Well, thanks for hanging with me everyone. You shoulda been here but if I helped you follow it a little, I did my job. I’ll post final comments later tonight but for now I’ll slide out of the way and let Chace Bryson write his story. Ben Enos, signing off.

FINAL: Las Lomas 21, Campolindo 17. Las Lomas is the NCS 2A East Bay Champion. 

FOURTH QUARTER: Kickoff is a touchback. Campo gets the ball on its own 20 with 42 seconds left and four points to make up. Diante Jackson is now the hero of the night for sure. Stephens overthrew his man on a  deep ball and Jackson picked it off. Lomas can take a knee and this one should be over. 35 seconds left and Lomas has the ball on its own 35 yard line. Chants over overrated from the Campo faithful have dissipated. Diante Jackson was the man in the fourth quarter, plain and simple. It’s all over at Las Lomas.

FOURTH QUARTER: Las Lomas gets the ball on its own 20 yard line with 1:56 remaining. One timeout in the Knights’ pocket. Can Las Lomas go 80 yards? Yago to Jackson first down. Ball on the Lomas 39. Pass dropped by Paclebar. Second down. Pass nearly intercepted but falls harmlessly to the ground. Austin Rittenour could have put the game away right there. 3rd down and 10 from the 39. Yago scrambles and finds Jackson for a 1st down. Ball on Campo 45 with 1:18 left. Pass incomplete intended for Paclebar. Broken up by Rittenour. False start on Lomas. Yago to Diante Jackson. Down to the Campo 14. Yago stepped up in the pocket and gunned it. Complete confidence. Yago to Paclebar on an out pattern. Out of bounds on the 7 yard line. 47 seconds left. Jackson sat down in the middle of the Campo zone in the end zone and was wide open. TOUCHDOWN LAS LOMAS. 42 seconds left. Shapiro adds the PAT. 21-17 Knights. Pandemonium in Walnut Creek.

FOURTH QUARTER: Campo gets the ball on its own 28. Kazzaz sweep to the 31. Antono run ahead for a first down. Nine-yard pickup on the play. Antono run to the 44. 2nd and 6. Antono run to the Campo 49 yard line. 3rd and 1. Richter up the middle for a first down. Campo rolls on. 3:59 remaining. Antono up the middle stuffed and it’ll bring up another 3rd down. Lomas takes a timeout and this  is going to be the play for all the marbles. 3rd and 3 from the Lomas 39. 2:48 remaining in the ballgame. Kazzaz run off left tackle. Going to depend on the spot. Missed it by two links of the chain. 4th and 1. Campo takes a delay. Gotta question that call. Campo’s owned the line of scrimmage all game long and to not go for it is interesting. Guess that’s why I’m in the box and not on the sideline. Campo takes a timeout, presumably to set up a punt. Punt..

FOURTH QUARTER: Jackson with a good return and LL will get the ball in Campo territory yet again. 1st and 10 on the Campo 49. Ward rush for 2 yards. Ward rushes again down to the 40. Brings up 3rd and 1. Ward picks up the first down to the 37. 8:45 left and counting. Ward run to the 33. Ward again down to the 31. Brings up a 3rd and 4. Ward run to the 28 and it’s 4th and 1. HUGE PLAY. Ward toss sweep right is stuffed and Campo gets the ball. 6:23 remaining.

FOURTH QUARTER:  The stands are still shaking. Paclebar is simply electric tonight. Campo will get the ball back with 11:27 left. Touchback by Shapiro. Richter run for five yards to the 25. Kazzaz tripped by Welch at the line. 3rd and 5. Kevin Reed chases Stephens out of the pocket and he has to throw it away. 4th down and the Cougs will punt.  

FOURTH QUARTER: Well, what is Las Lomas made of I guess is the question everyone’s asking. 11:43 left in the quarter as they get the ball back.  Corey Paclebar has just IGNITED the home crowd. A 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and the Knights are right back in this thing. Shapiro with the PAT. SCORE: Campolindo 17, Las Lomas 14.

