Top matchups
No. 3 Pittsburg (1-1) at Wilcox (1-2), Friday, 7 p.m.: The Pirates have wind at their sails after picking up their first win of the season last week, 42-20, against Valley Christian, a team that beat Wilcox by three scores itself in Week 1. If you’re a believer of the transitive property, that’s a six-touchdown differential. Wilcox, though, is riding the momentum of its own first notch in the win column. Paul Rosa’s Chargers typically employ a run-it-down-your-throat mentality, but it was a breakout game by first-year starting QB Armand Johnson that delivered them their first win of the season last week against Leland. Pittsburg has relied heavily on junior RB Charles Brown Jr. but also flashed its quick-strike potential with QB Jaden Rashada — offered by UCLA this week — and WRs Rashid Williams, Zack Card, Israel Polk and Khai Taylor (who didn’t catch a pass last week but came down with 3 INTs on defense). — Evan Webeck
PREP FOOTBALL WEEK 4 COVERAGE
- Why loss to St. Francis might not be DLS’s only regular-season defeat this fall
- Predictions: Darren Sabedra, Evan Webeck, Mike Lefkow pick Week 4’s top games
- Rankings: De La Salle is no longer No. 1 in our BANG poll
- Monday Morning Lights: What impact will DLS’s loss to St. Francis have?
- Where to find our Week 3 content
Cathedral Catholic-San Diego (3-1) at No. 4 De La Salle (2-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m.: All eyes Friday night will be on De La Salle: Can the Spartans bounce back from a historic loss? It won’t be easy. On paper, Cathedral Catholic presents a tougher test than St. Francis, but the Dons will be traveling some 500 miles to face a De La Salle team set on avenging its first defeat to a regional opponent in 30 years. The Dons will challenge the Spartans in many of the same places as St. Francis: they have size and experience in the trenches and athleticism outside (RB Lucky Sutton, WR Rex Haynes). The offense runs through 6-foot-6 QB Charlie Mirer, the son of former NFL and Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer. De La Salle had outscored its opponents 103-6 in the six quarters prior to its loss last week. According to CalPreps, the Spartans would be 8-point underdogs on a neutral field this week. — Evan Webeck
Marin Catholic (3-0) at No. 7 McClymonds (2-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: McClymonds continues a brutal four-week stretch in which it plays De Anza, Marin Catholic, Menlo-Atherton and Pittsburg on successive Friday nights. Fortunately for the Warriors, only Menlo-Atherton is on the road. Mack beat De Anza 22-8 last week, and Marin Catholic won’t be any easier. The Wildcats are 3-0 and have allowed only seven points thus far, Their most impressive win was 6-0 over El Cerrito in their opener. McClymonds won the previous two meetings between the schools, played in 2018 and 2019, by a combined score of 45-7. Both teams have solid senior quarterbacks in Dreyan Paul from McClymonds and Michael Ingrassia from Marin Catholic. This is the last of four straight road games to open the season for the visitors. Should the Wildcats win, there appears to be little standing in the way of an undefeated season. — Mike Lefkow
Central Catholic-Modesto (3-0) vs. No. 9 Bellarmine (2-0) at San Jose City College, Friday, 7 p.m.: Bellarmine has been the Bay Area’s break-out team thus far, upsetting then-No. 5 Menlo-Atherton 56-41 in the opener and then heating up in the second half to wallop then-No. 14 San Leandro 41-6 last week. Ben Pfaff, a junior running back, has provided tough yards and big plays on the ground for the Bells, showing through two weeks that he has a nose for the goal line. QB Wade Smith can do damage with his arm and his feet. These teams no doubt remember the season opener they played in Modesto last spring. In Jalal Beauchman’s first game as Bellarmine’s coach, the Bells built a 21-0 lead. But Central Catholic charged back to win 28-21. The Raiders are 3-0 this season, including wins over St. Mary’s-Stockton and San Ramon Valley. This will be Bellarmine’s final test before it opens West Catholic Athletic League play next Friday against Archbishop Riordan. — Darren Sabedra
