As Serra’s offensive coordinator, Darius Bell has coached three times at California’s pinnacle – the state Open Division game.
But the first-year Sacred Heart Cathedral head coach has never experienced anything quite comparable to a Bruce-Mahoney Game. He will get his first taste Friday at Kezar Stadium against archrival St. Ignatius.
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The 81st meeting between the San Francisco private schools, which honors fallen World War II veterans Bill Bruce (1935 St. Ignatius graduate) and Jerry Mahoney (1944 Sacred Heart graduate), also is a West Catholic Athletic League opener for both teams.
Sacred Heart Cathedral is 2-1 and averaging 31.3 points per game behind quarterbacks Yamil Guyton and Michael Vasquez along with game-breaking wide receiver Chase Jenkins.
Defending state 3-AA champion St. Ignatius, ranked fifth by the Chronicle, is led by sophomore quarterback Isaac Liu (694 passing yards, 10 touchdowns), running back Luke Tribolet (328, 5) and wide receiver Hawkes Packard (14 catches, 339 yards, 4 TDs). The Wildcats are 3-0 and coming off a wild 42-38 win at then No. 6 Acalanes-Lafayette.
St. Ignatius owns a 67-29-7 edge in the series which dates to 1893, making it the longest high school football rivalry west of the Mississippi River. The Irish, who suffered a bitter 24-21 defeat to St. Ignatius in the Central Coast Section Division 2 title game last season, have lost four straight in the series.
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More than 7,500 fans figure to fill up legendary Kezar Stadium on Friday.
High school football schedule
THURSDAY
Central Coast Section
Palo Alto at King’s Academy, 7 p.m.
Saratoga at Gunn, 7 p.m.
North Coast Section
Redwood Christian vs. Kennedy-Fremont at Washington, 7 p.m.
Roseland University at Elsie Allen, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
Central Coast Section
Carlmont at Terra Nova, 7 p.m.
Jefferson at Hillsdale, 7 p.m.
Los Altos at Aragon, 7 p.m.
MacDonald at Cupertino, 7 p.m.
Mills at El Camino, 7 p.m.
Milpitas at Fremont-Cupertino, 7 p.m.
Sacred Heart Prep at Mountain View, 7 p.m.
Sequoia at San Mateo, 7 p.m.
Wilcox at Woodside, 7 p.m.
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WCAL
#8 St. Ignatius vs. Sacred Heart Cathedral at Kezar Stadium, 6 p.m.
Mitty at Valley Christian, 7 p.m.
#9 Riordan at St. Francis, 7 p.m.
#4 Serra vs. Bellarmine at SJCC, 7 p.m.
North Coast Section
BVAL
Heritage at Antioch, 7 p.m.
Freedom at Liberty, 7 p.m.
Nonleague
American at Mt. Eden, 7 p.m.
Encinal at San Lorenzo, 4 p.m.
Swett at CSD, 4 p.m.
Branson at Round Valley, 6 p.m.
Albany at De Anza, 6 p.m.
American Canyon at #6 Acalanes, 7 p.m.
Arroyo at Berkeley, 7 p.m.
Berean Christian at St. Patrick-St. Vincent, 7 p.m.
California at El Cerrito, 7 p.m.
Campolindo at James Logan, 7 p.m.
Casa Grande at Ukiah, 7 p.m.
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Castro Valley at Concord, 7 p.m.
College Park at Northgate, 7 p.m.
Dougherty Valley at Emerald, 7 p.m.
Healdsburg at Novato, 7 p.m.
Justin-Siena at Montgomery, 7 p.m.
Maria Carrillo at Rancho Cotate, 7 p.m.
#8 Monte Vista at Dublin, 7 p.m.
Napa at Vintage, 7 p.m.
Newark Memorial at Washington-Fremont, 7 p.m.
Piedmont at Moreau Catholic, 7 p.m.
San Marin at Amador Valley, 7 p.m.
Sonoma Valley at Piner, 7 p.m.
Vallejo at Santa Rosa, 7 p.m.
Windsor at Miramonte, 7 p.m.
Deer Valley at Granada, 7:15 p.m.
Foothill at #3 San Ramon Valley, 7:15 p.m.
Hayward at Livermore, 7:30 p.m.
San Rafael at Bethel, 7:30 p.m.
Cross sectional
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Cordova at Pinole Valley, 7 p.m.
Edison at Tennyson, 7 p.m.
Menlo-Atherton at Bishop O’Dowd, 7 p.m.
