Heritage football head coach Dave Fogelstrom started the day’s practice by going over kickoffs and kickoff returns before they got into their warmup lines on the home sideline with him standing in the middle, leading the drill.
“We grew up a lot,” he said as the players warmed up, passing him by.
Through the summer, from the field to the weight room and after several passing tournaments, he’s seen his team mature day in and day out.
“The team that we were at Sac State (passing tournament) is definitely not the team we are right now,” he said. “We gave our kids a bunch of opportunities and we were all over the place this summer. I think we’ve grown up a lot in the weight room and also on the field.”
As the pads come on and the team prepares for Week 1 at Foothill (Friday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m.), the Patriots will now see if they matured and developed enough to spark the program’s first playoff run in six seasons.
“We don’t ever want a year like ‘okay, this is a growth year,’” Fogelstrom said. “We want to reload, we want to come back and we want to compete. No mistake about it.”
Heritage seemed primed for a playoff return in 2022, starting 4-0 in dominant fashion, outscoring opponents 167-34
through the first four games. However, a loss in Union City at James Logan, followed by injuries, shifted Heritage away from ending the playoff drought. They finished the campaign 2-4 with both of those wins coming decisively against three-win Freedom and winless Deer Valley.
Despite the disappointing end, last season was, however, the first year that the Patriots finished with a winning record since 2017 – the last time the team made the North Coast Section postseason.
One big change for Heritage in 2023 is the program now playing at the NCS Division 2-A level, a step back from Division 1-A that
Brooks Davis, right, celebrates his touch-down catch with JJ Kinnaird, left, during a recent scrimmage game at Dublin High School.
August 25, 7:00 PM @ Foothill (Pleasanton)
September 1, 7:00 PM vs. Granada
September 8, 7:00 PM @ Whitney (Rocklin)
September 15, 7:00 PM @ Vintage (Napa)
September 22, 7:00 PM vs. James Logan
September 29, 7:00 PM vs. Antioch*
October 13, 7:00 PM @ Deer Valley (Antioch)*
October 20, 7:00 PM @ Pittsburg (Pittsburg)*
October 27, 7:00 PM vs. Freedom*
November 3, 7:00 PM @ Liberty (Brentwood)*
*BVAL games
features the likes of local powerhouse De La Salle and league-rival Pittsburg.
“If we can get in the NCS playoffs at the 2-A level, we can make some noise,” Fogelstrom said. “We really think we’re competing at a level that is really good for our team.”
On the field, the Patriots’ biggest change comes on defense.
Last year’s Heritage squad featured senior starters across the board, giving the Patriots an entire side of the ball to replace, an emphasis of sorts entering 2023.
“We got better in our pass coverages in the summer,” Fogelstrom said. “Now the pads come on and we’ll find out the guys that we think might be players. Sometimes somebody will emerge that we didn’t expect and somebody we thought was going to be pretty good will back away from the contact.”
Heritage’s new look defense will look to improve from a team that got just 11 sacks, but also nabbed 15 interceptions in the 10 games played last year.
Offensively, the Patriots could be in for a prime season. Senior wideout and Montanacommit Brooks Davis leads what is projected to be an explosive passing game, along with junior wideout Jordan Kinnaird and tight end Charlie Blaise.
Junior quarterback Austin Peters gets the keys to the offense after being thrust into duty last year as a sophomore. He’s looking to build on a debut campaign that saw him throw for 949 yards with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
“(Peters) has really progressed through the summer,” Fogelstrom said. “Last year, he was kind of forced into duty. Now, he feels more comfortable in the system, he’s more comfortable stepping into that role.”
However, all of this is led by the Patriots’ veteran offensive line led by seniors Santana Roberts, Cole Weatherby and Cody Wong. Roberts and Wong each earned offers from schools like Pacific University (Roberts), University of Puget Sound, and Lewis & Clark College (Wong) over the summer.
“We got a bunch of guys coming back who have been on the o-line and we want to lean on it,” Fogelstrom said. “We want to run the football. It’s high school football, we want to run the football.”
The Patriots offensive line paved the way for Heritage to run for a team total of 2,052 yards last year with senior Devon Rivers rushing for 1,759 of them with 24 rushing touchdowns.
Heritage opens the season in Pleasanton at Foothill High School on Friday, August 25 before returning home a week later to take on Granada on Sept. 1. They’ll host James Logan on Sept. 22 in a rematch of last year’s 17-7 loss before opening league play at home against Antionch on Sept. 29.
