De La Salle remains No. 1 after 5-0 start with smothering defense.
Most every Northern California team is in league play now, and just in time for the official start of fall.
Top-ranked
De La Salle (Concord) has one more nonleague game before kicking off East Bay Mountain League action on Oct. 17 after a bye week.
A peek at some highlights from last week
Manteca is 5-0 after rolling Central Catholic 49-7 to open Valley Oak League play and No. 6 in the NorCal Top 20. (PHOTO: Charles Chang)
DLS has not allowed an offensive touchdown in four games, including against St. Mary's.
Duece Jones-Drew rushed for two touchdowns as the Spartans grinded away with seven players combining to rush 36 times for 292 yards and four scores, averaging 8.1 yards a carry.
DLS plays unbeaten
Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) on Friday.
Riordan breakthrough
Michael Mitchell Jr. passed for 364 yards and four touchdowns to spark Riordan.
Manteca mauls rivalThe
Manteca Buffaloes have thundered to a trophy case full of Sac-Joaquin Section championships, and they are 5-0 after rolling Central Catholic 49-7 to open Valley Oak League play.
Nikko Juarez rushed 18 times for 293 yards and three touchdowns, and
Maava Tialavea scored twice as the team rushed 30 times for 353 yards, averaging 11.8 yards a carry.
Serra breaks through
Serra beat
Valley Christian (San Jose) 41-6 with nine players combining to rush 32 times for 167 yards with six different players scoring points, including
Saul Marks making all five of his extra points and drilling two field goals.
Serra has losses to NorCal No. 1 De La Salle, No. 2 Folsom and to MaxPreps national No. 1 St. John Bosco.
Short-handed Jesuit stuns RocklinDown a host of starters because of injury, including three offensive linemen and the team's fastest skill player,
Jesuit (Carmichael) rocked
Rocklin 20-14 in a Sierra Foothill League contest.
Teddy Rios sealed it with a late 42-yard touchdown strike to
Stevie Hughes, and the Marauders exhaled when a last-play Hail Mary bomb from
Reeve Slone into the end zone was ruled incomplete.
Sophomore running back
John Giovannettone rushed for 102 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown, and
Brody Quinn ran for 84 yards and had a score for Jesuit, which was coming off of a 31-20 loss to Granite Bay.
Analy heats up
Junior quarterback
Matthew Medina overcame an early pick-6 to fire six touchdown passes, two of them to
Darren Bauman, and he ran for a score. Medina passed for 306 yards.
Vinnie and the JetsAn 0-4 start to the season for
Amador Valley (Pleasanton) was not expected for a program that in 2024 won the CIF Northern California Regional Division 3-AA championship and nearly won a CIF State crown before falling to Bakersfield in a thriller
Graduation cleared out a host of Amador football starters, though
Vincent Maiorana returned. The senior rushed for 330 yards and six touchdowns to power the Dons past
Foothill (Pleasanton) 49-25.
St. Helena red hot in the Napa ValleyThe Redwood Empire has a team to ponder and a player, too.
The senior receiver/defensive back returned two interceptions for touchdowns, and he returned a punt 50 yards to the end zone. He had 191 yards of total yards, including handoffs and receptions.
NorCal Top 201.
De La Salle (Concord), 5-0
2.
Folsom, 4-1
3.
Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco), 4-0
4.
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills), 4-1
5.
Pittsburg, 3-1
6.
Manteca, 5-0
7.
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 4-1
8.
Grant (Sacramento), 2-4
9.
Central East (Fresno), 4-1
10.
Clovis East (Clovis), 4-1
11.
Granite Bay, 4-2
12.
Junipero Serra (San Mateo), 0-3
13.
St. Mary's (Stockton), 3-2
14.
Rocklin, 3-2
15.
Soquel, 4-0
16.
California (San Ramon), 5-0
17.
Clovis, 4-1
18.
Los Gatos, 2-2
19.
Clovis North (Fresno), 5-0
20.
Acalanes (Lafayette), 5-0
Joe Davidson has covered high school sports since 1984, including since 1989 with The Sacramento Bee. He is part of the weekly 3 Stooges Podcast that breaks down CIF Northern California sports. In 2024, he was named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California. In that same year, he was inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame at the Rose Bowl. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association and has been honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award and was in 2025 presented the Legacy Award for years of football contribution by the National Football Foundation, Sacramento Chapter.
