I don’t think anything that happened on Friday night was as exciting as the day the NFL had yesterday, but lets do our best.

• Beginning this week, league play begins in every corner of the East Bay. With that comes a tremendous slate of games. The ones I’ll have my eye on the most: Freedom/Deer Valley, Campolindo/Miramonte, Concord/College Park, Foothill/De La Salle, Berkeley/Pinole Valley.
• I got another shot to see De La Salle on Friday and I wasn’t too surprised by the 48-0 score over Livermore. What I was impressed with though was the tenacity of Livermore, as coach Mike Profumo had his players on an even keel all game. They never got overly mad at what was going on and they acquitted themselves quite well.
• I guess you have to call Foothill over Cal the upset of the week based on the rankings but you had to know that Foothill would put its hat in the ring in the upper echelon of the EBAL. This may just be the beginning of that rise.
• We tend to get a lot of chatter on the blogs and message boards about which DVAL team is currently the best. Well, wait no longer for your answers as they begin playing each other this week. Concord plays College Park and Clayton Valley plays Mt. Diablo. I think both will be close games that feature some great individual matchups. And, of course, if Concord and Clayton manage to both win, next week’s game between the Eagles and the Minutemen could be a real sight to see.
• BVAL starts play this week and Freedom will find out if its high-octane offense is ready for the big time against a Deer Valley defense that I’m told is pretty much as good as always. The key for DV in this one is the health of RB Traysean Alexander. The Wolverines need their playmaker to keep up with Freedom.
• Over in the ACCAL, Pinole/Berkeley lost a bit of its luster when the Spartans lost to El Cerrito. Still, I think these are the two most talented teams in the league and it could make for the best matchup of the league season.
• It’s becoming apparent that Encinal may well be on its way to a 10-0 season (and I’m certainly not the first person to say that) but two teams that want to contest that theory meet this week when Kennedy takes on St. Patrick-St. Vincent. If the Eagles can score a win in this one, it would likely be the program’s biggest win in the last five years. I still think SPSV is the big-time favorite though, as coach Marlon Blanton always has his boys ready to play.

Well, that’s all I’ve got right now. I’m sure more will come to me throughout the day. While I’ve got your attention, be sure to check out the Two Geeks and a Pigskin Midseason Extravaganza this week. Should be good.