The Patriots will finish the season with three of the last four on the road with senior night against Freedom the lone home date in that stretch on Friday, Oct. 27. They’ll travel up Balfour to play Liberty in the annual Brentwood Bowl on Friday, Nov. 3.
To view a video and a slideshow, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia
In 2023, Freedom Falcons are focused on one thing and one thing only.
“The mantra this year is ‘It’s all about us,’” head coach Zach Sims said. “We’re not worried about what the other teams in the area are doing. We think that if we’re the best version of ourselves every day, we’re best equipped to get ourselves as good as we can be.”
Freedom did not participate in last week’s scrimmage week like the other schools in the league and throughout the Bay Area did. Another school not taking part in scrimmages is their opening opponent, NCS Division I runner-up Marin Catholic, who they lost to on opening day last year 55-29.
“We feel we can give each other just as good of a look as we can if we go up against another team that’s maybe a little bit more out of control, or not as ready enough, or injuries happen,” Sims said. “I think we’re going to come in a lot more sharp and ready to go healthy.”
One obstacle Sims mentioned is the Falcons’ lack of overall experience.
The 2023 version of the Falcons are young with juniors and sophomores taking important roles and key positions. However, it’s that sense of teaching and developing that experience that has Sims excited for what’s ahead this season and beyond.
“We have a lot of juniors and firsttime varsity players,” Sims said. “Seeing them grow has been an absolute joy.”
“We went from having to learn basic football fundamentals to now running a very, very complex offense both passing and running. Seeing the growth in these kids and their dedication, their hard work, their coachability, and just the positive energy around the program is really great to see and we’re getting exponentially better every day.”
One of those young positions is at quarterback as 6-foot-1 junior Myles Hunt gets the starting nod. Hunt threw for 836 yards with seven touchdowns and just three interceptions. His best game came against Menlo School where he completed a season-best 19-for-24 passes for 267 yards with a touchdown.
He finished in the top 10 in passing yards amongst quarterbacks in the
NCS Division I, putting him in the same top-10 category that also featured current rival quarterbacks like Pittsburg’s Marley Alcantara and Heritage’s Austin Peters.
Hunt says that while he doesn’t feel the pressure to get the Falcons back to their winning ways, his confidence continues to build despite what the campus has said about the team.
“When I’m walking around school, you know how they talk about the team,” he said. “I have confidence because I’m here every day, they’re not. They don’t know what’s going on here, and they don’t know what’s going on in other schools either. I feel like our league is pretty open to take because a lot of the teams are really young like us.”
“I don’t let it get to me too much because then I lose too much focus out here and they’re not watching us practice every day.”
The Falcons will need Hunt’s experience to lead them past the funk that the program has been through in the last three full seasons. Since losing to San Ramon Valley in the NCS Division I title game back in 2018, the Falcons haven’t won more than three games in each of the last three full seasons: 3-7 in 2019, 2-8 in 2021, and 3-6 last year. They seemed as if they would get back on track last year, splitting their non-conference schedule 2-2. However, they were nearly obliterated when BVAL play started, getting outscored 219-82 with the lone win and over half of those points coming in the season finale against then-winless Deer Valley.
Junior quarterback Myles Hunt runs with his offensive line leading the way during Freedom’s training camp.
“Last season, we had most of our games really close to halftime or the third quarter,” Hunt explained. “In the fourth quarter of some games, they would just cut loose on us and they kind of got away from us.”
“First and foremost, the BVAL is always the number-one or -two rated league in our section. We play in a great league. We play a lot of great opponents,” Sims said. “We played a lot of teams that were senior heavy, having their best teams ever last year, so there’s context behind that.”
Freedom has quite the uphill climb in 2023. Their first three opponents – Marin Catholic, El Cerrito, and Vanden – all lost in the CIF Regional Finals of their respec-
August 26, 1:00 PM @ Marin Catholic (Kentfield)
September 1, 7:00 PM vs. El Cerrito
September 8, 7:00 PM vs. Vanden
September 15, 7:00 PM @ Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park)
September 22, 7:00 PM @ De Anza (El Sobrante)
September 29, 7:00 PM vs. Liberty*
October 13, 7:00 PM vs. Pittsburg*
October 20, 7:00 PM @ Antioch*
October 27, 7:00 PM @ Heritage*
November 3, 7:00 PM vs. Deer Valley*
tive divisions last year. Rancho Cotate was an NCS semifinalist and DeAnza went one-and-done in the NCS playoffs.
Freedom opens BVAL play with back-to-back home matchups against Liberty and Pittsburg before finishing with two of their final three games on the road at Antioch and Heritage before coming home for senior night against Deer Valley.
