Sacred Heart Prep wide receiver Nick O’Donnell (left) and running back Lapitu Mahoni helped the Gators top Terra Nova last Friday night in Pacifica. Photos: Willie Eashman.
Big winners of the week include Campolindo of Moraga and Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton. They are near the top of the CIF D3 NorCal bowl rankings as well, but the Gators seem to be headed to the CCS Open Division and eventually out of D3. Salesian of Richmond also makes some noise by knocking off previously unbeaten St. Mary’s of Berkeley.
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The reality when trying to cover an area as large as the Metro Bay Area is that there are some Friday nights when spending hours in traffic traveling to see one game isn’t worth the ability to monitor a dozen matchups in real time by using technology and social media.
Such was the case this past Friday when between Twitter and highschoolcube.com the entire Bay Area was at our fingertips.
For viewing purposes, the highschoolcube.com broadcast with Pat O’Rourke at the microphone of the Campolindo of Moraga homecoming battle with Diablo Foothill League rival Las Lomas of Walnut Creek was the center of attention.
The way Las Lomas started out it looked like a homecoming spoiler and a team that was perched to make some noise in the CIFNCS Division III playoffs.
On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Las Lomas running back Zack Fulks rumbled 59 yards and finished with 76 of the 87 yards of an opening drive that made it 7-0 Knights.
When Fulks returned an interception 56 yards to paydirt with 7:13 left in the half, Las Lomas had a 28-7 lead and an upset was brewing.
Running back Nick Fadelli had another strong outing for Campolindo against Las Lomas. Photo: Paul Muyskens.
But no one mentioned that to Campolindo running back Nick Fadelli. With Campo down 14-0, he carried six times on a 13-play, 70-yard drive and punched it home from four yards out to make it 14-7. Down 28-7, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior responded with a nine-yard run to start the next series and five plays later he bulled his way in from four yards out again and it was starting to look like the worm might turn.
After holding Las Lomas three-and-out and getting the ball at its own 49-yard line, the threat of Fadelli opened it up for Campo quarterback Jack Stephens and the 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior found Duke-bound senior 6-foot-5, 230-pound tight end Tyler Petite for a 44-yard TD pass to make it 28-21 at the half.
Campolindo would eventually score 31 unanswered points and the defense pitched a shutout from then on to complement the offense in a 38-28 victory.
“We haven’t had that kind of a hole to dig out of this season but our philosophy is to try to stabilize and not pass our way out of it if we get down. Plus, it took us some time to make adjustments on defense to the solid game plan Las Lomas had and slowly get our kids in the right place,” said veteran Campolindo head coach Kevin Macy on Sunday afternoon.
Fadelli finished with 17 carries for 90 hard-fought yards and the three scores. Stephens was 14-of-21 for 208 yards and the one touchdown. Las Lomas running back Fulks had 96 yards in the first half but only finished with 108 for the game.
“We didn’t give Nick a lot of help and he had to do a lot of it on his own to help us get back in the game,” remarked Macy, who spent six years at the helm of Oakland Tech and a year assisting at Bishop O’Dowd before taking over in 1996 at Campolindo.
Campolindo came into the game at No. 1 in the NorCal CIF Division III bowl rankings and will remain on top this week.
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Here are the seventh rankings of the 2014 season (after games of Saturday, Oct. 18; previous ranking in parentheses):
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 7-0
The Bay Area got a rest from being pillaged this week as the Spartans had a bye. Up next is a Foothill team that has nothing to lose in a matchup that has no bearing on the East Bay Athletic League.
2. (2) Foothill (Pleasanton) 7-0
The Falcons held on for a 21-14 victory over a California of San Ramon team that had beaten them six straight times including the playoffs. The win was especially important for a Foothill team wanting to stay in first place in the East Bay Athletic League going into a non-league game with independent De La Salle. How the Falcons do against De La Salle will probably have some determination on where they fall next week. The 42-13 DLS win over Serra from earlier in the season will also be a kept in mind.
3. (3) Serra (San Mateo) 4-2
It was anything but pretty but in the wild-and-wacky West Catholic Athletic League even a 14-2 victory is solid. It was especially important Saturday against St. Francis because the Lancers led 2-0 heading into the fourth quarter before the Padres finally came back. First, T.C. Lavulo scored with 10:31 left but the PAT failed, and then Kelepi Lataimua took it in with 6:25 to play and a 2-point conversion closed out the scoring. Serra may have been a little late to get started, but the defense that has been a mainstay this season did the job again and kept St. Francis out of the end zone with the Lancers only score on a second quarter safety. Next up is visiting San Francisco Riordan so the Padres’ hold on first in the WCAL shouldn’t be threatened this week.
