Serra quarterback Maealiuaki Smith (7) passes against Mitty in the second quarter at Serra High School on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in San Mateo, Calif. (Photo by Jim Gensheimer)
The final week of the regular season is here.
The sectional playoff brackets will be released Sunday and the postseason starts next week.
Among the big games to close out the regular season will be De La Salle at Clayton Valley, Antioch playing host to Pittsburg in the Big Little Game and Serra going for its first 10-0 regular season when it plays at home against Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Our preview includes storylines for those games and others.
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Here is the Week 11 preview and schedule:
Top matchups
Thursday
Pioneer (8-1, 4-0) at Branham (8-1, 4-0), 7 p.m.: The stakes here are simple: the winner takes the BVAL Santa Teresa-Foothill crown and higher seeding in the Central Coast Section playoffs. Pioneer has won four straight in league play since losing a non-league game against Leland, 20-14, and beat Branham 31-14 last year. When Pioneer QB Gage Houser looks downfield for a target Thursday, he will probably throw to senior Anthony Stoopenkoff, who has eight touchdown receptions. Sophomore receiver Brady Montgomery averages almost 20 yards per catch and could test Branham deep. On the other side, Branham’s William Augenstein has thrown for 15 touchdowns while also running for 16 TDs and 1,190 yards. Running back Elias Antillion averages 90 yards per game on the ground. Eli Derazizyan has 3.5 sacks. The usually-solid Branham defense will need to play better against Pioneer than it did in last week’s 36-33 thriller against a 2-7 Piedmont Hills team. Pioneer made the playoffs in 2021 as 7-0 league champions, and this year both Pioneer and Branham are guaranteed to make the playoffs as automatic qualifiers from the league. — Joseph Dycus
Friday
No. 2 Pittsburg (8-1, 4-0) at No. 25 Antioch (4-5, 3-1), 7 p.m.: Antioch will try to defy recent trends in the 104th edition of the Big Little Game. Pittsburg has won 17 of the last 19 matchups between the rivals. A victory Friday would give the Pirates the outright Bay Valley Athletic League title and add to the team’s case for the No. 1 seed in the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoffs. Antioch will need to win to bolster its case for a playoff berth. Charles Brown Jr., who transferred to Antioch from Pittsburg in the off-season, has run for 1,726 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. Aside from Brown, the Panthers will need defenders such as Richard Turley and Josh Pese to play well to slow down Pittsburg’s offense. The Pirates have outscored their past three league opponents 156-7 behind standouts such as QB Jaden Rashada and receivers Rashid Williams and Keynan Higgins. Antioch last beat Pittsburg in 2015, when Najee Harris ran for 268 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-42 win. Harris now plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Big Little Game has been played continuously since 1924, the only exception being a break from 1938 to 1943. Antioch won 11 in a row in the series from 1969-79. Pittsburg’s current win streak is six games. — Joseph Dycus
No. 3 De La Salle (6-3) at No. 9 Clayton Valley Charter (6-3), 7 p.m.: Since a 1-3 start, Clayton Valley has been one of the Bay Area’s most impressive teams, winning five consecutive games by no fewer than two touchdowns. The passing offense installed in the off-season is clicking under QB Christian Aguilar and receivers Daven Amos and Hank Phifer. The Ugly Eagles have scored at least 42 points in each of their past four games. In a 55-6 rout of Monte Vista last week, Aguilar completed 15 of 17 passes for 277 yards and four touchdowns. The Uglies also ran for 256 yards in that game, with Micah Avery’s 96 yards and a touchdown leading the way. De La Salle has had an inconsistent season by its standards as injuries and inexperience have kept the Spartans from peaking down the stretch as they normally do. Last week, they trailed Amador Valley 7-0 after one quarter and were tied 7-7 at halftime before winning 27-7. Dominic Kelley, wearing No. 94 because his No. 82 jersey was stolen, ran for 204 yards and three touchdowns in nine carries last week while filling in for injured Charles Greer. De La Salle has not lost to a North Coast Section opponent in 31 years. The Spartans are 261-0-1 within their own section during that span, with the tie coming against Clayton Valley in 2004. In the past five games against Clayton Valley, De La Salle has won by an average of 28.6 points. — Darren Sabedra