No. 16 Liberty (1-1) at No. 15 Monte Vista (2-0), 7 p.m.: Very attractive and intriguing matchup between two of the better teams in the Bay Area. Liberty took it on the chin in its opener, being outscored 24-0 in the second half of its opener against Los Gatos. But the Lions rallied last week and beat Campolindo 13-7 at the Honor Bowl. Monte Vista won its first two under new coach C.J. Anderson, but now the schedule gets much tougher, starting with Liberty on Friday, followed by El Cerrito. Liberty and Monte Vista are very different on offense. Liberty junior Nate Bell is a dual-purpose quarterback who has accounted for 526 of the Lions’ 683 total yards thus far. That includes 203 yards rushing. The Lions are a young team. Leading receiver Ryan McKendry (6-2, 169) is a sophomore and linebacker Ty Ternes, the team’s co-leader in tackles with 14, is a junior. Monte Vista senior Dyllan Devitt is a pro-style quarterback who has passed for 531 yards and eight touchdowns by completing 25 of 39 passes. He goes 6-2, 180, and has four pass-catchers in Chris White, Cole Boscia, running back Adam Wright and tight end Jack Endries who stand at least six feet. Boscia is 6-3 and Endries is 6-4 with a three-star rating from 247sports and 15 offers including San Jose State, Air Force, Army, Fresno State and a host of Ivy League schools. Endries also plays defensive end linebacker, but the recruiting services and his Twitter account list him first as a tight end. — Mike Lefkow
Terra Nova (3-0) at No. 17 Menlo School (3-0), Saturday, 2 p.m.: No player in the Bay Area is off to a hotter start to the season than Menlo QB Sergio Beltran. He’s thrown for 17 touchdowns, while the Knights are averaging 56 points per game and off to a 3-0 start. In a preseason survey, other league coaches believed Beltran and the Knights could compete in the Bay Division of the PAL, despite being members of the lower Ocean Division. They’ve already made out with an easy win over The King’s Academy but will get another test this week against Terra Nova, which is also off to an undefeated start with a trio of wins against Ocean Division foes. The Tigers defense hasn’t surrendered more than three touchdowns in a game this season. — Evan Webeck
No. 20 San Leandro (2-1) at Campolindo (1-2), 7 p.m.: Campolindo brings a rare two-game losing streak into this matchup on its home field in Moraga. The Cougars lost at Liberty 13-7 in the Honor Bowl last week, a sizeable improvement from the team’s 49-0 defeat at home to Aptos two weeks ago. Campo opened the season with a 56-21 victory over Moreau Catholic. Dashiell Weaver’s short pass to Robbie Mascheroni last week accounted for the Cougars’ only points since the Moreau game. Before its 41-6 loss to Bellarmine, San Leandro notched two impressive road victories, 20-17 over Cardinal Newman and 55-44 over Freedom. Ferrari Miller Jr. scored San Leandro’s only TD last week, on a 14-yard run in the third quarter. Devan Daniels ran for 111 yards against Freedom. — Darren Sabedra
Leland (1-1) at Pioneer (1-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: Almaden Valley bragging rights will be on the line when these San Jose teams renew their rivalry. Pioneer is 8-7 against Leland since 2004, but Leland has won three in a row in the matchup, 21-7, 40-20, and 28-7. Both teams are coming off road losses to SCVAL De Anza Division foes, with Pioneer falling to Palo Alto 27-10 and Leland losing to Wilcox 35-17. Leland has scored four TDs passing — all thrown by Nathan Wright — and four rushing through two games. Mark Eby has 125 yards and two TDs in 23 carries. — Darren Sabedra
Tennyson (2-0) at Hayward (0-2), 7 p.m.: In this set-up that merged the Mission Valley Athletic League and West Alameda County Conference into one 19-team circuit with three divisions, Hayward and Tennyson appear out of place, even if they are neighborhood rivals. Tennyson, which plays in the Shoreline Division, the lowest of the three, should at least be in the Mission, where the Lancers can mix it up with Encinal. Tennyson has already beaten Mission foe Mt. Eden, and if it improves to 3-0 by beating Hayward, it will be 2-0 against the top-rated Foothill Division. Hayward upgraded its schedule this season. The Farmers have already lost to Freedom and Monte Vista. They visit Campolindo on Sept. 24. From the merged MVAL/WACC they play Tennyson, Mt. Eden and Encinal, all much improved. That’s in addition to divisional opponents San Leandro and Bishop O’Dowd. Tennyson, under new coach John Pangelina, is a candidate to go undefeated if it beats Hayward on Friday. Tennyson has a complete player in linebacker/running back Salesi Moala. He’s a three-star recruit (247sports) with an offer from Oregon State. Quarterback James Mozon III is another key player for the Lancers. — Mike Lefkow
Schedule
Friday, Sept. 17
East Bay
MVAL/WACC Mission
Castro Valley at Piedmont, 7 p.m.
