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The visit of the player’s mother applause for McClemmonds
While some East Bay schools, particularly in Auckland, are going through a period of heightened violence or negative perception, there was a positive story over the weekend.
It unfolded on the football field at McClemmond High School in Auckland.
The visiting team was the San Ramon Valley. Undefeated wolves, from the rich city of Danville. McClemmonds had only lost once, the previous week in the Pittsburgh strong.
The match on Friday night was full of excitement.
San Ramon Valley quarterback Luke Becker passed for over 500 yards.
McClemmonds won 45-42.
A day later, San Ramon Valley running back John Pau Mendoza’s mother sent an honest email to Bay Area News Group about the experience.
“I want to nominate the entire McLemonds squad, players, coaches and community for Player of the Week because they are amazing,” Doris Pau Mendoza wrote. “The referees did their best because they are human, but this community was so welcoming, the players and coaches played to the best of their abilities, and they really are a very talented group.”
Given what’s been happening in some parts of the East Bay and the Sacramento area, in recent weeks email has been the antithesis of that.
Last month , Galileo lost his match against Richmond After some parents from the San Francisco school pointed out safety concerns for the time being to allow their children to play across the bay. after few days a A school shooting in Auckland leaves two seriously injuredSkyline lost her match against Windsor after a school struggle.
MacLemonds coach Michael Peters wants to change the perception teams might have about playing at his school in West Auckland.
This season, Bellarmine lost to San Jose Private School in McLemonds in overtime. In previous seasons, he visited Tamalpais, Marin Catholic and Campolindo.
“We want to do something for our city, and people aren’t afraid to come down anymore because it’s a great time and a great atmosphere,” said Peters, whose show has racked up five official titles since 2016. Because back in the day, no one would come through the Caldecott Tunnel to play here.”
Peters referred to a call he recently received from legendary Auckland football coach John Pym, who has led a robust program at Skyline and is now a coach at Laney College. Beam’s Laney appeared in the Netflix series “Last Chance U.”.
“John Pym called me and said he’s proud of me for bringing Bellarmine, Campolindo, San Ramon Valley and Marin here to play,” Peters said. “Being able to invite people to our house for a nice night out is good for our school, our district and the city of Auckland.”
– Joseph Decus
How SSP Jumped From Season Opening Loss
It’s easy to see how the season can go off the rails so quickly for Sacred Heart Prep.
But after losing the season opener by one point to the Sacred Heart Cathedral at Kesar Stadium, the Gators dipped themselves into defense and looked like one of the top contenders in all of the CCS games.
“I think it’s a testament that our team has never held back, but has always taken a step forward,” said Chief Officer Andrew Rocha.
Rocha put in a standout display in defense on Saturday, earning a pass that Anthony Noto led and a 64-yard run on a small run that helped Sacred Heart Prep beat Half Moon Bay 17-7 on Saturday. The effort now gives the Gators four straight wins as they face their opponents – Mountain View, Riordan, Los Gatos and Half Moon Bay – by exactly seven points.
Our defense has been solid all year,” said Sacred Heart Prep coach Mark Gharib.
They had to do that with some excited players as well, especially when linebacker Andrew Lato went out in the first half on Saturday and didn’t come back. But facing some of the top CCS teams like Los Gatos and Half Moon Bay requires that everyone on the roster is ready to play.
“This match, we knew it was going to be a fight,” Noto said. “Before the game, we said, ‘Share and go 100%. Once you start feeling like you’re heading towards 80, 85%, empty out and get someone else 100%. We have to keep bombing them every game.”
And they embodied it on Saturday. Noto and Konrad Wilber – who was making his debut after an AFC Champions League injury last year at Valparaiso Bowl – split the rushing tasks in the absence of Lato to help the Gators’ side swarm the field to the winning score.
A win could make the Sacred Heart Prep the favorite to win the PAL/SCVAL Bay Division title now and the Gators could play in the playoffs in the Division I Central Coast Division next month. If they did, Rocha feels the Gators might have that loss for the Irish to thank for their stubborn turn.
“We went into that cathedral game that was probably too loud, so it was a good experience, to have that game at the start of the season,” Rocha said. “We have great leaders on our team, great player leaders who really push us to do big things here and leave a really strong legacy.”