To view a video and a slideshow, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia
Antioch’s strength and tradition is its ground game.
Last year, the Panthers ran 402 times for 3,357 yards with 38 total rushing touchdowns. In comparison, according to MaxPreps, the national average for a team last season was 1,465 yards on 246 carries and 18 touchdowns. Then-senior Charles Brown Jr. led the Panthers with 1,930 yards on the ground with 20 touchdowns, while quarterback Larenzo Mayfield ran for 778 yards with seven scores on the ground.
With Brown Jr. now graduated and Mayfield returning for his senior season, the Panthers are taking a new approach in 2023 -- the passing game, which brings the Panthers into today’s era of pass-happy football.
“(Offensive coordinator Juan Corral) kind of prepared me for it more, so it’s going to just go well I feel,” Mayfield said, who also added that one of his biggest challenges this season is not running and staying in the pocket.
“It’s definitely a change,” Corral said about the shift in the Panthers’
approach on offense. “We ran the ball over 400 times last year and only threw the ball I think 150, 120 times. So, flipping those numbers on their head a bit was definitely an eye opener for a lot of these guys. But we’re so loaded at the skill positions.”
Last year, Mayfield threw for 756 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, and completed 70 percent
of his passes.
Despite the change, Mayfield’s offensive coordinator Corral, who’s leading the passing charge, says that the transition is going well.
“At first it was rocky,” Mayfield explained. “Now I’ll say I’m starting to look more and more like an actual quarterback.”
“These guys are starting to click,” Corral said. “I think we’re moving really well right now and it’s just a matter of being more consistent with things that we want to do offensively.”
“Everybody’s touching the ball, so it’s pretty good right now,” Mayfield added. “We feel way more confident going into this year. We should be league champs. My goal is for us to be league champs.”
Despite squeaking into the playoffs
August 25, 7:00 PM vs. Arroyo
September 1, 7:00 PM @ Vintage (Napa)
September 8, 7:00 PM vs. James Logan
September 15, 7:30 PM vs. College Park
September 22, 7:00 PM @ Tennyson (Hayward)
September 29, 7:00 PM @ Heritage (Brentwood)*
October 13, 7:00 PM @ Liberty (Brentwood)*
October 20, 7:00 PM vs. Freedom*
October 27, 7:00 PM vs. Deer Valley, (Antioch)*
November 4, 1:30 PM @ Pittsburg*
*BVAL games
last year at 4-6 (3-2 in the BVAL), the Panthers struggled with consistency in 2022. After winning their opener at Monte Vista, they dropped their four remaining non-conference games before snapping their skid with a pair of backto-back wins at Deer Valley, then at Heritage. However, injuries caught up with Antioch as the season went on and they went on to drop two of their last three regular season games, ending with a pair of decisive losses against Pittsburg in the regular season finale and the playoff opener in consecutive weeks.
Antioch opens the season on Friday, Aug. 25 against an Arroyo team that went just 4-6 last season, followed by a trip to Napa to take on Vintage the week after. Their first big test of the season comes at home on Sept. 8 against a James Logan team that had back-to-back NCS first-round playoff losses at De La Salle.
The Panthers open their BVAL schedule at Heritage on Sept. 29 and end the season in the annual Big Little Game at Pittsburg on Saturday, Nov. 4.
To view a video and a slideshow, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia
JEFF WEISINGER
When Liberty opened camp in late June, head coach Mike Cable made one thing clear: “We’re not out here to try.”
As the Lions prepare for the 2023 campaign with Sage Robertson at quarterback, the expectations for the program were made clear from the start: The program has the State tournament on its mind.
“We set very high expectations last season, my first year coming in, putting in a lot of work, and changing the culture here,” Cable said at the start of camp. “We have high expectations. We want to win, we want to go back to the playoffs and we feel we have the contention for State this year.”
Robertston, a junior quarterback, will look to build off of a sophomore season when he led the junior varsity to a 7-2 record, while outscoring league opponents 109-22 through four league games, an average of 27.25 points per game. Like Bell before him, Robertson showed that he has the ability to lead an offense to score points. Now he’ll look to do it on the big stage.
“I feel confident going into the season,” he said. “I feel like we really all are, it’s really been a team effort. We’ve really all come together, and I’ve really gotten into the playbook and my pre-snap reads and all of that. They’re all coming together.”
Robertson has some big shoes to fill. Bell accounted for 2,575 yards of total offense in 2022 with 33 total touchdowns.
“I feel everybody thinks it’s a lot of pressure,” Robertson said. “I’m not going to be like Nate. I’m going to be the best version of me.”
