By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
This week's Top 10 Games to Watch in California include one game with the state's leading rusher and scorer, a couple of opponents from the Beehive State and a pair of teams waging battle over a can of milk.
St. Francis vs. Los Gatos
St. Francis of Mountain View will see if it can knock off another highly-rated team when it plays at Los Gatos tonight. Early in the season, the Lancers upended Oak Grove, which was considered one of the Central Coast Section's best teams. Los Gatos would fit into that category as well after a 31-6 win over Aragon of San Mateo last week. Nick Kalpin carried 31 times for 188 yards and scored three touchdowns for the Wildcats.
East Bakersfield vs. Centennial Bakersfield
The East Bakersfield Blades are 2-0 on the season and have the leading rusher in the state in Andre Smith. The senior has scored nine rushing touchdowns in two games, 10 all totaled, including six in a 42-31 win over North last week. He's gained 549 yards on 51 carries. Centennial opened with a 30-21 win over Redwood of Visalia and 14-9 over Liberty of Bakersfield. Brock Bivens is the leading rusher and pass for the Golden Hawks, gaining 125 yards on the ground and 220 through the air.
Del Oro at Cardinal Newman
Cardinal Newman coach Paul Cronin felt that the tie against Central Catholic last week worked in his team's favor because of the tough schedule his team plays the rest of the way. With strength of schedule being one of the criteria in determining the CIF Division 3 Bowl teams, Cronin's squad certainly qualifies in that department. However Cardinal Newman will likely have to win those tough games to gain a bid, and that includes tonight's contest against the Del Oro Golden Eagles. Del Oro is fresh off a 21-7 win over Kennedy of Burien, Wash., in which quarterback Cole Saunders was 11 of 15 for 194 yards and a touchdown. Cardinal Newman edged Del Oro last year, 14-7, and will rely on the pass-catch combo of Max Pond and Bari Mims. Pond threw for 343 yards last week while Mims caught 19 passes.
Loyola at De La Salle
The Spartans didn't originally have Loyola on their schedule during the summer, but the Cubs filled the by last month. Loyola defeated Thousand Oaks 13-6 in its opener last week. De La Salle, meanwhile was impressive in a 40-22 win over Serra. Tonight's game marks the second of four solid nonleague opponents that include Palma next week and Mission Viejo on Oct. 6.
Ferndale at Fortuna
When you look strictly at the numbers, this game is a mismatch. Fortuna has 968 students according to the North Coast Section commissioner's office while Ferndale has just 163. On the field, however, the mismatch has been the other way. Ferndale has won the past three years (if not longer) including 33-14 last season when Ferndale went 11-1. The Wildcats thumped McKinleyville last week 45-0 while Fortuna topped Drake of San Anselmo 21-14. The winner of tonight's game claims possession to the Milk Can, which is passed back and forth as the trophy between the two teams.
Carlsbad at Helix
In a battle between two of the top teams in the San Diego Section, Carlsbad is 1-0 and has not played since an August 31 win over St. Augustine (20-3). Helix is coming off a 14-7 win over Lone Peak of Highland, Utah. The Highlanders also hold a 28-20 win over Oceanside. Carlsbad won a section championship last year while Helix was a runner up in a lower division.
Central Catholic at St. Mary's of Stockton
Tonight's game is a crucial one for Central Catholic, if it wants to keep alive its hopes for a CIF Division 3 Bowl bid. The Raiders tied Cardinal Newman last week, 35-35, but will likely need to win the rest of their games in order to earn a Division 3 nod. That shouldn't be much of a problem considering that Central Catholic doesn't play many large schools. The only exception is tonight's game at St. Mary's. The Rams are coming off a loss to Jesuit, but should give Central Catholic a test. The Raiders got 190 yards rushing and three touchdowns from senior running back Louis Bland against Cardinal Newman.
Oak Ridge at Folsom
The Trojans make the drive down the hill to take on Folsom in a prelude to next week's game against Grant. Oak Ridge, under new coach Eric Cavaliere, is coming off a 43-20 win over El Cerrito, in which David Trifeletti ran for 161 yards and Chad Steichen threw for 142. The Trojans had 531 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs were equally impressive in their 45-13 win over Bella Vista. Quarterback Cary Grossart completed 25 of 35 passes for 339 yards and the team had 485 yards of total offense.
Grant at Alta, Utah
The Pacers rebounded from a 28-21 loss to Bakersfield to crush Franklin 42-28 last week. Marselius Williams had a huge game for Grant, rushing for 293 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns. He capped the win over Franklin with an 80-yard touchdown run in the final seconds. According to the Sacramento Bee, the Pacers took a 13-hour bus ride on Wednesday to Sandy, Utah, to take on Alta tonight. Alta enters the game with a 3-1 record, including a loss to highly-regarded Bingham of South Jordan. However the Hawks knocked off California's Clovis East, the favorite in the Central Section this year, 28-12.
Centennial at Crespi
Fresh off a 49-14 win over Martin Luther King of Riverside, Centennial enters a tough stretch of its schedule that includes Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Clovis West, Scripps Ranch of San Diego and tonight's host, Crespi of Encino. Ryan Bass leads the Huskies with 360 yards rushing and six touchdowns thus far. The Celts (2-0) knocked off Kennedy of Granada Hills 48-0 last week without quarterback Kevin Prince, who was lost for the season with a knee injury he sustained against Birmingham. In his place, Brian Bennete completed 10 of 16 passes for 120 yards and four touchdowns and EJ Woods ran 16 times for 156 yards.
American Fork, Utah at Mater Dei
Utah and California have played several games so far this year with Utah holding its own against the Golden State. Mater Dei enters as the favorite here after knocking off West Covina in its opener last week 58-6. The Monarchs got 309 yards passing from junior quarterback Matt Barkley and they are the No. 1 team in California by the MaxPreps rankings. American Fork enters the game with a 3-1 record, including a 42-7 win last week over East of Anchorage, Alaska.