|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Palo Alto and Gunn were originally scheduled to play this week in a game that would have been of significant interest to the local community, as well as a renewal of the series between the two Palo Alto public high schools.
But following a scrimmage between the two teams last spring, Gunn coach Jason Miller made the decision to pull out of the game.
As a result, Gunn is hosting Sequoia for its home opener and Paly has replaced Gunn on its schedule with Serra, a team that is ranked No. 1 in the Central Coast Section by multiple media outlets.
“The Paly-Gunn game would’ve been great,” Palo Alto coach Nelson Gifford said. “The turnout would’ve been awesome. Maybe next year.”
The last time Paly and Gunn played was in 2012, a 48-0 win for the Vikings. The series was discontinued at that point due to the disparity between the two programs. Palo Alto, coming off a state championship in 2010, was among the top teams in the section while Gunn was going through years of struggles.
The gap between the two programs has narrowed since then. Miller, hired prior to the 2018 season, guided Gunn to an 8-2 record in 2019 and 5-0 last spring, playing in the SCVAL’s lower-tier El Camino Division. Palo Alto, after Earl Hansen’s retirement, went through four losing seasons and two head coaches. Gifford righted the ship with a 10-2 season his first year in 2018, and the team has gone a combined 9-8 since then.
A nonleague game was scheduled for last fall, but that was wiped out by the pandemic. The team’s scrimmage prior to the spring season ended early when Miller pulled his team off the field due to what he considered a chippy, unsafe environment.
Palo Alto coach Nelson Gifford had some hot words in response to Miller’s decision immediately afterwards, calling it cowardly. Miller took offense to Gifford’s comments and made the decision to withdraw from this week’s game. Miller’s decision was supported by the PAUSD.
Also factoring into Miller’s decision was the lack of experience on his team after being hit hard by graduation.
“Monterey overmatched us, that was not a good indication we are ready to move up to the De Anza,” Miller said of a 19-2 loss in his team’s season opener.
Here’s a look at the games that are scheduled for this weekend:
Serra at Palo Alto, Friday, 7 p.m.
Paly is coming off a 28-7 loss to St. Ignatius, and now faces a second WCAL opponent, a Serra team that is loaded with depth, athleticism and talented Division I prospects.
Needless to say, Palo Alto will go into the game as a heavy underdog.
“You’ve got to have that David versus Goliath mentality,” Gifford said. “We’re going to play as hard as we can for 48 minutes.”
This will be Serra’s first game after its season opener with Pittsburg was cancelled due to poor air quality.
Starting running back Josh Butler and tight end Lucas Black did not play for Paly against S.I., due to leg injuries. Gifford hopes they will be available Friday.
“Defensively I thought we played relatively well against SI,” Gifford said. “We gave up one offensive touchdown in the second half. Offensively I have to do a better job of rotating personnel and play calling.”
Sequoia at Gunn, Friday, 7 p.m.
Gunn moved the ball and used up big chunks of the clock in its opener against Monterey, but didn’t get any points out of it
“We have nine out of 11 new starters on offense,” Miller said. “Hopefully we’ll see some improvement in our physicality.”
Menlo School gave Sequoia’s defense fits with its passing game last Saturday in a 63-6 blowout win in a game that had a running clock in operation from the second quarter on. Now, after playing a team that passed on every play, the Ravens go up against a diametric opposite, a Gunn team that will run on virtually every play.
“We’re a little battered after playing a physical team,” Miller said. “I was proud of the performance of our defense. That team had the athletes to blow us out. We made them battle for everything.”
Tualatin (Oregon) at Menlo-Atherton, Friday, 7 p.m.
Tualatin is the preseason No. 4 ranked team in the state of Oregon by MaxPreps. M-A coach Chris Saunders and Tualatin coach Dan Lever were teammates and fellow tight ends at Linfield College.
M-A opened its season with a 56-41 loss to Bellarmine. Tualatin will be playing its first game.
M-A’s defense was exploited by the Bellarmine ground game last Friday. The Bells rushed for 155 of their 385 total rushing yards in a 29-point fourth quarter when they pulled away from the Bears.
“We were out of position most of the time,” Saunders said. “Tip our cap to Bellarmine. We played a team that was sharp and disciplined. They took advantage of our miscues.”
