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St. Francis has a lot of rivals. With the historical continuity that exists in the West Catholic Athletic League, the Lancers have a long, intertwined relationship with all the other WCAL teams, not to mention a developing one with De La Salle, especially after the Lancers ended that 318-game regional unbeaten streak earlier this season.
But Bellarmine, the team St. Francis plays this week, is a pretty much undisputed No. 1.
“Ask anyone on campus,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “That’s the big one.”
St. Francis takes on the Bells on Friday in a 7 p.m. start at San Jose City College.
“I’m sure it will be a packed house,” Calcagno said.
The series between the two, dubbed, “The Holy War” by some, dates to 1958. Bellarmine leads the series 42-32. The Lancers have won the last five in a row and go into Friday’s game favored.
It’s been a special season for St. Francis (6-0, 4-0).
Bellarmine won its first four games before losing to Serra. The Bells then beat Mitty but last week were upset by Sacred Heart Cathedral, 20-13.
“Bellarmine changed their offense and defense with a new staff and created a lot of excitement,” Calcagno said. “Sacred Heart is a tough team once they got their first win under their belt. That was not a huge upset.”
Bellarmine personifies balance on offense, averaging 156 yards rushing and 166 passing per game,
St. Francis, with Viliami Teu going over the 1,000-yard mark last week (1,065 through six games),is averaging 272 yards rushing and 84 passing.
“We’ll need to win the turnover battle, run the football like we’re capable of, and contain their quarterback,” Calcagno said. “Their defense will try to come after us and make us look bad. We’ll need to weather that storm.”
Palo Alto at Mountain View, Friday 7 p.m.
The top four teams in the SCVAL’s De Anza Division get automatic entry into the Central Coast Section playoffs.
As matters stand now, Los Gatos, Wilcox and Homestead stand to grab the first three automatic berths. Mountain View (5-3, 2-2) is in fourth place, one-half game ahead of Palo Alto (3-4, 1-2) and Milpitas (2-5, 1-2) The winner of Friday’s homecoming game at Mountain View will have a leg up on earning that fourth automatic berth.
“It’s a big game for both teams,” Mountain View coach Shelley Smith said.
Last spring the Spartans beat Paly for the first time in nearly 20 years under rather weird circumstances. The game was scheduled to be played at Palo Alto, but the power went off and at the last minute the game site was moved to Mountain View where Paly was the home team on the scoreboard.
This week both teams are coming off losses. Paly was a victim of the Los Gatos juggernaut, losing 49-0. Mountain View was outscored by Homestead, 49-45.
“We need to go back to the drawing board and restructure our defense,” Smith said.
The Vikings blew out Santa Clara 63-13 in their De Anza opener, but have since lost two in a row. This week at practice they were without head coach Nelson Gifford, who was home sick with the flu.
“We need to execute our assignments to the best of our ability,” Gifford said. “Our focus will be on process, not on outcome.”
Mountain View’s offense played well against Homestead. Jackson Steffen threw three touchdown passes and Leo Navarro broke some long runs.
Paly’s offense has been one-dimensional and struggled since the Santa Clara game.
“Establishing the run game is a huge point of emphasis for us,” Gifford said. “More than anything, we just need to move the ball,effectively.”
Menlo-Atherton at Terra Nova, Thursday 7 p.m.
M-A (5-2, 2-0) has won five in a row since opening the season with a pair of losses. Terra Nova (3-4, 0-2) is coming off a 35-14 loss to undefeated Burlingame.
“This will be a new challenge,” M-A coach Chris Saunders said. “Terra Nova has three good receivers, so we’ll see some good athletes in space”‘
Early in the past decade Terra Nova had one of the best programs in the CCS. In 2013 a 10-0 team went into the CCS playoffs as the No. 1 seed in Division I. In 2014 Anthony Gordon set CCS records with 49 touchdown passes and 4,899 yards passing.
“That’s the Terra Nova I think of,” Saunders said. “It’s dangerous any time you go up against a program with that kind of history and pedigree.”
It’s M-A with the high-powered passing attack this season. Matt MacLeod has completed 44 of 50 passes over the last two games. He has thrown for 2,005 yards and 22 touchdowns with only two interceptions on the season.
Starting inside linebackers Andrew Buck and Sione Vaka both missed M-A’s 56-20 win over Sacred Heart Prep last Friday with Sosaia Pongi and freshman Devin Hyde playing in their place. Buck and Vaka are both expected back this week as is the versatile Thomas Taufui, who has made an impact, when healthy, on M-A’s defense.
