League play dominates schedule as local teams battle for football playoff berths

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (Oct. 18, 2024) — After the third week of play when this high school football season was still in its infancy, you never would have foreseen how the fortunes of most local teams could turn so rosy. At that time, De La Salle was 3-0 and the other six teams all had losing records.

Now as they head into the stretch run of league games, six of the seven local schools are within reach of North Coast Section playoff berths.

Nothing is much more startling than the incredible turnaround at Ygnacio Valley. The Wolves began the season with a 73-0 defeat, the 35th straight loss for the Concord school since late October 2019, before the word Covid was a part of our vocabulary. In fact, the YVHS Wolves had never won a football game.

The Concord school defeated Redwood Christian of San Leandro in the second week of the season 26-20 to snap that losing streak, which was the longest ongoing in California. But even that win had a minor asterisk as their opponent was playing its first-ever varsity game.

Wolves on hot streak

The Wolves then lost the following week but have run off three successive wins for a 4-2 record and are in the thick of the race for a NCS playoff berth that has eluded them since 2019. They look ahead to three weeks of games against their Diablo Athletic League Mountain Division rivals starting this Saturday afternoon at Berean Christian.

Incredibly, all four DAL Mountain teams are 4-2, including local rivals Concord and Mt. Diablo highs. All three Concord schools in this logjam have won three games in a row after each started the season 1-2.

Coach Rae Jackson Sr. and his Wolves have captured the attention of the Bay Area with their dramatic turnaround with four victories in five games before enjoying their bye week. The coach said the first sign he noticed of this change was when he looked in the stands and saw coaches and scouts from future opponents at Wolves games to watch his team. He says there was very little of that when YV was in its long losing streak.

Long journey for 6th win

Seeing De La Salle sitting atop the Bay Area football rankings and in the top 25 in America is nothing new. However, the Spartans have not gone this far into a season undefeated since 2018 (putting aside the abbreviated 2020 spring Covid season).

De La Salle had to travel over 10,500 miles round trip to secure victory No. 6. That took place in London last Tuesday 31-9 over the NFL Academy team.

Former De La Salle player Zach Klass works for Nike and got the ball rolling for his alma mater to make this once in a lifetime trip. The State CIF office approved the game and Nike provided the funding.

Coach Justin Alumbaugh told The Pioneer, “[It was a] crazy trip. There were 54 players and five managers and there were at least another 100+ supporters at the game.” That doesn’t count parents of over 90% of the boys also in attendance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the game where running backs Derrick Blanche and Dominic Kelley each scored a pair of touchdowns.

NFL Academy features high school-aged players from throughout Europe as part of an initiative by the NFL to provide education and intensive training of American football. Started in 2019, NFL Academy has sent more than 40 players to American college football programs with 19 athletes playing Division I football this fall.

Alumbaugh was most pleased that every healthy player on the trip got into the game. Besides the action of the field, the group watched an NFL game in the same stadium two days earlier between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets. They also visited Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey, as most London tourists do.

The Spartans have a well-earned reputation in high school football and have previously traveled for intersectional games in Hawaii, Texas and New Jersey, but this was the topper in terms of long-distance travel.

Upon their return the team immediately turned its attention to a showdown with undefeated San Ramon Valley at Owen Owens Field this Friday. The Spartans and Wolves played two classic games last year, both of which saw DLS edge the Danville team. Friday’s game matches two of the top three NCS teams, along with Pittsburg, so playoff seeding is part of the reward for the winning side.

DAL action heats up

As mentioned, Concord and Mt. Diablo have run off three consecutive wins after starting 1-2. The long-time Concord rivals will look to get a leg up in the DAL this Friday night. It’s the Red Devils homecoming game but will be played on the Bears home field due to construction work at MDHS leading to installation of new turf this fall.

Clayton Valley also lost two of its first three games, including to San Ramon Valley. The Ugly Eagles are on their own three-game winning streak with three of their final four games at Gonsalves Stadium. They host Acalanes in a key DAL Foothill Division game Friday after a big win last week at Las Lomas.