4. (4) Milpitas 6-0
After a bye this past week, Milpitas meets a Santa Clara Wilcox team that could give them a good game. The Trojans will be state-ranked again this week but to stay there for next week will mean they need to put away Wilcox.
5. (5) Valley Christian (San Jose) 4-2
The Warriors had little trouble with Riordan in a 33-7 victory but there’s a question about Kirk Johnson suffering an ankle injury and its severity. Next up is St. Francis on the road.
6. (6) Clayton Valley (Concord) 7-0
The Ugly Eagles hit the 70-point mark for the second time this season in a 70-7 swamping of Walnut Creek Northgate in which they led 56-0 at halftime. Arch-rival Concord is next on the road in what might be the toughest game of the regular season.
7. (7) Bellarmine (San Jose) 5-1
The Bells rebounded from the loss to Valley Christian by sending Sacred Heart Cathedral to its third straight defeat with a 35-17 win over the Irish on Bellarmine’s home turf at San Jose City College. Archbishop Mitty at Foothill College is on tap.
8. (9) Los Gatos 5-1
No one expected Santa Clara to give the Cats much trouble and they didn’t as Los Gatos scored 63 points for the second straight week in a 63-7 victory. A down Palo Alto at home is next.
Flag-waving Foothill student was pumped up after team’s win over California of San Ramon. Photo: Mark Tennis.
9. (10) James Logan (Union City) 5-2
The Colts rebounded from the thrashing by De La Salle to put the hurt on Moreau Catholic in a 47-7 victory. Next up is Newark Memorial (Newark) at home.
10. (11) Campolindo (Moraga) 8-0
Despite coming out sluggish against Las Lomas, the Cougars took care of business. They still remain ahead of Palma just like they are in the CIF D3 NorCal bowl rankings. Campo has a bye on its schedule this week.
11. (13) Palma (Salinas) 6-0
Another strong outing by St. Francis (a team Palma beat 21-12) helps the Chieftains move up again. After a 55-0 win last week over North Salinas, however, it’s also getting more obvious that Palma is a solid choice to win the Monterey Bay Gabilan title and thus will be playing in the CCS Open Division once again.
Campolindo in the NCS doesn’t have that problem and will stay atop the CIF D3 NorCal bowl rankings unless it loses.
12. (14) St. Francis (Mountain View) 4-2
The offense came up blank but the defense played well despite a 14-2 loss at Serra. With the who-beat-who factor and being 2-1 in the WCAL with big matchups coming up, the Lancers get to move up after testing Serra and still owning a head-to-head win over a Mitty team that just beat St. Ignatius.
13. (15) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 4-2
The Monarchs trailed 7-0 and 7-3 at the half but scored two second half touchdowns to one for host St. Ignatius as Mitty joins Valley Christian, Bellarmine and Saint Francis at 2-1 and one game behind Serra in the West Catholic Athletic League. Next up is Bellarmine and with a win Mitty can upset the apple cart but a loss will mean a drop.
14. (12) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 4-3
It wasn’t pretty but Wolves avoided the upset with a 21-17 win over Pleasanton Amador Valley. They can move back up if they keep winning in the EBAL and there are more shakeups in the WCAL.
15. (16) Pittsburg 4-2
The Pirates put the hurt on Heritage of Brentwood in a 34-0 shellacking. This came after Heritage knocked off previously unbeaten Liberty of Brentwood from the week before. Next up is Liberty at home.
16. (8) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 3-3
After starting 3-0, including an OT win over Stockton St. Mary’s, the Wildcats are now 0-3 in WCAL play after a 17-14 loss to Archbishop Mitty in a game they led 7-0 early in the second quarter and 7-3 at halftime. The Wildcats have been in all three WCAL losses but have been on the short end to Bellarmine, Serra and now Mitty. The rankings drop may be harsh but SI still has league games with Valley Christian and St. Francis remaining so it will get its chances to move back up before the playoffs begin.
17. (17) California (San Ramon) 4-2
A spirited comeback fell short in 21-14 loss to Foothill. If the Grizzlies can just execute more cleanly and consistently, they really are close to being one of the top teams in the region. There was no drop for this group for losing to the No. 2 team.
18. (18) Freedom (Oakley) 5-2
The Falcons posted a solid 49-0 blanking of Antioch Deer Valley. Next up is a Heritage team that just got clobbered by Pittsburg.
