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The wait is over.
Bay Area high school football teams return to the field this week to start the regular season, taking on nonleague opponents from across California – and, in some cases, other states.
East Bay, South Bay and Peninsula squads have been practicing for weeks, with most having a dress rehearsal over the weekend with scrimmages across the region.
Storylines abound as the year begins. Can De La Salle once again represent NorCal in the CIF Open Division state championship game? Could a team like Archbishop Riordan or Pittsburg steal the show? Or will it be a non-Bay Area squad like Folsom rising to the top?
Preseason coverage: League previews, all-area lists, more
There’s also the question of who will be the Central Coast Section’s top dog.
St. Ignatius won the section’s Open Division championship last season but then watched Lenny Vandermade step down as coach to take a coaching job in Southern California. Can the San Francisco school keep the good times rolling?
With the door probably open for a new champion, Riordan looks poised to step through it with a talented, senior-laden team. But no one saw SI coming last year, so you never know.
Hope springs eternal this time of year, and every team typically says it has reasons to believe something good will happen.
“We’re super excited,” said Pittsburg coach Charlie Ramirez, whose team opens at home on Friday against Granite Bay. “Just getting to Game One is phenomenal. It seems like guys are starting to get healthy after going through fall camp. So we’re champing at the bit.”
— Christian Babcock and Nathan Canilao
DLS BURSTING OFF STARTING LINE
De La Salle’s Jaden Jefferson, shown here winning the CIF state championship in the 100-meter dash in May, is among many star players returning to the school’s football team this fall. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
De La Salle generally doesn’t lack speed or athleticism.
The storied Concord program has churned out talented players for decades. So when coach Justin Alumbaugh says he may have the fastest DLS team ever, it gets noticed.
It starts of course with Jaden Jefferson, the state-record holder in the 100-meter dash. But the Spartans also reap the benefits of having other track stars on the team.
“I mean, we have the fastest kid in state history,” said Alumbaugh, whose team plays host to Florida powerhouse Lakeland on Friday. “So that’s a good start. But then there’s a lot of other guys that can scoot. Obviously Duece (Jones-Drew), Emery Speight, Chase Young, Jayden Nicholas. There’s a lot of guys that can run.”
To Jefferson, De La Salle’s track background gives the Spartans a leg up on other teams.
“We’re not just football athletes,” he said. “We’re track athletes too. We’re just dynamic. So it’s very cool to see all of our guys on the track, and we’re so fast and physical.”
– Christian Babcock
RIORDAN: STACKED WR ROOM GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE
Riordan has had a healthy amount of college talent on hand for multiple years now. But this season, the Crusaders have a special group.
Their offense is particularly dynamic. Along with Vanderbilt commit Mike Mitchell Jr. at quarterback, Riordan has five three-star wide receivers with Division I offers – Cynai Thomas, Wesley Winn Jr., Judge Nash, Perrion Williams and Kyle Welch.
So who’s getting the ball?
“I just throw to the open guy,” Mitchell said.
It’s a champagne problem for Mitchell to navigate, and one he doesn’t mind.
“It’s great,” Mitchell said. “All the guys are doing a really great job. The thing that I like most is they’re all competing with each other. We’re all teammates. But everyone wants the ball. So they’re all competing, working, pushing each other to get better. And that’s what I like to see.”
– Christian Babcock
LOS GATOS’ FIRST TEST A FAMILIAR FOE
For the third year in a row, Los Gatos will open its season against Santa Cruz Coast power Soquel.
Los Gatos won the previous two matchups, 45-14 at home in 2023 and 14-7 at Soquel last year.
No matter what unfolds Friday at Los Gatos, one thing seems clear: Both will use the game as a springboard to a successful season.
In 2023, Los Gatos went on to capture CCS Division I and NorCal 2-A championships, losing by a field goal in the 2-A state final. Soquel won the CCS D-II title that year, then captured 4-AA regional and state championships.
Last season, Los Gatos reached the CCS Division I final and Soquel won its league and qualified for the CCS Open/Division I playoffs.
Since 2019, Los Gatos under longtime coach Mark Krail is 57-12 and Soquel under former San Jose State star Dwight Lowery is 49-17.
