St. Francis and Palma make big moves up after Lancers impress in win over Los Gatos. Watch highlights of these teams and many others every Sunday night on Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area on YourTV 20, San Francisco. Replays are shown throughout the week in Northern California on Comcast Sportsnet.

By Harold Abend, Special to CalHiSports.com

Unfortunately for the San Francisco Bay Area, De La Salle's drop in national and state stature means the entire region's reputation continues to fall until a local team can do something no one has done for eons, and that's beat the Spartans. The possibility of that happening isn't likely to occur until an October 9 matchup with Monte Vista on the road in Danville.

Last Friday night, the CalHsiSports.com caravan had to make a decision. Would we use the magic carpet to get over the Oakland hills to Danville where the Mustangs were hosting the Pittsburg, or would we let the camels guide us through the tunnel under the Alameda Estuary to the island city for San Mateo Serra's visit to Encinal?

Since we had seen last year's MV/Pitt matchup, and previously promised Jets' Coach Joe Tenorio a visit, plus the cross-section matchup looked intriguing, we decided on the trip to Alameda.

Encinal played well, and quarterback Tyrone Duckett, who recently committed to Washington State as a cornerback, is a load. In the end, however, the big horses belonged to Padre Coach Patrick Walsh, whose team is more than legitimate.

Senior running back Adonis Smith not only has track speed, but he can take a hit and still keep going, something many speedy backs cannot do. He finished with 269-yards and three TDs, on runs of four, 29 and 33 yards. He also had a blocked punt.

"I'm satisfied but I always feel I can do better,” a smiling Smith told CalHiSports.com. "But this was a good win against a tough team.”

Duckett knotted the game at 7-7 just before the half after he kept it and went around left end for a 15-yard touchdown run.

Serra speedster DonAndre Clark put his stamp on the game when he took the second half kickoff 91 yards to paydirt blowing past defenders after shaking off two tackles. The touchdown gave Serra a 14-7 lead it would never relinquish.

On Saturday afternoon, the caravan took in another cross-section contest between two Catholic schools from north and south of the Golden Gate with Marin Catholic of Kentfield hosting San Francisco's Riordan.

Marin Catholic's Chris Adams, a bruising 6-foot, 215-pound running back/linebacker who has decent speed, had an excellent game on both sides of the ball in a 42-13 Wildcat victory over the Crusaders.

Adams had 159 yards and one TD, a 55-yard run. He also caught two passes from quarterback Nate Kristoff, including a 15-yard touchdown to give him nine total TDs on the season. On defense, Adams had nine tackles.

This week's new Bay Area Top 20 follows:

(After games played on Saturday, Sept. 19)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)

1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 1-1
The Spartans got some needed rest after a long cross-country trip to Jersey that included a visit to the Big Apple but not a victory against Don Bosco Prep. That's in the past and the future looks just as difficult when ESPN RISE FAB 50 No. 10 Lakeland (Fla.) comes to Concord to face a De La Salle team that before dropping out last week had appeared in the FAB 50 every week since the 2006 preseason rankings but is now unranked.

2. (2) Monte Vista (Danville) 2-0
Coach Craig Bergman's charges continued a march towards an October 9 showdown with Sparta after an impressive 45-25 home victory over Pittsburg. UCLA-bound Brett Nottingham was flawless, throwing for 326 yards and four TDs with no picks. Wide receiver/cornerback Bryce McGovern had a huge game. On offense, he had six catches for 177 yards and three TDs, including one the San Francisco Chronicle called "a scintillating 59-yard catch and run with 1:28 left in the first quarter.” He had half as many catches on defense with three picks off the Pirates. To top it off, he forced two fumbles. Greg Johnson added 161 yards rushing and two TDs as the  Mustangs rolled up 493 yards of turf. On tap is Heritage (Brentwood), a 3-0 team that gets its first test in an EBAL/BVAL matchup.   

3. (3) Serra (San Mateo) 2-1
The hosts hit him hard and hit him often but Adonis Smith can take a licking and keep on clicking. The season-opening 14-7 loss to De La Salle shows just how tight the top teams in the Bay Area may be bunched this season. After a week off, Coach Walsh's squad opens WCAL play on the road at Kezar Stadium against Sacred Heart Cathedral.

