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DE LA SALLE: DEFENSE NEEDS TO STEP UP
Through the first three games this season, De La Salle’s defense was perfect.
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The Spartans did not give up a defensive score in a victory at home over Florida powerhouse Lakeland, followed by road wins over West Catholic Athletic League bluebloods Serra and St. Francis.
And while De La Salle beat Sacramento power Grant on Friday by 27 points, Spartans coach Justin Alumbaugh did not mince his words while talking about how disappointed he was in his defense.
“I was furious with our defense all week. … I thought they read the headlines too much,” Alumbaugh told the Bay Area News Group on Saturday. “I thought our defense let people’s compliments get to them too much and it showed. Grant is really good. I’m not trying to take anything away from them. But I thought we were out of position. We were misaligned, making bad decisions, not reading our keys, not tackling well across the board. I thought our defense was horrible.”
De La Salle appeared to be on its way to a running-block blowout when it roared to a 28-0 first-half cushion, but its defense took its foot off the gas. Grant cut the visitor’s lead to 34-20 early in the second half and had a chance to get even closer before the Spartans finally pulled way.
It probably won’t get any easier Friday when St. Mary’s-Stockton travels to Concord. De La Salle won a close game between the teams last season, 38-35, and despite St. Mary’s coming off a 21-point loss to Oak Ridge two weeks ago, Alumbaugh said this game will be a defining moment for his team.
“Any team that has athletes is a problem, and then if you combine it with a team that is well coached, it’s a major problem. That’s what St Mary’s is,” Alumbaugh said. “We know this opponent’s coming in and they have a bunch of guys back. They’re really good. They’re not afraid of De La Salle or anything like that.
“We’re going to learn if this team really wants to be gritty and get to work and I’m really excited. I think it’s a perfect week for us to find out exactly who we can be and what we need to work on.”
Alumbaugh said linebacker Bubba Vargas was one of the only consistent players for DLS’s defense on Friday’s game, but emphasized that the team cannot solely rely on the senior’s leadership against St. Mary’s.
“I’m not letting him call the defense this week because everyone is relying on him on where to line up,” Alumbaugh said. “Bubba has been amazing and he’s been a safety blanket for our entire defense way too much. It’s time for other guys to grow up.”
– Nathan Canilao
WCAL: IT’S GO TIME
The West Catholic Athletic League begins league play this week, and questions will start to be answered.
Archbishop Riordan is the early favorite, but things can change in a hurry. Just last season, Riordan was projected to win the WCAL by the Bay Area News Group, but midseason losses to St. Ignatius and Valley Christian quickly recalibrated expectations.
St. Francis will get the first crack at Riordan, on Friday in Mountain View.
“They look pretty good,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said “We got the film on them, and they’re as good as advertised. We knew they were going to be good, just with the quality of returners that they had. And (QB Michael) Mitchell’s been unbelievable for three years now, going on his fourth year. They’re big, they’re running the football, they’re throwing it, they’re playing really good defense. So they are definitely the team to beat right now.”
Last year, SI came out nowhere to share the league title with St. Francis, while Riordan rebounded from its struggles to finish third. And Valley Christian, in first place with three weeks to play, struggled with injuries down the stretch and lost its final three games to place fifth.
“Everybody would probably tell you Riordan looks like (the favorite),” Valley coach Mike Machado said. “They got a lot of guys coming back. Lot of receivers, some new receivers. They still got Tommy Tofi, who’s arguably the best lineman in certainly the Bay Area, if not the state.
“It’s hard to tell until probably Week Three of the league. That’s where things start separating out a little bit when you get through the first few weeks. But it’s a tough league. It’s interesting. It always is. That’s what’s fun about being a part of it. It’s going to play itself out, and that’s the thing. You’re going to find out.”
— Christian Babcock
WILLOW GLEN: SPECIAL TEAMS LIVE UP TO NAME
Some teams neglect special teams, or at least don’t invest the time in them that matches what some coaches refer to as the “hidden third” of football.
Willow Glen is not one of them.
The Rams rep onside kicks and other unique special teams plays repeatedly in practice, which paid massive dividends as they beat Christopher 21-20 on Friday.
“As far as coaches, especially a high school coach, are concerned, sometimes it’s usually the last thing you worry about during the week or as you approach the week,” Willow Glen coach Oscar Caballero said. “We’ve made an effort to really make sure we focus on all three phases of the game.
