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Take two East Bay Athletic League football teams coached by successful former high school and college quarterbacks and you can expect high octane offenses.
But it would have been tough to forecast what California and Amador Valley did on Friday (Nov. 8).
The two teams came in averaging over 400 yards per game and scoring a lot of points. It figured to be a track meet, and it was, as the Grizzlies survived with a 54-48 overtime final where both teams exceeded their average output.
The two head coaches, Danny Calcagno at California and Danny Jones at Amador, were exciting and prominent quarterbacks in their days, with Calcagno at San Leandro and Jones at Amador.
Friday night the teams combined for 1,214 yards and 102 total points.
And it was the two superstars that led the way for each team.
California running back Jhadis Luckey had 35 carries for 425 yards and seven touchdowns. For Amador, quarterback Tristan Ti’a was 26-for-37 for 412 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 90 yards and two more touchdowns.
As crazy as the game was, the last two minutes spoke volumes.
Amador was trailing 42-40 and Cal was driving to try to run out the clock. After picking up a first down inside the Amador 10-yard-line, things looked dismal for the Dons.
Jones then made a big call.
“I told our kids to let them score, we would block the extra point, drive down and tie it,” Jones said. “My defensive coach just looked at me.”
Until it worked. Cal scored, the Dons did indeed block the extra point, then went down and scored, getting the two-point conversion and a 48-48 game.
“I think I could have used a little better clock management at the end,” Calcagno said.
Amador got the ball to start the overtime, but the Cal defense held, got the ball back and scored to end the amazing game.
And it could have been even higher scoring, with both teams making some mistakes as well.
“It was a great game,” Calcagno said. “But we tried to give it away, then they tried to give it away.”
Jones agreed.
“We had to punt twice, and they fumbled a few times,” Jones said.
Both coaches had high praise for the other’s star.
“(Luckey) is amazing — he did it all,” said Jones.
“That Ti’a kid is pretty special,” Calcagno said. “We couldn’t tackle him and couldn’t stop him.”
NCS football
As expected, the East Bay Athletic League is well-represented across multiple levels in the North Coast Section tournament.
In the Open/D-I playoffs, De La Salle is the top seed and hosts San Marin on Friday night in the first round.
San Ramon Valley (No. 3) hosts California (6) Friday night as well. The Wolves beat the Grizzlies 38-26 the time they met this year.
In the D-II playoffs, Amador was seeded No. 2 and will host No. 7 Las Lomas. Monte Vista (5) will travel to Bishop O’Dowd (4) on Friday night as well.
Dublin got a spot in the D-III playoffs and will travel to top-seeded Acalanes on Friday night for a 7 p.m. game.
Finally in D-IV action, third-seeded Granada will play host to No. 6 Livermore on Friday. The Mats beat the Cowboys 28-27 last week.
Girls’ golf
Dougherty Valley continued its sensational year by winning the team title of the NCS Division I title held Nov. 4 at the Paradise Valley Golf Course in Fairfield.
The Wildcats finished with a team score of 373, easily finishing ahead of second place Bishop O’Dowd who came in at 403. Carondelet completed the top three with 407.
Individually, Lily Peng of Carondelet won the title with a 68, beating Alyssa Lim of James Logan who came in at 69. Elsa Hsieh of Irvington was third at 70, with Hayley Fong of Bishop O’Dowd in fourth with a 71.
For Dougherty Valley, the key this year was a group of seniors coming together for their last go around in their last year of high school golf.
“What makes this season even more special is that all five seniors came together to prove ourselves and demonstrate that we truly are the best in the EBAL,” captain Riley Jiang said. “In our last year of high school, we showed everyone that we’re more than just a collection of players — we’re a united team!”
Being a team in every sense of the word is something that was soothing to the players in big moments.
“There was a lot of camaraderie between us while we were practicing before the match, which is one of my favorite things about our team,” Sneha Ganesh said. “I always feel more calm when I talk to my teammates before a match.”
And it all came down to a huge season that is not over yet.
“The memories of winning NCS and making it to NorCal’s is not something every player gets to experience,” Chloe Ku said. “These are the memories I cherish.”
Here are the following scores for EBAL teams:
Dougherty Valley (373): Michelle Ho (72), Chloe Ku (72), Cynthia Liu (74), Rachelle Lee (77), Erin Lee (78), Tia Saini (88).
Carondelet (407): Lily Peng (68), Katherine Keith (74), Sam Reyes (84), Sannaya Duggal (89), Madison Mathis (92), Sahana Duggal (92).
Dublin (441): Callie McLaughlin (75), Chloe Giang (86), Audrey Phan (91), Sofia Shiao (101), Beverly Chen (105).
Amador Valley (442): Jayleen Sito (74), Ireland Cox (75), Jessica Chan (89), Shriya Jaishankar (102), Sissi Wang (102), Sydney Le (105).
Monte Vista (456): Madeline Bui (85), Lauren Kim (87), Mya Chan (90), Grace Michiels (96), Kaitlyn Chung (98), Madison Green (113).
Foothill (457): Elizabeth Hang (77), Natalia Lo (90), Maya Viswanathan (93), Aalia Desai (96), Aanya Palkonda (101), Leila Fu (102).
California (461): Emily Zhang (80), Kate Shu (82), Tuip Deka (92), Cassidy Chiang (99), Aanika Iyer (108), Elin Rhyne (110).
Livermore (497): Quinn Johnson (80), Natalie Messing (97), Thalia Chavez (101), Ella Carroll (102), Alana McKee (117), Reese Boswell (120).
San Ramon Valley (568): Mia McDowell (77), Mary-Grace Lickiss (113), Angelina Yen (114), Rae Reichenberg (132), Lucine Boghossian (132), Chloe Petroskey (135).
Individuals: Lael Park (Emerald – 83), Kylee Scroggs (Granada – 86),
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.