FOURTH QUARTER: Lomas is staring at a 3rd and 17 from its own 44. Yago’s pass is tipped and intercepted by Luke Crossley and run all the way back. Huge turning point right here. Runback was in the neighborhood of 65 yards and Campo is in the driver’s seat now. PAT by Tavecchio. SCORE: Campolindo 17, LL 7.

END OF THREE QUARTERS: Campo 10, LL 7. 

THIRD QUARTER: Punt downed at the Campo 49. The Knights get fantastic field position again.  Intentional grounding call on Yago backs the Knights up to their own 35 yard line. Illegal motion voids a big completion to Jackson. Las Lomas is imploding right now on offense and I haven’t seen the Knights play this badly all year long. End of the quarter and its 10-7 Campolindo.

THIRD QUARTER: Campo gets the ball at its own 11 yard line after Crossley recovered his own muff. 1:59 left. Lomas’ D will have to come up big again. Incomplete pass brings up 3rd and 9 from the Campo 12. Pass broken up by Andrew Mulherron and the Cougars will have to punt again.

THIRD QUARTER: Jackson runs out of bounds at the Campo 37. Excellent field position again for Las Lomas with 2:28 left in the quarter. False start to begin the drive. Another illegal motion backs the Knights up five more yards. Incomplete pass by Yago. Looking for Paclebar down the middle of the field. Jackson drops a potential first-down and the Knights will have to punt. Wouldn’t have mattered as Lomas had an illegal formation anyway. Punt upcoming.

THIRD QUARTER: Campo gets the ball with 4:32 left in the quarter on its own 1. Richter gets out to the 2 yard line with a run off left tackle. Richter again down to the 7. Inside handoff to Antono gets stuffed and the Knights defense answers the call. If Las Lomas wins this game, the defense should get all the credit. Punt to Jackson upcoming.

THIRD QUARTER: Knights get the ball with 10:06 remaining on the Campo 40. Jackson’s first catch is a first down to the 28. Draw to Paclebar brings up 2nd and long. Yago finds Darin Thompson for a moderate gain. Brings up 3rd and 3 from the 21. Ward into the line is stuffed and Shapiro is going to stay on the sideline. Knights go for it on 4th and 4. Yago finds Jackson in the slot for a first down. Gutsy call of the night right there. Drive continues at Campo 13. Ward off right tackle for a couple yards down to the 8. Ward ahead for a first down on the Campo 3. Ward stuffed on first and goal. Second and goal from the 3. Ward burrows ahead for a gain of two yards. Third and goal from the 1. Ward gets stacked up at the goal line and it’ll be fourth and goal from the 1. Longero calls timeout to figure out what to do. This will be an interesting play call since Ward has gotten stacked up out of the power-I formation for three straight plays. FEEL THE TENSION BABY! The Knights run right up the middle and Ward gets stopped by Mike Constable. Big time play by the Campo defense.

THIRD QUARTER:  Campolindo gets the ball first in the second half.  Shapiro clears the end zone on his touchback. Campo gets the ball on the 20 yard line. Three and out for the Cougs and they have to punt. Jackson returns the punt 12 yards to the Campo 40.

MORE HALFTIME: Chace Bryson looks like an eskimo huddled on the sideline crunching his numbers. But, his numbers are handy. Las Lomas has 153 total yards to Campolindo’s 112. Paclebar has four catches for 103 yards. Ward has 11 rushes for 65 yards. Campolindo has 112 total yards and Stephens line is 6-12-2 59. Almost ready for second-half kickoff. 

HALFTIME SCORE: Campolindo 10, Las Lomas 7. Time for some thoughts. That INT return by Jackson would have been in the neighborhood of 90 yards and would have been HUGE. As it was, the Knights ended up with no points instead of seven. This game is in a lot of respects similar to last week’s Lomas/Ygnacio Valley game. Campolindo could have put LL away with a late touchdown there and Lomas found a way to stay in it. Jackson has no catches so far on offense so that’s obviously an issue for Las Lomas. For Campo, Stephens has been shaky on his deep balls but has been solid on underneath routes. I’d expect Lomas to air it out in the second half after giving Danny Ward the ball plenty in the first half. 

