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.

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It may only be temporary, but De La Salle of Concord's Bob Ladouceur is now the winningest football coach in state history. His 345th win will go down one of the most Jekyll-and-Hyde performances for his team as a beautiful defense rescued an ugly offense in a 14-7 win over upset-minded Serra of San Mateo.

To read our quarter-by-quarter tweets of this game, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/calhisports

By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor

CONCORD -- Terron Williams-Ward didn't do anything as dramatic as pick up a bad snap and run for a game-winning two-point conversion, but his two second-half touchdowns gave a struggling De La Salle High of Concord offense just enough points to pull out a 14-7 win on Friday night at Owen Owens Field over Serra of San Mateo.

The Spartans, No. 3 in the CalHiSports preseason rankings for the state and No. 20 in the ESPN RISE FAB 50 for the nation, opened their 2009 season by topping the Padres, who were No. 24 in the preseason state list. It was the second straight gut-wrenching loss for Serra against De La Salle, following last year's 29-28 defeat in San Mateo.

While De La Salle was coming from behind to beat Serra, down in Southern California, La Mirada High came from behind to defeat St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs, 15-7. Those two results mean that De La Salle head coach Bob Ladouceur, for the first time in his career, has moved to No. 1 on the all-time state list for coaching wins, just one spot higher than St. Paul's Marijon Ancich. Ladouceur now has 345 wins since 1979, while Ancich, who is returning to coaching this season after a three-year break, remains at 344.(Read full post)

The second of our preseason individual honors teams focuses on the CCS. A number of teams have at least two honorees on this squad, but the only one with three is Wilcox of Santa Clara. The Chargers have arguably the top returning running back and top returning linebacker in the section and have a 320-pound two-way lineman. Players selected from Daly City in the north to Salinas in the south. Coming Next: Preseason All-L.A. City Section FB Team.

(These teams are based on honors from last season, showings at Nike football combines and camps plus information sent in from coaches. Many of the quoted statistics are from MaxPreps.com.)

Offense

WR – Andrew Berg (Los Gatos) 6-0, 170, Sr.
He was on the receiving end of 48 passes for 1,103 yards and nine touchdowns in a CCS Medium Schools championship season. Berg also recorded 36 tackles and three interceptions on defense and earned multiple postseason honors, including SCVAL Junior of the Year and was named to the San Jose Mercury News first team. Like teammate Nick Hirschman, he also won't have to worry about a college decision during his senior season as he has decided he will attend Harvard University.

WR – Joc Pederson (Palo Alto) 6-0, 170, Sr.
Apologies to Joc for calling him Joe during the Area Code Games, but that's probably not the first time that has happened. In addition to baseball where Joc was a standout for the Milwaukee Brewers Gray team two weeks ago in Long Beach, he's also a top-notch football player. He led the Vikings in receiving as a junior with 44 catches for 745 yards and 10 touchdowns. Pederson is more highly-regarded in baseball, but in football he's outstanding as well.

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Serra of San Mateo legend gains top baseball honor after team wins CCS title in walk-off fashion. Also selected are Bob Anderson from Central Valley of Shasta Lake for medium schools and Brad Gunter Jr. from Valley Christian of Roseville for small schools.

By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor
Contributing: Paul Muyskens

A game-winning base hit to win a championship is one thing, but when it's the last game for a retiring coach – and not just any coach but one of the winningest in Northern California history – the focus is naturally going to be on that coach.

Players at Serra High of San Mateo all knew what was on the line when they batted in the bottom of the seventh inning of the CIF Central Coast Section Div. I championship last month in San Jose with the score tied at 4-4 against league rival Archbishop Mitty of San Jose.

With one out, Luca Ponti singled up the middle. He moved to second on a balk, then went to third on a passed ball. With the infield drawn in, teammate Justin Maffei also singled up the middle to score Ponti and give the Padres a 5-4 victory.

Such was the final sentence in the final chapter in the coaching career of Serra's Pete Jensen. He tried to give all the credit to his players after the game, but even the players had a sense of the moment.

"We've been working all season to give him this championship,” Ponti said. "I can't even say the words how this makes us all feel.”

Jensen himself added: "Boy, I've had so many memories at this school and to win both of our last two games the way we did and now to end it like this is right at the top. We've always had such great kids at Serra and they work so hard at it.”
The championship capped a 30-6 season for the Padres' in Jensen's 23rd and final season. It also was the fourth time he's been handed a CCS championship plaque and put his final career record at 564-181-5.

