Bay Area high school football roundup: Best of the weekend action in Week 9

Ranked teams

No. 2 St. Francis 44, No. 12 Bellarmine 24

St. Francis took command in the second quarter and went on to defeat rival Bellarmine for the sixth consecutive time as Viliami Teu rushed for 276 yards and four touchdowns to lead the way. Darren Sabedra has the details here.

No. 9 Menlo-Atherton 38, Terra Nova 7

Menlo-Atherton, playing on the road Thursday in Pacifica, scored the first 35 points on its way to a sixth consecutive victory. Jalen Moss scored on two long TD passes from Matt MacLeod and Dane Fifita scored on TD runs of 41 and 5 yards to lead the way. Joseph Flood’s short TD run made it 28-0 and Juan Pulido’s 35-yard field goal capped the scoring for M-A, which improved to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division. The Bears return home next Friday to play Burlingame, which entered this weekend undefeated. Terra Nova fell to 4-4, 3-3. — Darren Sabedra

No. 10 Monte Vista 27, No. 7 California 22

Monte Vista got off to a quick start on its home field and held off California in this East Bay Athletic League Mountain Division game. Phil Jensen has the recap here.

No. 17 Benicia 45, Acalanes 33

Visiting Benicia won this high-scoring encounter to remain tied for first in the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division. Benicia (6-2, 3-0) led 27-26 at the end of three quarters but was able to hold off the Dons (4-4, 0-3). Benicia quarterback Tyson Wallace threw for three touchdowns and rushed for one. He completed 23 of 30 passes for 247 yards and no interceptions. Simeon Harris had 12 of those receptions for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Janari Boone added 114 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Acalanes sophomore Paul Kuhner scored on kickoff returns of 97 and 90 yards. The Dons’ Luke Souza threw three touchdown passes, including two to Dante Montgomery, who had six receptions for 113 yards. Souza completed 13 of 23 passes for 211 yards and no interceptions. — Phil Jensen

Half Moon Bay 42, No. 18 Burlingame 41

Quarterback William Moffitt spun and fought his way to the goal line on a two-point try in overtime to give Half Moon Bay a dramatic victory and send Burlingame to its first defeat. Vytas Mazeika was in Burlingame and has every twist and turn of the wild night in this story.

No. 20 Foothill 24, No. 19 Dublin 10

Foothill got long second-half touchdown runs from Tony Schillaci and quarterback Nick Walsh to beat Dublin. The Falcons improved to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the East Bay Athletic League Valley Division, and might have secured a top-four seeding in Division II of the North Coast Section playoffs. Schillaci broke loose for a 40-yard TD run in the third quarter to boost Foothill’s four-point halftime lead to 14-3, then Walsh raced 80 yards on what was supposed to be a quarterback sneak to give the Falcons a 24-10 advantage late in the fourth quarter. If Foothill can beat Granada next Friday in its regular-season final, it could be seeded as high as third when the NCS playoff brackets are announced on Nov. 7. Only San Ramon Valley and Rancho Cotate have higher rankings than Foothill among D-II teams. Rancho Cotate plays its final two games against North Bay powers Cardinal Newman and Windsor, so victories aren’t assured. Dublin (5-3, 1-1) will be favored to beat Livermore and Dougherty Valley in its final two games, but it will have to fend off Campolindo and San Leandro to be seeded in the upper half of the bracket. — Mike Lefkow

Milpitas 35, No. 25 Homestead 7

In one of the bigger surprises Friday night, Milpitas outscored Homestead 21-0 in the second half. The Trojans entered the game at 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. But quarterback/defensive back Ty Egorerua had a game he won’t soon forget, intercepting a pass, taking a kickoff 92 yards to the house and rushing for 80 yards. Dominic Alvarado added two TDs for the Trojans. But it was the defense that stood out for Milpitas, which won its second straight. Homestead managed only 126 yards of total offense. Its only touchdown came on a blocked field goal attempt in the second quarter. Milpitas had allowed 28.4 points per game in its first seven contests. Homestead (4-4, 2-2) still has a pretty good shot at finishing .500, but Milpitas finishes up with Palo Alto and Los Gatos. Palo Alto edged Mountain View on Friday and Los Gatos is 8-0 and has beaten Monterey Trail, Liberty and Wilcox by at least three touchdowns. — Mike Lefkow 