SECOND QUARTER: Alright one untimed down for Shapiro to try a 45-yard FG. Kick is up, and Shapiro chunked it. Kick falls short and Campo takes a 10-7 lead into halftime. Halftime stats and thoughts to follow. 

SECOND QUARTER: Catch downfield by Mascheroni and the Cougs are rolling. 52 seconds left in quarter with ball on LL 26. False start backs the Cougs up. 1st and 15 from 31 with 46 sec. remaining. Screen to Richter got stuffed by Las Lomas. Campo timeout with 28 sec remaining and second down from the 33 yard line. Keep in mind Tavecchio has a heckuva leg but 50 yards would be a lot to ask. Stephens overthrows receiver. Third down with 22 sec. remaining. Unbelivable catch by Mascheroni downfield is going to be negated by a holding penalty. Ball back to the LL 44 with 15 sec. left. Diante Jackson picks a jump ball and rolls all the way back for a TD. Holding penalty brings it back though and Las Lomas just got crushed. Ouch. In the meantime, Jackson made an awesome catch. Lomas will get the ball here with one untimed down.

SECOND QUARTER: Campo ball at the Cougars’ own 24. Timeout Campo on 2nd and 1. Crowd update: The Lomas fans are relatively quiet at the moment and the Cougars’ faithful seem boisterous. Then again, they’re winning so why not. More game action to follow. 

SECOND QUARTER: Las Lomas takes possession at its own 18. Ward busts off a long run to take it to the Knights’ 35. Went right over left guard and found a huge hole and ultimately got stopped by an umpire who didn’t want to move. Ward is rolling now as he rips off another first down run. Ball on LL 46. Holding call sets the Knights back but Ward gets it back immediately. Lomas takes a timeout faced with a 3rd and 9 from its own 47. Yago gets run out of bounds and the Knights have to punt.

 SECOND QUARTER: I’m not convinced Campo has the momentum back. Lomas is shooting itself in the foot and it’s only a matter of time before the Knights’ offense gets going. 

SECOND QUARTER: Andreas Antono rumbles ahead for a first-down. Campo with a first and 10 from the 10. Bo Richter with a 1-yard touchdown plunge and Campo re-takes the lead. PAT by Tavecchio is good and the Cougars are back on top. SCORE: Campolindo 10, Las Lomas 7.

SECOND QUARTER:  Faced with a 3rd and 6 on their own 15, the Knights and coach Doug Longero take their first timeout to get things straight. During the timeout, Chace Bryson has asked me to say “Leggo my Yago.” Corny? Who knows. He’s freezing, he’s entitled. Paclebar caught a pass and hurdled a guy with a tremendous leap for a first down. Yago fumbles the snap on a third-down and Evan Peters falls on it for Campo. Cougars get the ball on the Lomas 25.

SECOND QUARTER: Campo has the ball to begin the quarter and Lomas’ defense stiffens after a few first downs. Punt upcoming with Diante Jackson back to return. Punt is downed on the Las Lomas 11 where the Knights will take over.

SECOND QUARTER: Quick momentum check as we start the quarter. Lomas has the momentum. Campo got a huge break with the messed-up punt and the defense held Campo to a field goal. That could turn out to be absolutely huge as we get ready for the second quarter. 

END OF FIRST QUARTER: Las Lomas 7, Campolindo 3.

MORE FIRST QUARTER: A quick rumination on that touchdown catch as we near the end of the quarter. Las Lomas had been pounding the ball up the middle pretty consistently until then and everything just came together when Yago and Paclebar decided to meet deep. Speed kills and Paclebar is the fastest guy on the field without a doubt. 

MORE FIRST QUARTER:  Tavecchio hits a touchback. Knights ball on own 20. Three and out. Knights punt the ball. Campo ball on the LL 39. Stephens tried to go up top for Mascheroni but overthrew him and found Lomas DB Pat Evans instead. LL ball on own 20. Yago goes up the seam to Paclebar and he runs away from EVERYONE. Touchdown Knights. Paclebar outran everyone and I mean everyone. Yago put up a nice ball and let his guy run under it. Shapiro adds the PAT and LL has taken the lead. 2:14 left in the quarter. Score: LL 7, Campo 3.

