Welcome back to the Bay Area News Group’s high school football roundup.
Here, you’ll find all the details from the weekend’s action in this news organization’s coverage area, which encompasses teams that play in leagues based primarily in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Check back every Saturday during the season for scores, highlights and top performers, updated throughout the day.
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On to the roundup …
CCS Open/Division I
No. 3 Los Gatos 14, No. 6 St. Francis 7
Los Gatos was able to stop St. Francis running back Kaimani Keanaaina when it needed it most, as Wildcats O-lineman Garrett Bertsch joined his defensive teammates for a final goal-line stand. Keanaaina finished with 121 yards on 17 carries. Christian Babcock was in Los Gatos and has the full story here.
NCS Open/Division I
No. 1 De La Salle 42, No. 8 San Ramon Valley 0
Jaden Jefferson scored on touchdown runs of 53, 5 and 35 yards to help lead De La Salle to a blowout win at home over San Ramon Valley in the first round of the playoffs. The Spartans led 28-0 at halftime and the fourth quarter was played with a running clock. Darren Sabedra has more details here.
No. 2 Pittsburg 42, No. 7 Liberty 18
Sophomore Isaiah Harrison impacted the game on both sides of the ball, recording an interception, recovering a fumble and reeling off a 23-yard touchdown run to help lead Pittsburg to a victory at home over Bay Valley Athletic League rival Liberty. Justice delos Santos has the complete recap here.
No. 4 Acalanes 51, No. 5 Marin Catholic 21
Tyler Winkles completed 23 of 36 passes for 340 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 77 yards and two TDs in 11 carries to lead undefeated Acalanes to a first-round rout at home over Marin Catholic. Josh Elerts added 82 yards in 21 rushes and Grant Ricker caught six passes for 127 yards and two TDs. The Dons’ point total matched the number worn by Amin Noroozi, their former teammate who died in a tragic accident at Stinson Beach last spring. Acalanes reached 51 when a snap late in the fourth quarter sailed over the Marin Catholic punter’s head and out of the end zone for a safety. The Dons have dedicated their season to Noroozi. Acalanes (11-0) will travel to third-seeded Cardinal Newman next week. Marin Catholic finished 5-6. – Darren Sabedra
CCS Division II
No. 1 St. Ignatius 49, Alisal 7
St. Ignatius rushed for a season-high 370 yards in the first-round victory. Luke Tribolet led the way with 146 yards on seven carries, 184 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns. Steve Malone carried 14 times for 118 yards and three TDs. Tommy Bennett returned an interception for a touchdown. Brady Hughes also had a pick. Tucker Jones made two sacks. Jayden Duarte had an 84-yard reception for Alisal’s touchdown. St. Ignatius (5-6) advances to play the Menlo-TKA winner in the semifinals. — Glenn Reeves
NCS Division II
No. 1 Campolindo 28, No. 8 Livermore 26
Matteo Lortie did it all to give Livermore a chance, but the quarterback’s effort fell just short as Campolindo tackled the senior on a two-point attempt with 34 seconds left and then recovered an onside kick to clinch the first-round win on the road. Livermore hosted the thriller because it won its league and Campo didn’t finish first in its league. League champs host in Round 1, per NCS bylaws. Lortie kept Livermore’s hopes alive when he escaped an oncoming pass rush on fourth down and heaved a deep pass to the Campo 5. Then on the next play, he threw a touchdown pass to AJ Carey to pull the Cowboys to within 28-26. Lortie finished with four TD passes, two to Carey. Micah Parker’s touchdown run with 6:44 left had given Campo what seemed to be a safe margin, 28-12. Livermore scored on its first series as Lortie finished the drive with a TD pass to Carey for a 6-0 lead. Campo went ahead 7-6 on a 3-yard run by Parker. CT Harper’s TD reception from Lortie reclaimed the advantage for Livermore, 12-7. Campo scored the next 21 points, starting with Everett Zellmer’s TD catch. “All observers called it a playoff classic,” Campo coach Kevin Macy said. Campo (9-2) will play host to Clayton Valley next week. Livermore finished 9-2. – Darren Sabedra
No. 3 California 24, No. 6 American Canyon 23
“We got sooooo lucky,” Cal coach Danny Calcagno said after his team survived and advanced in the NCS opening round. He wasn’t wrong. The Grizzlies (8-3) faced a 46-yard field goal attempt for the win down 23-21 after a final-play Hail Mary drew a pass interference penalty. On the next two plays, American Canyon (9-2) ran into Cal kicker Henry Dupin and then jumped offsides. That set up a 25-yard attempt, which Dupin knuckled through the uprights for the win. Before the late array of untimed downs, Jordan Lee and Luke Taylor scored TDs for the Grizzlies, and Dupin ran back a blocked field goal for a score. California will visit Monte Vista in the semifinals next week. – Christian Babcock
No. 4 Clayton Valley Charter 20, No. 5 Windsor 19
Another East Bay team escaped by the skin of its teeth when Brady Emry converted a game-winning 30-yard field goal with 33 seconds remaining to give Clayton Valley a win at home and punch the Ugly Eagles’ ticket to Campolindo for the NCS semifinals. Jhadis Luckey scored both TDs for CVC (6-5), and Emry also made a 25-yarder earlier in the game to round out the scoring. Windsor finishes the year 6-5. – Christian Babcock
CCS Division III
No. 8 San Mateo 20, No. 1 Woodside 13, OT
TJ Johnson took a pitch on a reverse and scored on an 8-yard run in overtime to give the No. 8 seed Bearcats an upset win at top-seeded Woodside, which brought a 10-0 record to the opening-round game. Glenn Reeves has the game story here.
