Monday Morning Lights: Early look at NCS, CCS Open Division championship games
Can San Ramon Valley clear De La Salle hurdle? How will Wilcox approach Serra matchup? Plus, the cool story behind Los Gatos RB Boxer Kopcsak-Yeung’s name and more.
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SRV VS. DLS: TEAMS MEET FOR NCS OPEN TITLE
When that game ended in overtime with a walk-off touchdown run by De La Salle’s Derrick Blanche, San Ramon Valley hoped for another chance to become the first North Coast Section team in 32 years to defeat De La Salle.
SRV will get a second chance Friday night at Dublin High as East Bay Athletic League teams compete for the NCS Open Division championship.
The winner will go on to compete in a NorCal regional. In the section’s Division I championship game, the runner-up will face either Pittsburg or California.
2 weeks.
Will SRV’s luck change this time?
Can this game match or even come close to last month’s all-time classic?
De La Salle has won nine straight games after losing to Orange Lutheran and Serra to start the season. The Spartans have scored 48 points in each of their last two games after not scoring more than 35 in any previous game. this year.
Since the DLS game, SRV has won four straight games, the most recent being a 38-31 overtime victory over Campolindo in the first round of the playoffs on Friday.
Calpreps.com‘s computer predicted SRV to win 28-21 over DLS last month. This time, DLS is expected to win 27-21.
“We just have to be disciplined,” said SRV linebacker Marco Jones. “We had a lot of penalties last game, and I think it took us out of the game.” I believe that if we correct our mental errors, we will most likely win the game.
“Everyone is excited, and it’s an NCS championship.” We’re overjoyed. We have to work hard in practice all week.”
– Darren Sabedra
SURPRISE TITLE GAME MATCHUP (AGAIN) FOR SERRA
For the second year in a row, Serra’s opponent in a Central Coast Section championship game was not expected.
The San Mateo juggernaut will face seventh-seeded Wilcox for the section’s Open Division title on Friday night at San Jose City College. Last season, the Padres defeated Archbishop Mitty in the CCS championship game.
Wilcox, like Mitty, reached the final after an upset victory on the road over second-seeded St. Francis. Wilcox, on the other hand, is not Mitty.
will play at least one more game regardless of the outcome of the game against Serra.
The section’s new format, which was adopted from the neighboring NCS in 2021, has put Wilcox coach Paul Rosa in an awkward position as he prepares his team for top-seeded Serra.
Yes, Rosa stated that his Chargers intend to win.
But he also wants his team to be fully prepared for a possible, if not probable, CCS game against Los Gatos or St. Ignatius.
Division I championship and a trip to a NorCal regional the following week.
The Open runner-up will now compete in the Division I final of the section.
Rosa intended to meet with his coaches this weekend to devise a strategy.
“First time it’s ever happened in our section,” Rosa said on Saturday. “I hadn’t given it much thought until now. Clearly, you’ve
I’ve got to try to win this game. But all you can do is hope to stay healthy. It’s just a strange situation because of how talented Serra is. They have a lot of men. However, it is preferable to not playing.”
Wilcox is the first team to defeat one of the top two seeds in the four opening-round playoff weekends under this format — NCS in 2021, 2022, 2023, and CCS in 2023.
– Darren Sabedra
CAMPOLINDO: COACH DOESN’T CHANGE HIS TUNE
Campolindo coach Kevin Macy insisted that his team didn’t belong in the NCS’s top playoff division, despite knowing that it was the price for years of success at lower levels.
“I think we’ll just go to show North Coast that they’ve got to scrap the competitive equity format,” Macy said a few weeks ago.
As usual, Campo did nothing to demonstrate that it did not belong among the big boys.
It gave one of San Ramon Valley’s great teams everything they could handle on Friday night, rallying from a 21-point first-quarter deficit to take a fourth-quarter lead before falling in overtime 38-31.
“It’s too bad,” Macy said following the defeat. “This team should be in a position to do more. But I’m proud of what they accomplished. Being promoted to D-I. With the way things were going, it appeared that we were going to be embarrassed right away.
“It came down to a few spots. Their quarterback made some fantastic impromptu plays. The problem is that we simply do not have the space. We couldn’t put any sort of pressure on him. We fought all the way down the field. But we only recently
I couldn’t apply any pressure to him.”
When asked again if the NCS’s competitive-equity system needed to be changed, Macy replied, “Oh, God. They have no choice. I have stronger words, but I’ll hold them. For several years, our children have been punished. It’s about time someone else was punished.”