19. (19) Concord 6-0*
*Does not include forfeit win. There were no problems in a 36-6 win over cross-town Mt. Diablo. That very well won’t be the case this week against visiting Clayton Valley.
20. (20) McClymonds (Oakland) 6-0
The Warriors blew out Oakland 57-0 without QB Kevin Davidson to open OAL play. It shows they won’t need him but getting a NorCal D4 regional bowl bid is now a big question if they have to forfeit games he played in.
Wilcox head coach Dan Brown walks the field at Levi’s Stadium. Photo: Kevin Boles.
21. (21) Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 6-0
The Gators came up big in a 49-28 win at Terra Nova with Washington-bound Ben Burr-Kirven going for two TDs in his 2014 debut. Burr-Kirven was only going to play defense but when a 28-point lead was cut to seven in the third quarter, he came on to carry four times for 143 yards and the two second half scores to seal the victory. It was a huge win for SHP, but Burlingame (unbeaten) and Menlo School are still lurking down the road for the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title.
22. (NR) Salesian (Richmond) 5-2
The Pride take the spot of the St. Mary’s team they just beat 30-24 at home. Losses are 30-22 to McClymonds on the road and 45-26 to a 7-1 Sacramento Inderkum team that was No. 6 in last week’s Sacramento Bee rankings. Hercules on the road is op tap.
23. (NR) Wilcox (Santa Clara) 5-1
Make it five wins in a row for the Chargers after a 20-14 loss in their opener to Manteca (last year’s runner-up in the CIF NorCal D2 bowl game) and a 56-18 win over Saratoga. They get state-ranked Milpitas next, though, and they are definite underdogs.
24. (22) St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 7-1
The Panthers hang in there toward the bottom of the order after their 30-24 loss to Salesian on Saturday. Ron Smith helped give them a chance by scoring on a 100-yard interception return. We also had to drop previous No. 23 San Leandro and probably should have dropped the Pirates a few spots last week due to their having a loss to bubble team Liberty of Brentwood. San Leandro should be able to come back in a week or two.
25. (25) Windsor 7-0
North Bay prep correspondent Daniel Poulter was stirring it up when he tweeted early on “Santa Rosa 8, Windsor 5. Halftime. Upset alert in the northbay.” The Jaguars eventually woke up and sprang from the lair for a 33-16 victory. It still doesn’t get them ahead of Las Lomas or the resume of newcomer Salesian so they continue to hold down the final spot. Rancho Cotate at home is next up in a game the Caravan may cover.
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 23 San Leandro; No. 24 Las Lomas (Walnut Creek).
On the Bubble
(In alphabetical order)
Acalanes (Lafayette) 6-1
Alhambra (Martinez) 6-2
Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 4-3
Analy (Sebastopol) 6-1
Antioch 4-3
Aptos 5-1
Aragon (San Mateo) 6-0
Burlingame 6-0
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 4-3
Carmel 4-2
Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 4-3
Deer Valley (Antioch) 4-3
El Cerrito 3-4
Heritage (Brentwood)
Justin-Siena (Napa) 5-2
Kennedy (Fremont) 7-0
Las Lomas (Walnut Creek) 5-2
Liberty (Brentwood) 6-1
Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 5-3
Monte Vista (Danville) 3-4
Monterey 6-1
Piedmont 7-0
Pioneer (San Jose) 5-1
Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 4-3
Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 3-3
Salinas 4-3
San Benito (Hollister) 3-3
San Leandro 3-4
Terra Nova (Pacifica) 2-4
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
7 Comments
Word on the street is that Mack will not have to forfeit any games. Too bad for the kid, if only he would have gotten better guidance……….
Cal should get moved down just on principle. They fumbled four times and also had an interception. The only bright spot should be if they see foothill in the playoffs. Cal lost this game because they beat themselves. Hopefully foothill is confident because anyone that saw that game in person knows foothill did not beat Cal, they won.
That’s one way of looking at it, Phish. Another way to look at it is Cal employed a bad game plan with the wildcat, played like crap and still only lost by a TD.
Most of what Cal did was good. Ball control offense, keeping Foothill’s speed on the sidelines. I agree that Cal could win in a rematch, but Foothill didn’t get the ball into the hands of Langley too often, either.
Traditionally Cal has had good defensive game plans against Foothill and this game was no exception. Keeping the ball out of Langley’s hands, including punt returns and forcing Kearns to throw underneath was by design.
On the Sacred Heart Prep photos….Nick O’Donnell is not the team’s quarterback. Mason Randall is. And, Mahoni’s first name is spelled Lapitu……not Lepitu.
Thanks, Keith.