Campolindo head coach Kevin Macy speaks to his players after defeating Acalanes during their game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Campolindo defeated Acalanes 25-24. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
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CAMPO: HOW IT DOES IT YEAR AFTER YEAR
Amid the celebration after his team’s dramatic comeback victory over rival Acalanes on Friday night, Campolindo coach Kevin Macy stayed on message.
In the eyes of the longtime coach, Campo is still the Little School That Could.
“We don’t have what everybody else has,” Macy said after his team overcame a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter to beat host Acalanes 25-24 and secure a playoff berth. “But we just have kids that will never quit. That’s the best way I could put it. There’s football players and then there’s kids that play football. We’re just on the side of kids that play football.
“They have football players,” Macy added, referring to an Acalanes team that has lightning-fast playmakers Trevor Rogers and Paul Kuhner. “But we just have a tightness in our program. We’re neighborhood kids. We’re not like the schools that bring in all the special talent. So the kids learn how to fight for each other. They just have that bond of friendship.”
Under Macy, Campo has captured six North Coast Section championships since 2011, including one in Division II two years ago, three regional titles and two state crowns.
But success has come at a price for the Moraga school in the era of competitive equity, two words Macy could do without.
For the first time, the Cougars are in the NCS’s top division, one that includes all the heavyweights, including De La Salle.
They play second-seeded San Ramon Valley on Friday.
If Campo pulls off the upset, it would likely face top-seeded De La Salle for the section’s Open Division championship the following week.
After the dramatic win Friday, Campo players chanted, “One more week. One more week.”
The team’s quarterback, Isaiah Ortiz, called Macy “a legend.”
While everyone in the Campo community soaked up the moment during the celebration, including Macy, the coach said moments later, “This was our championship.”
He then added, “If we do get in … we’ll just go to show North Coast that they’ve got to scrap the competitive equity format.”
Always on message.
Two points nobody can dispute about Macy: He is a great coach and sticks to what he believes.
– Darren Sabedra
PIEDMONT: WHAT A REMARKABLE COMEBACK
Shortly after the season, when the time comes to select top players and coaches, you can bet Jordan Seiden and Sam Shelby will not be the first names mentioned.
Seiden is the coach at Piedmont High. Shelby might be the team’s best player. Along with teammates such as quarterback Markos Lagios and RB/MLB Tommy Ashton, they have made Highlanders football relevant again.
When Piedmont visits Alhambra Friday night in the first round of the North Coast Section D-V playoffs, it will be the culmination of a remarkable comeback from a nightmarish 2022 campaign. Piedmont was outscored 174-70 during a 0-4 start, forfeited the next two games, then called it quits with the varsity roster at less than 20 players.
Now the Highlanders are back as champions of the MVAL/WACC Shoreline, with a 7-3 overall record. They were 5-1 in the league, same as Kennedy-Fremont, but Piedmont won the head-to-head matchup. The Highlanders are the fifth seed in their playoff division. Alhambra, the No. 4 seed and champion of the DAL Valley, is 6-3
“We were in the doldrums,” Seiden said the day after his team beat Newark-Memorial 29-26 to secure the Shoreline crown. “It’s crazy where we are now.”
Making it even crazier is that Piedmont has played its entire season on the road while the school district upgrades some athletic facilities, including those for football.
Asked how Piedmont rebuilt so quickly, Seiden said, “We have great kids and there is a passion in the community. We had a small group (of players), but their hearts beat outside their chests. We knew we had some talent. We just grinded. Guys were coming to workouts at 6:30 a.m. all winter and spring. The kids bought in.”
Some of those buy-ins should be considered for postseason honors. Shelby is a WR with almost 50 catches for over 900 yards. He had an 82-yard TD reception in the win over Newark Memorial. Lagios is a dual-threat QB who has accumulated over 2,000 yards between his running and passing. Ashton is a two-way star with over 700 yards rushing.
Seiden has been coaching for almost 30 years at various high schools. He played running back and wide receiver at UC-Davis. He’s employed full-time at a charter school in Oakland.
Regardless of the outcome against Alhambra, the toughest part of the Highlanders’ season is over. They have won a league title and they are playing for a section crown.
– Mike Lefkow
RIORDAN: LINEMEN CHAPERON TRICK OR TREATERS
Archbishop Riordan’s star offensive linemen Kalolo Taaga and Peter Langi both take pride in keeping their quarterback protected and paving holes for Riordan runners.
But the duo also enjoy doing work in their community.
They spent Halloween chaperoning approximately 100 trick-or-treating kids around Serramonte Mall in Daly City.
“Although it’s a small contribution, it feels good to give back,” Langi said in an email provided by Overall 99, a management company that represents college-bound high school athletes.
Taaga added, “It’s an honor to give back to my community and make Halloween fun for these kids.”
– Joseph Dycus
PITTSBURG: HALL OF FAME CLASS HONORED
Before the Big Little Game on Saturday, Pittsburg introduced its Hall of Fame football class, a group that includes four players from the 1990s and early 2000s (Cy Simonton, Ryan Ponce, Augie Torres and Albert Toeaina) and one from the 1950s (Frank Cardinalli Sr).
The class also included coach Larry Rodriguez, who led the program to three league and two North Coast Section championships while running the program from 1979-1990.
Two teams also were recognized – 1932 (league champs) and 2003 (league champs and NCS Division I runner-up).
The distinguished alumni is Nick Aliotti, Class of 1972. Aliotti was the longtime defensive coordinator at Oregon.
— Darren Sabedra
CCS: MIDDLE OF PACK ‘A’ TEAMS HAVE PATHS TO TITLES
Some “A” league schools with mediocre regular season records have paths to a section title after being placed in lower brackets.
Last year, Santa Teresa went from a 5-5 regular season to the Division IV championship, and Palo Alto won Division V after entering the playoffs 4-6.
Palo Alto could do it again.
The Vikings (5-5) are the top seed in Division IV and have an offense that has scored 30 or more points in three of the last four games.
Mountain View was 4-6 in the regular season and lost five of its final six games, but the Spartans are the No. 2 seed in Division IV.
How does this happen?
In the CCS, teams are seeded by a complex point system that factors in the strength of schedules and leagues and calpreps.com’s computer ratings.
— Joseph Dycus
DEL MAR: SMALL SCHOOLS STILL IMPORTANT
Del Mar will officially start the playoffs on Friday when it travels to play top-seeded Woodside in the CCS Division V bracket. But in reality, the Dons’ postseason started weeks ago as they had to keep pace with Prospect atop the BVAL West Valley Division standings.
Only champions of the “C” leagues such as the West Valley make the section playoffs.
The winner has the longest of shots to advance, even in the lowest bracket, and the vast majority of players will never be recruited by major colleges.
But the intensity is similar to any level, as Del Mar showed in its win-or-go-home season finale against Prospect.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re big, or if you’re small, if you’re an ‘A’ league team, or a ‘C’ league team,” Del Mar coach Robert Chapman said. “Everyone works hard. We’ve got teams in our league that have one win or get blown out every week, but they still come out every week.”
– Joseph Dycus
Originally published at Darren Sabedra, Joseph Dycus