Northern California Coast's top 10 semifinals football matchups; Playoff schedules for NCS, CCS, SFS, OS
Besides Open Division championships, all other brackets are down to the semifinals in four local sections. Here are the top 10 games (in order) to attend.
The Northern California Coast is made up of four CIF Sections: Central Coast, North Coast, Oakland and San Francisco.
Friday football scores | NCS CCS SFS OS
(All games 7 p.m. Friday unless noted)
1. NCS Open Division: No. 2 seed San Ramon Valley (10-1) vs. No. 1 De La Salle-Concord (9-2) at Dublin HS — If anything close to last month’s 33-27 overtime win for De La Salle, fans will be in for a treat. De La Salle’s remarkable 270-game NCS unbeaten streak (269-0-1) is on the line and with SRV QB Luke Baker calling signals, anything is possible. He’s thrown for 3,087 yards and 34 touchdowns and is the team's leading rusher (461 yards, 4 TDs). De La Salle finally got its offense rolling last week with 531 yards in an opening win over James Logan. The loser of this game is still alive and will face the winner of California at Pittsburg for next week’s Division 1 title.
2. CCS Division 1: No. 4 Los Gatos (9-2) at No. 3 St. Ignatius (7-4) — Los Gatos’ Mark Krail, who has coached 39 years, has never gone against St. Ignatius and he’s considered about the Wildcats’ balance, depth and excellence in all three phases. Great running back pairing between Los Gatos’ Boxer Kopcsak-Yeung and Jarious Hogan, of St. Ignatius. Quarterbacks Soren Hummel (St. Ignatius) and A.J. Minyard (Los Gatos) each have improved steadily throughout the season.
3. CCS Open Division: No. 7 Wilcox-Santa Clara (9-3) vs. No. 1 Serra (11-0) at San Jose City College — Wilcox, utilizing the split-back veer to perfection, upset second seed Saint Francis, 52-28, but it will be a much taller order against the Padres who hold a 456-91 scoring edge. Wilcox got 220 yards rushing and four touchdowns by Elijah Walker and 171 more rushing yards and a score from QB Tyson Bonilla. Walker also had a 97-yard kickoff for touchdown. Serra’s defense is a different beast with four four-year players in starting linebackers Jabari Mann (San Jose State commit) and Danny Niu (San Diego State), safety Joseph Bey (SJS) and edge-rusher Collin Tahitua. Offensively, Serra features the region's top-rated quarterback Maealiuaki Smith, who last week committed to Oklahoma State (see video above). The loser here plays next week the winner of Los Gatos-St. Ignatius for the D1 title and berth into the CIF Northern California regional.
4. NCS D1: No. 4 California-San Ramon (7-4) at No. 3 Pittsburg (11-0) — Another rematch of a good one, as Pittsburg rallied for a 38-35 home win over the Grizzlies on Sept. 15. In that game, Pittsburg junior QB Marley Alcantara threw for 370 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 87 yards. Noah Quesada and Makari Kenion each caught two TDs. California QB Jayden Macedo fired two TD passes (both to Nick Fox) and rushed for three scores.
5. NCS D2: No. 6 Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park (7-4) at No. 2 Windsor (9-1-1) — With Cotate quarterback Jacob Pruitt back healthy, this has upset potential. Pruitt last week completed all nine of his passes for 112 yards and a touchdowns, and he ran eight times for 99 yards and three more scores in a 40-18 win at third-seed Granada-Livermore. Cotate lost at home to Windsor 35-7 on Oct. 13 but look for this to be much closer. Windsor, winners of nine straight, is led by senior QB Judson Anderson, who has passed for 2,015 yards and 28 touchdowns and run for six more scores.
6. NCS D3: No. 3 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (10-1) at No. 2 Las Lomas-Walnut Creek (10-1) — The host Knights hope to continue their surprising season backed by sophomore QB Dylan Thomas (1,802 yards, 20 TDs) and junior WR Roman Mercado (55 catches, 975 yards, 11 TDs). They’ll have to slow one of NCS’s top running backs in 6-4, 200-pound Zachary Homan (1,959 rushing yards, 32 touchdowns). It’s the first meeting between the two programs.
