Campolindo looks to add another title after rough start
Following his team’s 35-0 home loss to Benicia to drop to 3-3 in early October, Campolindo-Moraga football coach Kevin Macy told the Cougars: “right now people are kicking dirt on your grave thinking you have given up on your season.”
The Cougars, a perennial Northern California power with five North Coast Section and two state titles over the past 10 seasons, struggled badly preparing for the season, Macy said, due to COVID-19 and all its protocols.
Besides the Benicia loss, there was a 49-0 trampling by visiting Aptos a month earlier, leading to more murmurs that “we’re just a terrible team,” Macy said.
But Macy, in his 42nd coaching season (251-121-3 record as head coach), including 26 at Campolindo (224-92), thought differently. More health issues against Benicia made that defeat an “aberration,” said Macy, who noted “we were making progress. It was just a matter of turning around attitudes, switching a couple things up.”
The Cougars flipped the switch the following week with a 24-14 win at then 17th-ranked Acalanes-Lafayette, igniting a six-game win streak completed Friday with a 17-14 NCS Division 2 semifinal win at top-seed San Ramon Valley-Danville.
Campolindo (9-3) goes for another title Saturday at Foothill-Pleasanton (10-2), which throttled Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park, another red-hot squad 35-7.
A big switch for Campolindo came at quarterback, where junior Dash Weaver took the reins at midseason. He has steadily improved, and on Friday he threw for 205 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed 14 times for 95 yards for a Campolindo team banged up at running back. Bradley Nestal (three catches, 79 yards) and Connor Fritch caught TD passes. Scott Linden had a key interception, and Ryan Sintchak kicked a field goal and two extra points.
“The defense was the nextbest story of the night,” Macy said. “We were very undersized, but they turned back a highpowered SRV offense time after time.
“It was one of those, ‘if you play a team 10 times, you might win one,’ ” Macy said. “We had a good plan and the boys executed it beautifully to win that one.”
Mack flexes: Three-time state champion McClymonds-Oakland (9-1) goes for its 11th straight Oakland Section/Silver Bowl title Saturday after a 54-0 semifinal win last week over visiting Oakland Tech. Dreyan Paul accounted for 291 yards and five touchdowns. Three of his TD passes went to Michael Dansby (five catches, 110 yards), who also had a 47-yard pick-six, and one went to Dwayne McDougle (five, 136). Jayvion Cole also had a 31-yard TD catch and a 65-yard punt return for a score.
The Warriors face SkylineOakland (6-4), a 38-6 semifinal winner over Castlemont-Oakland, in Saturday’s 6 p.m. title game at Fremont-Oakland High.
Cross country central: Tamalpais-Mill Valley senior Caden Carney and Acalanes sophomore Oliva Williams recorded
the top times in Saturday’s NCS cross country championships at Hayward High School. Carney covered the rolling 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 1 second to win the Division 3 boys race, and Williams went 16:15.2 to take the Division 4 girls title.
Other individual boys champions were Daniel Trampe (D1, Dublin, 15:13.8), Daegan Cutter (D3, Redwood-Larkspur, 15:22.9), Sean Morello (D4, Albany, 15:16.3) and Alex Mader (D5, Lick Wilmerding, 15:14.3). Team boys champions were Dublin (D1), Granada-Livermore (D2), Campolindo (D3), Albany (D4) and Lick Wilmerding (D5).
More individual girls’ champions were Sabrina Noriega (D1, Dougherty Valley-San Ramon, 18:09.6), Jana Barron (D2, Granada, 17:53.1), Hanne Thomsen (D3, MontgomerySanta Rosa, 17:18.5) and Amelie Maltz (D5, Lick Wilmerding, 18:07.7). Female team champions were Dougherty Valley (D1), Granada-Livermore (D2), Campolindo (D3), MiramonteOrinda (D4) and Lick Wilmerding (D5).
Lowell captured boys and girls AAA/San Francisco Section team titles last week at the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park led by overall winners Oliver Witt (boys) and Jacqueline Holman (girls). The state finals are Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.