Serra, Valley Christian, St. Francis win WCAL games

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Ranked teams

No. 1 De La Salle closes in on a perfect season

No 2 Pittsburg improves to 4-0, coach unveils heavyweight fall 2021 schedule

No. 10 Clayton Valley Charter edges No. 5 San Ramon Valley

No. 3 Serra 26, Archbishop Riordan 3: Serra controlled the matchup against rival Archbishop Riordan throughout, never letting the Crusaders in the end zone and improving to 4-0 on the season. Serra coach Patrick Walsh commended the play of his linebackers, saying, “Fynn Williams and Eric Myers were the stars of the game.” With the victory, the Padres retained the John Baxter Trophy, awarded to the winner of this West Catholic Athletic League matchup since 2013. John Baxter coached football at both Serra and Riordan. The victory was Serra’s fifth consecutive against the Crusaders. Riordan scored first as junior running back Ziion Best took a 35-yard run to the 4-yard line. Riordan settled for a field goal. The Padres scored touchdowns on their next three drives and held the Crusaders at bay the rest of the game. Junior running back Petelo Richards-Gi had three rushing touchdowns, all within goal-to-go situations. Junior quarterback Dominique Lampkin also scored on the ground, taking a 30-yard scramble to the end zone on a fourth and 8 play. Serra will close its season next Saturday at undefeated St. Ignatius at 1:30 p.m. Riordan will play Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep on Saturday at 7 p.m. — Brendan Cross

No. 4 Valley Christian 36, Bellarmine College Prep 0: Jake Odjegbu ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns in 12 carries and a defense led by San Diego State-bound end Dominic Oliver kept the hosts off the scoreboard as Valley won its second consecutive game since opening the season with a loss to Serra. “Playing well has kind of taken on a whole different definition these days,” Valley coach Mike Machado said. “We’re just in beginning-of-the-season mode with the number of practices. That’s where we would be. We’re still making mistakes, penalties, but we’re getting better. Some of our playmakers are making bigger plays.” Jakson Berman’s keeper from 6 yards out gave Valley a 7-0 lead. Jurrion Dickey’s 15-yard reception from Berman widened the lead to 15-0. Chase Laubach’s 1-yard run made it 22-0 at halftime. Laubach ran for 55 yards. Nicho Domine, whose run last week from the punter position went viral, had a couple of more escape acts for Bellarmine on Saturday. He fielded a bad snap and juked his way out of the end zone before being tackled at the 14. Valley (2-1) took over at that spot and scored its first TD a few plays later. The next snap on a Bellarmine punt sailed over Domine, who retrieved the ball in the end zone and again avoided a safety with some nifty footwork. Valley added two more touchdowns in the second half, on runs of 54 and 13 yards by Odjegbu. Charlie Kinne intercepted a pass for Valley and made a fourth-down tackle late in the game. “Some of those guys are feeling more comfortable and getting in big-play mode,” Machado said. Valley closes its season Friday night at St. Francis. Bellarmine (1-2) plays at Mitty next Saturday and at St. Francis the following Saturday to finish its season. — Darren Sabedra

No. 16 St. Francis 41, Archbishop Mitty 8: Coming off a 42-point loss last weekend against Serra, it was St. Francis’s turn to pour on the points as the Lancers defeated Archbishop Mitty. The game was out of reach by halftime, as St. Francis took a 27-0 lead going into the break. Senior wide receiver Ian Collier caught Archbishop Mitty’s lone touchdown in the third quarter on a pass from sophomore quarterback William Towers. Towers completed 14 of his 25 passes for 146 yards while Collier led his team with 82 yards on five catches. Senior running back Zach Tabangcura carried the ball 15 times for 58 yards while the rest of Archbishop Mitty’s offense only managed one more net yard on seven more carries. Three running backs scored four total touchdowns for St. Francis, led by junior running back Viliami Teu’s 10 carries, 100 yards and two touchdowns. While senior running back Adonis Hernandez did not score for St. Francis, he gained 77 yards on just six carries. Junior Joshua Perry and senior Keller Gammons split time at quarterback but only attempted seven passes between the two of them, six of which were completed for 154 total yards. Two of Perry’s four completions went for touchdowns, which were caught by senior wide receiver Johnny Tarantino and junior running back Camilo Arquette. St. Francis will play host to Valley Christian next Friday while Archbishop Mitty will play for its first win of the season next Saturday at home against Bellarmine College Prep. — Sofia Scekic

No. 17 Sacred Heart Prep 29, No. 21 Half Moon Bay 26: Quarterback Teddy Purcell capped an 88-yard drive with an 8-yard run with 13 seconds left in the game to lead Sacred Heart Prep (4-1). Purcell had a huge game for SHP. In addition to scoring the game-winning touchdown, he threw for another TD and also passed for a 2-point conversion. Half Moon Bay (2-3) scored first, then fell behind 14-6 before answering with a pair of touchdowns to go ahead 20-14. The second TD was an interception return by Connor Quosig. The game see-sawed back-and-forth after that until Purcell score the game-winner. The lead changed hands five times. — Mike Lefkow