7. CCS D2: No. 8 Christopher-Gilroy (10-1) at No. 5 Menlo School-Atherton (10-1), 1 p.m. Saturday — Both teams pulled out wild comeback wins on the road last week. Christopher went to Foothill College to win 30-28 over top seed Mitty behind a 95-yard kickoff return by Amari Bluford, a game-winning 7-yard touchdown by William Rizqallah and 222 yards passing and two touchdowns by Jaxen Robinson. Menlo pulled out a 30-28 win at Live Oak-Morgan Hill thanks to the ground attack of Willis Johnson (29 carries, 168 yards, TD) and QB Mikey McGrath (23, 123, 2).
8. NCS D5: No. 4 Alhambra-Martinez (7-3) at No. 1 Miramonte-Orinda (7-3) — Miramonte’s sole task is to slow down Alhambra QB Beau Blau who has accounted for nearly 3,000 yards and accounted for 42 touchdowns. Miramonte has a standout dual threat QB itself in sophomore Carson Blair.
9. NCS D3: No. 5 Tamalpais-Mill Valley (8-3) at No. 1 Marin Catholic-Kentfield (10-1), 1 p.m. Saturday — After a sluggish first half, Marin Catholic rebounded nicely to beat surging Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland last week 35-7. It’s always tough beating a team a second time in a season, but the host Wildcats will be faced with that. Tamalpais, led by senior QB Braden Young (3,541 passing yards, 42 TDs), lost 35-14 at Marin Catholic on Oct. 7. Young passed for 380 and two TDs in that one.
10. NCS D4 No. 3 Vallejo (8-3) at No. 2 Acalanes-Lafayette (7-4) — OK, considering Acalanes beat the Redhawks 50-0 earlier this year, doesn't appear to be a competitive game. In fact, CalPreps' computer predicts final: Acalanes 48, Vallejo 7. Phooey. Since that loss, Vallejo has caught fire, winning five straight. Senior 6-5 QB Jasier Smith has been superb since then, throwing for 2,037 yards and 28 touchdowns. Acalanes is still hurting from a 25-24 loss to Campolindo-Moraga two weeks ago that cost the Dons the DAL Foothill title.
The rest of the NorCal Coast slate:
San Francisco Section
At Kezar Stadium
No. 1 Lincoln (7-3) vs. No. 4 Washington (5-5), 5 p.m. Thursday
No. 2 Balboa (6-4) vs. Lowell (5-4), 5 p.m. Friday
Oakland Section
No. 3 Oakland Tech (4-5) at No. 2 Castlemont (6-4)
Central Coast Section
Division 2
No. 6 Monterey (8-3) at No. 2 Soquel (9-2)
Division 3
No. 7 Alisal (10-1) at No. 6 Scotts Valley (10-1), 1 p.m. Saturday
No. 4 Palma (4-7) at No. 1 Menlo-Atherton (5-6)
Division 4
Branham (9-2) at No. 2 Mountain View (5-6)
No. 5 Leigh (8-3) at No. 1 Palo Alto (6-5)
Division 5
No. 7 Leland (4-7) at No. 3 South San Francisco (10-1)
No. 4 Santa Teresa at No. 1 Woodside (7-4)
North Coast Section
Division 2
No. 5 Heritage (5-6) at No. 1 El Cerrito (9-1)
Division 4
No. 4 Maria Carrillo (6-5) at No. 1 San Marin (11-0)
Division 5
No. 4 Alhambra at No. 1 Miramonte)
No. 3 Analy (7-4) at No. 2 St. Bernard’s (8-3), 1 p.m. Saturday
Division 6
No. 4 Fortuna (8-3) at No. 1 St. Vincent (9-2), 1 p.m. Saturday
No. 3 Salesian (9-2) at No. 2 Moreau Catholic (6-5)
Division 7
No. 5 Ferndale (7-4) at No. 1 Clear Lake (9-1)
No. 3 Kelseyville (8-3) at No. 2 Willits (8-3)