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The caravan took its longest road trip of the season, winding our way 110 miles down the El Camino Real (aka Highway 101) to the garlic capitol of the world. Watch hosts Robert Braunstein and Amy Calderone each week on Sunday at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on YourTV 20, San Francisco. Replays are shown during the week on Comcast SportsNet on cable systems throughout Northern California.

By Harold Abend, Special to CalHiSports.com

Regardless of how the point system was used in the Central Coast Section that determined the seedings for the Open Division playoffs, the weighting it gave to the Tri-County League wasn't apparent on the field in any of the three contests over the weekend involving members of the league.

Add in Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco's 56-20 dismantling of high-scoring CCS Small School second-seed Carmel and you can see the inevitable. Regardless of how the system tried to balance the playing field, it still tilts big-time this year, like most, to the West Catholic Athletic Leage.

WCAL Commissioner Ed Ravenscroft told CalHisports.com in comments before the Serra-Gilroy game that despite the flaws in the point system, he likes it better than seeding committees. His comments were echoed by Serra Coach Patrick Walsh. "It takes the human element out of it, Walsh said.  

There was no change in the top 10 of this week's rankings, but after that there was plenty of movement, including one new team sitting at No. 20.

There was one winner from the Tri-County League and that was Salinas, a 27-17 winner over Hill of San Jose in the CCS Large School Division.

Football Top 20 Teams
(Through games of Nov. 22)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)

1) De La Salle (Concord) 9-1 (1)
As was the case for all top four seeds in the NCS Div. I bracket, the Spartans drew a bye. They will now face a Deer Valley (Antioch) team that this past Friday got its first ever playoff victory in the 10-year history of the Wolverines program, in a hard-fought 24-20 victory on the road at Berkeley.

2) Oak Grove (San Jose) 11-0 (2)
The test the Eagles were supposed to get from Palma (Salinas) in the opening round of the CCS Open Division didn't last long in a 42-19 home victory. The test ended when the Chieftains fumbled on their opening drive at the Oak Grove 27-yard line. From there, it took just three plays and 43 seconds for the Eagles to cruise 73 yards for a score. The visitors were not prepared for the explosive speed of the Carr brothers and the rest of the soaring Eagles. After a 10-yard run, Kenny Arechiga passed to Jabari Carr in the left flat where Carr eluded several tacklers for a 30-yard gain. A face mask penalty added five yards. On the next play, Jabari's twin, Omari burst through the left side of the line for a 27-yard touchdown run. Palma would rally but Jabari answered with a 54-yard TD catch and Omari ran 49 yards to paydirt to make it 35-13 and seal the victory. The top seed Eagles now move to the semis where they face Valley Christian in what will definitely be their biggest test all season.

3) Bellarmine (San Jose) 10-1 (3)
The third-seeded Bells barely broke a sweat, scoring all their points in the first half in a 34-7 CCS Open Div. victory over Milpitas at San Jose City College. Usua Amanam ran for 194 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries. The defense held the visitors to 212 yards of total offense with much of it, including their lone score, coming late in the contest. The one thing that might get some moisture on Coach Mike Janda's brow was the fact his team fumbled four times. If they do that in this Saturday's re-match with Serra, the Bells could possibly suffer the same fate as when they lost to the Padres this season in league 31-23 on the same San Jose City College turf where this game will take place.

4) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 10-0 (4)
The top four seeds in the NCS Div. II bracket also received a bye and that means the top-seeded Cardinals have a bye for the first time ever in Coach Paul Cronin's tenure as a coach. "It was a lot better than I thought it would be, Cronin told CalHiSports Sunday evening. "We got healthy, got some new things in, and even took a day off on Friday, said Cronin, who in six years since coming over from his alma mater Piner (Santa Rosa) has compiled an impressive 61-11-1 record, including 13-2 in 2006 when the Cardinals lost to Oaks Christian in the inaugural D3 state bowl game. Cronin's overall record in 11 years of coaching is 86-38-1. Newman now hosts Heritage (Brentwood) on Friday night in Santa Rosa. The eighth-seeded Patriots advanced with a 21-7 victory over Redwood of Larkspur. 