– Alex Simon
St. Francis adds long bombs to the ground and pound attack
St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno is now in his 10th season as a coach at his alma mater, on the field with his father’s name on it. Throughout most of the time he was in charge, the offensive philosophy was largely consistent.
The Lancers run the offense of “powerful” running to try and open lanes to run backwards. He helped win two Norcal titles and one state crown and has been constantly fighting for the top spot in the Western Catholic Athletics League.
But what Saint Francis has in 2022 that he usually didn’t have in Calcagno’s tenure is a midfielder he can infuse deeply. And when two of their three runners-up came out on Friday night, quarterback Matthew Dougherty let him fly — and won the match against Sacred Heart Cathedral through the air.
Dougherty picked up 201 yards in only a 10 of 19 pass, and threw him over the top of the defense multiple times. Consider capturing yards when landing alone: 19, 31 and 25, with all three detected deep in the end zone.
In six games, Dougherty averaged 150 yards per game and threw 11 touchdowns. The average success would be the most by a St. Francis midfielder under Calcanio at more than 20 yards.
The Lancers still favored running with the ball and attacking under Calcagno, with their only available quarterback Keala Keanaaina having a 30 carry for 103 yards on Friday. But there is no denying that throwing the ball on the field opens you up to an attack on St. Francis.
“You’ve really changed a lot,” Calcagno said. “We can stay ahead of the chains. By playing it, it definitely helps us — we’re going to get the guys still leaning because we’re going to hand it over to our guys 30 times.”
– Alex Simon
Difficult loss…a good thing for Half Moon Bay?
After the close loss of the Sacred Heart Prep in the PAL/SCVAL Bay Division – the team’s first season – Half Moon Bay coach Keith Holden made the confession.
“I hate to say this, but I will say it because it’s absolutely true: When it comes to qualifying and how they cheer you on, losing really helps you – which is sad,” Holden said on Saturday. “Sacred Heart Preparation, they won the state last year. But they won the state because they were a very low seed.
“Loss of some kind of help helps those teams out. And for me, that’s a broken system.”
Since CCS changed its elimination seeding system for the 2019 season, moving to a full competitive stock system without regard to school size, Half Moon Bay has felt the change quite easily.
Cougars have had regular seasons twice in the past six years. In 2017, Half Moon Bay won the third Open Division that year and won the NorCal title before losing in the state title match.
Another time, in 2019?
cougars Tie-breaking “win” With two other teams to get the No. 8 seed in Division One, she lost to top seed Serra 42-14 in the first round. One of the teams they tied with, Los Gatos, was the top seed in the second division and won the division title.
When asked what the 2019 team would have done without being in the first division, Holden said: “We’re rolling. That’s exactly what we’re going to do. It’s kind of tough to face Sera, but I like our chances against other teams.”
Half Moon Bay had two back-to-back teams going 4-1 in division play in 2015 and 2016, missing out on the chance of a direct league title. But both teams won CCS crowns.
Suddenly, no one talks about it [division] Holden said. “This kind of loss disappears.”
No team wants to lose, of course. But there can be spin-offs to losing. And while there are other factors related to how CCS Seeds teams up, the Calpreps . team rating system It is the third tie-breaker used – which the Cougars know very well. Half Moon Bay is currently ranked 12th among CCS teams, according to Calpres.
– Alex Simon
A sneak peek into the eighth week
Friday
Acalanes (6-0) in Campolindo (6-0), 7 p.m.: The title of Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division is probably at stake in this game.
Archbishop Mette (5-1) vs Bellarmine (3-3) at San Jose City College, 7 p.m.: The winner maintains the inner track for second place in WCAL behind Serra.
De La Salle (3-3) in California (5-1), 7 p.m.: During an astonishing free fall from number one in NorCal, De La Salle has yet to lose within his division in 31 years. Could it happen on Friday?
Clayton Valley Charter (3-3) in San Ramon Valley (5-1), 7 p.m.: Not a bad game to open play East Bay League Athletic Mountain League.
Saint Ignatius (2-4) opposite the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (3-3) at Caesar’s Stadium, 7 pm: As always, break records when these rivals clash in the Bruce-Mahoney game.
Mountainside (3-4) at Livermore (6-0), 7 p.m.: Foothill finished the perfect season for Dougherty Valley on Friday. Are you going to do the same with Livermore this week?
– Darren Sabedra
Originally published at San Jose News Bulletin
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