Sportstars
City State Of Mind: Galileo Back For More After 2017 State Title Shocker
The notion of an Academic Athletic Association football team winning a state championship seemed remote at best until Galileo, the alma mater of O.J. Simpson, pulled it off last December in stunning fashion. The Lions, led by sophomore Yarvell Smith, the league’s Player of the Year, and Jimmy Edwards,... Read more
Cardinal Newman Football: From The Ashes
Close To A Year After Its Community And Campus Were Ravaged By The Tubbs Fire, Cardinal Newman High Football Won A True Homecoming Game • SANTA ROSA — Nearly 11 months after the Tubbs fire ripped through Northern California, the pains remain for communities still rebuilding from the devastation... Read more
Clash Splash: Keshad Johnson Shines At Hoop Showcase
NorCal Clash Provides Proving Ground And Newest San Leandro High Standout Makes The Most Of It • In a basketball all-star event like the NorCal Clash, players are preparing for their move from the high school stage onto a larger platform: the college game. It’s an evolutionary stage for these... Read more
NCVA’s Nine High Performance Teams Show Well At National Event
Another sparkling summer for the NCVA and its member clubs wrapped up at the end of July as the organization’s NorCal High Performance program sent nine different teams to compete in the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With five boys teams and four girls teams, NCVA... Read more
Mack Keeps Truckin’: McClymonds Looks To Remain King Of Oakland Football
You lose 18 of 30 players to graduation or transfer and there’s reason for concern. But McClymonds- Oakland football coach Michael Peters just rolls with the punches. That’s how it works in West Oakland. The Warriors have suffered their unfair share of pain and tragedy, including the death last month... Read more
Northern Section Lights: NS Football’s Four Big Questions
There’s Plenty To Watch For In the Northern Section This Football Season — We Take A Look At Some Of The Biggest Storylines To Follow • Some things are automatic for Northern Section football. Linemen will grow humongous, section officials will refuse to start football early and someone will be... Read more
Berean Christian Football: Size Advantage
With A Roster Of Less Than Thirty, The Berean Christian Eagles Are Happy To Play Underdogs In A Much Larger League — And Prepare For A Real Run At A Division V Section Crown • As an outsider looking in, it would be perfectly understandable to argue a small... Read more
Football 2018: Liberty’s Encore Roar
A Liberty-Brentwood Team With A Stacked Roster Aims For More NCS Glory After 2017 Championship Breakthrough • What a night! Second one of December in 2017. They won’t forget it. Not Liberty High School, the 116-year-old school at the heart of Brentwood, the agricultural community of over 60,000 in... Read more
Sac-Joaquin Realignment: All Shook Up
Placer’s Move To Div. III-Size Foothill Valley League Among Storylines In Sac-Joaquin Section Realignment • Michael Stuck had to crane his neck and shout to be heard on the Placer High practice field Aug. 1.  The Auburn school’s three-year quarterback kept such a furious pace during conditioning that his... Read more
Football 2018: Secondary To None
Sac-Joaquin Section’s Top-Flight Defensive Backs Live With Thrills, Perils Of Big-Play Microscope • The spotlight on defensive backs shines bright. It can be used to illuminate greatness and showcase style and personality. And it can expose glaring mistakes and wilt confidence and poise. For every Deion Sanders high-stepping pick-six... Read more
Football 2018: National Defense
Defense Wins Championships — And In The Bay Area Particularly This Season — It Will Be Leading To Major Scholarships As Well • It wasn’t very long ago that every football recruiting reporter in the country had to keep his or her eyes and ears focused on the Bay... Read more
2018 High School Football Preview: Christmas in August
Welcome to the 2018 football season. And since I’m technically typing this in July, things feel weird. This year’s mid-August start is new for everyone, and it’s been adjustment for all. Not just overworked editors grumbling about how their summer has never been shorter. In all honestly, it’s hard... Read more