Ygnacio Valley at Fremont-Oakland, 7 p.m.
Rodriguez at Benicia, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
San Francisco Section
Burton at Galileo, 2 p.m.
Mission at Balboa, 2 p.m.
Lowell at Washington, 2 p.m.
Central Coast Section
Burlingame at Menlo School, 2 p.m.
North Coast Section
Archie Williams at Terra Linda, 2 p.m.
Petaluma at Redwood, 2 p.m.
Clear Lake at Stuart Hall, 5:30 p.m.
Cross-sectional
St. Mary’s-Stockton vs. Marin Catholic at Cal, 11 a.m.
Alameda at Skyline, 1 p.m.
Oakland Tech at Salesian, 1 p.m.
#1 De La Salle vs. Corona Centennial at Cal, 2 p.m.
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Homestead at Tamalpais, 2 p.m.
Lincoln-SF at St. Vincent de Paul, 2 p.m.
#7 Cardinal Newman at Punahou (Hawaii), 3 p.m.
“Playing for state (Open) titles was extremely gratifying,” Bell said. “But to coach in such a rivalry game with such deep ties and so much history is beyond exciting.”
Erasing “hero ball,” staying poised and playing “assignment and alignment” football will be key for the Irish, Bell said, as well as containing Tribolet and the Wildcats’ running game, which averages nearly 7.0 yards per carry.
“You also have to watch their play-action shots,” Bell said. “They will lull you to sleep, then put a dagger in you. … We must win special teams as well.”
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Despite a 49-24 loss to Folsom, the state’s No. 6 team and a six-time state champion, Bell likes how his defense has played. The Irish gave up just two combined touchdowns in opening wins over Palma-Salinas and Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park.
“All three levels have really been flying around and making plays,” Bell said.
Beating the Wildcats, led by rising second-year coach JaJuan Lawson, will be as much mental as physical, Bell said.
“JaJuan has done a phenomenal job getting those kids to play with a distinct belief,” Bell said. “We’re trying to do the same. I’ve been most pleased with our players’ attention to detail and supreme effort.”
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Other top games to watch (All 7 p.m. Friday, unless noted)
A Bay Valley Athletic League opener pits second-year Freedom coach Nick Wisely, a longtime assistant at Antioch, against the Panthers, who feature 6-foot-7, 280-pound Stanford-bound two-way tackle George Tyus (three sacks).
#9 Riordan (1-2) at St. Francis (1-2): In a West Catholic Athletic League opener, both teams played loaded nonleague schedules. Though the host Lancers own a 17-2-2 series lead since 2004, Riordan has won the last two, 47-28 and 34-24.
The talk of the WCAL has been the re-emergence of the Bells, who have had just two winning seasons since 2016. Under first-year coach Tom Williams, Bellarmine has beaten teams with combined 6-6 records, but has been impressive. Serra, with Division I talent sprinkled around the roster, will offer a much bigger challenge.
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Saturday
As the opener of the initial 151 Showcase, both perennial NorCal powers have loaded up on their schedules, including all three Marin Catholic losses to Top 10 Chronicle ranked teams, St. Ignatius, Acalanes and Monte Vista-Danville.
#1 De La Salle (4-0) vs. Centennial-Corona, Riverside County (2-2) at Cal 2 p.m.: The second part of the double header features two nationally ranked teams – No. 20 Centennial and No. 25 De La Salle. Centennial, led by the dynamic passing duo of QB Jaden Jefferson (Hawaii commit) and Quentin Hale (USC), has lost one-point games to two other nationally ranked teams from Orange County, Santa Margarita and Mater Dei. Jefferson leads the team in passing (852 yards) and rushing (277), while Hale has 22 catches for 388 yards and three scores. De La Salle has beaten the Huskies four of five times in this series, all for state titles, including 2015, the last of seven state titles for De La Salle, which has lost eight straight state title games since. The Spartans have looked especially good in the early going, with their own dynamic passing combo of Jaxon Loftin (154.6 QB rating) to Damari Dean (25.5 yards per catch, four TDs).
This Academic Athletic Association opener should reveal who is Balboa’s toughest foe standing in the way of another San Francisco Section title. Since a 34-0 opening win over Healdsburg, Washington has scored just 12 points. Behind RB Preston Wong (526 yards rushing, five touchdowns), Lowell is averaging 37 points per game.
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This article originally published at Bay Area high school football games of the week: Bruce-Mahoney a WCAL opener.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
