WCAL just as tough as ever
Valley Christian, The Chronicle’s No. 6 football team, plays winless Serra to open the West Catholic Athletic League on Friday night.
“It’s probably the best 0-3 team in the country,” Valley Christian head coach Mike Machado said. And so goes the WCAL. Long considered one of the top leagues in California, this season is no different. Six of the eight teams — including winless No. 18 Serra — are among the Bay Area’s Top 25: No. 2 St. Francis (3-0), No. 8 Bellarmine (2-1), No. 17 St. Ignatius (2-1) and No. 23 Mitty (2-1). The only teams not in the rankings are Riordan (2-1) and Sacred Heart Cathedral (1-2).
In the other league openers: Mitty plays Sacred Heart Cathedral at Kezar Stadium and Riordan travels to St. Francis on Friday. St. Ignatius hosts Bellarmine at 1 p.m. Saturday. Bellarmine and St. Francis tied for the WCAL title last season and each won a Northern California championship.
“Absolutely wide open,” Machado said of the league. “But if you have to pick a favorite, it’s got to be St. Francis. They have those two great players and really good supporting cast.”
Those two are running back Washington Statebound running back Cyrus Habibi-Liko and wide receiver/cornerback Bennett Williams. After rushing for 1,481 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2015, Habibi-Liko has been slow out of the gate this season with only 253 yards and two touchdowns. He had six carries for 78 yards and a TD last week in a 34-13 win over Atascadero.
As usual, the Lancers have been impressive defensively, led by Williams, who has three intercep- tions. The first-team defense has allowed three TDs.
“St. Francis has the most returners and those two top kids, so they are definitely the favorites,” Serra head coach Patrick Walsh said. “But several teams aren’t far behind.”
Valley Christian features a big and experienced offensive line, including Dylan McCreery (6-4, 324), Bradley Murphy (6-3, 285) and David Beltramo (6-3, 309). Add in game-breakers quarterback Miles Kendrick and running back Javon Sturns (412 rushing yards), and the Warriors are a big threat.
Even though it graduated eight first-team AllWCAL players and has 16 new starters, Bellarmine has barely missed a beat with quarterback Ike Ogbogu, third-year starter Jackson Burrill and 2015 WCAL Sophomore of the Year Cade Hall.
Serra has lost to three of Northern California’s top five teams — De La Salle-Concord, St. Mary’sStockton and Pittsburg — and boasts the league’s reigning Player of the Year, quarterback Leki Nunn, who — along with many of his teammates — has dealt with injuries. “We need to be more physical,” Walsh said. “It’s a physical league.”
As far as the rest of the league, Mitty has one of the league’s top dualthreat quarterbacks in Phillip Tran, St. Ignatius has wins over Clovis East (56-20) and then-No. 16 Marin Catholic-Kentfield (31-28), Riordan bounced back from a season-opening loss to beat Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton (19-3) and St. Mary’s-Berkeley (45-39), and SHC has a victory over Terra NovaPacifica (27-14).
“Absolutely wide open. But if you have to pick a favorite, it’s got to be St. Francis.” Mike Machado, Valley Christian head coach