Top 5 North Coast Section quarterfinal football games to watch
The opening rounds of the North Coast Section football playoffs kick off this week with quarterfinal play.
If you haven't made plans, here are five of the best games to attend and storylines to follow.
Top 5 NCS quarterfinal football games to watch
(All games 7 p.m. Friday)
1. Open/Division 1: Campolindo (7-2-1) at San Ramon Valley (9-1) — These teams met the last two years in the Division 2 championship; Campolindo winning in 2021, 17-14, and SRV gaining revenge last season, 35-21. SRV was heavy favorite in both those and are again — CalPreps.com computer rankings has the Wolves winning 38-13 — but Campo was heavy underdog last week before pulling out a 25-24 win at Acalanes-Lafayette behind a late 23-yard touchdown run by Micah Parker and two TDs from QB Isaiah Ortiz. SRV, which beat Acalanes 44-21 on Sept. 1, is led by one of Northern California’s top quarterbacks Luke Baker (3,306 total yards, 37 TDs).
2. Open/D1: Amador Valley (7-2) at Pittsburg (10-0) — The visiting Dons, with junior quarterback Tristan Tia, is a playoff sleeper. Tia, who sat out five games due to transferring, has thrown for 1,158 yards and 18 touchdowns in just four games. With a very tough defense — allows 8.7 points per game — Amador Valley could present a problem for a Pittsburg squad bolstered by a very talented junior class, including 4-star recruits Jewelous Walls (6-foot-3, 240) and Jadyn Hudson, along with QB Marley Alcantara (31 TD passes) and RB Elijah Bow (1,052 yards, 11 TDs).
3. Open/D1: Clayton Valley Charter (5-5) at California (6-4) — An excessive celebration of CVC’s 33-24 win at California two weeks ago led to eight suspensions last week and cost the Eagles a home playoff game. At full strength, the Eagles are led by the passing combination of Tyler Lovett to Tony Keck. California, coming off a 48-0 win over Foothil-Pleasanton, is led by senior RB Devan Love and dual-threat QB Jayden Macedo.
4. D4: Mt. Diablo (7-3) at Acalanes (6-4) — This looks like a mismatch — CalPreps has Acalanes winning 62-6 — but with Mt. Diablo’s Herschel Turner, all is possible. The 5-10, 190-pounder, with 10 college offers, ranks first in the state in rushing, with a Bay Area single-regular season record of 2,957 yards and 42 touchdowns. Even if he can’t make the game close, he’s worth the price of a ticket. Acalanes is stinging from the loss to Campolindo, which cost it an outright league title.
5. D5: Piedmont (7-3) at Alhambra (7-3) — Truly a season of redemption for both teams. Alhambra hasn’t had a winning season since 2017, but senior QB Beau Blau has done it all, having thrown for 1,609 yards and 20 TDs and rushing for 1,078 and 17 more. Piedmont played just four games last season, forfeited two then with less than 20 players shut it down. Behind third-year coach Jordan Seiden and juniors Sam Shelby (1,435 yards from scrimmage, 19 TDs) and Markos Lagios (1,793 passing yards, 20 TDs), the Highlanders won a league title.
