Bay Area high school football 2023: CCS championship weekend preview

Central Coast Section football finals: Los Gatos-Wilcox, Christopher-Soquel, Palo Alto-Mountain View among the matchups

For the first time since 2010, only one West Catholic Athletic League team advanced to a Central Coast Section final — and that team will not play this weekend.

Serra won the Open Division championship last week, defeating Wilcox.

Wilcox advanced to the CCS Division I final on Friday night against league rival Los Gatos at San Jose City College, thanks to the section’s new format.

This weekend in the CCS, five championships will be decided, four of which will involve teams from the Bay Area News Group’s coverage area.

Here is a preview of those games:

CCS Division I: No. 4 Los Gatos vs. No. 7 Wilcox

Los Gatos is 10-2, while Wilcox is 8-4.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Friday at San Jose City College.

The teams have met 22 times in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present), with Los Gatos leading the series 16-5-1. The last four meetings have been won by Los Gatos.

Storylines: Los Gatos won the regular season meeting between the teams 24-21 on a last-second touchdown run by senior running back Boxer Kopcsak-Yeung to clinch the PAL Bay Division victory. Los Gatos defeated Archbishop Riordan 28-14 in the first round of the playoffs and held on for a 21-17 victory at St. Ignatius to advance to the program’s first section championship game since 2019… Los Gatos has won 15 section championships. … Wilcox defeated St. Francis 52-28 in the first round before falling to top-seeded Serra 63-27 in the Open Division championship game last week. … Wilcox advanced to the Division I championship game as the Open runner-up. … In 2021, the Chargers defeated Menlo School 54-20 to win the CCS Division II championship. … Wilcox quarterback Tyson Bonilla rushed for 1,359 yards and 14 touchdowns, but he can also beat defenses through the air. He’s thrown for 801 yards and six touchdowns. Elijah Walker of Wilcox ran for 928 yards and 12 touchdowns in nine games, including five in the win over St. Francis… Linebacker Jeramiah Lewis has 107 tackles to lead the Wilcox defense. Los Gatos coach Mark Krail, a creative playcaller, had his team go for it on fourth down twice in the second half last week against St. Ignatius. Wilcox averages over 300 yards rushing per game. This season, Los Gatos has rushed for 1,876 yards and passed for 2,030. … Senior A.J Minyard has thrown for 16 touchdowns for Los Gatos after waiting three years to start, with his favorite target Jaylen Thomas catching 10 of them. … Kopcsak-Yeung has carried a heavy load for Los Gatos this season, rushing for 1,391 yards and 21 touchdowns.

According to computer projections, Los Gatos will win 28-20.

CCS Division II: No. 8 Christopher vs. No. 2 Soquel

Christopher is 11-1, and Soquel is 10-2.

Saturday, 7 p.m., at San Jose City College.

History of the series: The first meeting between the schools.

Storylines: Christopher has had a wild three weeks, beginning with the Cougars blowing a 21-0 lead at home and losing to Live Oak 28-24 in a game that decided the BVAL Mt. Hamilton championship. Since then, the Cougars have been on the winning side of comebacks, rallying from nine points down in the final half of the fourth quarter to defeat top-seeded Archbishop Mitty 33-28 and from 17 down in the second half to defeat fifth-seeded Menlo School 21-17 on Saturday. QB Jaxen Robinson, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound junior, led the comeback against Menlo, throwing a 79-yard touchdown pass to Amari Bluford and a 24-yard TD pass to Evan Vernon before scoring on a 35-yard run with 4:52 remaining. Christopher coach Darren Yafai is retiring at the end of the season. He has been the varsity team’s coach for three years. Christopher is making his second appearance in a CCS title game under Yafai. In the 2021 Division III final, the Cougars were defeated by Sacred Heart Cathedral, 27-3. In 2017, Christopher won the CCS Division IV championship, defeating Leland 24-7 in the final… Soquel is making its third CCS final appearance, and its first since 1987. In those games, the program is 0-2… Under former San Jose State and NFL defensive back Dwight Lowery, the Knights have steadily risen, posting back-to-back 10-win seasons. … They finished second in the PCL’s Gabilan Division to Salinas, and in the first two playoff rounds, they defeated Carmel 34-14 and Monterey 22-0. Sophomore quarterback Sam Whelan is completing more than 65% of his passes, and Soquel’s rushing attack is led by Cruz Ferris.

