Welcome back to Monday Morning Lights, our weekly feature that sheds more light on the high school football weekend and peeks ahead to the new week. If you haven’t already, please subscribe. Your contributions keep us going.
So far, Archbishop Riordan has lived up to the hype.
The San Francisco school finished nonleague play undefeated, capping a 3-0 start to the season with a 42-35 victory at home over Pittsburg on Saturday. The result followed wins over McClymonds 41-18 and Monte Vista 34-0.
Now, after having a bye this weekend, Riordan will set its sights on West Catholic Athletic League play. The Crusaders open their league schedule on Sept. 26 at St. Francis, a team they beat 34-24 last year in San Francisco.
St. Francis went on to share the league championship with St. Ignatius, with Riordan finishing third.
For the Crusaders, this season is about reaching the top, which they haven’t done in the WCAL since 2000.
“Go undefeated,” running back Adonyae Brown said of Riordan’s goals in league play. “We’re a great team. It’s coming together, man. I believe we can go to state.”
Riordan is loaded with talent – the Crusaders have at least seven Division I prospects on offense and more on defense. But Brown says Riordan is closer off the field this year, which could set the stage for a special season.
“I feel like we made a big statement on who we are,” Brown said after the win over Pittsburg. “We’re not last year’s team. We’re more of a brotherhood. It’s not just cliques of a football team. It’s not special players. We’re actually like a football team this year.”
— Christian Babcock
PITTSBURG: PIRATES JUGGLING TWO QBS
Entering this season, Pittsburg was looking for the quarterback to replace Marley Alcantara, last year’s Bay Area News Group player of the year.
To this point, the Pirates have replaced their former star with two players – senior Carlos Torres, a backup last season, and sophomore JaVale Jones, a transfer from Clayton Valley Charter.
Torres has gotten most of the snaps. But Jones has factored into every game and led a late comeback on Saturday as Pittsburg nearly overcame a 21-point second-half deficit against Riordan.
“It could probably look like that maybe for the next two or three games,” Pittsburg coach Charlie Ramirez said about the quarterback rotation. “Just how the game goes, and not necessarily the hot hand, if you will, but really who’s moving the chains, who’s not turning the ball over. That’s where we’re going to go.”
— Christian Babcock
ACALANES: CONDITIONING MATTERS
After his team’s 42-35 comeback win over St. Ignatius, Acalanes coach Joel Isaac had his team line up on the sideline and run a set of gassers before they left the field.
While most players would agonize over doing more conditioning, especially after a hard-fought win, the Dons ran sideline to sideline with smiles on their faces.
“We love gassers. We love to run. And that’s the type of team we are,” offensive lineman Joey Martin said. “We’re well conditioned and we’re going to kick the crap out of you off the ball.”
Acalanes has little room for injuries, rostering just 39 players. But Isaac said the team combats its lack of depth with mental toughness.
“We don’t have a lot of guys on our side, but they got to be in shape. They know that,” Isaac said. “They’re learning to overcome adversity and letting them know that gassers are your friend.”
– Nathan Canilao
ST. IGNATIUS: STANDARDS HAVEN’T CHANGED
The Wildcats are still figuring some things out.
St. Ignatius returned just seven starters from last year’s Central Coast Section Open Division title team and have a new coach at the helm, JaJuan Lawson. The nonleague schedule wasn’t entirely smooth as the San Francisco school went 1-2, losing to Acalanes and San Marin.
But the bar had not lowered for Lawson and the Wildcats.
“The standard is the standard,” Lawson said. “We only had seven returning starters combined on both sides of the ball off last year’s team. So we’re teaching a lot of guys what the standard is, and it’s understanding how hard you have to push every single day for every single rep.”
– Nathan Canilao
SARATOGA: AIMING FOR A STRONG FOUNDATION
A number of football programs in the Bay Area struggle with numbers.
Saratoga is one of them. The Falcons have 27 varsity players this season and 25 on junior varsity after not being able to field a JV team last season. Their starting quarterback, Anson Hulme, also runs the defense at safety.
It hasn’t been for lack of effort, either. Saratoga coach Archie Ljepava, who also works on campus, has been putting his day job to use to build his squad.
“This year, we had 20 freshmen show up,” Ljepava said. “Basically, we’re running with a freshman (JV) team, and they’re fighting. They’re learning. I’m proud of them.”
Saratoga was once a proud football power that won three of the first nine Central Coast Section championships in the highest classification. The Falcons have a long way to go to get back to that level, and it may ultimately be impossible with long-term shifts in demographics in the area.
Ljepava simply wants to make football relevant in Saratoga, which was the case for decades under the late Benny Pierce.
“It’s a tough thing to have in your mind all the time that you know you’re trying to live up to a legend,” Ljepava said. “But I think our coaching staff and our players understand where we want to be.”
— Christian Babcock
OVERFELT: ROYALS MUST PLAY ‘IRONMAN FOOTBALL’
Overfelt didn’t play on the opening weekend of the season because it couldn’t find an opponent. So the Royals’ 12-6 win on Friday at Saratoga was the second of 10 consecutive games that the East San Jose school will play.
Given that only 20 or so players suited up for Overfelt on Friday, depth could be an issue as the season unfolds.
“It’s tough, man,” co-head coach Alan Plascencia said. “It’s tough when guys go down, but we just have to tell our guys to be resilient. They know they have to play different positions that they might not have played before.
Related Articles
Bay Area prep football 2025: Where to find our complete Week 3 coverage
Bay Area prep football Week 3, 2025: Weekend scoreboard, how Top 25 fared
Statement win: Riordan holds off multiple Pittsburg rallies from 21-point deficits
High school football in pictures: Our staff’s best photos of Week 3, 2025
Bay Area high school football roundup 2025: Best of Week 3 action
“They have to know mental toughness and next-play mentality in order to put themselves in a successful position. It speaks to the whole theme around our season of ironman football. It’s going to be tough, but we just have to play through it.”
— Christian Babcock
PEEK AHEAD TO WEEK 4
Thursday
Lincoln-San Jose (3-0) at Gunderson (3-0), 7:15 p.m.: Gunderson is 0-8 against Lincoln since 2004.
Friday
Las Lomas (3-0) at Alhambra (2-1), 7 p.m.: Las Lomas’ Kane Sekulich has rushed for 481 yards, six TDs.
Foothill (2-1) at San Leandro (3-0), 7 p.m.: Jaymieon Bradley, Justin Ammons lead rushing attack for San Leandro.
De La Salle (3-0) at Grant-Sacramento (2-2), 7 p.m.: When these teams met last season, DLS won 42-14.
Los Gatos (1-2) at Burlingame (2-1), 7 p.m.: Los Gatos aiming to bounce back after 41-40 loss at Clovis.
Dublin (2-1) at Windsor (3-0), 7 p.m.: Big test in North Bay for much improved Dublin.
Alameda (3-0) at Mt. Diablo (3-0), 7:30 p.m.: Mt. Diablo won last season’s game between teams 34-26.
Saturday
The King’s Academy (2-0) at Sacred Heart Prep (2-1), 2 p.m.: SHP is 13-2-1 in series since 2004, including 24-14 win last year.