No. 13 St. Francis (6-3, 5-1) vs. No. 14 Archbishop Mitty (7-2, 4-2) at Foothill College, 7 p.m.: This will be Senior Night for Archbishop Mitty as the Monarchs pay tribute to a class that coach Danny Sullivan calls special. As sophomores, the class went winless in the pandemic-shortened spring 2021 season. As juniors, they won one game. This season, they will finish tied for second with St. Francis and possibly Sacred Heart Cathedral in the West Catholic Athletic League if they win Friday. St. Francis will clinch second to itself with a win while keeping its league title hopes alive for one more day. Serra wins the championship outright with a victory Saturday over Sacred Heart Cathedral. St. Francis has won eight of its past nine against Mitty, the loss coming in 2019 (32-21). Since a 1-3 start this season that included losses by double digits to Monterey Trail-Elk Grove, De La Salle and Serra, St. Francis has reeled off five consecutive victories, including a 31-10 win last week over Bellarmine when sophomore QB Aaron Knapp played well while subbing for injured Matt Dougherty. The Lancers are hopeful that Dougherty will be back this week. Mitty scored two third-quarter touchdowns last week to beat Valley Christian 35-21. Wills Towers, in his return from injury, threw for 203 yards and three TDs and ran for 48 yards and a TD in the victory. — Darren Sabedra
No. 23 Christopher (8-1) at No. 18 Live Oak (8-1), 7 p.m.: With both teams assured of a berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs, one question is how all-out will they go in this regular-season finale. Based on a text from Christopher coach Darren Yafai, neither team will be holding back. “Gonna be a great game!” Yafai wrote. Christopher and Live Oak are rivals. Also, if Live Oak wins, it will be the outright champions of the BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division at 5-0. If Christopher wins, there could be a three-way tie with Lincoln-San Jose as the third team, all at 4-1. The Acorns walloped Lincoln 42-14 two weeks ago while Christopher lost to the Lions 27-17. But Christopher was playing its first game without QB Jaxen Robinson, who suffered a broken collarbone late in the Gilroy game. Yafai said the 6-foot-4 sophomore could return this week. Senior Damiann Gomez has done an admirable job in relief. The Cougars are 3-1 in his starts. The lone defeat was against Lincoln. Live Oak relies on some of its baseball stars to lead the football team. QB Landon Stump is a 6-3 right-hander with a 90 mph fastball who’s headed to UCLA. Diego Castellanos is a lefty-hitting first baseman who has a team-leading 25 catches. The most indispensable player might be senior Jordan Fuentes. He’s rushed for 1,252 yards and 10 touchdowns, caught 17 passes for five more TDs and is second on the team in tackles. He wasn’t listed on the Acorns’ baseball roster last season. — Mike Lefkow
Saturday
No. 15 Sacred Heart Cathedral (6-3, 4-2) at No. 1 Serra (9-0, 6-0), 2:30 p.m.: This Serra team can accomplish something former Padres such as Tom Brady and Lynn Swann never did: a 10-0 regular season. The Padres were 9-0 in 1954 and 5-0 in the pandemic-shortened season played in the spring of 2021. But last fall the Padres had to settle for 9-1 after being vanquished by St. Francis in the regular-season final. Three years ago, St. Ignatius spoiled Serra’s shot at 10-0 in the last game of the regular season. Can SHC do it for the third time in four years? The Irish have two three-star receivers in RL Miller and Jerry Mixon Jr. They have combined to catch 54 passes for 988 yards and nine touchdowns. Mixon, an Oregon commit who’s expected to play linebacker in college, has 72 tackles. He’s also rushed for 320 yards and five TDs. Miller, who will probably play free safety at Arizona State, has five interceptions. SHC, however, often struggles in the regular season. This will only be the third time since 2006 that the Irish has won at least six games before the playoffs. Even last fall, when they won a state title, they got a berth to the postseason at 3-7, then beat up on five public schools. Serra comes in ranked No. 1 in Northern California. The Padres have allowed 105 points, including exactly seven in each of the last six games. Defensive stalwarts include linebackers Jabari Mann and Danny Niu, and SS Joseph Bey. All three are juniors. — Mike Lefkow
Schedule
Thursday, Nov. 3
SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA/SF
BVAL Santa Teresa-Foothill
Pioneer at Branham, 7 p.m.
BVAL Santa Teresa-Valley
Leigh at Prospect, 7 p.m.