Saunders was asked what kind of style Tualatin will bring to Atherton:
“They’re a public school, but they are WCAL-like,” he said. “They’re somewhere between Bellarmine and S.I. They run a tight ship. They run the spread on offense and bring pressure on defense.”
Menlo School at The King’s Academy, Friday, 7 p.m.
These two teams had radically opposite results last week. Menlo beat Sequoia 63-6 while TKA lost to Mountain View 31-0.
Don’t pay too much attention to comparative scores.
Menlo coach Todd Smith is very familiar with TKA coach Pete Lavorato. He had to devise ways to defend Lavorato’s fly offense during the years Smith was Menlo’s defensive coordinator and Lavorato was the head coach at Sacred Heart Prep.
“He’s a class football coach and a class person,” Smith said of Lavorato. “I know they’ll bounce back and give us their best shot.”
Menlo led Sequoia 49-6 at halftime as Sergio Beltran threw seven first-half touchdown passes.
“We’re really happy with the team effort,” Smith said. “The kids played good in all three phases.”
St. Francis at Oak Grove, Friday, 7 p.m.
This is the first game for both teams after each had games canceled last week due to unhealthy air quality, St. Francis against Central Catholic of Modesto and Oak Grove with Los Gatos.
The series between the two dates back some four decades.
“We’ve played them every year since I was playing in the early 80s,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “We love the rivalry.”
Key players for the Lancers, a team that still utilizes two running backs and a tight end on offense, include RB/ILB Camilo Arquette, a three-year starter, WR Nico Andrighetto, the fourth Andrighetto brother to play at St. Francis, another three-year starter in TE Dillon Golden, OLB and San Diego State commit Clayton Lynam, and OL Denaris DeRosa (6-3, 270), a San Jose State commit.
“They’re very athletic, we’ll need to contain their quarterback,” Calcagno said of Oak Grove. “They’ll put a lot of guys in the box and try to make us throw.”
Rancho San Juan at Woodside, 7 p.m.
The Wildcats are hosting a recently opened school from Salinas playing its inaugural varsity game.
Woodside is coming off a 47-18 loss to Silver Creek.
“The score was uglier than the game actually was,” Woodside coach Justin Andrews said. “We did some good things at the start, but we were down eight starters due to injury and by the end it was just about trying to finish the game.”
Maceo Latimer was a bright spot for Woodside.
“He made plays in all three phases,” Andrews said. “He made a contested TD catch, was all over the field on defense and made some good returns. He’s emerging as a playmaker for us.”
Sacred Heart Prep at St. Ignatius, Saturday, noon
The Gators are fresh off an exhilarating victory against Sacred Heart Cathedral as QB Jack Herrell, making his first varsity start, drove the team the length of the field in the final minutes to pull out a 28-21 victory.
“To come back, down a point, 1:30 to go, second and 20 … that was awesome,” SHP coach Mark Grieb said.
Now the Gators turn their attention to St. Ignatius, another WCAL team they have a history with. In 2018 they beat the wildcats 13-7 in the first round of the CCS playoffs in a hard-fought battle.
“I think they remember, too,” Grieb said with a laugh. “They’re very disciplined with some good athletes. It’s great to get to play a challenging game. I’m excited.”
Mountain View at Mitty, Saturday, 1 p.m.
After the impressive 31-0 win over TKA, the Spartans will be in for a big challenge, taking on a WCAL team.
Mittty, coached by former Palo Alto head coach Danny Sullivan, lost to Palma 47-0 in its season opener.
“That Palma team, watching them, they are powerful, a pretty tough team,” Mountain View coach Shelley Smith said. “Mitty has got some players, great team speed. We have a lot of respect for them.”
Leo Navarro rushed for 221 yards to lead Mountain’s View’s offense against TKA. Linebackers Min Kant and Andre Guimaraes and DE Chris Barmore stood out on a defensive unit that turned in a shutout.
“We know we have to step up our level of play,” Smith said. “Mitty is probably a lot quicker than us. Ball security is going to be big. You certainly can’t make mistakes against a team like that. It’s going to be warm, we’ll need to sustain drives and keep the ball out of their hands.”
