LAFAYETTE — Acalanes beat its archrival twice last season and proved the shifting balance of power was no fluke with a commanding win over Campolindo on Friday night.
In a matchup that pitted two undefeated teams in the top 10 of the Bay Area News Group’s rankings, the Dons (8-0, 2-0) never trailed but only pulled away late to beat the Cougars (6-1, 0-1) 45-28. The win was Acalanes’ third in a row over Campolindo after losing 13 of the previous 15 meetings.
“We’re starting a new era,” said junior Finley Rivera. “It’s no longer Campo always beating Acalanes.”
Rivera helped ring in the changing of the guard in practically every facet of the game, hauling in a 22-yard touchdown from quarterback Tyler Winkles, intercepting a pass from Campo’s quarterback and returning a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.
Asked to pick a favorite, Rivera singled out the special teams play, which provided an immediate response to a scoring drive that pulled the Cougars within 3 points midway through the fourth quarter. Campo cut the margin to 31-28 before Rivera raced up the sideline to put the game out of reach with 7:51 to play.
“(Their kicker) gave us an opportunity, and Fin made the most of it,” Acalanes coach Joel Isaac said. “He’s a special player, a generational talent, and he works like it. He prepares, he cares about his job, cares about his teammates. He cares about putting on for this team and it shows every Friday night.”
Rivera’s return came on the only time that Campo kicked it deep and didn’t result in a touchback. According to Cougars head coach Kevin Macy, it was one of the first occurrences all year that its powerful kicker hadn’t put the ball into the end zone.
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“I knew if they were going to kick it to me, I was gone,” Rivera said. “I don’t know why they gave it to me, but I’ll take it.”
Winkles, the Dons’ duel-threat quarterback, finished with nearly 300 total yards from scrimmage — 12-of-18 passing for 174 yards and eight keepers for another 125 — and four touchdowns. He scampered in for Acalanes’ opening score that made it 7-0 and broke off an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half.
Senior Grant Ricker ended Campolindo’s opening drive with an interception, but the Cougars responded on their next possession with a 14-play scoring drive that evened the score at 7. However, their offense stalled and Winkles’ score to open the second half made it 28-7, a deficit that proved insurmountable.
“Coming in, they had a lot more than us,” Macy said. “We gave away the first half. We’re a team that scratches and scrounges and we got it close. We saved face a little bit in the second half. But you saw us: We were worn out because we had no bodies to use. They just had too much speed, too many weapons. The differential was just too big.”