– Darren Sabedra
SRV: NOT SURPRISED CAMPO PLAYED WELL
San Ramon Valley did not purchase what Macy had to offer. The Wolves knew that the visitors from Moraga would not be taken lightly, having played tight games against Campo in the previous two NCS Division II playoffs.
“That’s just a coach trying to play mind games,” SRV quarterback Luke Baker said after the win. “They’re a fantastic team.” They arrived prepared to play.”
These two teams have completed a trilogy.
Two seasons ago, Campo defeated SRV 17-14 in a Division II semifinal. Last season, SRV won the rematch, defeating undefeated Campo 35-21 in the Division II title game, and then won the rubber match.
“They’re well-coached and do a good job,” said SRV head coach Aaron Becker.
– Darren Sabedra
LOS GATOS: BOXER ALWAYS PACKED A PUNCH
After covering Los Gatos’ 28-14 win over Archbishop Riordan in the CCS Open/Division I playoffs on Friday night, I spoke with one of the winning team’s standouts, Boxer Kopcsak-Yeung.
After discussing his game performance, I inquired, “Where does the name Boxer come from?”
“It’s a pretty interesting story,” he told me. “When I was a baby (before I was born), every time my mother had an ultrasound to look at me, I was punching the inside of her belly. Then they were debating, like, ‘Can we really name him Boxer?’ I went pow, pow right then and there. So they claimed they had no choice.”
Given the way he fights for yards as a running back, it turned out to be descriptive.
“That’s beautiful,” I exclaimed. “A fantastic name. Your surname is also lovely, being half Slavic and half Chinese. That is very Silicon Valley.”
“Yeah,” he said, smiling and laughing. “It is definitely Silicon Valley.”
– Glenn Reeves
CHRISTOPHER: DRAMATIC RIDE TO CCS D-II SEMIS
This month has been a roller coaster of emotions for the Christopher football team, which went undefeated into its league championship game against Live Oak at home two Fridays ago and then built a 21-0 lead.
Live Oak rallied to win 28-24, dropping Christopher to the eighth seed in the CCS Division II bracket, which meant a first-round game against top-seeded Archbishop Mitty at Foothill College this past Friday.
After the Live Oak loss, coach Darren Yafai informed his players that he intends to retire at the end of the season, something he had previously informed his staff.
Yafai has been a football coach for over three decades, the last three as head coach at Christopher.
With about five minutes remaining in Friday’s game against Mitty, it appeared that Yafai would not be coaching any more games. Mitty recently scored a touchdown. Christopher, who had never before
in its 14 years of varsity football, had never beaten a West Catholic Athletic League school, trailed by nine points.
However, Amari Bluford injected energy.
into a deflated sideline, then returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. With 42 seconds remaining, William Rizqallah scored on a 7-yard run.
When the defense intercepted a pass
Christopher won 32-28 on the final play, giving its coach at least one more game.
“I’ve done it all since I was a freshman.”
“I’ve been a JV assistant to a head varsity coach a couple of times,” said Yafai, 55. “However, after 33 years, I’m ready for a break.” For
It feels pretty good for us to be in this situation, especially since this is my final season as a head varsity coach. We’re 10-1. We just destroyed a West Catholic school.”
On Saturday, Christopher will face fifth-seeded Menlo School in a semifinal. On Friday, Menlo defeated fourth-seeded Live Oak 30-28.
“Menlo’s a really, really good team,” said Yafai. “I believe it will be an evenly matched game because we and Live Oak were evenly matched.” Every season, it all comes down to the final play against Live Oak. Last week, we lost at the end of the game. This week, Menlo takes it at the end of the game. It should be an exciting battle.”
– Darren Sabedra
MT. DIABLO: TURNER SURPASSES 3,000 YARDS
Herschel Turner saw his season end in the first round of the NCS Division IV playoffs, but the section’s all-time leading regular-season rusher surpassed another milestone in the 56-14 loss to Acalanes.
Turner rushed for 70 yards on 16 carries, bringing his season total to 3,027 yards and 42 rushing touchdowns. Turner also passed for a 45-yard touchdown late in the game. The three-star running back has offers scholarship offers from Utah, Yale and Air Force, among others.
According to statistics inputted into MaxPreps, he finished the regular season leading the country in rushing yards.
– Joseph Dycus
ODDS AND ENDS