5) Serra (San Mateo) 8-3 (5)
It was a tale of two halves for the seventh-seed in front of an overflow crowd on Friday night in garlic-town USA. Trailing 14-3 after two quarters, the Padres got a spark on a 75-yard kickoff return by Adonis Smith to open the second half and the onslaught began. After an eight-yard run by Smith (15 carries, 93 yards), quarterback Cody Jackson scored the first of four second half touchdowns (two rushing, two passing) to lead the Padres to a decisive 45-14 victory over host Gilroy. "We called them out at halftime and told them Gilroy wanted this game and the chance to move on more than they did, Serra Coach Patrick Walsh told CalHisports.com. Jackson, who looks like one of the top two dual threat signal-callers in the Bay Area with De La Salle's Blake Wayne, finished with 164 yards passing and two touchdowns and 137 yards on the ground with two more scores. The Padre defense, led by Kyle Gschwend (three sacks, two forced fumbles, bat down and forced an interception) and Danny Dealba (sack, fumble recovery, 47-yard INT return for TD), harassed Gilroy quarterback Jamie Jensen all night, intercepting him four times, all in the second half, and sacking him six times, four in the final two quarters. Now it's the rematch with Bellarmine. This one should be a doozy. "To win a CCS Open title we need to put a couple of halves together, Walsh said.

6) Monte Vista (Danville) 8-2 (6)
After a bye, and just like Bellarmine will get a chance at redemption against Serra, Coach Craig Bergman's second-seeded Mustangs will get the same chance when they play San Ramon Valley of Danville, a team they lost to 26-7 in their EBAL final contest. The NCS Div. I quarterfinal is Friday night at Monte Vista.

7) Pittsburg 9-1 (7)
Coach Vic Galli's third-seeded Pirates also received a bye and will now host California (San Ramon) in what could be one of the most interesting matchups in the entire Bay Area this week.

8) Foothill (Pleasanton) 9-2 (8)
Likewise, the D1 fourth-seeded Falcons received a bye and now host No. 5 seed Freedom (Oakley), a 34-14 winner over James Logan of Union City.

9) Valley Christian (San Jose) 8-2 (9)
The Warriors led only 14-7 starting the fourth quarter but Cameron Marshall scored on a 2-yard plunge, followed by a 30-yard TD pass from Cory Gambello to Ryan Jones and a 5-yard run to paydirt by Daniel Johnson. The result was a 35-7 victory over North Salinas in a hostile setting at the Salinas Sports Complex. Marshall finished with 126 yards rushing on 22 carries and scored two rushing touchdowns. He also returned an interception for a score. The real difference in this contest was the VC defense. After the hosts scored their lone TD, the Warriors' defense took over, making three interceptions and forcing three fumbles. The reward for Coach Mike Machado's No. 5 seed is a CCS Open semifinal matchup with top-seed Oak Grove this Friday night at San Jose City College. This is another game that should be a dandy. Can Machado's boys handle the speed of the amazing Indy-fast Carrs?

10) California (San Ramon) 7-4 (10)
He hasn't been getting the ink some of the other top Bay Area running backs have gotten, but Leroy Green has been getting it done all year against some tough competition. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound senior has had double-digit rushing numbers in every game but last week in a 41-0 whitewashing of host Washington (Fremont) he went over 200-yards for the first time this season. The No. 3 reported rusher in the North Coast Section ran for 202 yards on 20 carries with three touchdowns. "Other guys might have a few more yards but no one did it against Bellevue (Wash.), Monte Vista and De La Salle, Grizzly Coach Tony Sanchez told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Leroy's the best running back in the East Bay. Quarterback Bo Stompro scored on a 69-yard run and wide receiver Nick Zwarg caught a 57-yard touchdown pass from Stompro and finished with five catches for 135 yards. Sixth-seed Cal will need all its weapons firing when it travels to Pittsburg this Saturday night. 

11) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 8-3 (14)
This is where strength of schedule plus personal observation comes into play, with respect to bumping the Wolves past all the losing Tri-County League teams after a 42-14 victory on the road at San Leandro in the opening round of the NCS Div. I bracket. This is their second win this year at Burrell Field. Boise State-bound Joe Southwick was 19-for-30 for 261 yards and four touchdowns. He completed 7 of 7 passes in a 92-yard second quarter scoring drive. Since we've personally seen 16 of the top 20 teams in these rankings we're pretty confident in our assessment. The big question in Danville right now, and we can feel it brewing this week on the two campuses  is the town's bragging rights going to exchange hands again after only two weeks?