While he doesn’t have Bell’s athleticism, Robertson did get Bell’s offensive line. Liberty features a senior-led offensive line in 2023 who Robertson and the Lions offense will be leaning on this season.
“As a group we have been really working hard together ever since January,” senior offensive lineman Noah Blake said. “We have a big responsibility. The offensive line is the most important position group out there, so we’re really looking forward
to the season getting here.”
The offensive line showed its dominance in 2022 as the Lions averaged 335 offensive yards per game, highlighted by the Lions rushing for 2,235 yards, both numbers of which are nearly 50 percent more than the national average, according to MaxPreps.
Blake added that having a younger and more pocket-based passer like Robertson has been a “good transition”.
“He’s been smooth,” Blake explained. “It’s been really good. (They have) very different play styles, but it’s been a good way to adapt.”
“We always tell him not to worry about what people say and just be himself.”
Defensively, the Lions are hoping to build on the strong 2022 campaign that saw them get 18.5 sacks with 21 total interceptions including two returned for touchdowns -- another piece of the puzzle that got them to within a game of the NCS Championship last year.
Liberty opens their season on the road at James Enochs High in Modesto on Thursday, Aug. 24. The Lions shut out the Eagles on opening day last year, 56-0 at home. Liberty returns home to Brentwood to take on Los Gatos a week later on Friday, Sept. 1.
Their biggest non-conference test comes on Sept. 22 against the 2022 NCS Division 2 champ and CIF State Division 2A
Junior quarterback Sage Robertson looks to throw during the Lions’ camp practice.
runner-up San Ramon Valley Wolves.
The Lions
PM vs. Antioch*
October 20, 7:00 PM vs. Deer Valley*
October 27, 7:00 PM vs. Pittsburg*
November 3, 7:00 PM vs. Heritage*
will host the defending NCS Division 1-A champ and CIF Division 1-A State runner-up Pittsburg on Oct. 27. The Lions will finish the year against Heritage in the annual Brentwood Bowl on Nov. 3 at home.
To view a video and a slideshow, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia
When Charles Wright stepped behind his center for the first play in team session during the Wolverines’ practice on Monday, he took a bad snap from his center and the play ended up as a fumble out of the end zone. The next play was an incomplete pass into coverage, and the third play was an overthrow toward the sideline.
He then went on to complete the rest of his pass attempts, minus one deep ball afterward and shook his defense on a few scrambles and an option play.
Despite early misfires, Wright’s ability to bounce back and show the potential that head coach Matthew Mills and his staff have said could be what helps Deer Valley bounce back after a 2023 that saw the program freefall into an 0-10 record. It’s also the theme for the Wolverines in 2023 -- ‘bounce back.’
“He’s done a great job of just kind of attacking the moment,” Mills said after practice Monday. “He kind of got thrown in there in our 7-on-7 we had and he hadn’t planned on being our starter, but through this offseason he just kind of took command of the offense and having the guys rally around him and believe in him.”
“I think (my teammates) would say I’m
good at what I do,” Wright said.
Wright also fits into Mills’ long-term plan of rebuilding the culture of Deer Valley football, now having a quarterback that he plans to be his starter to build around for the next three seasons starting this year.
“(Wright) made us feel real comfortable as a coaching staff going with a young guy,” Mills said. “Then having the advantage as years go on, his experience continues and
was built on something really special.”
Wright takes the starting quarterback job over senior Coby Fosselman who was originally set to take the spot entering the 2023 campaign, but decided to focus more at tight end and defense.
Wright also takes over for a team riding a 17-game losing streak entering the campaign.
“This year, I feel like we can win games and do well,” Wright said. When asked about the doubters outside of Deer Valley, Wright added that he and the team “use it as motivation.”
Deer Valley hopes that Wright can get the offense to be explosive in 2023. Last year, the Wolverines threw just five total touchdown passes between Fosselman (3) and then-senior Ayanfe Adediran Jr. (2) with
neither quarterback reaching the 1,000-yard mark in passing. Mills is hoping that stability at the quarterback position will create production and consistency, or at least plant the seeds for it going forward.
“The number one question every team has is ‘Who’s your quarterback?,” Mills said. “I think having a young quarterback that we’re building a young core around puts us in a great spot for the future.”
Deer Valley opens its season in Concord against Mt. Diablo on Friday, Aug. 25. They’ll play at home in Antioch for the first time on Friday, Sept. 9 against Kennedy-Fremont looking to get revenge for last season’s 12-7 loss in Fremont.