FIRST QUARTER: Pat Evans muffed the opening kickoff and the Knights start on their own 9-yard line. Danny Ward rushed for 10 yards on the first play, first down. Knights are moving the ball, now on their own 37. Haven’t thrown yet. First deep ball Yago tries goes out of bounds. Tried to hit Paclebar deep.  On the punt attempt, the snap sailed over Andrew Shapiro’s head and he had to fall on it. Campo will get the ball at the Knights’ 20. On Tommy Stephens’ first pass attempt he got nailed and the Knights’ defense came up with a big stop. Tavecchio hits a 30-yard FG to put Campo up 3-0. SCORE: Campolindo 3, Las Lomas 0.

COIN TOSS: LL coach Doug Longero is sporting the Bill Belicheck look, complete with gray hoodie and everything.  Captains for tonight: LL — Brad Stewart, Jason Welch, Andrew Mulherron, Corey Paclebar. Campo — Mike Constable, Mike Greco, Luke Crossley and Nick Mascheroni. Las Lomas wins the toss and will receive, going from North to South.

MORE PREGAME: Just got back from the field. Tough to say who looks happier to be here: Crack reporter Chace Bryson, Chronicle correspondent Damin Esper, or the 4-foot-8 lad (or lass, I’m not sure) who is the Knights’ mascot. He has a sword too. Awesome stuff. Las Lomas has retreated to its locker room and Campolindo is doing calistenics in the end zone. Just over eight minutes to game time.  

PREGAME: So, we’re up and running at Las Lomas tonight with the Knights and Cougars on the field going through their warm-ups. I’ve secured a primo spot in the Las Lomas press box, which means we’ll be coming to you live all night long. Controversy No. 1 of the night: Diante Jackson is one of the few Knights without a name on his back. He could double as a JV call-up. One with freakish talent. Sheesh. Now, here’s the drill. I’ll keep updating this post so hit refresh on your browser for the latest info. Earlier posts can be found underneath the new ones. For those wondering, it’s extremely cold here at Lomas, even after my Fudd Burger from Fuddruckers. So, anyone in the area with a blanket, a cup of coffee, or some IcyHot, please stop on by the press box. More to follow…

I suppose I’m in the unique position of being one of only two reporters who was actually at the first Las Lomas/Campolindo game earlier this year, a game the Knights won 20-13. Since then I’ve seen each team multiple times, so here’s a position-by-position breakdown on tonight’s game.

Quarterback: Las Lomas QB Max Yago came of age last week, throwing for over 300 yards and spreading the ball around. He made fantastic reads and didn’t lock on to one receiver, which he’s had a problem with sometimes this year. Campolindo QB Tommy Stephens is playing unconscious right now, or at least as blissfully as a sophomore in the playoffs can. He diced up Heritage in the first round and then got to enjoy a dominant performance by the running game against Encinal. Stephens ceiling is unlimited but, for tonight, Yago’s senior leadership could make the difference. Edge: Las Lomas.

Running Back: Campolindo relies on a group of backs led by Bo Richter. Kawa Kazzaz, Anthony Rodriguez and Andreas Antono will all get carries. Richter carried the ball 35 times last week against Encinal so one has to wonder how effective he might be this week. Las Lomas RB Danny Ward comes in sporting a nice, big cast on one hand but that didn’t prevent him from rushing for over 220 yards in the Knights’ first-round win over Piedmont. He backed off the gas a little last week against Ygnacio Valley but how much of that was due to YV’s excellent run defense? If he’s right, Ward will be the best runner on the field tonight. Edge: Las Lomas.

Receivers/Tight Ends: This is the strongest unit on the field for Las Lomas. Diante Jackson, Corey Paclebar and Kevin Reed operate on the outside while Darin Thompson is a solid tight end. Don’t sleep on Campo WR Nick Mascheroni though. The kid just makes plays and has given Stephens one heck of a security blanket as he’s gotten acclimated to the varsity games. Zach Zaharoff, Luke Crossley and Miles Macy will also make their share of plays but Jackson and Paclebar will play on Saturdays. Edge: Las Lomas.