Computer projection: Calpreps.com says Soquel, 21-12

CCS Division IV: No. 1 Palo Alto vs. No. 2 Mountain View

Palo Alto is 7-5, while Mountain View is 6-6.

Saturday, 1 p.m., at San Jose City College.

Palo Alto has won 15 of the 16 meetings in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present), with Mountain View winning only once, 38-21 in the spring of 2021.

Palo Alto is back in a CCS championship game after winning Division V last season… Mountain View is playing in its first title game since 1995… Palo Alto has scored at least 30 points in each of its last four games, all of which have ended in victories, snapping a three-game losing streak… Palo Alto advanced to the championship game by defeating Seaside 55-21 and Leigh 45-14. Declan Packer, the quarterback for Paly, has thrown 21 touchdowns and only two interceptions. … Mountain View’s top priority will be to stop Palo Alto receiver Jason Auzenne, who averages 19.8 yards per reception and has 12 touchdowns. This season, Mountain View has played in memory of Lucinda Daniels, a team mom who died shortly after the season began. Mountain View went winless in the PAL Bay Division before gaining momentum in the Division IV playoffs. The Spartans advanced to the championship game by defeating Burlingame 49-21 and Branham 38-34… The offensive attack of Mountain View is led by senior running back Arturo Hernandez, who rushed for 271 yards and four touchdowns against Branham. Spartans quarterback Kevin Conway has three touchdown passes to Lex Silver in the playoffs.

According to computer projections, Palo Alto will win 31-28.

CCS Division V:  No. 4 Santa Teresa vs. No. 3 South San Francisco

Santa Teresa is 6-6, while South San Francisco is 11-1.

Saturday, 7 p.m., at MacDonald High School in San Jose.

The first meeting between these teams in the MaxPreps era, which began in 2004.

Storylines: South San Francisco is the last “C” league team standing, having won the PAL Lake with a 7-0 record and going 9-1 overall. The Warriors defeated Silver Creek and Leland, both “B” and “A” league teams, in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Santa Teresa, another “A” league team, is vying for its second consecutive CCS title. Last year, the Saints defeated Branham to win the D-IV championship. Santa Teresa defeated Los Altos and No. 1 seed Woodside to advance to Saturday’s championship match. SSF has a strong defense that has allowed only 73 points this season. The Warriors have pitched shutouts in four of their last six victories, not including a 2-0 forfeit win over Saratoga. Junior Elijah Fields leads the Warriors’ running attack. He was named first-team all-league last year and has 21 touchdowns this season… SSF junior WR/DB Darren Miller, who was all-league on offense and defense last season, is another standout. MLB Darius “Ryder” DeGuzman-DeAsis, who averages about nine tackles per game, also plays a significant role on defense. Joseph Tapia may be the most important Saint. He alternates between quarterback, safety, and wide receiver. He set up the winning touchdown with a 65-yard run in Santa Teresa’s semifinal win over Woodside, caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from QB Brent Gaches, and had a pick-6. “He’s our everything,” Saints coach Steve Papin told Glenn Reeves of the Bay Area News Group after the win. South San Francisco will be vying for its third CCS championship and first since 1989, when it defeated Carlmont for the D-II North title. That season, the Warriors went 11-0. They also won the Continental Division in 1980, defeating North Monterey County 17-7. Both teams were coached by Mike Tenerowicz. … Santa Teresa won its first football championship last year. The Saints did make the DI-4A finals in 1987, but were defeated by Live Oak 38-15.

Computer projection: Calpreps.com is picking Santa Teresa 17-14.