Mitch Stephens, San Francisco Chronicle
Special to MaxPreps.com
Football: Game On
It's been talked about for years - even a couple of decades - but now the Bay Area has a new high school football bowl game.
The TransBay Bowl.
The game agreed upon eight years ago, but then cancelled, will pit the champions of the San Francisco Section (Academic Athletic Association) and the Oakland Section (Oakland Athletic League).
The San Francisco Section champion is decided in the long-running Turkey Day Game on Thanksgiving, while the Oakland Section winner is decided in the Silver Bowl.
The TransBay Game is scheduled for Dec. 2 at Laney College in Oakland. The final documentation on the match-up was finished last week.
"It's long overdue," Balboa-San Francisco coach Keith Minor said. "We're very pleased."
The AAA has long been considered the stepchild to the OAL, which has featured powerful teams and college-bound players from primarily Skyline and McClymonds.
Skyline, in fact, under former coach John Beam sent more than 100 players to Division I-A programs in less than two decades. McClymonds coach Alonzo Carter has been particularly active the last five seasons, especially last season when eight players off his 12-1 team signed college football scholarships.
Three of those players - tight end Na Derris Ward (Georgia Tech), linebacker Josh Tatum (USC) and defensive tackle Derrick Hill (Cal) - were considered national top-100 prospects by rivals.com.
But the AAA, which rarely sends players straight to Division I-A programs, has strengthened its bottom half.
Washington, Lowell and Galileo dominated the league for years, but now Lincoln, Balboa and Mission has raised its game. Last year, Mission defeated Balboa 21-20 for the San Francisco Section crown.
"It might take some time for us to catch up (with Oakland) but that's why we'll play the game," Minor said.
In head-to-head meetings the last five seasons, the OAL owns a 9-2 edge over AAA teams in nonleague games. The combined scores: OAL 298, AAA 112.
But AAA backers remind East Bay fans that in 2001, Galileo, the eventual Turkey Day Game winner, knocked off the eventual Oakland Section champion McClymonds, 22-6 in a nonleague game.
"There's always an underdog story rising to the top," Minor said.
The game was cancelled eight years ago, according to Oakland Section commissioner Jerry Luzar, because of a problem in the San Francisco Section's administration. Ever since then, Oakland has left an open invitation to re-visit the game.
AAA coaches rejected the notion until after last season and San Francisco Section commissioner Don Collins presented the possibility to the principals in the school district.
They signed off on it and now the game is official.
"There's no backing out now," Collins said. "It's full speed ahead."
The game was pushed forward, according to Carter and Minor, by the addition of California's new state bowl championships, which take place Dec. 16 at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
Games pitting Northern California versus Southern California foes in three enrollment-based Divisions will be hand-picked by the 10 Section commissioners.
Strength of schedule is a big consideration when selecting those six squads, and Oakland and San Francisco coaches agreed another bowl victory would be advantageous.
"We need to have more notches in our belt if we want to be considered," Minor said.
Said Carter: "Winning another bowl game can only help. Plus, if we were considered, this would keep us sharp during the week leading up to the (state-title) game."
Football: Marcisz Picks ASU
Incoming Granada-Livermore 6-foot-6, 295-pound senior lineman Michael Marcisz verbally committed to Arizona State last week.
Marcisz, picked the second-best defensive lineman in the Metro Area by The San Francisco Chronicle, chose ASU over Fresno State, Cal and Oregon.
He may also play offensive tackle for the Sun Devils.
Football: More Top Players
The Chronicle came out with its top five players at each position last week. The standouts were selected based equally on college potential and proven high school productivity.
The top in each category were: Monte Vista-Danville junior Drew McAllister (quarterback), Salesian-Richmond senior Jahvid Best (running back), St. Francis-Mountain View senior Rhett Ellison (tight end-wide receiver), Valley Christian-San Jose senior Ryan Gardner (offensive line), Skyline senior Michael Snead (defensive line), Mitty-San Jose senior Steve Sloan (linebacker) and Wilson Prep-Oakland senior DeAndre West (defensive back).
Cross Country/Softball/Golf: On a roll.
Crystal Springs Uplands-Hillsborough cross country coach Albert Caruana is considered a regional expert on the sport and offered his preseason North Coast Section rankings. His top-ranked teams per division: Boys, Castro Valley (Div. I), Petaluma (Div. II), Acalanes-Lafayette (Div. III), St. Mary's-Berkeley (Div. IV), University-San Francisco (Div. V); Girls, College Park-Pleasant Hill (Div. I), Carondelet-Concord (Div. II), Campolindo-Moraga (Div. III), Piedmont (Div. IV), Crystal Springs (Div. V). . According to the Contra Costa Times, 2006 Monte Vista-Danville graduate and softball standout Stephanie Bregante has signed a letter of intent to UNLV. Bregante went 55-16 over three seasons at Monte Vista and last season had a 0.51 ERA with 262 strikeouts in 150 innings. . Incoming Foothill-Pleasanton junior Anthony Machi shot a two-round 5-under 137 to win the 71st annual East Bay Junior Golf Tournament at Chuck Corica Golf Complex in Alameda.