Non-league
Albany at San Rafael, 7 p.m.
Amador Valley at Granada, 7 p.m.
Berkeley at Miramonte, 7 p.m.
Bethel at Northgate, 7 p.m.
College Park at Hercules, 7 p.m.
Concord at Deer Valley, 7 p.m.
De Anza at Cardinal Newman, 7 p.m.
Dublin vs. Irvington at Washington-Fremont, 7 p.m.
El Cerrito at Ygnacio Valley, 7 p.m.
Freedom at Foothill, 7 p.m.
Liberty at Monte Vista, 7 p.m.
Livermore at American Canyon, 7 p.m.
James Logan at Heritage, 7 p.m.
Moreau Catholic at Benicia, 7:30 p.m.
Mt. Diablo at Dougherty Valley, 7 p.m.
Novato at Las Lomas, 7 p.m.
San Leandro at Campolindo, 7 p.m.
San Ramon Valley at Antioch, 7 p.m.
St. Patrick-St. Vincent at Middletown, 7 p.m.
Stellar Prep at Clayton Valley, 7 p.m.
Tennyson at Hayward, 7 p.m.
Vallejo at Pinole Valley, 7 p.m.
Washington-Fremont at San Lorenzo, 4 p.m.
South Bay/Peninsula
Non-league
Fremont-Sunnyvale at San Mateo, 7 p.m.
Gunn at Yerba Buena, 7 p.m.
Half Moon Bay at Los Gatos, 7 p.m.
Hill at Oak Grove, 7 p.m.
Hillsdale at Sequoia, 7 p.m.
Homestead at Burlingame, 7 p.m.
Leland at Pioneer, 7 p.m.
Lick at Lynbrook, 7 p.m.
Los Altos at Santa Clara, 7 p.m.
Sacred Heart Prep at Mountain View, 7 p.m.
Saratoga at Aragon, 7 p.m.
Woodside at Cupertino, 7 p.m.
Intersectional
Non-league
Alhambra at Fairfield, 7:30 p.m.
Cathedral-San Diego at De La Salle, 7:30 p.m.
Central Catholic-Modesto vs. Bellarmine at San Jose City College, 7 p.m.
Damonte Ranch-Reno at Acalanes, 7 p.m.
Jefferson at Castlemont, 7 p.m.
Lincoln-San Francisco at El Camino, 7 p.m.
Lowell at Monta Vista, 6 p.m.
Marin Catholic at McClymonds, 7 p.m.
Milpitas at California, 7 p.m.
Oakland vs. Vintage at Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m.
Pittsburg at Wilcox, 7 p.m.
St. Mary’s-Stockton at Bishop O’Dowd, 7 p.m.
Santa Teresa at St. Joseph-Santa Maria, 7 p.m.
Washington-San Francisco at Capuchino, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 18
East Bay
Non-league
Kennedy-Fremont vs. Newark Memorial at Washington-Fremont, 7 p.m.
Richmond at Berean Christian, 1:30 p.m.
American at Williams, 1 p.m.
South Bay/Peninsula
Non-league
Palo Alto at Carlmont, 2 p.m.
Terra Nova at Menlo, 2 p.m.
Intersectional
Non-league
Arroyo at San Lorenzo Valley, 2 p.m.
Schedule changes
For schedule updates, please let us know at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.
How to report results/game details
We encourage Bay Area coaches or team statisticians to email the final score and key scoring plays (a few stats, if you have them) to highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com right after each game. Please include the school names in the subject line.
Predictions
Look here as the Bay Area News Group’s Darren Sabedra and Evan Webeck and correspondent Mike Lefkow make their Week 4 predictions.
