How a 5-foot-7 quarterback leads one of California's top high school football teams

'Watch out for Marley (Alcantara)' warn his Pittsburg teammates about the fire that runs deep in one of the most prolific quarterbacks in Northern California

Pittsburg senior Marley Alcantara isn't just nimble on his feet, as shown in last year's CIF Northern California Division 1-AAA 28-25 loss at Folsom, but he has a big, accurate arm which had led to a pair of Pirates' wins and No. 7 state ranking heading into Friday's home game with Riordan. / Photo: Dennis Lee

PITTSBURG, CALIFORNIA — Pittsburg’s magnetic senior quarterback Marley Alcantara was asked to give a quick thumbnail on some of his marvelous 2024 team, one which won a third straight North Coast Section championship last year and is 15-1 over its last 16 games. 

Like his quick delivery of the football on the field, he answered smoothly, immediately and in rhythm.

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* Oregon State-bound running back/strong safety Jamar Searcy: “He’s electric. He’ll make anything out of nothing. He’ll shake a dude, run him over, spin. He plays defense too, right. He had like four picks last year. Dude is lightning in a bottle.” 

Jamar Searcy absolutely was dominant in the postseason, with 718 total yards and 5 TDs in four games, leading Pittsburg to a third straight NCS D1 title. / Photo: Dennis Lee

* UCLA-bound safety Jadyn Hudson: “The guy is everywhere. Everywhere! All over the field. He’ll come inside the box and lay a hit. He’ll cover someone at the backend. He’ll catch the ball, run the ball. He’s everywhere.” 

* UCLA-bound defensive end JuJu Walls: “A beast!” (Asked quickly if he’s ever been tackled by Walls: “No but that’s only because they don’t allow him too. I’d be scared if he was allowed too. He’s ferocious. Practicing with the guy everyday, he’s just something else.” 

* Third-year starting running back and two-time 1,000-yard rusher Elijah Bow: “Absolutely bowling ball. Hard hitting. No one I’ve ever seen Elijah get run over and he ends up on his back. He’ll give it to you for sure.” 

“I get it. I’m a 5-foot-7 Asian quarterback and they’re all surprised. But once they watch the tape, they’re like ‘damn.’ “ 

- Marley Alcantara

Like his rapid-fire responses, Alcantara can give it to. He always brings it, says his teammates and coaches. He’s always prepared, a coach on the field, the ultimate field general, a fearless director of the offense, a leader in every regard while excelling in the country’s most popular sport, playing likely any game’s most difficult position. 

All at 5 feet, 7 inches in height and weighing about 165 pounds. 

DEFYING SHORT, LONG ODDS

Yet Friday, like most games played under the lights, in this case with more than a dozen big, fast, brawny future Division I players, Marley the Magnificent will likely be the player deciding the game between state-ranked teams Riordan from San Francisco and the host Pirates. 

Riordan features committed college players, wide receiver Chris Lawson (Washington) and offensive lineman Losipini Tupou (6-2, 275). A slew of others, including behemoth linemen Peter Langi (6-5, 330), a senior, juniors Tommy Tofi (6-6, 320) and Michael Langi (6-3, 265), along with more 2026 recruits, quarterback Michael Mitchell and wide receivers Cynai Thomas and Judge Nash, appear destined for Division I colleges as well. 

Alcantara has defied his diminutive stature with fight — he started competing in mixed martial arts and boxing when he was 5 — a big arm, a bigger brain and undeniable athleticism and confidence. 

“I’ve been telling college scouts, hey, this is going to be your boss someday"

- Pittsburg coach Charlie Ramirez

For the second straight year he leads one of the state’s top teams. The Pirates are ranked seventh in the state by SBLive. 

After throwing for 2,675 yards and 37 touchdowns as a junior, he completed 26 of 37 passes for 547 yards and six TDs during an impressive 2-0 start. The Pirates haven’t missed a beat with the graduation of 4-star QB Jaden Rashada, going 15-1 with Alcantara as a starter. 

Pittsburg quarterback Marley Alcantara threw for 2,675 yards and 37 touchdowns as a junior. He's on pace to surpass those numbers in 2024. / Photo: Dennis Lee

“He’s short, but he literally can do anything,” said Bow, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher who has played with Alcantara since he was 10. “He can throw the ball, run the ball, his football IQ is extraordinary. He’s the captain of the team and he’s my boss other than” head coach Charlie Ramirez.” 

