Coming into this high school football season it was going to be tough to get an accurate read on the California High varsity.
The Grizzlies were coming off an 8-3 season but were hit hard by graduation on the offensive line, losing four of their five starters.
In addition, Cal was also hit with the loss of junior running back Jhadis Luckey, who had an amazing season, running for 2,053 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Luckey chose to inexplicably transfer to Clayton Valley for his senior season, despite a legendary junior campaign. Luckey has run for 1,305 yards and 18 touchdowns through his team’s first six games for a Clayton team that is 4-3 in the season.
Cal did return quarterback Arjun Banerjee and that was enough of a starting point for the team.
The Grizzlies started the season innocently enough, beating Patterson 14-11 and James Logan 17-7 to open the season.
Though neither game was anything spectacular, the Grizzlies were growing as a team.
They continued to grow – and following the 33-14 win over San Ramon Valley last Friday night, Cal stands 7-0 overall and 1-0 in the brutally tough Mountain Division.
“The kids are hard workers, and this team is very close,” Cal coach Danny Calcagno said. “And, I think I have the best coaching staff in the state. It’s been a huge difference – it’s like a college staff.”
The win over San Ramon Valley gave the Grizzlies control of the Mountain Division and redemption over a team that beat them twice last year – 38-26 in the regular season and then 35-7 in the North Coast Section playoffs.
At the core of the success is the play of Banerjee. After a decent junior season, the senior has gone to the next level. He has thrown for 1,242 yards with 14 touchdowns and only four picks. He has completed an amazing 73% of his passes.
“(Banerjee) has really been coming through,” Calcagno said. “He’s got a cannon – I think he could throw it 75 yards.”
Friday night against San Ramon Valley, Banerjee was 10-of-13 for 268 yards. It seemed like every time the Grizzlies needed yardage, he was able to provide, hitting the middle of the field where his receivers were running free.
“He watched so much film of San Ramon,” Calcagno said of Banerjee. “He was calling me with ideas and letting me know what he had seen.”
With Banerjee ready to roll, it came down to his receivers to get open, and he would get them the ball. What was amazing to me as I watched the game was that the receivers were eating up huge chunks of real estate before the ball was in the air.
“We’ve got some receivers that can get down the field,” Calcagno said.
Darius Brown, Luke Taylor and Eli Varanini have not posted eye-popping numbers, but all three have been consistent, giving Cal the chance to move the ball through the air.
Brown has 18 catches this year for 422 yards and six touchdowns. Taylor is next with 17 catches for 410 yards and six TDs, with Varanini catching 15 passes for 153 yards and one score.
Multiple options make it tough for defensive units formulating a game plan.
With Luckey having packed his bag and left town, the running game has fallen in large part to Jordan Lee. Lee has carried 105 times for 632 yards and seven touchdowns.
Against San Ramon Valley, he only had 49 yards but found the end zone three times.
Now, Cal has three regular season games left before the postseason. And even with the huge win over the Wolves, there is plenty of work to be done.
First up is a road game at Monte Vista, followed by a game with De La Salle, followed by closing out the regular season against an Amador Valley team that could be as healthy as they have been all year.
“When we get back to work on Monday, we will work on getting back to what we have done all year,” Calcagno said. “We’ve got some strong senior leadership this year. We had the best week of practice last week before San Ramon Valley.”
Flag football
The East Bay Athletic League playoffs begin Tuesday with the top four teams – two from the Mountain and two from the Valley – battling for the EBAL title.
California is the top seed for the Mountain and will host Granada. On the other side, Amador was the top seed for the Valley and is the home team against San Ramon Valley.
I had a chance to go out and watch some flag football, catching the Amador Valley-San Ramon Valley game in the first round of the Green and Gold Tournament (SRV fundraiser) on Saturday morning, and it was awesome.
It was exciting, quickly played and full of athletic players from both teams. If you haven’t seen a game yet, get out and see one, whether in the EBAL playoffs or the NCS playoffs!
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.
