De La Salle bounces back with 35-17 win at St. Francis: Northern California high school football Top 10 roundup

Toa Faavae runs for three of the Spartans five touchdowns as De La Salle avenges historic defeat from two years ago; NorCal No. 1 Serra routs Central Catholic with second-half surge

De La Salle's football team had both some history and in-season setbacks to take care of Friday night and the Spartans did so with a 35-17 win at St. Francis-Mountain View. 

Toa Faavae, the Spartans' fleet junior quarterback, ran for three touchdowns, the third a 12-yard naked bootleg in the final three minutes to finally put De La Salle (1-2) in control. 

He earlier scored on a pair of 1-yard sneaks. 

De La Salle quarterback Toa Faavae last week against Serra.  / (Photo by Dennis Lee)

Dominic Kelley added a 5-yard touchdown run with 1:59 left for the finishing touches for the Spartans, who lost 31-28 on the same field two years earlier, snapping a 318-game unbeaten streak against opponents North of Clovis. 

That helped avenge that defeat and also helped ease the pain of a couple of lopsided losses to start the season, 35-14 to Orange Lutheran and last week 28-0 to Serra of San Mateo. 

De La Salle came in not having scored in more than six quarters. 

Andrew Scharrenberg scored both of St. Francis' touchdowns on runs of 54 and 3-yards, the second that tied the game at 14-14 heading into hallftime. The Lancers dropped to 1-2. 

Here are the scores, game details and pregame notes from the nine other Top 10 games of the week. Look for updates from throughout the night and weekend.   

10.  Monte Vista 40, Bellarmine 30

A tipped 35-yard interception return by Josh Aguilar cut Monte Vista's lead to 33-30 with 7:57 left. But talented junior running back Julian McMahan caught a screen pass and rambled 25 yards for the touchdown to clinch it for the Mustangs (3-0). It was the fifth touchdown pass for junior QB Brayden Turner, who had earlier TD passes of 80, 16, 75 and 80 yards. Connor Tripp, who made a 55-yard field goal earlier in the season, added a 51-yarder for the Bells, who had rushing touchdowns of 30 and 50 yards by Parker Threatt. Monte Vista's Shehata had a TD reception of 76 yards and a 65-yard punt return for a score. 

Pregame notes: After a stirring win over Menlo-Atherton (17-14) and disappointing loss to McClymonds-Oakland (40-0), the visiting Bells, under first-year coach David Diaz-Infante, take on a rising program, led by second-year coach Johnny Millard. The Mustangs are led by terrific junior RB Julian McMahan (24 carries, 272 yards, six TDs) and junior QB Brayden Turner (24 of 30, 390 yards, four TDs).

9. Grant Union-Sacramento 22, Los Gatos 21

A 3-yard touchdown run by Martin with 9:09 proved to be the winning touchdown in this back-and-forth affair. Grant improved to 3-1 while Los Gatos dropped to 2-1. According to Glenn Reeves of the Bay Area News Group, Grant ran 44 plays to 13 for Los Gatos in the first half but trailed 14-8. 

Pregame notes: Great intersectional game organized at the last minute due to holes in each program’s schedule. Grant features 6-foot-5, 200-pound WR Kingston Lopa, RB Wayshawn Parker (475 yards rushing, five TDs) and junior QB Luke Alexander (717 yards passing, nine TDs). Los Gatos QB AJ Minyard (24 of 33, 367 yards, 6 TDs).

8. Oak Ridge 28, Clayton Valley Charter 0

Jason Womack put an exclamation point on Oak Ridge's gem of a defensive game with a 35-yard pick 6 to give the Trojans (4-0) the tough Honor Bowl win. The host Trojans also got two touchdown runs from Erick Orme Jr. and a 22-yard touchdown pass from Joaquin Graves-Mercado to Joshua Feuerbach. Clayton Valley dropped to 1-2. 

Pregame notes: As part of the Honor Bowl series, the visiting Eagles hope to rebound from a 37-27 loss to Highley (Gilbert, Ariz.). Oak Ridge has pulled out close wins over quality teams Grant (21-18) and Madison-San Diego (22-20). 

7. Serra 38, Central Catholic 7

The Padres, like they did the first two weeks, put together a near perfect half, in this case the second, breaking open a close game with a 28-0 blitz after intermission. Northern California's top-ranked team took control in the third quarter taking its first possession 80 yards capped by a 27-yard pass from Maealiuaki Smith to Cole Harrison, making it 17-7. Smith to Braden Agosta for a 36-yard touchdown made it 24-7 late in the third quarter and a halfback pass from Nano Latu to Harrison for 7 yards, gave the Padres a 31-7 edge early in the fourth quarter. Backup QB Brooks Trimmer added a 4-yard sneak for score for the final margin. 

