High school football roundup: Best of the weekend action in Week 6
No. 2 St. Francis survives SHC's upset bid; Jalen Moss' late pick-six saves Menlo-Atherton; Leland edges Live Oak in a crucial BVAL Mt. Hamilton game; Miramonte tops Skyline in OT.
Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) roundup of the best action in high school football from the second weekend of the fall season. Check back every Saturday for scores, highlights and top performers from the weekend’s games, updated throughout the day.
Ranked teams
No. 2 St. Francis 37, Sacred Heart Cathedral 13
Sacred Heart Cathedral, which continues to search for its first victory, put another scare in a heavily favored opponent. Last week, the Fighting Irish took Valley Christian to the wire. Friday at Kezar Stadium, they fell behind 16-0 against St. Francis after the first quarter and then scored 13 points in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 16-13 at halftime. The score remained that way until St. Francis crossed the goal line three times in the fourth quarter to improve to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the West Catholic Athletic League. SHC fell to 0-5, 0-2. Viliami Teu led St. Francis with 172 yards and two touchdowns in 25 carries. Camilo Arquette added 108 yards and two TDs in 17 carries, and Kamau Julien made the most of his only attempt, scoring on a 56-yard run. St. Francis will play host to Valley Christian next Friday. That same night, SHC will play rival St. Ignatius in the Bruce-Mahoney game. — Darren Sabedra
St. Frances-Baltimore 42, No. 3 De La Salle 28
The visitors from Baltimore led by three touchdowns at halftime in this nationally televised matchup and widened the advantage to 42-14 on a 50-yard run early in the third quarter. Darren Sabedra has the complete recap here.
No. 4 Pittsburg at No. 12 McClymonds, canceled
The anticipated game Friday night between these East Bay powers was called off Thursday because of COVID-19 issues at McClymonds. Evan Webeck has the details here.
No. 7 California 30, Dublin 20
The Grizzlies improved to 5-0, getting another strong game from QB Teddy Booras and WR Jake Calcagno and big stops from the defense. Check out Phil Jensen’s story here.
No. 8 San Ramon Valley 42, No. 20 Foothill 0
It was all San Ramon Valley in this matchup as QB Jack Quigley had a big first half for the Wolves. Read Vytas Mazeika’s story here.
No. 13 Menlo-Atherton 35, Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills 24
Jalen Moss intercepted a pass inside the Menlo-Atherton 5-yard line with less than a minute to play and returned it for a touchdown to seal a road win over Oak Ridge. The Bears have won three straight after starting the season 0-2. Menlo-Atherton never trailed, but the game was close throughout. The Bears led 14-3 at the half, then Oak Ridge scored to make it 14-10. M-A’s lead alternated between four and 11 points for the rest of the game, Bears coach Chris Saunders said. Menlo-Atherton took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in 14 plays, with senior quarterback Matt MacLeod scoring on a 15-yard run. Cal-bound Jeremiah Earby caught a 70-yard touchdown pass and Johno Price scored M-A’s first points of the second half on a pass from MacLeod. “This was a big win, on the road,” Saunders said. “Oak Ridge is a playoff-caliber team. This was the kind of challenge we needed.” The Bears now have back-to-back victories over McClymonds and Oak Ridge. The Trojans slipped to 2-4 and lost their third straight, but their opponents in that stretch were Folsom, Granite Bay and Menlo-Atherton. — Mike Lefkow
No. 19 Burlingame 22, Sacred Heart Prep 21
Burlingame, playing on its home field, remained undefeated as Charlie Koch caught an 11-yard pass from Ryan Kall with 14 seconds left and Elijah La Guardia ran into the end zone on a two-point conversion. Kall threw for 187 yards and the one TD. Koch had six catches for 55 yards, and La Guardia finished with 141 yards from scrimmage — 94 on the ground, 47 receiving. He ran for two TDs. Burlingame led 14-7 after the first quarter. The score was tied 14-14 at halftime, and SHP took a 21-14 lead in the third quarter. Jack Herrell passed for 190 yards and a TD to lead SHP. Burlingame improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division. SHP fell to 1-4, 0-1. — Darren Sabedra
Wilcox 42, No. 24 Mountain View 27
Luther Glenn rushed for 317 yards and scored six touchdowns to lead Wilcox to victory in SCVAL De Anza Division play. How’d Glenn do it? Read Evan Webeck’s game story here.