Westmont at Gunderson, 7 p.m.
BVAL West Valley
James Lick at San Jose, 7 p.m.
Non-league
Jefferson at Palo Alto, 7 p.m.
Monta Vista at Cupertino, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 4
EAST BAY
Bay Valley
Freedom at Deer Valley, 7 p.m.
Liberty at Heritage, 7 p.m.
Pittsburg at Antioch, 7 p.m.
DAL Foothill
Acalanes at Northgate, 7 p.m.
Campolindo at Miramonte, 7 p.m.
Benicia at Las Lomas, 7 p.m.
DAL Valley
Alhambra at College Park, 7 p.m.
Concord at Mt. Diablo, 7 p.m.
EBAL Mountain
California at Amador Valley, 7 p.m.
De La Salle at Clayton Valley, 7 p.m.
San Ramon Valley at Monte Vista, 7 p.m.
EBAL Valley
Dublin at Dougherty Valley, 7 p.m.
Livermore at Granada, 7 p.m.
MVAL/WACC Foothill
Bishop O’Dowd vs. San Leandro at Burrell Field in San Leandro, 7 p.m.
Encinal at James Logan, 7 p.m.
Castro Valley at Tennyson, 7 p.m.
MVAL/WACC Mission
Berkeley vs. Irvington at Washington-Fremont, 7 p.m.
Moreau Catholic at Mt. Eden, 7 p.m.
MVAL/WACC Shoreline
American vs. Alameda at Thompson Field in Alameda, 7 p.m.
Oakland
Fremont-Oakland at Oakland, 7 p.m.
Castlemont at McClymonds, 7 p.m.
Oakland Tech at Skyline, 7 p.m.
TCAL Rock
Bethel at De Anza, 7 p.m.
Salesian at El Cerrito, 7 p.m.
Hercules at Pinole Valley, 7 p.m.
TCAL Stone
St. Mary’s-Berkeley at St. Patrick-St. Vincent, 7 p.m.
Richmond at Vallejo, 7 p.m.
SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA/SF
BVAL Mt. Hamilton
Christopher at Live Oak, 7 p.m.
Lincoln-San Jose at Leland, 7 p.m.
Oak Grove at Santa Teresa, 7 p.m.
BVAL Santa Teresa-Foothill
Piedmont Hills at Independence, 7 p.m.
BVAL West Valley
Mt. Pleasant at Evergreen Valley, 7 p.m.
Willow Glen at Del Mar, 7 p.m.
Hill at Yerba Buena, 7 p.m.
PAL/SCVAL Bay
Menlo School at Sacred Heart Prep, 7 p.m.
PAL/SCVAL Lake
Lynbrook at Saratoga, 7 p.m.
West Catholic
Bellarmine vs. Valley Christian at San Jose City College, 7 p.m.
St. Francis vs. Mitty at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, 7 p.m.
Riordan at St. Ignatius, 7 p.m.
Non-league
Hillsdale at Aragon, 7 p.m.
Capuchino at Mills, 7 p.m.
Terra Nova at Half Moon Bay, 7 p.m.
Fremont-Sunnyvale at Homestead, 7 p.m.
Milpitas at King’s Academy, 7 p.m.
Los Gatos at Menlo-Atherton, 7 p.m.
Los Altos at Mountain View, 7 p.m.
Carlmont at Sequoia, 7 p.m.
Wilcox at Santa Clara, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 5
EAST BAY
DAL Valley
Ygnacio Valley at Berean Christian, 12:30 p.m.
MVAL/WACC Mission
Hayward at Washington-Fremont, 7 p.m.
MVAL/WACC Shoreline
Newark Memorial at San Lorenzo, noon
Kennedy-Fremont at Arroyo, 1 p.m.
SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA/SF
PAL/SCVAL Lake
El Camino at South San Francisco, 2 p.m.
BVAL Santa Teresa-Foothill
Silver Creek at Gilroy, 7 p.m.
BVAL Santa Teresa-Valley
Overfelt at Sobrato, 2:30 p.m.
West Catholic
Sacred Heart Cathedral at Serra, 2:30 p.m.
Non-league
San Mateo at Burlingame, 11 a.m.
Gunn at Woodside, 2 p.m.
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, Joseph Dycus, and correspondent Mike Lefkow make their weekly predictions.
Originally published at Darren Sabedra, Joseph Dycus