Pregame notes: After two monumental wins over the team teams in the Sac-Joaquin (Folsom) and North Coast (De La Salle), the Padres can not slide against perennial Northern California power Central Catholic, which features a powerful running game and third-year starting quarterback Tyler Wentworth, who has accounted for 672 yards and seven TDs. Serra’s defense, led by four four-year lettermen, has allowed 14 points. Central Catholic gave Serra all it could handle last season, before the Padres prevailed 42-30.

6. De La Salle-Concord 34, St. Francis 17 

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Pregame notes: Tough spot for the host Lancers because De La Salle is famished for a win after two tough losses. Plus the last time it traveled to Mountain View, St. Francis handed the Spartans a historic 31-28 defeat, its first against a team North of Fresno in 318 games.

5. Clovis East 41, Provo-Utah 24

Another tough Honor Bowl mid-day game under warm conditions, Tyus Miller showed why he's one of the best quarterbacks out of the Central Section with four touchdown passes, including a 92-yarder to Tony Nix. 

Pregame notes: Another fantastic Honor Bowl matchup, Clovis East is ranked third in the Central Section and has been extremely impressive all three weeks, including a 42-21 win over previously ranked Sanger last week. Harold Duvall made the most of his three catches for two touchdowns–one an impressive one-handed diving catch in the end zone–and his 70-yard interception return TD capped off a 28 points second half explosion in the win. Ty Miller threw for 202 yards on 8-11 passing with three TD throws and sophomore Caleb Slocum rushed for 68 yards and two TDs. Provo has won two blowouts, 41-0 over Gransville and 35-0 over Salem Hills, pulled out a 21-20 game over Olympus and lost 21-13 to Timpview. the Bulldogs are well balanced, but Feitagai Lesa makes their running game go with 462 rushing yards and six touchdowns. 

4. Jesuit-Carmichael 41, Christian Brothers 8

It was one big play after another for the Marauders (2-1), who won for the 17th time in the last 20 meetings of the Holy Bowl. See GAME STORY | VIDEO | PHOTOS

Jesuit linebacker Tristan Lebrecht praises the Holy Bowl Gods during his team's 41-8 win Saturday night. Photo: Dennis Lee

Pregame notes: Nicknamed the Holy Bowl, more than 15,000 fans are expected to fill much of Hughes Stadium for the 52nd meeting of these rivals. One side will feature Christian Brothers' sea of blue while the Jesuit home side will bleed a wall of red. Jesuit has won 16 of the last 19 games between the two, including the last three. That included last year's 21-7 victory. 

3. St. Bonaventure-Ventura 24, Riordan 14

A great back-and-forth contest in the fourth quarter, eventually was finished off with a Drew Cofield punt return for touchdown for the visiting Seraphs (2-2). The host Crusaders (2-1) scored on two touchdown passes from Mike Mitchell Jr. (282 yards) to Chris Lawson (13 catches, 134 yards). But St. Bonny's run game that piled up 202 yards on 44 attempts according to Joseph Dycus, was too much in the end. Kaden Glover, filling in for injured four-star QB Anthony Wolter, scored on a 2-yard run and Koen Glover added a 25-yard TD jaunt for the winners. 

Pregame notes: Big test for the host Crusaders before heading into WCAL play as St. Bonaventure is a perennial Southern Section power and two-time Marmonte League champion. Top players include college prospects, OT Shaun Torgeson, CB Drew Cofield and WR Max Peters. Riordan’s sophomore QB Mike Mitchell has already thrown for 627 yards and six touchdowns. He already has three offers from Pac-12 schools, including Cal.

2. Frontier 35, Hanford 6

A showdown of two of Central Section's top teams turned lopsided early thanks to a punt return for a touchdown, and thre TD passes from Malakhi Statler to Talen Ramirez (19 yards), Malcolm Watkins (13 yards) and Nsongbeh Ginyui (31) yards. Andrew Forrister added a 5-yard TD run for Frontier (4-0). Hanford dropped to 3-1. 

Pregame notes: Two Central Section powers meet, with No. 6 Hanford traveling to No. 7 Frontier, which is coming off a 24-7 win over Bullard. The defense keyed Frontier's win last week, but their offense will need to put up a bundle of points to outscore Hanford, coming off a 40-22 win over Golden West. Daniel Gomez threw for 240 yards and tied a school record with six touchdown passes, four to JC Turner.  

1. Clovis North 48, Central Valley Christian 14

McKay Madsen and Jackson Cinfel rushed for three touchdowns apiece and David Nichols added the cherry on top with a 27-yard TD run as Clovis North (4-0) erased a 7-0 Central Valley Christian lead to win going away. The second-ranked team in the Central Section got TD runs of 15, 67 and 7 yards by Madsen and 1, 9 and 1 yard by Cinfel. 

Pregame notes: Visiting Clovis North will try to figure out a way to slow down Bryson Donelson who continues to dazzle. The senior has now tallied 701 yards this season on only 33 carries for an average of 22.6 YPC.  He's scored 12 times on those 33 carries, less than three times he handles the ball. Clovis North is ranked second in the Central Section and has outscored three opponents by a combined 138-14 count.