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It’s kind of hard to believe, but we are five weeks into the 2024 football season.
We have one more week until East Bay Athletic League play begins, so let’s run through the two divisions and see how teams are shaking out at the midway point in their seasons.
We will go through in the order of my latest power rankings.
Mountain Division
San Ramon Valley (5-0): The Wolves just seem to reload every season. Season after season SRV plays a loaded schedule and this year is no exception. But setting the Wolves apart this year is that not only are they winning games, but they are blowing teams out. Through five games the Wolves are averaging wins by 34.4-9.2.
They have a win over a Soquel team that has one other loss, 17-7 to Los Gatos. McClymonds is 1-3, but other than San Ramon Valley, Mack has lost to highly touted Riordan (35-34) and an always good St. Francis team (34-14).
All eyes should be locked in for the Oct. 18 game at De La Salle. Last season the Wolves should have walked away with a win over the Spartans but fell in overtime.
Leading the way this year is 6-foot-5, senior quarterback Rhett Thompson. Through the first five games, Thompson has thrown for 1,065 yards, hitting on 68% of his passes. He has thrown 13 touchdowns with just one pick.
California (5-0): The Grizzlies have been an offensive juggernaut this year, averaging 39.2 points a game. The defense is being touched for 17.8 points per game but when your offense is firing like that, that is more than sufficient.
The schedule has been markedly easier than San Ramon Valley, but they are doing what needs to be done — beating lesser teams handily.
The offense is paced by a pair of juniors in quarterback Arjun Banerjee and running back Jhadis Lucky. Through the first five games Banerjee has thrown for 701 yards and 11 TDs with four interceptions. Lucky has run for 756 yards and 13 touchdowns. In his last game, a 35-10 over Granada, he ran for 239 yards and four touchdowns.
Circle Oct. 11 on the calendar when the Grizzlies travel to San Ramon Valley.
Monte Vista (4-1): The Mustangs lone blemish is a 24-20 loss to Bishop O’Dowd. Good wins have come over Bellarmine (24-13), James Logan (38-20), and last week, Antioch (37-8).
The offense has been led by a pair of seniors.
Quarterback Brayden Turner (6-4, 210) has thrown for 947 yards, with nine touchdowns and only one interception. Running back Julian McMahon has 583 yards rushing with nine touchdowns. His high-water game came in the loss to Bishop O’Dowd when McMahan ran for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Amador Valley (2-3): The Dons got a huge 24-23 win over Acalanes as they have little margin of error to finish at least 5-5 and earn a spot in the NCS playoffs.
This might be the team few want to play as the season goes on. The offense is led by nationally known senior quarterback Tristan Ti’a. The 6-3, 190-pound slinger has thrown for 1,315 yards with 10 touchdowns and one pick. He can also carry the rock as he has run for 408 yards and nine touchdowns in five games.
Ti’a favorite target thus far has been junior Anthony Harrington. Now in his third year starting for the Amador varsity, Harrington has 33 receptions for 545 yards and three touchdowns. Harrington has carried the ball for 187 total yards.
Kade Robertson, a 6-0, 155-pound junior, has only 11 receptions in five games, but has three touchdowns.
Valley Division
Foothill (3-2): The Falcons have performed well this season, coming from behind late to win two of their three games. Last week was a shootout as Foothill fell 52-45 to unbeaten Half Moon Bay.
The other loss came to an also unbeaten American Canyon.
The Falcons are a very young team, with only four seniors getting significant playing time.
Senior quarterback Jason Knight, who came into the season having never played a snap at the position has been a leader for the young team.
Michael O’Donoghue, a 5-11 senior receiver, has been the best at hauling in the passes for the Falcons, as well as providing vital leadership for the team. Max Shuga, a 6-3 sophomore, has also played well at receiver.
Junior George Schmitt Jr. has been a big-time player on defense, also causing problems in the backfield for the opposing teams.
The big game in the schedule is Nov. 1 when the Falcons travel to Livermore in a game that could decide the Valley title.
Livermore (3-2): The Cowboys lost their opener and their last game. In between they ran off three wins.
The offense has been putting 32 points a game on the board, but the defense is being touched for 21 points a game.
On offense, the Cowboys are all about Kamarri Robinson, a 5-7, 175-pound senior. The powerful runner has 612 yards this year — averaging 7.2 yards a carry with five touchdowns.
Quarterback Matteo Lortie has thrown for 718 yards in five games with 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions.
Granada (2-3): After starting with two losses, the Matadors righted the ship with two wins but then fell 35-10 to California last week.
Things don’t get any easier this week as San Ramon Valley comes to town for the final non-league game.
Through the first three games, a pair of juniors in running back Jaiden Machado and quarterback Jack Badgan have been setting the table.
The key to the rest of the way out for Granada is take their first two EBAL games against Dougherty Valley and Dublin before closing with Foothill and Livermore.
Dougherty Valley (2-3): The Wildcats have not had the toughest schedule, but they are playing well, having been 2-2 before a 28-21 loss at Deer Valley last week.
If they can get a win at Piedmont this week, it will send the Wildcats into league play at 3-3 and still looking at a potential postseason berth.
Dublin (1-4): The Gaels finally found their winning way with a 16-0 win over Freedom.
Two of the losses have come to traditional strong programs in Ukiah and Windsor.
Next couple weeks are tough ones as they host Monte Vista in their last non-league game, then open Valley Division play at Foothill.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation. To sign up for free, visit pleasantonweekly.com/tri-valley-preps-playbook.
