three TDs of their own for a 21-21 tie midway through the third quarter. Sione Hingano scored on a 2-yard run and Jayden Shah booted the extra point to knot the score. Hingano also scored the Grizzlies’ first TD on a 3-yard run. The Ugly Eagles took over after that, scoring the game’s last 21 points. Casey Forester put CV back in front with a touchdown run with four minutes left in the third period, and Khashabi scored twice in the final quarter. California lost its last five games, playing the final three games and part of a fourth without quarterback Jayden Macedo, who suffered a season-ending injury on Oct. 21 in an East Bay Athletic League contest against Clayton Valley. – Mike Lefkow
No. 4 Liberty 35, No. 5 Amador Valley 21
A 61-yard touchdown pass by Bay Valley Athletic League co-MVP Nate Bell sparked host Liberty (8-3) to take charge in its first-round victory over Amador Valley. Bell accounted for four touchdowns, two passing and two rushing. Jamar Searcy also scored for the Lions. Liberty will play at Clayton Valley in the semifinals Friday. Amador Valley finished 5-6. – Jesús Cano
Division II
No. 1 San Ramon Valley 56, No. 8 Berkeley 20
Junior quarterback Luke Baker threw for five first-half touchdowns in an easy win for the Wolves (9-2). Baker attempted 13 passes, completing nine for 189 yards. He has thrown for 3,149 yards and 37 touchdowns this season. Caleb Padrid caught three of the TDs and Trevor Scott grabbed two. John Pau Mendoza and Andrew Wolf each went over 100 yards rushing. Despite being the No. 1 seed in Division II, SRV was forced to play on the road because of an NCS rule that requires league champions to play at home in the first round unless matched against a higher seed that also wins a league title. Berkeley (7-4) won the MVAL/WACC Mission Division, SRV finished behind Clayton Valley in the EBAL Mountain. “We kind of enjoy going on the road,” SRV coach Aaron Becker said. “The kids played good.” It might not get much tougher next Friday when SRV hosts Foothill in the semifinals. The two EBAL teams played a non-league game in September – Foothill is in the Valley Division – that San Ramon Valley won 31-7. Berkeley had a nice season under first-year coach David Perry, who came over from Bishop O’Dowd. The division championship was the program’s first since 2012 when it won the WACC Foothill title. – Mike Lefkow
No. 2 Campolindo 38, No. 7 Granada 14
The Cougars (11-0) had little trouble as expected, taking a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Quarterback Dashiell Weaver ran for Campo’s first two touchdowns, then passed for three more. The Cougars host a very good Rancho Cotate (9-2) team next Friday. Weaver scored on runs of 15 and 10 yards to make it 14-0 early in the second quarter, then he took to the air, throwing a pair of TDs to Robbie Mascheroni and one to Brendan Comerford. Mascheroni, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior, has 17 receiving TDs for the season. His six catches for 84 yards put him at 1,022 receiving yards for the season. Has an offer from Virginia and recently heard from Washington. Kekoa Barcinas caught two TD passes for Granada, which finished the season 4-7. – Mike Lefkow
No. 4 Foothill 34, No. 5 Vintage 28
Foothill survived when Vintage’s fourth-down pass from the 15 sailed out of the end zone, clinching a victory that sent the Pleasanton school into the semifinals next week against top seed San Ramon Valley. Chris Lawson scored on a 50-yard fly sweep to help lead Foothill. Jerry McDonald has the recap from Pleasanton here.
Division III
No. 1 El Cerrito 41, No. 8 Montgomery 0
El Cerrito’s Michael Vanhook threw three touchdown passes and running back Tony McAdoo ran for two scores in the Gauchos’ first-round victory over Montgomery. Aaron Woodard and Warren Smith (twice) had touchdown receptions. El Cerrito had a 34-point lead at halftime. The Gauchos (11-0) will play host to Northgate on Friday. – Jesús Cano
No. 2 Windsor 41, No. 7 College Park 15
College Park was embroiled in another controversy as its first-round game ended with time remaining after a Falcons player charged in from the edge and hit the Windsor quarterback before the snap as the winning side was trying to run out the clock. Afterward, Windsor coach DJ Sexton told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, “We’re lucky our guy isn’t in the hospital right now, because the guy came off the edge and behind him and speared him in the back of the neck. Our kid has a headache so bad he can’t see straight right now.” The controversy comes weeks after College Park coach Travis Raciti and athletic director Jim Keck were suspended two games in the aftermath of an 84-0 win over Ygnacio Valley. Read more here. — Mike Lefkow
No. 3 Rancho Cotate 49, No. 6 Livermore 14
Rancho Cotate quarterback Jacob Pruitt accounted for seven touchdowns — four passing, three rushing — as visiting Livermore’s season came to an end in this first-round game. Pruitt completed 13 of 16 passes for 204 yards and had 115 yards on the ground. Rancho Cotate will play at second-seeded Campolindo in the semifinals Friday. Livermore finished 8-3. – Jesús Cano
No. 5 Northgate 24, No. 4 Las Lomas 21
Lucas Lesieur kicked the decisive field goal early in the fourth quarter to propel visiting Northgate (7-4) to a first-round victory over Las Lomas. The Broncos scored 10 unanswered points in the second half to complete the come-from-behind win. Ben Hosler scored an early rushing touchdown and John Pelletier threw two touchdown passes, a 75-yard pass to Emilio Pucci and a 15-yarder to Jake Berger. Adam Towell ran for two touchdowns and Michael Wood scored once for Las Lomas. Northgate will visit El Cerrito in the semifinals Friday. Las Lomas finished 5-6. – Jesús Cano
Division IV
No. 2 Acalanes 42, No. 7 Concord 0
Ellis Burger had four rushing touchdowns and Ethan Torres had a pick-6 in a decisive win for the No. 11 Dons (10-1). It was only 7-0 after the first quarter, then Acalanes exploded for three TDs to make it 28-0 at halftime. Next up for Acalanes is third-seeded Cardinal Newman (7-4), which outscored Petaluma 49-31 in the first round. – Mike Lefkow
No. 2 Miramonte 55, No. 7 Sonoma Valley 8
After losing its final three regular season games, Miramonte (7-4) bounced back with a dominating first-round win over visiting Sonoma Valley. UCLA-bound Luke Duncan only played the first half but had three touchdowns. John Williams connected with Cooper Bohlig for a 71-yard halfback option pass, Bennett Destino had two rushing touchdowns and Chase Bliss had a pick-six. Sonoma Valley finished the season 4-7 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Miramonte will play host to Analy on Friday. – Jesús Cano
Division VI
No. 7 Salesian 14, No. 2 Moreau Catholic 10
Paul Victor Jr. intercepted a pass to seal Salesian’s road upset over host Moreau. In a defensive battle between foes from the long-defunct Catholic Athletic League, each team had four takeaways. Salesian (6-5) advanced to play No. 3 seed Justin-Siena on Friday. Moreau finished 7-4. Check out Phil Jensen’s game story here.
Source: www.mercurynews.com