Pitt holds off Los Gatos in marquee matchup
In a matchup between two top public school football teams at opposite ends of the Bay Area, Pittsburg made the long road trip to Los Gatos and went home a 37-27 winner.
The ability of Pitt quarterback Marley Alcantara to connect with receivers under heavy pressure and in unlikely circumstances was a big factor in Pittsburg's win. Alcantara threw three TDs: one apiece to Noah Quesada, JuJu Walls and Makari Kenion.
“Marley is a big-time playmaker,” Pittsburg coach Charlie Ramirez said. “He has fantastic instincts and fantastic vision. The receiving corps, running backs and offensive line all feed off him.”
Los Gatos never led, but battled back throughout. Trailing 16-0 late in the first half the Wildcats scored two touchdowns in the final 1:05 of the second quarter to go into the locker room down only 16-14.
Los Gatos quarterback AJ Minyard completed 15 of 31 passes for 262 yards with two touchdowns.
“Our effort was unbelievable,” Los Gatos coach Mark Krail said. “Got down early but we didn't quit.”
NO. 2 DE LA SALLE 21, NO. 8 MCCLYMONDS 0 >> In a game dominated by defense, Dominic Kelley scored on two touchdown runs and Toa Faavae threw his first touchdown pass of the season — a 38-yarder over the middle to Robert Santiago — to account for the scoring.
NO. 11 WILCOX 45, MOUNTAIN VIEW 14 >>
Mountain View scored first on Lex Silver's 74yard trick-play touchdown, but Wilcox took charge from there, rolling at home in a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division opener. Wilcox QB quarterback Tyson Bonilla finished with 209 yards in 10 carries.
NO. 12 CALIFORNIA 41, GRANADA 17 >>
California running back Devan Love rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Jayden Macedo threw for 212 yards and two TDs. California defensive end Ethan Cullen had three sacks as the Grizzlies dominated on the line of scrimmage.
NO. 13 ST. IGNATIUS 31, BELLARMINE
30 >> In a back-and-forth, nail-biter in San Francisco, host St. Ignatius prevailed when Cameron Jones scored on a 7-yard run with 34.1 seconds left. Bellarmine QB Parker Threatt had two 80-yard rushing touchdowns.
NO. 15 ARCHBISHOP MITTY 35, SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL 27 >> Mitty, playing on its designated home field at Foothill College, built a 35-7 lead in the third quarter and held on for the West Catholic Athletic League victory. Lazaro FarajWashington finished with 144 yards of offense and a touchdown and Owen Harrington intercepted two passes
NO. 16 CAMPOLINDO 48, BENICIA 0 >> Isaiah Ortiz threw two touchdown passes to Tim Daugherty and Mack Fisher, and Jacob Gocobachi, Cort Woodford, Matthew Sugiyama and Micah Parker ran for a touchdown.
NO. 19 HILLSDALE 31, HALF MOON BAY 15 >> Hillsdale quarterback Erick Waugh threw three touchdown passes Thursday, two to Kyle King and one to Jack Haywood. Hillsdale's Dante Allendorf broke a long run for a touchdown.
NO. 21 LIBERTY 41, FREEDOM 0 >> Sophomore RB Jaxon Bell scored four rushing touchdowns, two in each half, as the Lions won the battle for the Brentwood Bell for the seventh consecutive year. Ryan McKendry caught his seventh TD pass of the season and OLB Richie Beltram blocked a punt.
NO. 23 SACRED HEART PREP 41, BURLINGAME 7 >> Running back Anthony Noto had four rushing touchdowns for the Gators, who scored 34 unanswered points in the second half. Greg Gamitian and Ravu Savali also scored on short runs.
NO. 24 ACALANES 50, VALLEJO 0 >> Acalanes' senior quarterback Sully Bailey had a huge game, accounting for the first five TDs with runs of 29, three and seven yards, and touchdown passes of 21 yards to Paul Kuhner and 25 yards to Trevor Rogers. Sophomore RB Deonte Littlejohn completed the scoring with touchdown runs of three and 50 yards.
NO. 25 LAS LOMAS 38, NORTHGATE 31 >> Las Lomas scored the game's final 24 points, all in the second half, to stun archrival Northgate in the annual battle for football supremacy in Walnut Creek. Sophomore quarterback Dylan Thomas and receiver Roman Mercado hooked up on a 57-yard touchdown pass with three minutes left in the fourth quarter to break a 31-31 tie.
ANTIOCH 18, HERITAGE 17 >> Yusef Jenkins' rushing touchdown with 13 seconds left in the game gave Antioch the victory. Curtis Tucker and Elijah Stingley each rushed for Antioch TDs, and Heritage WR Brooks Davis caught a touchdown in a back-and-forth BVAL game.
DUBLIN 20, HAYWARD 13 >> Trailing 10-0 at halftime, Dublin quarterback Jack Duncan came off the bench and threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another. Garrett Esomonu caught both TDs, the first going for 80 yards.
LEIGH 13, BRANHAM 12 >> In a tense game between neighborhood rivals, Leigh stopped a two-point conversion attempt with 1:35 left and ran out the clock to celebrate a thrilling victory. Leigh QB Tyler Donaldson ran for a touchdown and threw one to Carter Williams.
LIVERMORE 30, FOOTHILL 28 >> Livermore running back Kamarri Robinson set a school record by rushing for 355 yards in a non-league victory at Foothill. Robinson also rushed for two touchdowns. Foothill's Michael O'Donoghue scored all four touchdowns for the Pleasanton school.
MILPITAS 15, SEQUOIA 13 >> The Trojans won for the fourth time in five games when sophomore kicker Jerrel Phan booted a 23-yard field goal with six seconds showing on the clock. Interceptions by Reynaldo Dunbar and Atticus Roberts-Daniels were huge for the winners. Jacob Alvarado scored both of Milpitas' touchdowns.
SANTA TERESA 35, LELAND 19 >> Jaikob Wright ran for two touchdowns and Noah Ebbah returned an interception 90 yards for a TD to lead Santa Teresa to a victory at home on Thursday. Nayden Balladares and Jaren Morris also scored a TD for the Saints.