12) Novato 9-2 (15)
The NCS seeding committee may not use the following as a criterion but we do. First, the fact the Hornets were missing key players in their first two games, losses to Valley Christian and Foothill, and star wide receiver Jake Davis was coming back off a broken leg and needed a few games to play into shape, plus the closeness of Novato's road loss to Valley Christian (22-13) to open the season, then having to come back against Foothill for a Thursday night Comcast game on four days rest still minus the players, contributed to their 48-13 spanking. Now, they've paid for the losses to teams ranked above them, they're playing well, and the North Salinas team that lost to Palma but beat Gilroy was beaten soundly by Valley Christian on its home turf. Novato, therefore, also jumps the Tri-County teams. We almost forgot to tell you. The NCS Div. III third-seed led 40-0 at the half before emptying the bench in a 49-7 victory over Drake of San Anselmo. Novato now hosts Fortuna, a 35-13 winner over Piedmont.

13) Palma (Salinas) 8-3 (11)
The Chieftains are a good football team but they had no answer for the speed and explosiveness of an Oak Grove team that's apparently for real once again this season. They tried to rally behind Nevada-bound David Fales, who threw for 357 yards, but they were unable to move the ball on the ground to keep the ball out of Oak Grove's hands. Still, it was a good season for Coach Jeff Carnazzo and his boys, losing only to ranked teams.

14) North Salinas (Salinas) 9-2 (12)
The lone score for the Vikings, the co-Tri-County Athletic League champion with Palma and Gilroy, was a 98-yard kickoff return by Donte Mosley. Otherwise, it was turnovers killing all the drives as they had three fumbles and three interceptions. Still, for this team also, with losses only to ranked teams, it was a great season after being 2-8 two seasons ago,.

15) Gilroy 9-2 (13)
When the Mustangs led 14-3 at the half it looked like possibly there might be a storybook season in the making that could surpass last year's loss to Oak Grove in the Open Div. championship game. It wasn't to be. Serra changed up defenses in the second half and it resulted in four sacks and four interceptions in the final two quarters, as Gilroy collapsed under the pressure and fell 45-14. The CCS's leading passer, Jamie Jenson, finished with 337 yards and two touchdowns on 19 of 32 attempts but in total he was intercepted four times and sacked six times. Dante Fullard had a great game and ends up the season as one of the state's leading receivers. He had nine catches for 202 yards with both of his team's touchdowns on catches of 55 and 40 yards. Fullard ends up his senior year with 79 catches for 1,411 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also has six rushing and two passing touchdowns for 24 total TDs.

16) San Leandro 7-4 (16)
Despite four losses, including last week's 42-14 season ender to San Ramon Valley, we're not going top drop the Pirates since all the defeats were at the hands of teams ranked above them.

17) Clayton Valley (Concord) 10-0 (18)
After a bye this week, Coach Herc Pardi's second-seed in NCS Div. II will get a chance to move up in these rankings when they host Casa Grande (Petaluma), a 38-12 winner over Concord.

18) Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 9-1 (19)
Likewise for Ed Conroy's Cougars, whose only loss is to Cardinal Newman. After their bye, the third-seeded Ranch now host Las Lomas (Walnut Creek), a 35-34 overtime winner on the road at Eureka.

19) Campolindo (Moraga) 9-1 (20)
The NCS Div. II fourth seed also rested with a bye and now faces twelfth-seed Ygnacio Valley, which won 34-33 on the road in Ukiah. 

20) Pioneer (San Jose) 10-1 (nr)
The Mustangs go into the top 20 this week as a replacement for previous No. 17 Milpitas, which now has two losses but could still come back into the final rankings since its loss last week was to Bellarmine. Pioneer's only loss is to Oak Grove and that was by a closer score (21-7) than what the Eagles just beat North Salinas. Pioneer won in its first-round CCS playoff game, 41-17, over Aragon of San Mateo and plays Los Gatos this week in the semifinals.
   
On The Bubble
Berkeley 9-2, Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 10-1, Carmel 8-2, Casa Grande (Petaluma), 8-2-1, Deer Valley (Antioch) 8-3, Encinal (Alameda) 10-0, Freedom (Oakley) 10-1, Fremont (Oakland) 9-2, Hill (San Jose) 10-1, Justin-Siena (Napa) 7-4, Kings Academy (Sunnyvale) 10-0-1, Los Gatos 8-3, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 8-3, Milpitas 9-2, Miramonte (Orinda) 9-2, *Monterey 10-1, Palo Alto 8-3, Sacred Heart-Cathedral (San Francisco) 6-5, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 10-0-1, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 5-5, Santa Teresa (San Jose) 10-1, Scotts Valley 10-1, Ukiah 8-3, Woodside 8-3
(*includes Stallworth of Stockton loss)

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