Bay Area high school football 2022: Week 9 preview, schedule

Wilcox will put its undefeated record on the line Friday night on the road against rival Los Gatos. Clayton Valley will try to keep rolling as it plays host to California.

Tennyson and James Logan will meet for first place in their league.

Same for Overfelt and Westmont.

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Here is the Week 9 preview and schedule:

Top matchups

Thursday

No. 24 Live Oak (6-1, 2-0) at No. 19 Lincoln-San Jose (7-0, 2-0), 7 p.m.: A week after handing Christopher its first loss of the season, Lincoln has an opportunity to knock off a Live Oak team that also is unbeaten in Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton play. Live Oak running back Jordan Fuentes is averaging 117 yards per game on the ground and has run for eight touchdowns. Outside receivers Diego Castellanos and Xavier Catano both space the field and average over 15 yards per catch. Lincoln’s offense features a dynamic passing combination of Tayden Phillips to younger brother Kyan Phillips, who has 580 yards receiving and six touchdowns. Running back Sal Espinoza could claim to be the best player in the league, having gained 1,254 yards from scrimmage to go with 14 touchdowns. Linemen Jacob Willman and Alex Villalobos are both capable pass-rushers who will try to put Live Oak quarterback Landon Stump under pressure. — Joseph Dycus 

Friday

No. 4 Wilcox (7-0, 3-0) at No. 9 Los Gatos (5-2, 3-0), 7 p.m.: The top teams in the PAL/SCVAL De Anza Division by a significant margin meet for first place and in all likelihood the division championship. Los Gatos is 14-5-1 against Wilcox in the MaxPreps era (2004-present) and has won the past two meetings, 41-18 last fall and 20-19 during the pandemic-shortened 2021 spring season. Last fall’s result was part of a 10-0 regular season for Los Gatos that put the Wildcats in Division I for the Central Coast Section playoffs. Los Gatos lost to Bellarmine in the first round. Meanwhile, Wilcox was placed in Division II for CCS, won the title and went on to capture a regional crown and nearly win a state championship. The winner Friday will most likely land in Division I. The loser could be placed in Division I or II. The teams are evenly matched, with Los Gatos relying on a balanced offense (1,024 passing, 1,174 passing) and Wilcox dominating as usual with its veer option (1,910 yards rushing, 1,024 passing). Elijah Walker has rushed for 747 yards and seven TDs to lead the Wilcox ground attack. QB Armand Johnson has added 1,021 yards through the air and nine TDs. Los Gatos’  Emiliano Mejia has rushed for 605 yards and 12 TDs and Jaylen Thomas has caught 23 passes for 345 yards and five TDs. — Darren Sabedra

No. 11 Clayton Valley Charter (4-3, 2-0) at No. 16 California (5-2, 1-1), 7 p.m.: After a rough start filled with close losses to Salinas, Del Oro-Loomis and Turlock, Clayton Valley has ripped off three straight wins to get back over .500. The Ugly Eagles are 4-0 on the road and 0-3 at home. Quarterback Christian Aguilar has thrown for 254 yards per game, and junior receiver Daven Amos has caught seven of Aguilar’s 13 touchdown passes. Emilio Strange and Hank Phifer balance out a receiving corps that has carried the Ugly Eagles attack. Meanwhile, California was on a roll until De La Salle went into San Ramon last week and flattened the Grizzlies 41-7. Dual-threat junior Jayden Macedo calls the shots in California’s spread offense, but the other side of the ball will probably determine the game for California. Defensive backs Robby Hillery and Devan Love anchor a secondary that will need to be in top form against Clayton Valley. The Ugly Eagles won last year’s East Bay Athletic League Mountain Division matchup between the teams, 24-21. — Joseph Dycus

