By Richard Paolinelli
MaxPreps.com
It was a week of highs and lows for high school football recruits in the Central Coast Section.
Menlo-Atherton High defensive end Jesse Fifita helped lead the Bears to an impressive 8-3 record in the fall of 2006 and a CCS playoff berth, just one year after a 1-9 campaign.
Fifita announced last week that he will suit up for Oregon State this fall, joining six other CCS gridiron stars also bound for Pac-10 teams next year.
Saratoga's Alex Lagemann will play at Cal, Milpitas' Brandon Carswell is headed for USC, Mitty's Steve Sloan will suit up for Karl Dorrell's UCLA Bruins, Seaside's Mason Foster will head to Washington, while Pacific Grove's John Tyndall will join Lagemann at Cal along with St. Ignatius' Matt Summers-Gavin.
But it wasn't all good news as Scotts Valley's Russell Jenkins and his father, Ed, were injured in a San Diego County crash while returning from a trip to Arizona Western College, located in Yuma, Arizona.
Russell, an All-Santa Cruz County linebacker, had given the school a verbal commitment and he and his father were returning home when their car was reportedly struck from behind by another vehicle going at a high rate of speed, rolling the Jenkins' car several times along Interstate 8.
Both were taken to nearby hospitals and later released, with Ed suffering a broken clavicle, four broken ribs and a bruised lung in the wreck. Russell was ejected from the vehicle and suffered a cut on his head and abrasions on his arm and back.
Both men are expected to fully recover from their injuries and the driver of the other vehicle also survived the accident, which is still under investigation by the CHP.
Wrestling
The Terra Nova (Pacifica) High wrestling squad is closing in on a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title following a 50-17 win over South San Francisco last week, improving the Tigers' record to 4-0 while dropping SSF to 2-2.
In other action, El Camino (3-1) handed Woodside (0-4) a 54-18 defeat thanks to first-round pins by Neriel Rebolosan (125), Giovanhe Valdez (135), Steven Marshall (145) and Rommell Aquino (152). Hillsdale (3-1) edged Half Moon Bay 36-30 thanks to pins by brothers Wade (171) and Kyle (189) Vance.
In the PAL's Ocean Division, Aragon pounded Menlo-Atherton 50-20 in a battle of unbeaten squads to move Aragon (4-0) into sole ownership of first place as Menlo-Atherton fell to 3-1.
Boys Basketball
Woodside Priory rolled past Valley Christian (Dublin), 49-32, to keep its grasp of first place in the Private Schools Athletic League at 11-0 with an 18-3 overall record.
Hungarian transfer students and brothers Greg and George Somogyi led the way with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
One victory is all that separates Palma High and the Tri-County Athletic League boys basketball title, after the Chieftains rolled to a 16-point win on Friday. Palma (20-2, 9-0) hosts Alisal on Wednesday.
Boys Soccer
Burlingame High claimed the PAL's Bay Division championship with a 1-0 win over Menlo-Atherton and got an assist from Half Moon Bay's 1-0 victory over Carlmont to clinch the league crown. At 13-2-4 overall and 7-0-2 in league play the Panthers claimed their first league title in three years and secured a CCS playoff spot.
Girls Soccer
Watsonville High's 2-0 win over North Monterey County on Thursday in Monterey Bay League action moved the Wildcatz (11-3-3, 8-0) within reach of its first league crown. A win against Monte Vista Christian (10-5, 7-1) on Tuesday, which Watsonville defeated 3-0 earlier this year, would clinch a share of the title.
Meanwhile, Santa Cruz needs one more win to capture an automatic berth in the CCS playoffs after shutting out St. Francis 7-0.