Offensive line: These are two relatively unheralded units but groups that just get the job done. Both teams have run the ball effectively all year long but Campo gets added points for going from a spread offense early in the year to an I-Formation, power running attack later in the year. Whichever line plays better tonight could decide a winner. Edge: Draw.

Defensive line: As my colleague Chace Bryson wrote in today’s Times, two-time state champion wrestler Jason Welch and his running mate Reed are a dynamic duo up front for Las Lomas. You might not find a quicker line around than the Knights, which gives them the edge when facing a shifty back like Kazzaz. Campolindo will look to Richter to try and muscle up against Lomas’ line. Edge: Las Lomas.

Linebackers: Tommy Nott and Andrew Mulherron are solid for Las Lomas but Dan Greco and Pat Nealon lead a group for Campo that flies to the ball all game long. Both units love to hit but I’ve seen Greco and Nealon dish out some serious punishment this year. Edge: Campolindo.

Defensive backs: Jackson sees some time at free safety for Las Lomas and Paclebar sees time at cornerback but if they need to be forces on offense, how much time will they get in the defensive backfield tonight? Campo CB Anthony Fadelli turned in the single-best play I’ve seen in the playoffs so far with a 102-yard interception return against Heritage. The Cougars did a great job limiting Jackson and Paclebar in the first meeting and I see no reason they couldn’t do it again tonight. Edge: Campolindo.

Special teams: The two best kickers I’ve seen this year without a doubt play for Las Lomas and Campo. The Knights turn to Andrew Shapiro and Campo relies on Giorgio Tavecchio. Shapiro also does the punting for Las Lomas. Both guys are capable of hitting a big kick at the end of the game. The edge here comes in the return game, where Paclebar is certainly in the upper echelon of kick returners in the East Bay. Edge: Las Lomas.

Coaching: Campo coach Kevin Macy has done an unbelievable job all year long, guiding his team to the 2A East Bay title game after their star QB Scott Scharff went down with a knee injury. Las Lomas coach Doug Longero has been his usual brilliant self in calling plays and Greg Biekert has done a good job with the defense. Macy and Longero are two of the best around and the chess match they engage in tonight will be something to watch. Edge: Draw.

So, there you have it. All that’s left is to play the game I suppose. Check back here prior to game time for injury updates, a taste of the scene at Las Lomas and possibly even a review of the Knights’ barbequed chicken skewers. You never know what you’re going to get here on the East Bay Prep Sports Blog.

Well, I hope you like our new look here on the East Bay Prep Sports Blog. I personally hated our old format, so I’m excited to get started on this new one. We’ll take our maiden voyage tomorrow night when Las Lomas and Campolindo get together in Walnut Creek to decide the North Coast Section 2A East Bay championship. I’ll be in the booth giving as much commentary as I can and Chace Bryson will be down on the field covering the game for our print edition. Check back tomorrow afternoon for a pre-game breakdown and then come back at game time for live updates.

Things change quickly in this business, so for those of you expecting to find a live blog from Chace Bryson here on the East Bay Prep Sports blog, think again! The Geek everyone loves the mostest has been sent to James Logan to write a game story for the Sunday paper so, for those in need of a blog fix, hop on over to the Prep Corner at InsideBayArea.com where Mike Bower will be blogging live from the Logan/California game. He’ll also be getting updates from Las Lomas/Ygnacio Valley and Washington/Pinole Valley. Check it out.

Link: Prep Corner at InsideBayArea.com

The second round of the North Coast Section playoffs kick off tonight and we’ll have reporters at every game. How does that work out for you? Well, if you can’t make it to tonight’s games, Mike Bower of the Hayward Daily Review will be blogging LIVE from tonight’s San Ramon Valley/College Park game and he’ll be getting updates from all of our reporters in the field. So, if you can’t be at the games tonight, check out our sister blog, Prep Corner, at InsideBayArea.com.

Link: http://www.ibabuzz.com/prepcorner/

So, it’s Thanksgiving. We’re just over 24 hours away from the start of the second round of the North Coast Section football playoffs so I thought it might be fun to give thanks for some things I’ve seen this year in high school football.