Menlo School (4-3, 1-1) at No. 17 Menlo-Atherton (4-3, 2-1), 7 p.m.: M-A has won two in a row since opening PAL/SCVAL Bay Division play with a 22-21 loss at Half Moon Bay. Last week, Sherrod Smith ran for two touchdowns and Billy Johnson threw for 209 yards as M-A beat Aragon 27-7. Five-star receiver Jurrion Dickey has missed the past three games for M-A because of an undisclosed injury. He hasn’t played since catching five passes for 89 yards and a TD in a 21-20 loss at Wilcox on Sept. 23. Menlo School was no match for Half Moon Bay’s ground attack last week as the Knights yielded 467 rushing yards in a 53-42 loss. Jake Bianchi tried to keep pace, throwing for 301 yards and four TDs to lead Menlo. A week earlier, Menlo beat Aragon 30-10. Menlo is 1-5 against M-A since 2004, but the teams haven’t played in four years. — Darren Sabedra

Tennyson (5-2, 2-0) at No. 18 James Logan (5-2, 2-0), 7 p.m.: Tennyson beat Logan last year, part of a 10-0 regular season for the Lancers. It was the first time Tennyson had ever beaten the Colts, though the teams had only played twice before. This game should decide the MVAL/WACC Foothill champion. Both teams are 2-0 in league play. Logan is a solid favorite, according to the calpreps.com computer, which is picking the home team by 18 points. Tennyson does have the best player in wide receiver Taeshaun Lyons. The recruiting service 247sports lists Lyons with 13 Power Five offers, with Notre Dame holding the edge over Washington. Quarterback Jordan Hernandez and running back Drevion Green are two more Tennyson threats on offense. Logan is playing excellent football right now. The Colts have won their last three contests by a combined 82-14. That includes a 17-7 upset of Heritage, which was undefeated and ranked No. 13 in the Bay Area News Group Top 25 at the time. Logan has an excellent secondary led by seniors Jack Morton, Anthony Delguidice and Robert Mendez. — Mike Lefkow

Overfelt (6-1, 2-0) at Westmont (7-0, 2-0), 7 p.m.: It would be a shock if this game doesn’t decide the BVAL Santa Teresa-Valley Division champ. Overfelt and Westmont are the only teams in the division above .500. Both are 2-0 in league play. Westmont appears to have the edge. Besides being at home, the Warriors are outscoring opponents by 26 points per game, though they did have to come from behind to beat Piedmont Hills and Leland. Overfelt has played a slightly tougher schedule. The teams are 2-0 against common opponents, with Westmont winning by more impressive scores in both games. Warriors leading rusher Jacob Lang should surpass 1,000 yards Friday night with an average performance. The Westmont senior has 958 yards and 12 touchdowns thus far. Quarterback Zackery Zepeda only averages 10 passes per game, but he’s very efficient with 44 completions in 69 attempts, 13 TDs and one interception. He also has eight rushing TDs. Overfelt averages 461.6 yards per game, with about two-thirds of that on the ground. Mathias Legrand Carrillo, Quinton Togia’i and John Stowers are a dangerous trio of runners, and they have size, too. Togia’i measures 6-1, 225 and Stowers goes 6-2, 240. Junior QB Gabriel Martinez has been effective in throwing to fellow junior Walter Smith. — Mike Lefkow 

Schedule

Thursday, Oct. 20

EAST BAY

Bay Valley

Deer Valley at Heritage, 7 p.m.    

SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA/SF 

BVAL Mt. Hamilton

Leland at Oak Grove, 7 p.m.    

Live Oak at Lincoln-San Jose, 7 p.m.    

BVAL Santa Teresa-Foothill

Branham at Independence, 7 p.m.    

Gilroy at Piedmont Hills, 7 p.m.    

PAL/SCVAL De Anza

Homestead at Milpitas, 7 p.m.    

PAL/SCVAL Ocean

Carlmont at Jefferson, 7 p.m.    

PAL/SCVAL Lake

Fremont-Sunnyvale at Saratoga, 7 p.m.    

Friday, Oct. 21

EAST BAY

Bay Valley

Liberty at Antioch, 7 p.m.    

Freedom at Pittsburg, 7 p.m.    

DAL Foothill

Acalanes at Benicia, 7 p.m.    

Northgate at Campolindo, 7 p.m.    

Miramonte at Las Lomas, 7 p.m.    

DAL Valley

Berean Christian at Mt. Diablo, 7 p.m.    

Ygnacio Valley at College Park, 7 p.m.    

Concord at Alhambra, 7 p.m.