Valley Christian’s dominance against St. Francis halted
Viliami Teu is in full-on beast mode.
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound running back set career highs Oct. 8 with 27 carries for 282 yards — highlighted by a 92-yard burst — and three touchdowns to power second-ranked St. Francis into a 41-27 victory that snapped a four-game skid against visiting rival Valley Christian.
Only one rushing performance in school history ranks higher, as Lutoviko Ahoia gained 333 yards in 2014 against Sacred Heart Cathedral in another West Catholic Athletic League contest.
This is Teu’s fourthstraight game with at least 185 rushing yards.
College recruiters must be taking notice of this fall’s Peninsula breakout star, who is averaging just shy of 190 rushing yards per game. Right?
“A few colleges are interested right now, but I haven’t had my best game, yet,” Teu said. “So we’ll see.”
If Teu is capable of even more, then the Lancers (50, 3-0 WCAL) appear poised to remain unbeaten prior to the regular-season finale at No. 1 Serra.
“He’s got a great motor, he’s seeing it great and he’s been like that all year for us,” St. Francis coach Greg
Calcagno said. “We know what he can do and we certainly like to give it to him and watch him.”
No. 12 Valley Christian (4-2, 2-1) took its best shot at the giant-killer who took down De La Salle a month earlier by trading touchdowns in the first half, as neither team punted prior to intermission.
The Warriors actually led 14-13 after quarterback Jakson Berman tucked the ball and sprinted 47 yards to pay dirt with 4:30 left in the half.
But with 24.2 seconds to go, St. Francis quarterback Joshua Perry tossed his first TD of the season — an 8-yard fade to wideout Tim Netane, who on the previous drive converted a key fourth down to set up one of Camilo Arquette’s two rushing scores in the first half.
The Lancers went into the locker room up 20-14 and never looked back.
NO. 5 LOS GATOS 37, HOMESTEAD 0 >> Emiliano Mejia rushed for 139 yards and three touchdowns, and Jake Boyd threw for a pair of scores as Los Gatos improved to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. With their victory Oct. 8, the Wildcats have won 16 regular season games in a row. Mejia scored on runs of 3, 11 and 11 yards. Boyd threw both of his TD passes
in the first half. He and Quinn Merritt connected on a 34-yard scoring strike in the first quarter, then he tossed a 27-yard TD to Alejandro Quijada shortly before halftime. Los Gatos led 21-0 at intermission. Senior defensive back Colin Kleis sparked the defense with two blocked punts and an interception. .
NO. 8 BELLARMINE 42, MITTY 28 >> Bellarmine broke open a close game with three fourth-quarter touchdowns. The game was tied 14-14 at the half, then Bellarmine (5-1, 2-1 West Catholic Athletic League) finally grabbed its first lead when quarterback Wade Smith threw a 17-yard TD pass to 6-foot-3, 240-pound tight end Brody Stratz. A Mitty field goal made it 21-17 at the end of three quarters,
but touchdown tosses by Smith to Stratz and Ben Pfaff made it 35-17 with 7:55 left. Smith finished the night with three TD passes. Pfaff scored three touchdowns, his first two coming on runs in the opening half. NO. 24 LELAND 21, OAK GROVE 0>> Leland stayed undefeated in BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division play as Nathan Wright threw two touchdown passes to lead the way. Wright connected with Nick Ames from 7 yards out for the first score and then completed a 9-yard pass to Mark Eby for a 14-0 lead after one quarter. The score didn’t budge until Pierre Goldstein crossed the goal line on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. The shutout was Leland’s second of the season.
PIONEER 17, LEIGH 14 >> Visiting
Mountain View at Homestead, 7 p.m.
Los Gatos at Palo Alto, 7 p.m. Cupertino at Monta Vista, 7 p.m.
Lynbrook at Gunn, 7 p.m. Leland at Santa Teresa, 7 p.m. Independence at Branham, 7 p.m.
Prospect at Leigh, 7 p.m. Willow Glen at Westmont, 7 p.m.
Bellarmine vs. Sacred Heart Cathedral at San Jose City College, 7 p.m.
Serra at Valley Christian, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Mitty at St. Ignatius, 1 p.m.
Pioneer took a 14-0 lead in the third quarter, then held off a fierce charge by the Longhorns to stay undefeated in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Santa Teresa Division and snap Leigh’s 10-game winning streak dating to an undefeated spring season. Pioneer quarterback Gage Houser threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Kanye Henry and completed all six of his passes for 109 yards. BRANHAM 42, PROSPECT 26 >> The visiting Bruins got four rushing touchdowns and 250 all-purpose yards from Will Augenstein in the victory. Teammate Jacob Desousa added two rushing touchdowns in his first career game as a running back. Defensively, Branham (4-2, 2-1 BVAL Santa Teresa) forced three turnovers.