The prep football season is set to kick off on Friday night with with five games — three in the county — followed by four more games on Saturday, all of which are in the county.
This is the first season under the new realignment for football. The MCAL, North Bay League, and Vine Valley have all been combined into the four-tiered Redwood Empire Conference.
In addition, the way the North Coast Section playoffs will work has been altered. San Marin is a Division III team and Marin Catholic is a D-V team for the regular season but in all likelihood neither team will be classified as such come playoff time.
If either team is ranked inside the top six teams in the section — MC is ranked fourth and San Marin eighth entering the season, according to MaxPreps.com — they will be pulled up into the Open Division. Otherwise the most they can be moved up is two divisions. San Marin could move as high as D-I while MC could be pulled up into D-III.
The Braves fell into a 28-6 hole last season against Calistoga before putting together a spirited second half rally to pull within 28-20. Tomales had the ball twice with a chance to tie the game late before surrendering a late touchdown for the final margin, 34-20. The Braves struggled to contain Calistoga’s rushing attack as the Wildcats ran the ball 34 times for 269 yards and five touchdowns. Tomales’ ground game was spearheaded by RB Carlos Lara, who returns for his senior season.
The Hornets face off against the Huskies in another rematch from last season. Novato trailed 21-7 at the half but closed to within a score in the final minutes of the game, ultimately falling 35-29. Quarterback Dom Scafani, who returns for his senior season, enjoyed a strong game against Washington. Scafani ran for 132 yards and passed for 113 more with two of his three total touchdowns coming on the ground. The Hornets also got strong games from a pair of current seniors in RB John DeMartini (134 yards, TD) and WR Alex Felchin (7-49, TD).
The Bulldogs open this season against the same team they began last year against in the Panthers. San Rafael emerged victorious in that game by a 23-9 score, getting touchdowns from Sam Perez and Bodhi Shipley. The Bulldogs’ defense held Santa Rosa scoreless until the fourth quarter. San Rafael defeated Santa Rosa by an almost identical 24-8 score in the 2022 season opener but lost to the Panthers 35-7 in 2021.
Tam kicked an 8-4 campaign last season with a thrilling 27-21 home win against the Dragons. The Red-tailed Hawks used a balanced attack, rushing for 227 yards while passing for 223 yards in the victory. Almost all of the top offensive weapons from that team have graduated but RB Ethan Koo (15 carries, 84 yards, TD in last year’s game) returns as Tam makes its debut under new head coach Anthony Mejia.
San Marin starts against a Falcons team that picked up four wins last season and finished sixth in the Diablo Athletic League – Foothill Division. College Park moved down into the four-team Valley Division this season but is projected to finish first according to the San Jose Mercury News. College Park is led by senior quarterback James Voorhies, who completed just over 50% of his passes for 1,692 yards with 17 touchdowns against nine interceptions. Junior QB Daniel Rolovich is set to take over the reins for San Marin from Dominic Ingrassia. Rolovich completed 71% of his passes off the bench last season with six touchdowns and no interceptions. Jonah Lozano and Zack Farbstein lead the offensive backfield. The Mustangs graduated a slew of talented receivers last season but WR Wesley Timmel returns and is poised for a huge senior season after piling up 1,121 yards and 17 scores last year.
The Peregrine Falcons have not faced Kennedy (Richmond) in recent years but this game should prove crucial as they are both in NCS D-V this season. MaxPreps ranks the Peregrine Falcons ninth in the division with the Eagles right behind them in 10th. The Eagles are coming off a 7-4 campaign last season that saw them make it into the NCS D-VI playoffs as the eighth seed where they lost to top-seeded St. Vincent de Paul 56-12 in the first round. Archie Williams last made the playoffs in 2021.
The visitors will arrive in Kentfield following a season-opening, 27-21 victory against Monterey Trail last week. QB Ricky Cole had a big game, completing 18 of 28 passes for 247 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. WR Lono Chouteau was his top target with seven catches for 161 yards and a touchdown. Inderkum struggled to run the ball (20 carries, 52 yards) and stop the run (49 carries, 191 yards) last week – both of which could prove problematic against MC. QB Caedon Afsharipour returns with WR Braiden Bachich-Dixon and TE Jordan Rogers his top returning targets. RB Charles Williams, now playing for the University of Wyoming, has dominated MC’s offensive backfield for the past three years. Jarred Geissberger and Elijah Serafin are among the top candidates to carry the ball entering this season.
Redwood opens the season against a familiar opponent in the Pirates. The two teams battled in the season opener last year with the Giants prevailing 17-15 on a field goal by Conor Weasler in the final five minutes. Redwood’s defense pitched a shutout in the first half and took a 7-0 lead into the third quarter. WR Jackson Walker put the Giants ahead 14-7 in the fourth quarter but San Leandro scored a touchdown and cashed in on a two-point conversion to take a 15-14 lead. Last year, the Giants took the momentum from that opening win and rolled out to a 5-0 start. They’ll be hoping to replicate that again this year with non-league rematches against Rancho Cotate and Enterprise in the coming weeks.
The Trojans are coming off a 5-6 season and their first postseason appearance since 2018. That campaign began with an emphatic 40-12 win against Upper Lake in Joe Ayoob’s first game as head coach of the program. Then-seniors QB Garrett Pardo (187 passing yards, three TDs, plus one rushing TD) and RB Johan Truett (102 rushing yards, two TDs) led the way as TL surged to a 27-2 halftime lead and cruised from there.
Branson (0-0). Next game: vs. Priory, 1 p.m., Ross.