– Darren Sabedra
PITTSBURG: QB COMPETITION UNRESOLVED
Pittsburg coach Charlie Ramirez watches his team play during a scrimmage on the team’s home field Friday. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Pittsburg has a good problem.
The Pirates have plenty of options on the roster as they aim to replace graduated quarterback Marley Alcantara, last season’s Bay Area News Group player of the year.
At Pittsburg’s Jamboree scrimmage on Friday, Javale Jones, a transfer from Clayton Valley, and senior Carlos Torres each took snaps with the first team.
Torres spent his last two varsity seasons backing up Alcantara.
Jones stood out as a freshman at Clayton Valley last year, helping lead the Ugly Eagles reach the NCS Division I playoffs.
Both are expected to get snaps in the opener against Granite Bay.
“It’s just a collaboration right now,” Ramirez said. “They’re working together, pushing each other. … So they all have their different little quirks that they’re working on, and they’re working on it together.”
— Nathan Canilao
CLAYTON VALLEY: UGLY EAGLES GOING TWO-WAY
Clayton Valley Charter had a somewhat disappointing season in its return to the Diablo Athletic League last fall.
The Ugly Eagles, who in 2019 were moved by the North Coast Section from the DAL to the East Bay Athletic League for essentially being too dominant, finished the year in a tie for first place with Acalanes in the DAL’s Foothill Division.
Their overall record was 6-5.
This year, CVC’s primary goal is simple: win the Foothill outright. To do that, the Ugly Eagles are leaning on a bygone tenet that some schools – including CVC – had largely left in the past.
Big move: Jhadis Luckey on transfer from California to Clayton Valley
“We used to platoon, and now we’re asking guys to go both ways,” coach Nick Tisa said, referring to playing offense and defense. “So it’s been fun to go back to the old-school ways of football. Tried to manipulate some things we do at practice and ask our guys to get uncomfortable and play some new positions. They have bought in, so I’m fired up.”
– Christian Babcock
BISHOP O’DOWD: ELITE KICKING GAME
What’s better than having one great kicker?
Having two.
O’Dowd enters the season with two of the top junior kicker prospects in four-star Vince Santucci and five-star Zach Brien.
Both played huge roles scoring extra points and flipping the field on opponents with punts last season. The tandem should be a game-changer for O’Dowd again as the Dragons aim for another trip to the NCS playoffs.
“They’re huge weapons,” O’Dowd coach Hardy Nickerson said. “They give me as a play-caller a ton of confidence. Those guys are on it and they get after it every day. There’s no secret that we got two of the top kicking prospects in the class on our team.”
— Nathan Canilao
PEEK AHEAD TO WEEK 1
Friday, Aug. 29
Archbishop Mitty at Acalanes, 7 p.m.: Acalanes fell just shy last season of reaching a state final for second year in a row. The East Bay school will begin this season with a new coach, Joel Isaac.
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Cathedral Catholic (1-0) at St. Francis, 7 p.m.: Huge test for Mountain View power St. Francis. Cathedral routed Mater Dei Catholic 52-7 in its opener Friday.
El Cerrito at San Ramon Valley, 7 p.m.: SRV has won at least 10 games in each of the past three seasons. El Cerrito enters its first season under coach Tim Johnson.
Lakeland, Florida (1-0) at De La Salle, 7 p.m.: DLS never shies away from a challenge. Lakeland, which reached a Florida state final last season, will be a challenge.
Soquel at Los Gatos, 7 p.m.: Two of the CCS’s top public-school programs collide in what is becoming a traditional opener.
Wilcox at Valley Christian, 7 p.m.: Ninth consecutive fall season these South Bay powers have met. Valley is 6-2 in the previous eight games, including a 24-7 win last year.
Saturday, Aug. 30
Folsom (1-0) at Serra, 2:30 p.m.: Serra is 3-0 against Sac-Joaquin Section power Folsom since 2022, winning by a combined margin of 13 points.
McClymonds at Archbishop Riordan, 1:30 p.m.: When these teams met last season in Oakland, Riordan won a thriller, 35-34.