Foothill 27, No. 19 Livermore 14: The first time these teams met, in a non-league game in March, Livermore visited Foothill and beat the Falcons 14-13. Foothill turned the tables on Saturday, building a 20-0 lead at halftime en route to victory. The Falcons (4-1) now sit atop the East Bay Athletic League’s Valley Division, and it’s where they will remain, even if they lose to Amador Valley next Saturday. Senior running back Jayden Payne led the Foothill effort, playing well on offense and defense. Junior quarterback Nick Walsh also was outstanding. The Falcons scored on all three first-half possessions, relying on an offensive line led by Brandon Sousa to keep the chains moving. “We ran the ball so well, we were able to shorten the game a little bit,” Foothill coach Greg Haubner said. Livermore did not go easily despite the big first-half deficit. They cut Foothill’s lead to 20-14 after three quarters. But the Falcons struck first in the fourth quarter to make it 27-14, then Dylan Noval made a huge play for the Foothill defense. With five minutes left and Livermore deep in Foothill territory, Noval intercepted a pass in the end zone to just about kill any hopes of a Cowboys’ comeback. “It was a wheel rout and they were going in to score,” Haubner said. “It was the play of the night.” After the interception, Foothill was able to pick up a couple of first downs and run out the clock. — Mike Lefkow

East Bay

Castro Valley 34, Mt. Eden 27: Castro Valley’s win over Mt. Eden came down to the very last play when defensive back Jacob Gates intercepted a pass in the end zone. “It was a good game, but I almost had a heart attack,” Castro Valley coach Denny Molzen said. Castro Valley running back Michael Lewis ran for three touchdowns (his fourth was called back by the referees), which rivaled the three passing touchdowns from Alejandro Villanueva. Two of those touchdowns went to Danny Batres, while the third went to Jahsiri Johnson, who also caught a successful two-point conversion attempt. Despite the loss, Mt. Eden head coach Paul Perenon called Saturday’s contest “a good spring high school football game.” Perenon and his team will face Berkeley for the final game of the season while Castro Valley will host Washington-Fremont. — Michael Espinosa

Granada 41, Dougherty Valley 7: Granada earned its first win of the season while Dougherty Valley remains winless. Granada coach Tim Silva commended his offensive backfield but was proud of the team-wide effort. “I think they all did really well,” Silva said. “I think they are continuing to grow as a team so that’s good for them.” Dougherty Valley will look to capture its first win of the season next week when it hosts Dublin while Granada will face Livermore. — Michael Espinosa

Piedmont 21, Washington-Fremont 0: Road warriors Piedmont traveled to Washington-Fremont and won its third away game in a row and improved to 4-0 for the season. The Highlanders have relied heavily on their defense, shutting out two opponents in a row. The Piedmont defense has only allowed three total touchdowns this year. Entering the game against the Huskies, senior running back Brian Cain Jr. tallied 10 total touchdowns in the team’s first three games. Currently sitting atop the MVAL/WACC Mission League, Piedmont has outscored its opponents by a wide margin, 116-21. Piedmont will look to wrap up its perfect season at home against Kennedy-Fremont on Friday at 7 p.m. Washington-Fremont will hit the road to play Castro Valley on Friday at 7 p.m. — Brendan Cross

Tennyson 55, Irvington 7: Junior running back Salesi Moala scored a school-record seven touchdowns as Tennyson rolled to an easy victory Saturday afternoon. Moala, who has an offer from Oregon State, scored six of his TDs on the ground. The 6-1, 225-pound Moala is listed by the recruiting site 247sports.com as an outside linebacker, another position in which he excels. Tennyson, which led 42-7 at halftime, improved to 3-0. It will try to finish with a perfect record in this abbreviated season on Friday when it hosts Stellar Prep. That will be the final game for Tennyson coach Terry Smith, who is leaving for the Oakland Panthers of the Indoor Football League, where he will be the team’s offensive coordinator. Smith has been head coach at Tennyson since 2003. In addition to Maola, standouts for Tennyson on Saturday included defensive end Marlin Brown Jr. and free safety Angel Lucero. — Mike Lefkow

Peninsula

Menlo 35, San Mateo 0: Menlo School will end league play undefeated after taking down San Mateo 35-0 on Saturday afternoon. Junior quarterback Sergio Beltran capped off Menlo’s first drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Cort Halsey for a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. After San Mateo’s three-and-out, senior wide receiver/safety Chris D’Alencon returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Menlo scored its final three touchdowns in the second quarter: a one-yard pass from Beltran to junior running back Jack Giesler, a 55-yard pass from Beltran to junior wide receiver Carter Jung and another 50-yard pass from Beltran to Jung with 21 seconds left. Menlo’s defense played well, too, forcing multiple three-and-outs and a fumble in the fourth quarter when San Mateo drove to their three-yard line. San Mateo, currently 0-5, will have one final chance for a victory this season at Burlingame next Saturday in the annual Little Big Game while Menlo will play its only non-league game at next-door neighbor Sacred Heart Prep on Saturday. — Sofia Scekic

South Bay

Live Oak 33, Leland 21: Having dominated its league opponents so far this season, Live Oak continued its success with a 12-point win against Leland. Acorns coach Mike Gemo said that his team played well. “We ran the ball really well tonight and we played really good defense in the second half,” Gemo said. “It was a good all-around game for us.” Sophomore running back Jordan Fuentes was the standout player of the game, carrying 32 times for 212 yards and a touchdown. Heading into next week, Gemo said his team had a clear mindset. “The kids just want to go 4-0 in the league,” he said. “That’s what we are going to focus on, going undefeated in the league season.” The Acorns will travel to play Lincoln-San Jose on Friday at 7 p.m. The Chargers will end their season on the road against Oak Grove on Friday at 7 p.m. — Brendan Cross