Week 4 NorCal Football Preview
The Week 4 NorCal Football Preview is headlined by Pittsburg traveling to Riordan, but Vanden-Campolindo also meet in a matchup of undefeated teams and St. Mary’s facing Oak Ridge in a Top 10 showdown.
Friday
Vanden (3-0) at Campolindo (2-0) 7:00 PM
Vanden running back Josiah Chavez has rushed for 151 yards and four touchdowns and wide receiver Caleb Jones in dominating the passing attack with 21 of the 56 receptions. Defensively, the Vikings are giving up 10 points per game. Campolindo has started the year with road wins against Granada and Northgate. The Cougars are averaging more than 200 rushing yards per game led by Micah Parker (243 yards, three touchdowns).
St. Mary’s-Stockton (3-0) at Oak Ridge (2-1) 7:00 PM
The Rams have looked good in wins over Bishop Manogue, Central Catholic and Marin Catholic. Diego Hernandez has five rushing touchdowns and Kenneth Moore III has four touchdown catches. Luke Lucatello has a team high 5.5 sacks. Oak Ridge is coming off a bye week following trips to Frontier-Bakersfield and Mission Hills. The Trojans have leaned on the run with Tyler Andujar rushing the ball 38 times for 144 yards.
San Ramon Valley (1-1) at Clayton Valley Charter (1-1) 7:00 PM
Now at Clayton Valley Charter, Jhadis Luckey is still putting up big numbers with 455 rushing yards and six touchdowns. They lost the opener to Spanish Springs, but came back to beat College Park. San Ramon Valley has played a pair of one possession games in beating El Cerrito, but losing to Soquel last week. It is new faces for the Wolves, but a similar passing game with junior quarterback Cole Dawes and wide receivers Xavier O’Guinn and Colton Fitzgibbon.
Sonora (3-0) at Turlock (1-2) 7:00 PM
This is a fun game of top programs from the southern half of the SJS and varied school sizes. Turlock has a three point win over Tracy sandwiched by losses to Rocklin and Central East. Sonora comes in averaging more than 300 yards per game on the ground. Eli Ingalls, Cash Byington and Tommy Sutton each have three touchdowns. Sonora owns a road win against Oakdale.
Menlo (2-0) at Branham (2-0) 7:15 PM
Menlo is averaging more than 50 points per game behind quarterback Jack Freehill, who has thrown for 290 yards and six touchdowns on just 19 attempts. He is also the Knights’ leading rusher. Branham has outscored Hollister and Willow Glen 40-14 in the fourth quarters. Quarterback Andrew Ho has thrown for nearly 500 yards in the first two games and is also involved in the running game.
California (2-0) at Monterey Trail (2-0) 7:15 PM
Monterey Trail is in the NCP Top 20 after starting the year with wins over Inderkum and Amador Valley. However, the Mustangs are dealing with player suspensions and the fallout this week due to hazing allegations, according to the Sacramento Bee. California has played a pair of low scoring games in beating Patterson (14-11) and Logan (17-7). Jordan Lee has rushed for 183 yards and a touchdown.
Roseville (3-0) at Woodcreek (2-0) 7:15 PM
Coming off a bye, Woodcreek has been one of the more impressive teams from the Sacramento area thus far with wins over Jesuit and Whitney. They have averaged 37.5 points in the wins. Roseville senior running back Cole Takahashi has 328 yards and four touchdowns and the Tigers are coming off a double overtime win over West Park. In a game titled “The Junction Bowl,” Roseville won the 2024 matchup 31-6.
Los Gatos (1-1) at Clovis (2-1) 7:30 PM
Los Gatos will travel to Clovis two weeks after Salinas made the same trip in losing 49-14. Los Gatos wide receivers Beau Musser and Max Thonas have combined for 271 yards and five touchdowns over the first two games. Clovis quarterback Deagan Rose has thrown for 755 yards and nine touchdowns over three games with five players catching at least one score.
Aptos (1-1) at Monterey (2-0) 7:30 PM
Monterey got the season started in exciting fashion as they overcame a 14 point deficit to beat Christopher 22-21. The Dores have a good skill group with quarterback Bronson Gulley, running back Ethan Bonilla and wide receiver Kai Vaughn. Aptos bounced back from an opening 35-0 loss to King’s Academy with a 35-28 win against Watsonville. Last year, Aptos went 7-6 in reaching the CCS Division III finals.
Saturday
Pittsburg (2-0) at Riordan (2-0) 1:30 PM
The top game of the weekend features a pair of Top 5 teams with athletes on both sides of the ball and talented passing attacks. Carlos Torres has passed for 591 yards and seven touchdowns with sophomore Kenneth Ward snagging four of them. Riordan’s Michael Mitchell Jr. has 528 passing yards and 10 touchdowns with Judge Nash and Cynai Thomas getting eight of the scores. Both teams also have good running backs with Jari Alexander (Pittsburg) and Adonyae Brown (Riordan).