Serra likely headed to state championship
The Chronicle’s top two ranked football teams — Serra and De La Salle Concord — were both crowned Open Division section champions on Friday. The rest of the games were semifinals.
Serra (12-0) won a fourth consecutive Central Coast Section title with a 63-27 drubbing of Wilcox Santa Clara, racing to a 4913 halftime lead before going to a running clock. Recent Oklahoma State commit Maealiuaki Smith completed 11 of 15 passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns, and a by committee rushing attack ground out more than 220 yards, led by Joseph Latu (three touchdowns). Kyon Loud caught two TD passes and ran for another and Marley Alapati added a pick-six.
Wilcox (8-4), which rushed for 485 yards in a semifinal win over St. Francis, finished with just 145 on Friday. The Chargers drop into the Division 1 championship game, where it will face Los Gatos, a 21-17 winner over St. Ignatius.
With nonleague wins over Folsom and De La Salle, the Padres will surely represent Northern California as the top team in the state Open Division championship game on Dec. 9 against the winner between Mater Dei-Santa Ana and St. John Bosco. It will be the third straight year Serra will play in the state’s top game.
De La Salle (10-2) won its 10th straight game and 31st consecutive North Coast Section crown with a 17-7 win over San Ramon Valley at Dublin High School.
Junior quarterback Toa Faavae (10 carries, 135 yards) broke loose for two 15-yard TD runs in the fourth quarter to wipe out a 7-3 deficit. Derrick Blanche Jr. added 21 carries for 91 yards and Dominic Kelley 11 for 68 as the Spartans extended their unbeaten streak to a remarkable 271 games (2700-1) against NCS opponents.
The defense, led by Drew Cunningham (five tackles, interception) and sophomore Nemyah Telona (two sacks) held San Ramon Valley to 154 yards of offense, well off the 386 the Wolves had in a 33-27 overtime loss to De La Salle on Oct. 13. SRV QB Luke Baker, who totaled 384 yards of offense in the previous game, was limited to 113.
San Ramon Valley, which will play Pittsburg (12-0) in Friday’s NCS D1 title game at Dublin, got a remarkable 22-tackle performance from 4-star linebacker Marco Jones, who also had an interception.
• In Los Gatos’ road win, Boxer Kopcsak Yeung rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns, the second a 4-yarder to break a 14-14 tie midway through the third quarter. Soren Hummel threw TD passes to Jarious Hogan and Quinn Folk for St. Ignatius (7-5).
Turkey Day repeat: For the fourth straight year, Lincoln (8-3) and Balboa (7-4) will meet in the Turkey Day Game at 11 a.m. Thursday at Kezar Stadium with the San Francisco Section championship and a NorCal bid on the line.
Lincoln has won seven straight and is coming off a 46-13 semifinal defeat of Washington at Kezar behind a mammoth game from Jamelle Newman, who rushed 29 times for a career-high 339 yards and six touchdowns. Linebacker Diego Cristerna had a game-high nine tackles and Jaylen Lopez added three sacks and two fumble recoveries.
Balboa used big plays Friday to post a 21-13 semifinal victory, also at Kezar, as Joseph Smith had a 99yard kickoff return for touchdown and Dontee Allen-Wilson added TD runs of 90 and 63 yards. Lowell (5-5) got TD runs of 1 and 62 yards by Angelo Ornelas.
Lincoln has won two of the last three Turkey Day Games against Balboa, including 44-7 last season.
State volleyball: Valley Christian (Division 1) and Crystal Springs Up lands Hills borough( D 5) each captured a state title on Friday at Santiago Canyon College in Orange, while Mitty (Open Division), Sacred Heart Cathedral (D2) and Marin Academy-San Rafael (D4) lost in state final matches Saturday.
Charley Staats had 26 kills and Addison Carbonara added 21, and Hailey Newell contributed 51 assists as Valley Christian (26-10) won its third state crown with a 25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23 win over Palos Verdes. In its first state appearances, Crystal Springs edged Oceanside 17-25, 25-23, 25-13, 16-25, 15-11 as Gabby Tomatis had 16 kills and Ellie Lee 10. Libero Bianca Sladewski served nine straight points to key the fifth-game win. She had 10 aces overall.
Mitty (33-5) had big matches from Makenna Crosson (16 kills), Amiya Kuchibhotla (11) and Katelyn Cook (10), but Mater Dei (43-2), ranked second in the nation, had too much power at the net. The Monarchs won their second state title and 24th straight match to close the season. Mitty, which has five more state titles than any team in California, was after No. 15. … Sacred Heart Cathedral (15-15) dropped to 1-5 in state title matches with a 25-21, 25-17, 25-14 loss to first-time champ Campbell Hall North Hollywood (36-5). … Despite 17 kills from Kate Lane, Marin Academy lost in four games to first-time champion Glendale (40-6).