Northgate won its opener, but the Broncos then lost three straight before bouncing back with a pair of wins. The Walnut Creek school begins DAL Valley Division play hosting Benicia. The Broncos are the only Valley team without a losing record in non-league play.

New College Park coach Jack Schram is still looking for his first win at the Pleasant Hill school after spending the last 18 years at Miramonte. His Falcons have lost all six games, but three of their four most recent defeats were by less than a touchdown. Coming off a bye, they meet long-time rival Alhambra in Pleasant Hill this week looking for win No. 1.

High school football schedule & results

Clayton Valley Charter (Open Div./Div. 1) – 8/30 Spanish Springs-Sparks, NV L 0-17, 9/6 at College Park W 55-7, 9/13 at San Ramon Valley L 15-31, 9/20 Northgate W 34-17, 9/27 at Liberty-Brentwood W 21-17, 10/11 at Las Lomas W 29-22, 10/18 Acalanes, 10/25 Campolindo, 11/1 at Miramonte, 11/8 De La Salle.

College Park (Div. 2) – 8/30 San Marin-Novato L 20-52, 9/6 Clayton Valley Charter L 7-55, 9/13 Salesian College Preparatory Pride-Richmond L 21-26, 9/20 at Acalanes L 37-41, 9/27 at Las Lomas L 21-44, 10/4 at Miramonte L 37-41, 10/18 Alhambra, 10/25 at Northgate, 11/1 Benicia, 11/8 Mountain opponent TBA.

Concord (Div. 5) – 8/30 Newark Memorial-Newark L 15-28, 9/6 Alameda L 14-48, 9/13 at San Lorenzo W 37-7, 9/21 at Archie Williams-San Anselmo W 45-14, 9/27 at Mt. Eden-Hayward W 16-13, 10/4 Encinal-Alameda W 29-22, 10/18 at Mt. Diablo, 10/25 Ygnacio Valley, 11/1 Berean Christian, 11/8 @ Valley opponent TBA.

De La Salle (Div. 2) – 8/30 Grant-Sacramento W 42-14, 9/6 Serra-San Mateo W 39-10, 9/13 Saint Francis-Mountain View W 42-7, 9/20 at St. Mary’s-Stockton W 38-35, 9/27 at El Cerrito W 35-14, 10/8 at NFL Academy, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium-London W 31-9, 10/18 San Ramon Valley, 10/25 Monte-Vista-Danville, 11/1 at California-San Ramon, 11/8 at Clayton Valley Charter.

Mt. Diablo (Div. 3) – 8/30 at Deer Valley-Antioch W 42-35, 9/6 at Acalanes L 7-48, 9/13 at Vallejo L 6-7, 9/20 at Alameda W 34-26, 9/27 at Mission-San Francisco W 43-0, 10/4 Castlemont-Oakland (@ Riverview MS) W 55-32, 10/18 @ Concord, 10/25 Berean Christian (@ College Park), 11/1 @ Ygnacio Valley, 11/8 @ Valley opponent TBA.

Northgate (Div. 3) – 8/30 Dougherty Valley-San Ramon W 15-7, 9/6 at Campolindo L 23-31, 9/14 @ Bishop Diego-Santa Barbara L 16-35, 9/20 at Clayton Valley Charter L 22-29, 9/27 Lincoln-San Francisco W 39-12, 10/4 Las Lomas W 35-21, 10/18 Benicia, 10/25 College Park, 11/1 at Alhambra, 11/8 Mountain opponent TBA.

Ygnacio Valley (Div. 5) – 8/30 at Alameda L 0-73, 9/6 Redwood Christian-San Lorenzo W 26-20, 9/13 at Kennedy-Richmond L 16-28, 9/20 Pinole Valley-Pinole W 20-15, 9/27 at Richmond W 44-0, 10/4 San Lorenzo W 42-18, 10/19 at Berean Christian, 10/25 at Concord, 11/1 Mt. Diablo, 11/8 @ Valley opponent TBA.