St. Francis, Serra win big to set up WCAL title showdown this week
No. 1-ranked Serra High cleared its final hurdle on the way to Saturday’s showdown at home against St. Francis for the West Catholic Athletic League championship.
Playing on the road Thursday night against upset-minded Sacred Heart Cathedral, running back Petelo Gi and quarterback Dominique Lampkin provided all the scoring Serra needed in a 36-7 victory.
Gi crossed the goal line on a 5-yard run and Lampkin followed with a 2-point conversion in the first quarter. A long touchdown pass from Lampkin to Sione Laulea made it 14-0 in the second quarter, and Padres added another touchdown and 2-point conversion before halftime to make it 22-0.
Gi finished with 159 yards in 12 carries, and Lampkin completed 11 of 14 passes for 122 yards.
Serra improved to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the WCAL. SHC is 2-7, 2-4.
NO. 2 ST. FRANCIS 45, ARCHBISHOP MITTY 0 >> St. Francis (8-0, 6-0) kept pace with Serra to set up next week’s epic showdown for the WCAL championship as Viliami Teu scored on a 16-yard run to open the scoring and returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to begin the second half. Joshua Perry threw two first-half touchdown passes to help St. Francis build a 23-0 cushion at the break. St. Francis outgained the Monarchs 356 yards to 123.
NO. 3 DE LA SALLE 41, NO. 23 AMADOR VALLEY 0 >> Luke Dermon threw three touchdown passes as De La Salle (7-2) stretched its winning streak to four games with a victory at home over Amador Valley (4-5). NO. 4 PITTSBURG 51, FREEDOM 6 >> Jaden Rashada completed a 60yard touchdown pass to Zack Card on the first play of the game, and Pittsburg was off to the races. The Pirates, 6-1 overall and 4-0 in Bay Valley Athletic League, host Antioch for the league title Friday night in the annual Big Little Game. Card caught two touchdown passes.
7>> Los Gatos is closing in on its first 10-0 regular season in the MaxPreps era (2004-present) after rolling on its home field Thursday night over Mountain View. The Wildcats scored four touchdowns in the first quarter and three in the second to improve to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division. Jake Boyd threw two passes, completing both, including one for a 53-yard touchdown to Luke Pittock to open the scoring. The Wildcats had two pick-6s — one returned 99 yards by Landon Heard and the other 22 yards by Kevin Rogers.
NO. 6 CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER 34, NO. 7 MONTE VISTA 14 >> Nicholas Khashabi ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns in eight attempts to ignite a big second half for Clayton Valley as the Ugly Eagles clinched a share of the East Bay Athletic League Mountain Division title while handing Monte Vista its first defeat.
NO. 8 MENLO-ATHERTON 34, NO. 20 BURLINGAME 8 >> Matt MacLeod, one of the Menlo-Atherton seniors introduced before the game, completed 9 of 11 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns as the Bears (7-2, 4-0) clinched the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title with a victory over Burlingame (72,
3-2).
NO. 12 SAN RAMON VALLEY 31, NO. 9 CALIFORNIA 20 >> Za’Darion Nardi rushed for 263 yards and a pair of touchdowns as San Ramon Valley won a back-and-forth thriller on the road against California in EBAL Mountain Division play. San Ramon was able to prevail by recovering a fumble near its own goal line and, three plays later, scoring on Jack Quigley’s 81-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Johnson. NO. 14 BELLARMINE 45, NO. 10 VALLEY CHRISTIAN 34 >> Nate Escalada stepped in for Wade Smith, who was injured last week against St. Francis, and the junior threw for 179 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 89 yards on seven carries as Bellarmine clinched its first winning season in five years with a victory at Valley Christian.
NO. 11 MCCLYMONDS 75, CASTLEMONT 18 >> McClymonds, playing at home, extended its winning streak against Oakland Athletic League opponents to 78 games (including playoffs) dating to 2009 with another rout. Dreyan Paul completed 9 of 15 passes for 221 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushed for 43 yards and a score. Jaivian Thomas ran for 156 yards and three touchdowns on only eight carries, and also had four receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. McClymonds,
which led 51-18 at halftime, improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in OAL play. Castlemont fell to 1-5, 0-2.
NO. 13 MENLO 55, CARLMONT 17 >> Quarterback Sergio Beltran accounted for six touchdowns — three passing, three rushing — as the Knights improved to 9-0. Menlo has already captured the PAL-Ocean title. Beltran’s trio of touchdown passes gave him 43 for the season, a Central Coast Section record. Menlo had one defensive touchdown, by junior cornerback Ty Richardson, who scooped up a fumble and returned it for six points. The Knights wrap up their regular season Saturday with a nonleague visit from Sacred Heart Prep. A 10-0 season could place Menlo in Division II for the CCS playoffs.
NO. 22 CAMPOLINDO 35, NO. 16 LAS LOMAS 28 >> Campolindo continued its mastery over Las Lomas, beating the Knights for the 10th straight time. The Cougars (63, 3-1 DAL Foothill) shot out to a 28-7 lead in the third quarter, then let things get a little close for comfort in the fourth quarter by allowing Las Lomas (6-3, 3-1) to score the game’s final two touchdowns. Campo scored its first two touchdowns, and three overall, on short runs. Collin Krznaric scored twice and Michael Coane once, all from 3 yards.
NO. 17 BENICIA 61, ALHAMBRA 21 >>
Visiting Benicia jumped out to a 34-0 first-quarter lead as the Panthers stayed undefeated in the DAL Foothill Division heading into their finale this week against Las Lomas. Jakobe Handy scored on a 2-yard pass from Tyson Wallace and a 25-yard interception return for a pair of first-quarter scores. Wallace threw for four touchdowns in the first quarter and finished 10 for 11 for 246 yards, five touchdowns passes and no interceptions. Benicia, which improved to 7-2 overall and 4-0 in DAL Foothill play, led 41-0 at halftime.
NO. 18 FOOTHILL 35, GRANADA 7 >> After falling behind in the first quarter, Foothill scored 35 unanswered points to finish the regular season 8-2 overall and 4-0 in the EBAL-Valley Division. Next stop for the Falcons will be the North Coast Section playoffs. Quarterback Nick Walsh threw four touchdown passes and scored on a 54yard run. The senior completed a spectacular regular season with 29 TD tosses and 1,761 yards.
NO. 19 WILCOX 42, HOMESTEAD 7 >> Wilcox won its fourth in a row and moved above .500 for the first time this season. The Chargers (54, 4-1 SCVAL-De Anza) led 29-0 at halftime. Luther K. Glenn led the onslaught with three touchdowns and 185 yards rushing. He has run for 1,303 yards and 17 TDs overall. Andrew Palacios added two touchdowns on the ground. LIVERMORE 17, NO. 21 DUBLIN 16 >> Livermore’s Max Serpa caught a 15-yard TD pass from Jack Martin in the fourth quarter, and Donovan Uemecke provided the winning point with a PAT kick in a thrilling win. Uemecke also had a 30-yard field goal in the first half. Livermore trailed 13-10 at halftime and 16-10 in the third quarter before pulling out the win over the Gaels (5-4, 1-2 EBAL Valley Division). Livermore is 6-3, 2-1.