Thanks to everyone. No, seriously. I’ve gotten the chance to see a lot of good football this year (and some not so good) and it’s been an absolute blast. You keep playing. We’ll keep watching.

Thanks to the North Coast Section. By mandating that all playoff games start at 7 p.m., you’ve made our lives just a little bit easier.

Thanks to the athletic directors of East Contra Costa County. As we had our deadlines moved up in East County this year, guys like Pat Cruickshank (Heritage), Steve Amaro (Freedom) and Greg Strom (Pittsburg) have helped us at least try to get a story in the paper on Saturday morning by offering up their offices to use as filing stations. Now, if only we could start those games at 7 next year.

Thanks to Shawn Jones and Mt. Diablo High School. Shawn is a very talented, very well-spoken young man and good things should continue to happen to this doctor-in-waiting. He deserves everything good that comes his way.

Thanks to all the schools who encourage rivalry football. I’m in agreement with my colleague Dennis Miller 100% here. The two most electric atmospheres I was a part of this year were at San Ramon Valley (against Monte Vista) and Pittsburg (against Antioch). Those games were just plain fun and schools should encourage this type of stuff. Let the rivalries live!

Finally, thanks to all the players, coaches and parents who have given us feedback on Two Geeks and a Pigskin. We really didn’t know if anyone would watch and now we know this is something we need to keep going. If only so that Chace Bryson and myself can keep looking like idiots.

Alright everyone, enjoy Thanksgiving. Eat too much, have a ton of fun but remember, you’ve got football to watch tomorrow night. And, if you see the Geeks, be sure to say hello.
– Ben Enos

Sorry for the late post, it’s been a busy day with it being a short week because of Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday. Lots to get done. But in the spirit of the holidays, I’m giving you something to be thankful for… I’m not predicting any winners!

I decided not to do so because I was really bad at predicting during NCS, but here are some quick points on the match ups. Anything you knowledgeable fans out there can offer will be much appreciated as well. Comment away.

Division I

Davis at Amador Valley: A quick observation, the Dons are pretty tall. They have some height at the net in Jessica Atkins (5-10), Grace Vickers (6-1), Sophia Dunworth (6-1) and Kelsey Williams (5-10). Of course, height doesn’t equal wins but senior leadership does as Dunworth, Katie Gellerman and Janelle Larson help in that department. Amador Valley will need all of it since they’ll have a tough time against Davis, who went undefeated through the Delta Valley League and ended the season on a hot streak before losing to Nevada Union in the final.

San Ramon Valley at San Benito-Hollister: The Haybalers lost to Homestead in the CCS finals but they have the experience to put up a good fight in this match. San Benito was the defending CCS champions entering the tournament and reached the NorCal championship game last season. Foothill eliminated the Haybalers in 2006 on its road to the state championship match, so hopefully for the Wolves, the EBAL karma can help them out in this one.

Division II

Las Lomas at St. Francis-Sacramento: I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but the Knights are in trouble. St. Francis won the Division III state championship in 2005, moved up to Division II last season and lost in the 2006 NorCal finals to Archbishop Mitty. They also have a win over Division I No. 1 seed Nevada Union. Las Lomas won its first league title this season, so we’ll leave it right there.

Division III

St. Ignatius-San Francisco at Bishop O’Dowd: The Wildcats have played powers in Sacred Heart Cathedral, Archbishop Mitty, Notre Dame-Belmont, Presentation and St. Francis-Mountain View. They lost all of those matches, but if anything, the Wildcats are battle tested. Bishop O’Dowd showed it is battle tested as well by finally being on the winning end of a five-game thriller in the NCS championship match.

Division IV

Ripon at St. Mary’s: In playoff wins over Bret Harte, Le Grand, and Golden Sierra, the Indians didn’t lose a game. Then they bumped into Christian Brothers, the defending NorCal Division IV state finalists, and lost the section title in three. Ironically, it was Christian Brothers who eliminated the Panthers last season in the NorCal championsihps.

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

Hey volleyball fans, here’s a quick look at who our local teams will be facing on Tuesday. For the complete bracket visit www.cifstate.org.. Check back on Monday and I’ll try to give some analysis on the teams.

