By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
One week after Cardinal Newman and Central Catholic tied in a monumental showdown between the top two Division 3 schools in Northern California, both teams lost this past weekend, further mucking up the race for the NorCal Division 3 Bowl Game berth. Meanwhile De La Salle continued its dominance with a convincing win over a Southern California opponent in this week's 10 Games to Watch.
St. Francis 3, Los Gatos 3
Two of the top teams in the Central Coast Section battled to a 3-3 tie. Ranked No. 2 in the CCS by the San Jose Mercury News, St. Francis had a chance to break the tie late in the game with a pair of long drives, but No. 6-ranked Los Gatos got big plays from Kiko Alnso and Karl Winkelman to keep the Lancers out of the end zone. Bobby Kent kicked a 46-yard field goal for the Wildcats and Nicholas Quaglia booted a 29-yard field goal for St. Francis. The Lancers limited Los Gatos running back Nick Kalpin to just 55 yards on 16 carries, according to the Mercury News.
East Bakersfield 28, Centennial Bakersfield 27
East Bakersfield's Andre Smith added to his state-leading rushing totals with a 328-yard performance on 32 carries in a 28-27 win over Centennial of Bakersfield. Smith, who scored all four Blade touchdowns on runs of 62, 88, 4 and 80 yards according to the Bakersfield Californian, had 254 yards rushing by halftime. Centennial rallied from a 28-7 deficit to make it close. Smith leads the state in rushing with 877 yards. He also has a state-best 14 touchdowns.
Del Oro 48, Cardinal Newman 28
Del Oro established itself as one of the top teams in the running for the Northern California Division 2 Bowl Game berth with a convincing 48-28 win over last year's NorCal Division 3 Bowl Game representative Cardinal Newman on Saturday in Santa Rosa. The Cardinals were unable to slow down Golden Eagle running back Hunter Pahl, who scored six rushing touchdowns and 101 yards on the ground. Teammate Mike Makela added 112 yards rushing. The Cardinals weren't quite as spectacular on offense as they were the week before in a 35-35 tie with Central Catholic. Quarterback Max Pond, who threw for 348 yards against the Raiders, was 18 of 24 for 177 yards and a touchdown. Bari Mims, who set a North Coast Section record last week with 18 receptions according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, was limited to eight catches for 51 yards. The Cardinals aren't out of the running for a Division 3 Bowl berth, due in part to Central Catholic's loss to St. Mary's (see below).
De La Salle 55, Loyola 14
An intersectional battle between Loyola of the Southern Section and De La Salle of the North Coast Section turned into a rout for the Spartans, who won convincingly 55-14. Mike MacGillivray continues his perfect passing record on the season. He completed all five of his attempts against the Cubs for 208 yards. MacGillivray was 8-for-8 for 117 yards in the Spartans' season-opening win over Serra two weeks ago. He has seven touchdowns in his 13 completions.
Ferndale 15, Fortuna 7
The Wildcats maintained their recent dominance in the annual Milk Can game thanks to the efforts of quarterback Jake Morris. The Ferndale senior threw a 30-yard scoring pass to Brice Titus in the final seconds of the first half to pull the Wildcats within a point a 7-6. He then returned the second-half kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown that gave Ferndale the 12-7 lead. Morris later booted a 38-yard field goal and Ferndale defeated Fortuna for the sixth year in a row.
Carlsbad 14, Helix 10
Marty Porter returned a Helix fumble 36 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to give the Lancers the cushion they needed to top Helix 14-10. Helix quarterback Ty Culver scored on a 5-yard run in the third quarter to help cut Carlsbad's lead, but the Highlanders were unable to get any closer.
Stockton St. Mary's 45, Central Catholic 41
The Rams scored three times in the fourth quarter to come from behind and top the Central Catholic Raiders 45-41. St. Mary's quarterback Cody Vaz came up big with 392 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns. Ram running back Cris Wilson also shined, scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 103 yards on 25 carries. Two of Wilson's touchdowns came in the fourth quarter, including a 1-yard run that gave St. Mary's the win. Louis Bland ran wild for the Raiders, racking up 218 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns.
Folsom 42, Oak Ridge 28
The Bulldogs got a rare win over Oak Ridge on Friday, beating the Trojans for the first time in 10 years with a 42-28 victory. Cary Grossart led Folsom to the win, completed 15 of his 19 passing attempts for 311 yards and three touchdowns, according to the Sacramento Bee. Grossart also had a rushing touchdown.
Alta 52, Grant 33
In a game often delayed by lightning storms, the Alta Hawks lit up the Grant Pacers 52-33 to hand the Sacramento team its second loss of the season. After going 13-0 last year, the Pacers are now 1-2 on the season. According to the Sacramento Bee, the Pacers were unable to stop Alta quarterback Ryan Rosenvall, who ran for four touchdowns and threw three more. Marselius Williams had touchdown runs of 55 and 17 yards for Grant.
Centennial 41, Crespi 20
Ryan Bass rushed for 200 yards on 39 carries and scored four touchdowns to keep Centennial unbeaten (3-0) with a 41-20 win over Encino Crespi. Three of Bass' touchdowns came in the final quarter when Centennial broke a 20-20 tie.
Mater Dei 50, American Fork 32
While some California schools have struggled against their Utah opponents this season, that was certainly not the case for Mater Dei, which is ranked No. 1 in the state of California by MaxPreps. The Monarchs scored twice in the second quarter to build on a 28-20 halftime lead en route to a 50-32 win. Junior quarterback Matt Barkley threw five touchdown passes and 28 of 39 passes for 435 yards. Carlos Valdes had 207 yards receiving with a touchdown while Robbie Boyer had 128 yards receiving.