Los Medanos Scrimmage Part 2
Getting to be in the huddle at a scrimmage with De La Salle is heaven on Earth to the high school football nut-case, but what’s even better is being in the huddle of four of the top programs in the state. That’s exactly what happened to me on Friday night at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg.
There were a lot of high profile scrimmages around the state, but as far as I know, there was not one where all the teams were ranked on the Cal-Hi Sports Preseason Top 50 Rankings.
De La Salle got the best of most everyone, even though the Spartans rotated in just about everyone on the roster.
The one team that gave the Spartans a tussle was a host No. 32 Pittsburg team that delighted the packed house.
In its first scrimmage, Pittsburg dispatched a No. 47 James Logan (Union City) team that got caught in traffic and never got untracked all night after arriving late for the scrimmage won 21-7 by the Pirates.
The De La Salle scrimmage brought a smile to the face of Pittsburg head coach Vic Galli, a disciple of retired De La Salle coach Bob Ladoucer, especially after his Pirates scored three TDs in three possessions to three TDs in five possessions for his alma mater.
Despite having two of his top three returning starters no longer with the team for non-disclosed reasons, Galli is still loaded.
The one returning star, senior 6-0 running back Harris Ross, looked very good. He had one explosive 14-yard touchdown burst against De La Salle and followed it up with a 6-yard run that looked stopped before he broke two tackles to score.
Despite never playing a down of high school football, 6-3, 190-pound junior quarterback Keith Walker looked poised against the De La Salle rush and in leading Pittsburg to three scores in three possessions. His arm strength and footwork need improvement, but he’s fairly accurate, crafty, and has good field vision.
Another that played well was back-up quarterback and 6-3, 225-pound junior tight end Armani Levias. He had two very nice catches versus De La Salle.
The line held up very well against De La Salle and if the young Pirates continue to improve they may get a shot down the road to meet De La Salle when it really matters.
Pittsburg is the last Bay Area team to beat the Spartans — in the 1991 CIFNCS 4A title game.
Look for a wrap-up tomorrow morning on the Los Medanos scrimmage that will also include No. 25 California (San Ramon) and James Logan. We’ll also have a short report on the El Cerrito versus Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) scrimmage and you may or may not be surprised by what happened.