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

Division I
No. 6 Davis at No. 3 Amador Valley
No. 5 San Ramon Valley at No. 4 San Benito-Hollister.

Division II
No. 6 Las Lomas at No. 3 St. Francis-Sacramento.

Division III
No. 6 St. Ignatius-San Francisco at No. 3 Bishop O’Dowd.

Division IV
No. 6 Ripon at No. 3 St. Mary’s

10:15 p.m.: Well that about does it for our live blogging for the evening. For those that stayed with us throughout, thanks, and I hope you enjoyed it.
A couple quick notes before we sign off:

-California’s win over Pittsburg was the first postseason win in school history. Yeah, pretty staggering, huh? It was just the fourth playoff game the Grizzlies had ever played. Whoa.
-Also King’s Academy beat Clear Lake 28-20, and so King’s will be St. Patrick’s opponent in the semifinals on Friday.

Be sure to tune in next Friday and Saturday as we’ll blogging live once again, either from our desks or from the field.

Adios.

9:58 p.m.: The 4A results give us a clear picture of the semifinals now.

No. 4 Monte Vista (8-3) will be at No. 1 De La Salle (10-0) — As good as the Mustangs played tonight, De La Salle won’t make the same mistakes that San Leandro did. Monte Vista has a fighting chance, but Storelee will have to have another night like he had tonight.

No. 3 California (10-1) goes to No. 2 James Logan (11-0) — Outside of DLS, some could argue that the Grizzlies posess the best defense in the East Bay. We’re definitely going to find out if that’s true when Cal plays the Colts. Using Pittsburg as a common opponent, James Logan beat the Pirates 28-7 on Sept. 28, and Cal beat Pittsburg 21-7 tonight.

9:49 p.m.: The two 4A finals came in simulaneously. California held on for 21-7 win over Pittsburg. Details on the finish were brief since reporter Ben Enos has to write 400-word story by 10 p.m. Monte Vista finished off its victory, beating San Leandro 35-13. McAllister finished with 219 yards passing and 50 yards rushing. Storelee had 128 yards rushing on 19 carries. Tyler Mason led San Leandro with 133 yards rushing. Be back shortly with some final analysis.

9:38 p.m.: While we’re waiting for the 4A finals. Here’s a quick look at the semifinal matchups that are now set for the other three brackets.

3A EB
No. 4 College Park (9-2) at No. 1 San Ramon Valley (9-1-1) — A better matchup than some will expect.
No. 7 Washington (5-5-1) at No. 3 Pinole Valley (9-1-1) — Purvis remains the key. If he’s healthy, the Spartans can contend.

2A EB
No. 5 Ygancio Valley (7-4) at No. 1 Las Lomas (11-0) — The Warriors have had trouble all year against teams which pass the ball well. And the Knights have one of the best air attacks in the East Bay.
No. 7 Campolindo (8-3) at No. 3 Encinal (9-2) — The Cougars are a definite wild card. Jets fans should beware.

Class A
We actually don’t know if No. 1 St. Patrick (11-0) is playing Clear Lake or King’s Academy yet, but it shouldn’t really matter.
No. 6 Salesian (10-1) at No. 3 Ferndale (10-1) — Few teams have a better home field advantage than Ferndale.

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Read the rest of this entry »

For those who haven’t heard, No. 5 Ygnacio Valley traveled to Oakland and pulled the upset this afternoon, beating No. 4 Bishop O’Dowd 21-14. Patrone Wood II had a 58-yard touchdown run to tie the score and Michael Callan ripped off an 80-yard run for the go-ahead score. Neither back played last week against De La Salle. Info courtesy of staff writer Bill Kruissink, who said the weather in the Oakland Hills was beautiful and the game was equally satisfying.

Also, a halftime score from Pleasant Hill. In the 3A playoffs, No. 4 College Park led No. 5 Alameda 22-6. Geek numero uno Chace Bryson is in attendance and when he gets back he’ll be taking the helm here on the East Bay Prep Sports Blog to keep you updated throughout the night. I’ll be checking in periodically from Pittsburg where the No. 6 Pirates host No. 3 California.
– Ben Enos