No. 7 Sacred Heart Prep 49, No. 2 Carmel 48
Charlie Ford caught a 36-yard pass from Nico Pollioni with 2:11 left to bring Sacred Heart Prep within 48-47, and the two connected for a two-point conversion pass for the winning points against Carmel (6-5) at Monterey Peninsula College. Linebacker Atelea Tau secured the victory with an interception to send Sacred Heart Prep (6-5) into an all-Atherton semifinal matchup against Menlo-Atherton. Pollioni completed 11 of 19 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Andrew Shen gained 107 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns for the Gators’ 239-yard rushing attack, with Sasha Bandai gaining 102 yards on six carries with two scores. — David Kiefer
NCS Division III
No. 1 Vintage 25, No. 8 San Leandro 15
Giovani De Anda’s rushing touchdown early in the third quarter and kicker Isaac Rodgers’ extra point pulled San Leandro to within 18-15. But Bo Lode’s 7-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter all but iced the victory for top-seeded Vintage, which advances to play Ukiah in the semifinals next week. De Anda, Justin Ammons, DeYar Crayton and Nathaniel Brunson-Westbrook all contributed big offensive plays for San Leandro, which got strong defensive pays from Tevita Okusi, Israel Lopez and Ignacio Ceja. The Pirates finished 6-5. – Darren Sabedra
No. 5 Ukiah 26, No. 4 Antioch 15
Antioch’s offense was forced off the field on fourth down for the fifth and final time with less than 2 minutes left, sealing the season-ending defeat. The Panthers led 15-12 midway through the third quarter after QB Joshua Mason’s second rushing touchdown of the game. But Ukiah responded with a 47-yard touchdown run and a 48-yard touchdown pass that put the hosts ahead by two scores with 2:55 to play. – Evan Webeck
CCS Division IV
No. 1 Branham 35, No. 8 Christopher 34
Andrew Ho threw four touchdown passes to rally the host Bruins (6-5) from a 21-7 deficit. Christopher (5-6) scored a touchdown with 57 seconds left to cut the deficit to the final margin, but failed on a two-point conversion run in an effort to take the lead as Patrick Wilson, Alex Madrigal, Damian Martinez and Jaxsen Tafaoimalo combined on the stop. Christian Duarte forced two fumbles in the Bruins’ defensive effort. Michael Murphy gained over 100 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns – on a 70-yard run and an 18-yard reception – for Branham, which earned a semifinal matchup against Half Moon Bay. This was a rematch from a Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division game won by Branham, 26-14. — David Kiefer
No. 3 Lincoln-San Jose 24, No. 6 Scotts Valley 21
Leo Molina kicked a 27-yard field goal with seven seconds left to lift Lincoln (8-3) past the visiting Falcons (8-3) and into a semifinal matchup against Willow Glen. Lincoln’s Michael Whitelaw returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and caught two passes for 70 yards. Teammate Kyan Phillips gained 125 yards on 17 carries and scored a touchdown, his 29th of the season. — David Kiefer
No. 5 Half Moon Bay 29, No. 4 Burlingame 21
Half Moon Bay (8-3) rallied from a 21-0 third-quarter deficit by scoring 29 unanswered points at Burlingame (6-5) to advance to a semifinal matchup against Branham. The visiting Cougars took the lead for good on a two-point conversion with 10 minutes to go and scored the clincher on a touchdown run with a minute left. — David Kiefer
NCS Division IV
No. 3 Miramonte 35, No. 6 Alameda 21
Senior linebacker Charlie Hwang finished with 12 tackles and also ran for 85 yards in 14 carries as Miramonte advanced to the semifinals with a victory at home over Alameda. Lane Dalton completed 15 of 28 passes for about 200 yards, connecting mostly with James Rogers and Andrew Bjornson, as the Matadors improved to 6-5. Rogers caught seven passes for 70 yards and Bjornson had five receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown. The Matadors also got two interceptions and a sack from cornerback Henry Hunt, seven tackles from David Roman and a big sack from Cooper Buster. Miramonte will play host to seventh-seeded Redwood next week. Alameda finished 9-2. – Darren Sabedra
CCS Division V
No. 3 Terra Nova 40, No. 6 South San Francisco 20
Terra Nova (8-3) takes on the winner of Saturday’s Santa Cruz-Sobrato game in the semifinals after beating the visiting Warriors (5-6). — David Kiefer
NCS Division VII
No. 2 Piedmont 49, No. 7 St. Patrick-St. Vincent 7
Jimmy Lagios threw three touchdown passes – all to Cash Panico – and Xavier Henderson rushed for two TDs as Piedmont breezed to the semifinals with a rout of SPSV. The Highlanders recovered two fumbles and intercepted a pass while playing what coach Jordan Seiden called a “complete game in all three phases.” Piedmont (7-4) will play host to No. 3 seed Willits next week. SPSV finished 7-4. – Darren Sabedra
No. 5 Concord 36, No. 4 Vallejo 24
Jacari Gibson gained over 100 yards on the ground and scored two touchdowns to lead the visiting Bears (7-4) into a semifinal matchup at top-seeded Middletown. Tight end Max Dashner made several big catches for first downs in a winning effort. For Vallejo (7-4), Elijah Peace was thrust into action at quarterback because of an injury to the starter and was the catalyst for the Redhawks’ 24-point second-half outburst, mostly with his running. — David Kiefer