Welcome back to Monday Morning Lights, our weekly feature that sheds more light on the high school football weekend and peeks ahead to the new week. If you haven’t already, please subscribe. Your contributions keep us going.
DE LA SALLE: SON MAKES MJD PROUD
Maurice Jones-Drew wore a number of hats during De La Salle’s season opener Friday night. Coach. Dad. Family host.
The former De La Salle and NFL star figured it wouldn’t be until he was alone that it would hit him.
The emotion of seeing his son, sophomore Duece Jones-Drew, running down the middle of De La Salle’s field for a touchdown three snaps into his first high school game.
Nearly a quarter-century ago, Jones Drew made similar electrifying dashes to the end zone for the storied Concord powerhouse before moving on to UCLA and the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Now it’s Duece’s turn.
“When you have a son who wants to follow in your footsteps, it’s exciting,” Jones-Drew said. “He wanted to come here. He could have gone anywhere in the country. He wanted to go to De La Salle. He wanted to come to the football camps. He always wanted to come to this school because he heard me and my buddies talk.
“To see him living it is awesome. I’ll boohoo in the car once I drop my mom off. It’ll just be me,” added Jones-Drew, whose mother, Coco, flew in from Atlanta. “It was super emotional seeing him run.”
Duece had to go the extra mile to return to the field. He missed all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
But the reward came early in the first quarter Friday against Grant-Sacramento when Duece was given the ball in a play called “13 veer.”
It ended with De La Salle’s first points of the season and ignited a 42-14 victory.
“As dad, I don’t coach him,” said Jones-Drew, an assistant on Justin Alumbaugh’s staff. “I let Terron (Ward) coach him. I try to be dad. But to see the other guys help him out, work with him, to see the friends that he has created over the last year has been awesome.”
Like a seasoned veteran, young Duece gave all credit to the line.
“Really all I had to do was run straight,” he said.
Straight was good enough to bring tears to his dad’s eyes.
– Darren Sabedra
SERRA: PLAYING ROLE OF UNDERDOG
For the first time in a long time, at least regionally, the Serra Padres see themselves as the hunters and not the hunted.
Many media outlets – including this one – did not give the Patrick Walsh-led school much of a shot against Northern California powerhouse Folsom on Friday.
Not because Walsh suddenly forgot how to coach. It was because the longtime coach’s 2024 squad has new starters at virtually every spot.
But the team showed why you should “Never Doubt those Serra Padres” – as Walsh shouted postgame to his players – by beating the Bulldogs in stunning fashion.
Serra is embracing the new mindset.
“Serra has never been an underdog,” said kicker Brody Smith, who knocked in the go-ahead 38-yard field goal on Friday. “This is the first year no one has believed in us. So we’re playing with a chip on our shoulders.”
Serra will visit De La Salle on Friday with the same underdog attitude it had against Folsom.
“We’re going to watch some De La Salle film, practice hard and go out there and handle business as usual,” Serra quarterback Andrew Heneghan said.
– Nathan Canilao
CLAYTON VALLEY: MURPHY’S HONOR
Former coach Tim Murphy – the muscular man who led Clayton Valley Charter to a state championship, plus 10 league, four NCS, three NorCal titles – had the school’s field named in his honor before the Ugly Eagles’ season-opening loss on Friday to Spanish Springs-Nevada.
“I’m fired up, man, because that was pretty cool of them to do,” Murphy told the Bay Area News Group earlier in the week.
Murphy’s parents and his wife were all there. So was longtime friend George Buddy, the best man at Murphy’s wedding. Buddy’s son Deacon plays for Spanish Springs and thus was able to be in Concord for the ceremony.
“Everything has worked out pretty well,” Murphy said.
Murphy coached the Ugly Eagles from 2012 to 2022. He continues to work at the school as a P.E teacher.
Under his guidance, CVC was known for a ground-and-pound philosophy that racked up mind-boggling rushing numbers. When asked about his favorite teams to coach, Murphy fondly remembered the 2014 squad that rushed for 7,055 yards.
– Joseph Dycus
RIORDAN: TOUCHDOWN CHALK TALK
Cynai Thomas’ clutch 40-yard touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter of Riordan’s 35-34 victory was so effortless that it almost looked like a blown coverage by McClymonds.
But the junior receiver with Division I talent made it look easy because he knew exactly how to attack that certain coverage.
“We were getting a cover three shell, and I was the single receiver so it was cover one and he was in man-mode,” Thomas said. “I attacked his outside leverage, broke it back for the post, and then scored.”
In that coverage, the outside cornerbacks play man-to-man with just a single safety responsible for providing help deep.
After playing for over three hours, both teams were beset with cramps and fatigue.
For Thomas to score, he needed to — and did – dig deep to run past his man and the safety over the top for the touchdown.
“We were tired, and they were tired, and they’re the ones who pulled it out,” Peters said.
– Joseph Dycus
BELLARMINE: RB ‘IN GOOD SPIRTS’ AFTER INJURY SCARE
Saturday’s game between Bellarmine and Menlo-Atherton took a scary turn when running back Reese McKeever was down on the field after taking a big hit in the first quarter.
The senior was unable to get back to his feet and needed medical help to get off the field. The game was paused for about 30 minutes before the teams resumed play.
While Bellarmine athletic director Kevin Saldivar said he couldn’t comment on McKeever’s injury, he told the Bay Area News Group: “He’s in good spirits and wants to get back with his teammates as quickly as possible.”
— Nathan Canilao
SANTA CLARA: OPENING KICKOFF WIZARDRY
Santa Clara coach Nelson Gifford wasn’t expecting to see his team recover its first kickoff of the 2024 season. But that’s exactly what the Bruins did to start their game against MacDonald on Friday night.
The Condors never touched the opening kickoff, which landed in the open field, and Santa Clara pounced to set up great field position at the MacDonald 30-yard line. A few plays later, the Bruins capitalized with Joseph Ting’s 12-yard rushing touchdown.
“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think I’ve ever recovered an opening kickoff,” Gifford said afterward. “I’ve had an opening kickoff recovered on me. That’s happened to me, but I don’t think I’ve ever recovered an opening kickoff, and certainly not like that. And so that was pretty, pretty cool, and I’ve got to give credit to my special teams coordinator AJ Castillo.”
The kickoff set the tone for the rest of the matchup, which Santa Clara dominated 40-0. It was MacDonald’s first game as a varsity football program.
– Christian Babcock
PEEK AHEAD TO WEEK 2
Friday
Serra (1-0) at De La Salle (1-0), 7:30 p.m.: Serra, coming off a stunning 22-21 victory at Folsom, takes on top-ranked De La Salle for the third year in a row. Serra has won the previous two matchups with DLS, including 28-0 in 2023.
Archbishop Riordan (1-0) at St. Bonaventure (2-0), 7 p.m.: The Seraphs beat Riordan in San Francisco last season.
McClymonds (0-1) at St. Francis (1-0), 7 p.m.: Can McClymonds, with 19 players on its roster, bounce back from a last-minute loss to Riordan? Host St. Francis is coming off a dominant victory at San Diego-area powerhouse Helix-La Mesa.
Bishop O’Dowd (1-0) at Monte Vista (1-0), 7 p.m.: Both teams blew out Week 1 opponents. Washington commits star for both O’Dowd (Deji Ajose) and Monte Vista (Julian McMahan).
Lincoln-San Jose (0-1) at San Jose (1-0), 7 p.m.: Will Lincoln win for the 27th straight time in this matchup between the two oldest public schools in San Jose — aka the Big Bone game?
— Joseph Dycus