East Bay
Hayward 38, Mt. Eden 23
The visiting Farmers (1-4 overall) notched their first win with contributors on both sides of the ball. Chris Garner had a fumble return for a touchdown, and teammates Eric Braziel, Antonio Monday Jr. and Jaylin Leslie all grabbed interceptions. Offensively, Jakob Brownfield (reception), Malique Elston (reception) and Monday Jr. (run) scored touchdowns. “We were able to run the ball and attack the perimeter,” Hayward coach Nate Moore said. Hayward led 23-0 at halftime and took a 31-0 lead before Mt. Eden (2-3) started clicking offensively. Quarterback Josh Olberg ran for two touchdowns and Danny Batres scored Mt. Eden’s other TD on a run, as well as reaching the end zone on a two-point conversion. “It was a different ball game in the second half. We are a young team,” Mt. Eden coach Paul Perenon said. — Phil Jensen
Encinal 32, Berkeley 22
Encinal (4-1, 2-0 MVAL/WACC Mission) forced nine turnovers, including eight interceptions, in the victory. Ken Lorenzo had four of those interceptions. He also had a kick return for a touchdown, as did Marques Singleton. Encinal’s Frederick Tyler rushed for 102 yards on 26 carries, and teammate Aaron Leung added 64 yards on 10 carries. Jets quarterback Garrett Deatherage threw for 217, including touchdowns to Tyler and Alex De La O. Tyler had two receptions for 75 yards and De La O added two catches for 39 yards. Marques Singleton led the Jets with four receptions for 66 yards. Berkeley (2-3, 1-1) scored a touchdown to lead 22-18 in the third quarter, but on the two-point conversion, quarterback Creg Brown-Lawyer broke his collarbone, wrote Berkeley coach James Hodgins in a text to the Bay Area News Group. — Phil Jensen
Miramonte 28, Skyline 25 OT
The visiting Matadors (4-0) won this close intersectional contest on a crazy play. After Skyline kicked a field goal to open overtime, Miramonte scored a touchdown when an 18-yard pass from Luke Duncan over the middle bounced off a helmet and ricocheted to Tyler Dutto in the back of the end zone for a score. Duncan and Dutto also connected for another TD pass, in the third quarter. Miramonte scored in the first half on Thomas Wilson’s run but trailed 7-6 at halftime. The Mats went ahead 22-7 in the second half before a big comeback from the Titans (2-3). Duncan threw three TD passes for Miramonte. — Phil Jensen
South Bay/Peninsula
Leland 14, Live Oak 13
In an early-season Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division showdown, a point-after-touchdown kick by Cade Whitson proved to be the difference as the Chargers (4-1, 2-0) came back from a 13-0 deficit to the Acorns (3-2, 1-1). The PAT kick followed Mark Eby’s four-yard touchdown run with 2:25 left. Eby also scored on a two-yard run in the third quarter. Live Oak led 6-0 at halftime, with Leland’s Jack Ryan blocking the PAT attempt. Live Oak had a chance to win on the final play, but a 32-yard field-goal attempt was wide right. — Phil Jensen
Piedmont Hills 35, Santa Teresa 34, OT
Piedmont Hills scored on its first play in overtime, then kicker Roland Legaspi booted his fifth PAT of the night to give the Pirates a one-point win. In addition to his overtime heroics, Legaspi scored a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 22-yard pass from quarterback Raymond Heredia to give Piedmont Hills a 28-21 lead with five minutes to go. But Santa Teresa scored a rushing touchdown with under a minute to play to send the game into overtime. “They scored on their first play and we scored on our first play,” Piedmont Hills coach Matt Kiesle said. “It was a short overtime.” The game turned when Santa Teresa missed the PAT in overtime. Piedmont Hills scored on a 10-yard pass from Heredia to Damian Nevarez, then Legaspi split the uprights to win the game. The Pirates are 3-2 for the season and Santa Teresa is 2-3. They’re both 1-1 in the Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. — Mike Lefkow
Aragon 33, The King’s Academy 13
The visiting Dons (3-2 overall) hurt The King’s Academy (2-3) both on the ground and in the air in a non-league victory. Aragon’s Dylan Daniel threw for two touchdown passes, and teammate Mone Hokafonu rushed for three touchdowns to lead the way. — Phil Jensen
Pioneer 16, Westmont 10
Senior MLB/FB Jeremiah Lolohea had himself a game Thursday on his team’s home field in San Jose, rushing for 153 yards in 23 carries and making nine tackles to lead Pioneer (3-2, 2-0) to its second consecutive victory to open BVAL Santa Teresa Division play. Jessie Geurts ran for two TDs, Bryce Johnson had six tackles and an interception and Tevin Berrios blocked a punt for the Mustangs, who have a big game next Friday at Leigh. Westmont (3-2, 0-2) plays host to Independence next Friday. — Darren Sabedra
Sobrato 35, Prospect 20
Sobrato built a 16-8 halftime lead Thursday night and went on to win its third consecutive game after opening the season with two losses. QB Seth Hernstedt and slotback Nathan Ortiz both stood out, coach Jubenal Rodriguez said, adding that Matthew Nguyen rushed for more than 100 yards. The Bulldogs are 2-0 in the BVAL’s Santa Teresa Division. They are scheduled to play at home next Saturday against Willow Glen. Prospect, which plays host to Branham next Friday, fell to 3-2, 1-1. — Darren Sabedra
Fremont-Sunnyvale 41, Lynbrook 7
Fremont, playing on its home field Thursday, rolled to victory as Bronson Stein threw three touchdown passes, including two 19-yard strikes to WR Zade Aufang. Lenny Sinapati added 156 yards in 17 carries and two TDs, and LB/FB TJ Takafua ran six times for 46 yards and a TD. He also had seven tackles. The Firebirds forced a pair of turnovers, holding Lynbrook to one score — a 12-yard pass from Awkshat Tiwari to Jalen Lakstigala. Lynbrook fell to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the SCVAL’s El Camino Division. Fremont improved to 3-2, 1-0. — Darren Sabedra