East Bay

Northgate 70, Concord 0

The visiting Broncos scored four touchdowns in both the first and second quarters to remain undefeated in the DAL Valley Division. Anthony Billeci and RJ Anderson both had two touchdowns. Billeci scored on a pair of 2-yard runs and Anderson had a 21-yard TD reception and a pick-six. In a text, Concord coach Paul Reynaud said he was proud of his team’s effort. “We are playing a ton of young players (freshmen and sophomores) and they didn’t give up and kept playing hard,” he said. Northgate improved to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the Valley. Concord fell to 1-7, 1-2. — Phil Jensen

South Bay/Peninsula

Leland 21, Piedmont Hills 7

Leland, coming off a loss to Santa Teresa, got two second-half rushing touchdowns from Mark Eby in a game that was scoreless at halftime. Pierre Goldstein added another rushing score for Leland, which remains in a tie for first place in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division with a 4-1 record (6-2 overall). Piedmont Hills fell to 4-4, 2-3. — Phil Jensen

Pioneer 31, Branham 14

Pioneer moved a step closer to the BVAL Santa Teresa Division championship, winning at home Thursday behind Axel Garcia and Jeremiah Lolohea. Garcia ran for 115 yards and three touchdowns in 13 carries. Lolohea ran for 90 yards and a TD in 10 carries and led the Pioneer defense with 13 tackles, including 10 solos. The Mustangs led 17-0 at halftime and 24-0 after the third quarter. Pioneer improved to 6-2 overall and 5-0 in the league. The Mustangs close the regular season at Prospect next Friday and at home against Willow Glen on Nov. 5. Branham fell to 5-3, 3-2. — Darren Sabedra

Leigh 49, Willow Glen 0

Sam Betz rushed for 140 yards and four touchdowns in eight carries to lead Leigh, playing on its home field Thursday, to a rout of Willow Glen in BVAL Santa Teresa Division play. Sophomore Shayan Shariat added 97 yards in five carries and Issac Amorim ran for a TD for the Longhorns, who ran their record to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the league.  Aidan Williams also connected with Aidan Goo for a TD. Leigh scored 14 points in each of the first three quarters and added a touchdown in the fourth. Willow Glen slipped to 1-7, 0-5. The Rams finished with 79 yards rushing and 64 passing. Leigh had 378 yards rushing and 37 passing. — Darren Sabedra

Gunn 41, Cupertino 27

Gunn kept its SCVAL El Camino Division title hopes alive, winning on the road Thursday over a Cupertino team that entered the game undefeated. James Lambert led the run-dominated Titans with 231 yards and three touchdowns in 14 carries. Gunn also got 147 yards and three touchdowns in 11 attempts from Filippi Montes IV and 121 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries from Kevin Green. Jayden Hall had 188 yards and two TDs passing and 57 yards and a TD rushing for Cupertino, which fell to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the El Camino, Gunn improved to 6-2, 3-1. Los Altos, which has beaten Gunn, leads the division with a 4-0 record. Cupertino plays host to Los Altos in a regular-season finale Nov. 5. — Darren Sabedra

Fremont-Sunnyvale 56, Monta Vista 6

The Firebirds (4-4, 2-2 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division) had two players rush for more than 140 yards in this SCVAL El Camino Division victory. Don Martinez, a sophomore, ran for 156 yards on 12 carries and scored three touchdowns. TJ Takafua, a senior, had 142 yards on the ground on 11 carries and also reached the end zone three times. Bronson Stein had six tackles for Fremont and also caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from Nate Studdard. Monta Vista scored early in the first quarter on a 31-yard pass from Greyson Mobley to Ronit Ramchandani. Monta Vista fell to 2-7, 0-5 with the loss. — Phil Jensen