Bells pull off opening weekend upset
High school football: Unranked Bellarmine stuns No. 5 Menlo-Atherton in shootout.
Bellarmine coach Jalal Beauchman requested a moment to gather his thoughts and emotions after an instant classic at San Jose City College Aug. 27.
Unranked in the Bay Area News Group preseason poll, the Bells went toe-to-toe with No. 5 Menlo-Atherton in a nearly 3½-hour thriller under jeopardy of postponement because of poor air quality across the Bay Area from numerous wildfires.
After a 60-minute delay prior to kickoff, Bellarmine announced itself as a team to watch under its secondyear coach with a stunning 56-41 triumph.
“The spring was a unique season, but this kind of feels like a normal season and really my first win — my first big win,” said Beauchman, hired in March 2020 to revitalize the varsity program at his alma mater.
Bellarmine (1-0) couldn’t feel safe until the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard.
Twice it relinquished the lead, unable to capitalize on an early 14-0 advantage and once again finding itself trailing entering the fourth quarter.
The Bells relied on quarterback Wade Smith to ignite the offense in the first half. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound signal-caller connected with fellow senior Chris Jaeb for a 71yard touchdown on the team’s opening possession. He also rushed for 103 yards and a pair of TDs (31, 10) to put his team ahead at the half, 21-20.
Smith’s duties took a backseat after intermission, with the offensive line doing the heavy lifting in the trenches.
“My job was a lot easier just handing the ball off a lot of the time,” Smith said. “And it was definitely fun to see.”
NO. 6 VALLEY CHRISTIAN 54, NO. 11 WILCOX 33 >> Valley Christian lit up the scoreboard Aug. 26 in its season opener at No. 11 Wilcox, which ultimately couldn’t keep pace in a shootout, with the game rescheduled at the last minute to accommodate for a shortage of available officials. Wilcox (0-1) pulled no punches in the early stages, jumping out to a 19-7 lead on the strength of three rushing touchdowns by Luther Glenn.
LIVE OAK 41, GILROY 26 >> Live Oak rushed for two touchdowns and returned the second-half kickoff for another TD as the Acorns defeated their traditional rival in the Aug. 27 opener. Nathan Williams, Trent Cousens and Jordan Fuentes also scored touchdowns on the ground for host Live Oak. BRANHAM 50, GUNDERSON 6 >> Branham pulled away from the host Grizzlies in the second quarter to take a 36-0 halftime lead and went on to a commanding opening victory. Junior quarterback Will Augenstein didn’t throw an incompletion in the game and accounted for three touchdowns. Sophomore running back Elias Antillion rushed for two touchdowns, and another sophomore, Dylan Derhammer, added another touchdown on the ground. LEIGH 41, LINCOLN-SAN JOSE 14>> Unbeaten in the spring, Leigh picked up where it left off as Aidan Goo caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Aidan Williams on the first play and added a 39yard touchdown reception. Williams finished 12 of 17 for 189 yards. Sam Betz ran for three touchdowns and kicked five extra points for the Longhorns, who have won six in a row dating to the spring. Leigh visits Gilroy next Friday. Lincoln is scheduled to play host to San Jose next Friday as the Big Bone game has been moved off of the Thanksgiving calendar. MOUNTAIN VIEW 31, THE KING’S ACADEMY 0 >> The host Spartans exploded to score all of their points in the second and third quarter in an impressive victory. Leo Navarro rushed for 221 yards on just 16 carries and scored two touchdowns. PALMA 47, MITTY 0 >> Mitty’s trip to Salinas was a mismatch as host Palma took charge early and never let up. Palma scored 14 points in the first quarter and 27 more in the second to lead 41-0 at halftime. Quarterback Luke Rossi accounted for five touchdowns, including a 1-yard keeper for the first score and later a 72yard run. FREMONT-SUNNYVALE 28, EVERGREEN VALLEY 0 (CALLED AT HALFTIME, AIR QUALITY) >> Fremont built a 28-point first-half lead before the Evergreen Valley administration ended the game early because of poor air quality. RB Lenny Sinapati scored three of Fremont’s four touchdowns on 73 yards rushing and recorded two sacks on defense. SAN BENITO 10, SANTA TERESA 0 (CALLED AT HALFTIME, AIR QUALITY) >> San Benito led 10-0 when the game was called. The teams were walking off the field for halftime when they got word the game would not resume Aug. 27, first-year Santa Teresa coach Steve Papin said. There was a possibility the game will be finished Aug. 28, but Papin said he hadn’t heard a decision as of Aug. 27. With Santa Teresa scheduled to play Branham on Thursday, it’s likely the game against San Benito will not be resumed.
WESTMONT 42, MONTA VISTA 0 >> In a game played Aug. 26, Elijah Monroe, Zach Cepeda and Jacob Lang led the way offensively and Justin Temple and Quinton Hoang stood out on defense as Westmont rolled to the season-opening victory. “This was a very nice win to open the season,” coach Mark Kaanapu said.