MaxPreps NorCal Top 25 football

Week 1 is here, including a titanic matchup of Bay Area powers who happen to top the MaxPreps NorCal Top 25 rankings in De La Salle-Concord and Bellarmine Prep-San Jose. That game will be at San Jose City College, and the venue will be stretched with an expected full crowd.

Other big Week 1 games of extra intrigue include: No. 6 Nevada Union-Grass Valley at Grant-Sacramento; No. 8 Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove at No. 7 Lincoln-Stockton; No. 20 Placer at No. 21 Central Catholic-Modesto; No. 16 San Ramon Valley at No. 15 Folsom.

MaxPreps NorCal Top 25

1. De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 0-0
Idle. Play No. 2 Bellarmine Prep on Friday at San Jose City College.

2. Bellarmine (San Jose) 0-0
Idle. Play No. 1 De La Salle on Friday at San Jose City College.

3. Elk Grove (Elk Grove) 1-0
Beat previous No. 1 Lincoln-Stockton 35-21. At Beyer-Modesto on Friday.

4. Grant (Sacramento) 1-0
Beat Paradise 28-7. Host No. 5 Nevada Union on Friday.

5. Nevada Union (Grass Valley) 1-0
Beat McQueen-Reno 27-10. At No. 4 Grant on Friday.

6. Vacaville (Vacaville) 0-0
Idle. At Valley Christian-San Jose on Friday

7. Lincoln (Stockton) 0-1
Lost to previous No. 4 Elk Grove 35-21. Host No. 8 Pleasant Grove on Friday.

8. Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 1-0
Beat Rocklin 35-21. At No. 7 Lincoln on Friday.

9. Logan (Union City) 1-0
Beat Reed-Reno 40-24. Vs. San Leandro at Chabot College on Friday.

10. Granite Bay 0-1
Lost to state-ranked Westlake 24-6. At Oaks Christian on Saturday

11. Del Oro (Loomis) 0-1
Lost to state-ranked Oaks Christian 40-0. At Westlake on Friday

12.Buhach Colony (Atwater) 1-0
Beat previous No. 8 San Ramon Valley 28-24. At Enochs-Modesto on Friday

13. Serra (San Mateo) 0-0
Idle. At Wilcox-Santa Clara on Friday.

14. Palma (Salinas) 0-0
Idle. Host St. Francis-Mountain View on Sept. 7.

15. Folsom 1-0
Beat Woodcreek-Roseville 68-28. Host No. 16 San Ramon Valley on Friday.

16. San Ramon Valley (Danville) 0-1
Lost to No. 12 Buhach Colony 28-24. At No. 15 Folsom on Friday.

17. Franklin (Elk Grove) 1-0
Beat Thousand Oaks 38-28. Host Tracy on Friday.

18. Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 1-0
Beat Miramonte 31-14. Host St. Ignatius-San Francisco on Saturday.

19. Palo Alto 0-0
Idle. At San Benito-Hollister on Sept. 7.

20. Placer (Auburn) 0-0
Idle. At No. 21 Central Catholic on Friday.

21. Central Catholic (Modesto) 0-0
Idle. Host No. 20 Placer on Friday.

22. Oakdale 1-0
Beat Tulock 21-7. At Oceanside on Friday.

23. St. Mary's (Stockton) 1-0
Beat East Union 6713. Host Stockdale-Bakersfield on Friday.

24. Burbank (Sacramento) 1-0
Beat Napa 14-7. Host No. 4 Grant on Sept. 7.

25. Freedom (Oakley) 0-1
Lost to Amador Valley 29-27. At Foothill-Pleasanton on Friday.

NorCal news and notes.
* A year ago, Bellarmine Prep nearly toppled De La Salle in an opener, falling in a thriller. The teams play on Friday in the NorCal showcase game with the Spartans featuring perhaps their best defense, headed by linebackers Michael Hutchings, David Moffitt and Victor Egu.

* De La Salle has compiled an amazing 222-0-2 record against NorCal opposition since last losing to a NorCal foe in 1991. What the Spartans do is rely on what never fails - the run-heavy veer that includes exceptional quickness off the line of scrimmage for linemen. De La Salle isn't the only school that is loyal to its offense.

* NorCal heavies Del Oro and Granite Bay fell hard to Southern California powers in the Battle for Veterans in Loomis. Oaks Chrsitian beat Del Oro 40-0, with Del Oro dropping two touchdown passes and missing two field goals in the first half. On Saturday in the capper showcase game, Westlake beat Granite Bay 24-6, leading 17-0 at the half. This weekend, the teams flip-flop opponents in Ventura County. In short, the SoCal programs were a step quicker in every regard.

* Also in the Battle for Veterans, Franklin-Elk Grove beat Thousand Oaks 38-28 behind a four-touchdown effort by senior star Trevon Lampley - a punt return, a run and two receptions.

* Folsom sophomore quarterback Jake Browning had a spectacular varsity debut, tossing a national-record tying 10 touchdowns - five to Phillip Carter in the first half - to beat Woodcreek 68-28. In addition, Browning passed for 689 yards, second most in state history, according to the Cal-H Sports Record Book. Curiously, Cal-Hi disputes whether or not the 10 touchdown tosses tie a national record, though the National Federation of State High School Associations online record book shows that it is. Cal-Hi reported over the weekend that the actual national record for touchdown throws in a single game is 16, by Arthur Smith in Nebraska from a 201-7 game in 1921. Yet that record hasn't been updated, never mind that it happened 91 years ago.

* Buhach Colony beat Bay Area power San Ramon Valley 28-24 on the road. The Thunder, coming off a 12-1 season, rushed for 336 yards on 52 carries. San Ramon now braces for the Folsom passing attack of Jake Browning, he of the 10-touchdown debut effort that made national news.

* Kudos to the North Section in the northern part of the state for embracing the ambitious scheduling theme in an effort to get their section on the state-bowl and state rankings map. Paradise fell at Grant-Sacramento 28-7 and will on Friday host Napa, the same night Enterprise-Redding entertains Del Campo-Fair Oaks.

* The Grant-Nevada Union football rivalry that made for as good a series as one could find in the 1990s and 2000s in the state is back after a seven-year break. The all-time series is tied 15-15-1, and in head-to-head meetings, Nevada Union coach Dave Humphers leads Grant's Mike Alberghini 9-8-1. Here's a closer look.

* Dewey Guerra, the founding father of the Cordova football dynasty of the 1970s, died last week at 85. He started the Lancers program as a new school in 1963, introduced the region to the wishbone and coached perhaps the greatest team in section history in 1975, one that finished 11-0 and nationally ranked No. 1. Besides Guerra's 1975 team, the only NorCal program to finish the season nationally ranked No. 1 is De La Salle of Concord, and the Spartans have done it six times.

Joe Davidson has covered high schools with The Sacramento Bee since 1988. Follow him on Twitter: @SacBee_JoeD; on Facebook: sacbeepreps; and online: sacbee.com/preps; and radio podcasts: ESPN1320.net.