4. (5) Foothill (Pleasanton) 2-0
The Falcons followed up a close win over Novato with a 35-20 victory over James Logan (Union City) in a game they led 35-6 before giving up two late scores while trying to run out the clock. Oregon State-bound quarterback Sean Mannion was cool as a cucumber, going 10-for-15 for 186 yards and three touchdowns. He only passed four times in the second half as Coach Matt Sweeney, who recorded win No. 199, went to the ground game. Junior wideout Cameron Rowland had 156 yards receiving with 103 in the first half. He had touchdown receptions of 22 and 47 yards. Next up is a road game at Miramonte (Orinda) where Sweeney will attempt to get his name in the ESPN RISE CalHiSports.com Record Book & Almanac.

5. (4) Pittsburg 1-2
There are those who would say a 1-2 team should drop further down but the losses are to state-ranked teams Granite Bay and Monte Vista, and the Pirates played most of the game on Friday without top player Erick Dargan in the 45-25 loss to Mustangs. This week's game at Berkeley on Friday night should do something to help figure out the Bay Area pecking order. The CalHiSports.com caravan may very well make a visit to Berkeley to catch that one.

6. (9) Palma (Salinas) 1-1
The Chieftains had a bye and will host fast-falling Cardinal Newman this week but for purposes of these rankings, even with a layoff, the 31-14 win over St. Francis on 9/11 is a big enough factor to bump them up.

7. (12) St. Francis (Mountain View) 2-1
The Lancers certainly bounced back from the loss to Palma by taking out a very solid Los Gatos squad 24-14 after falling behind 14-0. Nathan Morace rushed for 152 yards on 19 carries and quarterback Kyle Miller connected with Romell Hanks on a key 30-yard TD pass to key the comeback. The win propels Coach Mike Mitchell's boys up a bunch of spots. They now have a bye until opening WCAL play in two weeks at St. Ignatius in the City.

8. (8) Milpitas 3-0
Coming into the season, everyone knew the Trojans were solid but they really haven't played a tough opponent in preseason and last week was no different as they had an easy 45-2 victory over Newark Memorial of Newark. The result is we want to be cautious in moving up Coach Kelly King's boys too quickly. Jon Fullbright rushed for 158 yards and Antonio Douglas hauled in a 65-yard bomb from quarterback Junior London on the third play from scrimmage as Milpitas cruised to a road victory.

9. (10) Berkeley 3-0
We couldn't find much in the way of statistics on this contest, but according to the Contra Costa Times' Ben Enos who was monitoring this game from the Encinal sidelines, the Yellowjackets started a little slowly before administering the big 46-14 sting on the road in Castro Valley. The win was the third straight road win for Coach Alonzo Carter's boys. Carter told CalHiSports.com he was going to have a good team coming in when we ran into him over the summer. Guess we'll have to see in person and get some stats this Friday in the home opener with Pittsburg.

10. (6) Los Gatos 1-1
Colorado-bound 6-3, 216-pound quarterback Nick Hirschman got the Cats out to an early 14-0 lead over St. Francis but they couldn't score after that and fell 24-14. Hirschman finished 19-of-28 for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Before opening De Anza League play in two weeks, Coach Butch Cattolico's squad travels to Salinas High this Friday night.

11. (7) Bellarmine (San Jose) 1-1
12. (13) Valley Christian (San Jose) 2-0
13. (14) Deer Valley (Antioch) 2-0
14. (11) Novato 1-2
15. (19) Heritage (Brentwood) 3-0  
16. (nr) San Benito (Hollister) 3-0
17. (17) Encinal (Alameda) 1-1
18. (20) Casa Grande (Petaluma) 2-0
19. (nr) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 3-0
20. (nr) Clayton Valley (Concord) 3-0

On the Bubble
Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 2-0, Analy (Sebastopol) 3-0, Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 1-1, Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 0-2, Carmel 2-0, Greenfield 2-0, James Logan (Union City) 0-2, King's Academy (Sunnyvale) 3-0, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 2-1, Miramonte (Orinda) 2-1, Oakland Tech (Oakland) 2-0, Palo Alto 1-1, Petaluma 3-0, Piedmont 2-0, Pinole Valley (Pinole) 2-0, Pioneer (San Jose) 3-0, Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 2-0, Salesian (Richmond) 2-0, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 2-0, Seaside 2-0, Sequoia (Redwood City) 2-0, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 2-1, Watsonville 2-1, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 2-1, Ygnacio Valley (Concord) 3-0.

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