Serra beat De La Salle last season. Will Padres do it again?
Serra cleared one hurdle in its season opener, winning at home over Folsom. Now the San Mateo school has another on Saturday when De La Salle travels from Concord to play the top-ranked Padres.
De La Salle lost its opener at home to Orange Lutheran, giving up 21 unanswered second-half points in a 35-14 loss to the Southern California heavyweight.
Serra coach Patrick Walsh made it clear what he thinks about DLS — “they're big and physical” — while once again noting the differences between elite teams in Southern California and Northern California.
“They played like what seemed like a college team down there,” said Walsh, who spoke candidly last season about St. John Bosco and Mater Dei after his undefeated team lost to Bosco 45-0 in the Open Division state championship game.
Walsh added about DLS, his alma mater, “It's a fantastic team. We're not going to be scoreboard-watching, saying, `Oh, De La Salle is down.'”
Last season, Serra rallied on the road from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat DLS for the first time, 24-21.
DLS coach Justin Alumbaugh said there is a purpose to scheduling teams such as Orange Lutheran.
“That's a learning opportunity,” he said. “Obviously as a competitor, we want to win every game. It's De La
Salle. You want to win every game.
“It's not back to the drawing board or anything. I'm confident we're going to be a good team. We have to learn from this and be better about it. Eliminate the mental mistakes. Protect the quarterback better. Open up some more running lanes for our runners. Eliminate mental mistakes defensively. You can't do that with a talented team.”
— Darren Sabedra
PITTSBURG WINS ON `HOLY GROUND'
Before his team's 49-13 victory over Sacred Heart Cathedral on Saturday at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, Pittsburg coach Charlie Ramirez showed his players an educational video about the stadium.
But his quarterback, Marley Alcantara, needed no introduction to the venue — long since downsized for high school games — that the 49ers called home from 1946 to 1970.
“I'm a 49ers fan, so it's amazing to play on this holy ground where great football was played and great players played,” Alcantara said.
Ramirez later lightheartedly compared Alcantara to another No. 12 who starred on professional fields when Kezar was a pro stadium, Joe Namath.
However, Alcantara has actually now played more games at Kezar than the legendary QB. Both of Broadway Joe's games in San Francisco occurred at Candlestick Park.
LOS GATOS QB LEADS THE WAY
Per stats reported to Maxpreps, nobody had more touchdown passes in the Bay Area News Group's coverage area in Week 1 than Los Gatos' AJ Minyard.
The senior threw five in a 45-14 victory over Soquel.
Familiarity helped, as Minyard noted he has been playing with playmakers Jaylen Thomas and Scott Garwood since his freshman year.
“We've really got that connection,” he said. “Los Gatos has such a good tradition of kids starting out as freshmen and working their way up all the way to varsity. I've been playing with those guys for the last four years.”
— Darren Sabedra