Said Pittsburg senior defensive end Juju Walls, a UCLA commit. “He’s a special dude. A lot of people look down on him because of his culture, size and length, but he’s got that dog in him. Don’t ever underestimate him.

“Watch out for Marley.”   

PERFECT QUARTERBACK

Ramirez, who has seen all the best Pittsburg quarterbacks over three decades, puts Alcantara right at the top along with current Los Medanos College head coach Chris Shipe, a Pirate Hall of Famer who earned All-Conference honors at Humboldt State. 

Shipe was at the signals when Pittsburg beat De La Salle-Concord in the 1991 North Coast Section 3A championship game at the Oakland Coliseum, the last NCS team to beat the Spartans, a streak of 271 games (270-0-1). 

“We’ve had a lot of record-breaking quarterbacks here,” said second-year head coach Ramirez, who was a linebacker on that 1991 squad. “But with his leadership, the intangibles, his command on the field, what he does in the locker room, what he does in the classroom, how he sees things, he’s really the perfect high school quarterback. He definitely has been for me.”  

Pittsburg 2025 running back Elijah Bow rushed form almost 1,300 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior. He says that senior quarterback Marley Alcantara is his 'boss.' / Photo: Joe Bergman

When Alcantara tells people who have never seen him play that he plays quarterback, he gets quizzical expressions. Not only because of his height, he said, but his ethnicity, a mix of Filipino, Hawaiian and Chamorro. 

“They’re like, ‘oh shoot, for real?” he said with a big smile. “I get it, I’m a 5-foot-7 Asian quarterback and they’re all surprised, but once they watch the tape they’re like ‘damn.’ “ 

Alcantara, whose dad Andrew and uncles played football at James Logan-Union City during the early 90s, isn’t cocky, but confident, his teammates say. He says his naysayers and skeptics simply push him to “Pave the way to a new generation by executing at the highest levels.” 

Ironically, he grew up idolizing Cam Newton, one of the biggest most physical quarterbacks in NFL history. “I know I’m not or ever will be Cam Newton at 6-5, 245. I watch Kyler Murray and Aaron Rodgers. I wanna run like Kyler and throw like Rodgers.” 

He grew up playing all sports, including martial arts, basketball, boxing and football. He wanted to be a receiver, “but I realized you don’t get the ball all the time. At quarterback, you have control over everything.” 

FUTURE BOSS

Ramirez and the Pirates have put complete trust in him to control everything. He has playmakers galore in running backs Searcy and Bow, and receivers Makari Kenion, RJ Mosley and Truly Bell. Pittsburg also features college-bound players like Walls, Hudson, linebacker Etene Pritchard (San Diego State) and athlete Dominik Calhoun (Boise State). 

Alcantara has offers from Division III schools Southern Oregon, Lewis and Clark and Pacific University. He said he’s 100% grateful for those offers, but it’s frustrating that he’s not being seriously considered at higher levels. “It’s the cards I’ve been dealt with and I just got out and prove everyone wrong and prove myself right.” 

Pittsburg senior quarterback Marley Alcantara will be a feature head college coach, predicts his high school coach Charlie Ramirez. / Photo: Mitch Stephens

Though his measurables don’t meet Division I standards, Alcantara’s immeasurables push him to any level, said Ramirez. 

“I’ve been telling college scouts, hey, this is going to be your boss someday,” he said. “Even if you were going to take a walk on, he’s going to be a coordinator some day. He’s going to be a college head coach someday. That’s how high his football IQ is. Add in his charisma, his character, his personality is infectious. I know Marley is going to be that guy.” 

Besides the frustrations of recruiting, Alcantara isn’t thinking about college because he’s trying to win the Pirates their first state championship. They’ve lost two previous state-title games and two NorCal regional finals as well. 

“Of course I wanna go play in college but I’m here right now,” he said. “I wanna win state here because these are my brothers. I grew up with these guys.” 

Last year’s perfect season ended with a 28-25 loss at Folsom in the CIF Northern California  D1-AA title game. 

“We talk about that loss almost every day,” Alcantara said. “It never leaves my mind, you know, because it’s my only loss as a starter. It lights a fire under us and sits in the pit of our stomachs.”