Of the five teams that Deer Valley will play in their non-conference part of the season, only Dougherty Valley had a winning record in 2022, going 6-4.
The Wolverines open league play at Pittsburg on Oct. 6 and close the season on the road at Freedom on Nov. 3.
To view a video and a slideshow, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia
Pittsburg football is the current king of East County.
They’ve won 16 straight games in the BVAL and 19 of their last 20 since 2018 to hang onto the BVAL crown for the last three full seasons, and went unbeaten easily during the shortened and delayed COVID season in the spring of 2021.
The one crown that has slipped away from them the last two years, however, has been the CIF State title.
The Pirates have gotten to the CIF Division 1-A State playoffs in each of the last two seasons, losing both times to the Liberty Patriots of Bakersfield – first in the regional finals in 2021, then in the State Championship last year.
“Liberty-Bakersfield is a fantastic program,” said Pirates head coach Charlie Ramirez who is taking over the helm for the first time after spending the last 10 years as an assistant coach. “Tip of the hat to them, but we know what we want to accomplish and we know that we got to get over that big hurdle, which is winning State. That’s going to continue to be our objective.
“We’re going to continue to strive for that, whether it’s NCS, whether it’s BVAL, obviously Northern California and, ultimately, winning State.”
Even with a new head coach in Ramirez, Pittsburg’s biggest attribute is to consistently perform at a high level week after week, year after year, something that Ramirez says doesn’t come easily.
“I think it’s very hard,” Ramirez explained. “It’s not just consistency. Once you get in a season, or even in the summertime, it’s establishing that consistency – in the classroom in January when the spring semester starts, establishing the norms of the program. As long as you get the guidelines
and you let the players know where they can move and eliminate a lot of gray, that’s what’s going to help these guys understand what the ultimate objective is and be able to stay on that course.”
The lineup will look a lot different from the team that went to its second-straight CIF playoff appearance and first State Finals last year. Along with Ramirez now on the sideline, junior quarterback Marley Alcantara takes over as the starting quarterback with Jaden Rashada graduated and now at Arizona State.
Alcantara, a 5-foot-8 junior, got plenty of reps behind the then-senior Rashada, throwing 14 touchdowns with just one interception and 908 yards passing, fourth-best in the BVAL. Where he lacks traditional size, his coaches say he makes up for it everywhere else.
“The strength of my game is me as a leader and my poise being under distress in the pocket or outside of the pocket,” Alcantara said. “I can make plays all over the field, and the way I lead my team to get everybody rallied up and ready to go.”
quarterback Marley Alcantara sets to throw during the Pirates team session in their camp practice.
Ramirez agreed with his quarterback.
“Marley has all of the intangibles that you want out of a D-I quarterback,” Ramirez said.
“Marley is going to have an opportunity to make a lot of big plays and, being the quarterback of Pittsburg High School traditionally, the main objective is to get the ball in the hands of the playmaker. Marley does a good job of not only doing that, but also understanding the dynamics of the game and of the scheme. “As a first-year head coach having a quarterback like him, I really couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Alcantara not only leads a stacked junior skills class, but he’ll also get a lot of help from numerous other returning players as well to pick up where the offense left off in 2022. Last year, Pittsburg racked up 6,118 total yards on offense, averaging 407.9 yards per game, scoring 78 touchdowns.
“It’s like last year,” Ramirez said. “We had a lot of sophomores that were starters and have returned, so that helps. Having a quarterback that got a lot of varsity playing
August 26, 1:00 PM @ Sacred Heart
Cathedral Prep (San Francisco)
September 1, 7:30 PM @ Granite Bay
September 8, 7:15 PM vs. Monterey Trail
September 15, 7:00 PM vs. California
September 29, 7:30 PM @ Los Gatos
October 6, 5:00 PM vs. Deer Valley,*
October 13, 7:00 PM @ Freedom (Oakley)*
October 20, 7:00 PM vs. Heritage*
October 27, 7:00 PM @ Liberty (Brentwood)*
November 4, 1:30 PM vs. Antioch*
time last year, that all helps, and a returning running back that started all 15 games. We have another four sophomores that are going to be on varsity and we’re going to have incoming freshmen be on varsity, so it’s easy for those guys to follow suit.”
The Pirates’ chase for a third consecutive trip to the CIF State playoffs starts at San Francisco’s Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 1 p.m. They’ll continue the road trip a week later at Granite Bay who were the runner-ups in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 Finals.
Pittsburg opens BVAL play against Deer Valley at home on Friday, Oct. 6 and will end the season in the Big Little Game at home against Antioch on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m.
To view a video and a slideshow, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia
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