When YSN365.com starts doing team rankings in two weeks we will name a YSN365.com player of the week. The announcement for the Player of the Week for the season openers is in this preview.
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 6TH
Analy (1-0) at Maria Carrillo (0-0) (YSN365.COM GAME OF THE WEEK)
KSRO 1350—7:05 BROADCAST TIME
When the two teams opened up the season last year it was another game, one of the few games between the NBL and SCL.
It turned out to be a springboard game for Analy to big things.
Analy defeated Maria Carrillo 63-6, a score that stunned everyone. Analy took it from there, going on to its best season in school history. They kept the momentum going last week with as shocking win over Pittsburg.
Maria Carrillo was off last week, so they are opening the season. The Pumas and returning 15 of 22 starters from last year’s team.
This might be good timing for Maria Carrillo to be playing Analy. It might be let down week after the win over Pittsburg last week, which some are calling the biggest win in school history.
Senior quarterback Jacob Royer passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns and Running back Ja’Narrick James rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Pittsburg. In that game they dominated the first half, saw Pittsburgh rally to make it close and then retook control for a 37-21 win.
This is the third and last regular season game between the NBL and SCL. The two league split the two games last week, Santa Rosa defeating Petaluma for the NBL win and Piner over Ukiah for the SCL.
Maybe the biggest news about this game, high school football is back on the radio.
Benicia (1-0) at Windsor (1-0)
Windsor opened the season by rallying twice to defeat Granada 39-36. The first rally was from 29-7 at the half to take a 32-29 lead in the fourth quarter. Granada regain the lead, before Windsor won scored the game winner with :08 left.
Windsor Quarterback Colin McAlvain was all over both rallies to earn YSN365.com player of the week. McAlvain went 20 of 29 for 340 yards and three touchdowns, two of them in rally number one. Then he scored the game winner on a six yard run.
Benicia had a thriller of its own it is opener going overtime to beat Livermore 27-24. They won the game despite being outgained by nearly 100 yards.
Benicia, who is from the San Joaquin Delta Section, has finished over .500 every season since 2007.
Terra Linda (1-0) vs. Sonoma Valley (1-0) at Arnold Field
Sonoma Valley has its home opener against the second of three games against a team from the Marin County League. All the scoring was in the second half in Sonoma Valley’s opening 18-13 win at Redwood, Senior quarterback Dan Deely throw two touchdowns and rushing for another.
Terra Linda is coming off a season that they finished over .500 for the first time since 2004. They opened this season with a 37-26 win over Lowell of SF. Easton English was 10 of 11 for 229 yards and three touchdowns.
Expect a close game. This is the fifth straight season the two teams are meeting. They have split the first four, with three of the four games decided by five points or less.
Justin Siena (1-0) at El Molino (1-0)
El Molino won its first opener since 2010 when they went 7-5. The Lions started that season 3-0 and if they have a chance to do that when they travel to meet St. Bernard’s next week, they will shake up the football world much like its arch rival Analy did last week.
Justin Siena is the defending NCS Division 4 champions, winning its last six games. The won their opener beating Piedmont 48-7 in a game they had over 400 yards rushing with Diano Pacote going for 203 yards.
Novato (0-1) at Cardinal Newman (1-0)
The two teams met last year with Cardinal Newman taking a 21-0 win. Both teams finished second in league play.
Things didn’t start well for Novato as they hosted Division 1 Foothill and were defeated 51-6 in the opener.
Cardinal Newman won its opener at Modesto Christian 41-28, in a game they led 35-0. The pass defense was almost untouchable giving up three completions in fifteen passes. They did give up over 250 yards rushing.
Cardinal Newman has to be careful not looking past this game for its home game against El Cerrito, which is one of the top games of the pre-league schedule not only in the area, but in the state.
Casa Grande (1-0) at Heritage (0-1)
Things started out about as good as you could hope for Casa Grande. After falling behind early, they had no problem with Eureka, gaining nearly 500 yards in total offense.
Division 1 Heritage carried a 19-17 lead over Campolindo into the final period before dropping a 40-26 game. You can bet that Casa Grande coach Trent Herzog Casa Grande rallied for a 34-21 win in last years meeting.