“Tip our cap to our coaching staff, to be able to make sure that we don’t overlook those areas, even if it means we go a couple minutes here or there over a period or two during our practice session. So hats off to our coaching staff for being on top of that stuff.”
Over a brief span at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, Willow Glen blocked a Christopher punt, recovered it in the end zone, converted a successful onside kick and scored on the ensuing drive.
That stretch flipped a 20-7 deficit into a 21-20 lead that provided the Rams’ final margin of victory, which was aided by Christopher missing two extra points earlier in the game.
“We’re the type of team that needs to have a lot of different strategies,” Caballero said. “So I’m thankful that we get young kids in that are able to have the same kind of mindset. Say, ‘Hey, we want to add a couple more tools to our toolbox,’ and that’s what we try to do.”
— Christian Babcock
ALAMEDA: HEALTH, DEPTH ARE KEY
Through four games, Alameda hasn’t faced much resistance.
In what was supposed to be its toughest test up to this point, the Hornets crushed host Mt. Diablo 45-21 on Friday to remain undefeated.
The goal for Alameda is to win a league title and advance to the postseason. For coach Robin Morris, the only way the Hornets can do that is if everyone can stay on the field.
“It’s going to be about keeping everyone healthy,” Morris said. “We have second and third stringers and we have to get those guys to get experience because we never know when we need them. Everyone has to be ready in order to last us through the season.”
– Nathan Canilao
CHRISTOPHER: YOUNG QB ROBINSON MAKING STRIDES
Dylan Robinson has some big shoes to fill as Christopher’s quarterback, and they originate from within his own household.
Robinson is the younger brother of Jaxen Robinson, the Cougars’ former standout QB who is now with Northern Arizona. The younger Robinson is only a sophomore but has been thrust into the starting role already.
The results have been mixed, but Robinson has had opportunities to grow and learn on the job. Against Willow Glen, he threw a beautiful deep ball to Kordell Crocker for a 67-yard TD and scrambled for a first down on a crucial fourth-and-12 in minus territory late in the fourth quarter.
Jaxen Robinson was one of the best quarterbacks in the Bay Area, a two-time all-BANG honoree who was the engine behind Christopher winning the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mt. Hamilton Division championship last year. Dylan Robinson isn’t there yet, but he’s getting closer week by week.
“I don’t think Dylan plays like a sophomore by any means,” Christopher coach Mike Pirnik said. “He’s mature beyond his years. You can see when moments start getting a little bigger that the cage starts shaking a little bit. But overall, he handles it with some composure. The arm strength’s there. He’s a big-time talent in my eyes. I think he’s a special player, I really do.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a next year kind of thing. I don’t think it’s going to be a development thing. I think he’s already there, and it’s just him executing and not letting the moment get bigger than who he is as a person. That’s really it.”
— Christian Babcock
SANTA TERESA: SCHEDULING PHILOSOPHY EVOLVES IN REAL TIME
Santa Teresa’s schedule was dealt a blow last week when Leland, the Saints’ Week 4 opponent, forfeited due to a lack of available players.
The episode highlighted the difficulties of scheduling nonleague opponents of similar stature. Under coach Steve Papin, Santa Teresa has recently elevated into a power in the BVAL Mt. Hamilton and is the likely favorite this year.
The growth has outpaced the Saints’ nonleague schedule, which Santa Teresa dominated. The Saints’ first three games were won by scores of 42-0 (Fremont-Sunnyvale), 63-10 (Milpitas) and 41-0 (Pioneer).
“This year, we lost some guys, and we knew we had some skill guys coming back,” Papin said. “We didn’t know if we had a quarterback. And then our schedule this year was kind of set, because it was home and home. So we were set. We had to play everybody.”
Moving forward, Papin said he will seek to schedule higher-level opponents that match the programs his team could face in the Central Coast Section playoffs. He noted McClymonds, which Santa Teresa declined to face on short notice, as an example of a program he’d look for.
“If we would have scheduled McClymonds in the offseason, I’ll play them,” Papin said. “Because where we’re going to be in the playoffs is probably Division II anyway. So you’re going to get a Mitty, a M-A, a Menlo, Monterey, Salinas, so you got to play those teams. So to play McClymonds in the future would be an honor.”
— Christian Babcock