“We play him all over,” Saunders said. “Against passing teams we line him up in a rush position and then in other games he plays free safety.”
Menlo School at Capuchino, Friday 7 p.m.
Menlo (7-0, 3-0) has blown out Hillsdale and Aragon the past two weeks, a couple teams expected to be Menlo’s biggest challenge in the PAL Ocean.
Capuchino (4-3, 2-1), which lost to Hillsdale last week 42-41 in overtime, is the last one-loss team in the PAL Ocean that Menlo has yet to play. A win Friday would clinch the divisional title for the Knights.
Menlo has had one relatively close game, a 15-6 win over Terra Nova. In the other six games Menlo has averaged 53 points an outing, winning by an average margin of 43 points per contest..
Sergio Beltran has completed 74 percent of his passes for 1,999 yards and 35 touchdowns with only four interceptions. He has also rushed for 509 yards and averaged 10.2 yards per carry. .
“It may look like an easy ride, but every day is a work day,” Menlo coach Todd Smith said. “We’ve lost five starters to season-ending injuries and are down to 23-24 kids.”
Gunn at Cupertino, Thursday 7 p.m.
This is a chance for Gunn (5-2, 2-1) to put itself in position to claim one of the El Camino Division’s two automatic berths in the CCS playoffs.
To do so the Titans will need to hand Cupertino (6-0, 3-0) its first loss of the season.
“Cupertino does not have a weakness,” Gunn coach Jason Miller said. “They have quality receivers, a big strong offensive line and a stingy defense. We’ll need to limit their big plays and tackle well.”
Jayden Hall is a dual-threat QB for Cupertino. He’s thrown 13 TD passes with two interceptions and run for 397 yards and another seven touchdowns.
Gunn will counter with a ground game that is averaging 285 yards per game rushing and 8.8 yards per carry. Kevin Green leads the team with 661 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. Fillippi Montes has 581 yards and seven TDs and QB James Lambert has picked up another 369 yards.
San Lorenzo Valley at Los Altos, Saturday 1:30 p.m.
This will be the third game in nine days for Los Altos (5-2, 4-0), a scheduling quirk caused by the postponements of early-season games. After a 21-13 win over Fremont on Monday, the Eagles had a light recovery workout and walk-through Tuesday, and were planning on regular days of practice Wednesday and Thursday.
“That was a really big win,” head coach Dave DeGeronimo said of the Fremont game. “We didn’t execute well at the start and they came out and punched us in the mouth. It was a physical game. We’ve got some guys banged up, but we’ll be ready to go.”
SLV is 2-4 overall, 0-4 in the Pacific Coast Athletic League Cypress Division.
The King’s Academy at Sacred Heart Prep, Saturday 2 p.m.
The Gators (2-5, 1-2) will be looking to bounce back after the 56-20 loss to M-A. It was the first time all season they weren’t involved in a close game and the first time their staunch defense was exploited. Of course, they hadn’t faced a team with M-A’s athleticism previously.
TKA, coached by former longtime SHP coach Pete Lavorato, is also 2-5 overall and 0-2 in the PAL Bay. The Knights have an outstanding sophomore running back in Jeaden Underwood, who has rushed for 891 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Jack Herrell started the first five games at quarterback for SHP, junior Mitchell Taylor the last two. Andrew Latu has 368 yards rushing, Luis Mendoza 301 and flyback Zach Freire 214.
Mills at Woodside, Friday 7 p.m.
Woodside (2-4, 1-1 PAL Lake) beat El Camino 18-10 the last time out.
Mills (0-6, 0-3) did not field a varsity team last spring. After close non-league losses to Monta Vista and Yerba Buena, Mills has been held scoreless in three Lake Division games..
Woodside QB Ben Shepard is 41 of 74 for 695 yards and eight touchdowns. Maceo Latimer leads the team in rushing with 101 yards and 7.2 yards per carry. Marco Parodi is the leading receiver with 13 catches for 238 yards.
Sequoia at El Camino, Friday 7 p.m.
Sequoia (2-5, 1-1) lost 35-6 to undefeated Lake Division leader San Mateo last week.
El Camino (1-6, 1-1) has its one win over Mills. The Colts conclude their season next week against San Mateo as their annual Bell Game with South San Francisco is off this year with South City not fielding a varsity team.
Jaymason Howard has been a standout for Sequoia this season. He leads the team in both rushing (589 yards, 7.9 yards per carry) and receiving (15 catches, 169 yards).
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