Alhambra (0-0-1) at Rancho Cotate (0-0)
This is an example of why ratings are a little early. Rancho Cotate isn’t in the PD top five, they haven’t played yet. Even though they lost a lot from last year’s team, they figure to be there before too long. At the end of the season, Rancho Cotate has been No. 1 in the area two of the last three years.
Alhambra had a wild opener playing to a 41-41 tie with College Park. Ciazonne Foster, who rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns , blocked an extra point to save the tie.
The two teams met to begin 2012 with Rancho Cotate taking a 23-14 win.
Healdsburg (0-1) at St. Helena (1-0)
Healdsburg faces a tough test probably still thinking about last week’s opening 14-7 loss to Fortuna. Healdsburg scored in the first minutes and minutes later had a first and goal at the four. A touchdown was called back by a penalty and it what started out as a good start turning into a frustrating loss..
St. Helena plays its first home game after a impressive road 20-0 win over Tomales. Running back Sebastian Segura rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns. Last year Segura rushed for over 1,000 yards and scored 14 touchdowns to help St. Helena to an 11-2 mark.
The two teams have met in the NCS playoffs each of the last two years each winning one game. Two years ago the loss in the playoffs was St. Helena’s only loss of the season.
Ukiah (0-1) at Willits (0-1)
Both teams had little offense in the opening game loss. That is familiar to last year’s game between the teams won by Ukiah 7-0. That was the only Ukiah win of the season. Two years ago they had a different kind of game, with Ukiah taking a 55-40 win.
Elsie Allen (0-1) at Tomales (0-1)
Both teams are not only looking for its first win, but its first points after being shutout last week.
St. Vincent (1-0) at Cloverdale (0-1)
St. Vincent got a big defensive effort and shutout St. Bernard’s in the opener. They also had a blocked punt for a touchdown.
Durham (0-1) at Clear Lake (0-0)
Durham is a Division 3 team from the Sacramento area who lost its opener to Colusa 42-30.
St. Bernard’s (0-1) at Fort Bragg (1-0)
Fort Bragg won its opener over McKinleyville 20-7. Zach Smith, who rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game with an injury. No report on what the injury was.
Marshall (0-1) at Lower Lake (0-0)
There is some positive talk about Lower Lake, a team that has won one game or less in seven of the past nine seasons. Justin Gaddy coaches his first game.
South Fork (1-0) at Calistoga (1-0)
Calistoga won last years game between the two 61-28. Running back Dylan Alverado went over the 200 yard mark in the game.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH
Richmond (0-1) at Piner (1-0)
Piner is trying for its first 2-0 start since 2002 when they started 3-0.
Piner head coach John Antonio was the head man at Richmond in from 2007 and 2008.
Richmond hasn’t won more than three games in a season since at least 2002 and started out this season with a 41-0 loss to powerhouse Salesian.
Petaluma (0-1) at Tamalpais (1-0)
Petaluma’s season started out a familiar way with a loss to Santa Rosa.
Last year they met Tamalpais in Game Two and led 13-10 entering the fourth quarter before falling 24-13.
Tamalpais had an opposite kind of year that Petaluma has had in the past few years. The win over Petaluma was part of a 4-0 start. They ended the season 6-5, the last loss 35-7 to Analy in the first round of the NCS Division 3 playoffs.
Tamalpais won its opener over Galileo 48-36. Running back Aseal Birir rushed for 258 yards and what is believed to be a a school record six touchdowns. That offset a defense that gave up over 400 yards passing.
Middletown (0-0) at Salesian (1-0)
Salesian has been the opening game for Middletown since 2006. Middletown has won one game, in 2008, and lost two other NCS playoff games but they have had some thrillers. Last year was by 7-3, in 2010 a wild 57-52 game and the two playoff games were 28-21 and 22-21 scores. The 28-21 game was the 2010 NCS Championship game that went overtime after Middletown had a 21-7 lead.
Kelseyville (0-0) at Upper Lake (0-0)
Two teams open the season for the second straight year. Upper Lake won last year 52-6.
Montgomery (1-0) and Santa Rosa (1-0) have the week off.
My email address is jacpasquini@comcast.net