DFAL Sideline Pass: Century Mark Runners and Dougherty Valley’s First DFAL Win

Signature Win: In its second full season in the Diablo Foothill Athletic League, Dougherty Valley picked up its first league win Friday night in San Ramon against Campolindo. Running backs Lucas Raventos and Michael Spivey went over the century mark on the ground and Landon Crawl's late interception sealed the 28-14 win.  The Wildcats travel this week to Orinda to take on undefeated Miramonte (see more below).

100-Yard Rushers: Ground-game production continued in week one of DFAL play, with six backs cracking the 100-yard mark: Miramonte's Ross Anderson (165 yards, one touchdown); Acalanes' Aaron Edwards (155 yards, two touchdowns); Las Lomas' Marquis Waters (152 yards, two touchdowns); Alhambra's Jared Leaf (130 yards, one touchdown; and Dougherty Valley's dynamic duo of Raventos (128 yards and a touchdown) and Spivey (117 yards and touchdown).

Miramonte stays perfect:  The Miramonte offense continues to light up the scoreboard, scoring 33 points or more in its last four games, and remaining undefeated at 5-0.  While skill position players such as Ross Anderson, John Coupin and Anthony Piganelli have racked up the numbers, the work upfront has been impressive, as well.  The offensive line (Ross Dolbec, Blake Swimmer, Beau Davis, Brian Friel and Tyler Young) protected well on passing downs and opened up holes for Anderson and Coupin to run through.

They Said It: "We put in work the whole week in practice. We played with all of our heart and we played like a family. Our motto is to beat the other team up and then keep pushing forward." – Dougherty Valley RB/LB Michael Spivey, after the Wildcat's win over Campolindo.

Iron-Man Award:  Miramonte DL/OL Brian Friel. The senior had two key sacks in the first half of the Matador's win over Acalanes, and was a key cog in the offense from his right guard position.

Keep an eye on: The Las Lomas quarterbacks. Sophomore Adam Woods came off the bench in the Knight's loss to Alhambra, and completed 11 of 18 passes for 113 yards and 1 TD. With fellow sophomore Jackson Miller already in the mix, it will be interesting to follow these two young quarterbacks and see how they respond in the final five games of the regular season.

Top Billing for Friday: After knocking off Campolindo in week one, Dougherty Valley travels to Miramonte for a crack at the undefeated Matadors. A hard-hitting matchup I'm looking forward to keeping tabs on: Edsel Snoddy, Zac Walsh and DV's defensive line against the Mat's stout offensive front.

Also see: Dublin had a bye last week, and starts league play on the road at Alhambra. A Dublin upset could completely jump-start its season. 

Parting Shot: Bad news from Berkeley that the Cal Athletic Department is eliminating baseball, women's lacrosse, and men's and women's gymnastics, while rugby is being reassigned to club sport status.  A number of East Bay alumni will be affected, including former DFAL football standouts Connor Ring and Kenny Bruzzone from Acalanes, and brothers Drew and Grant Hyjer (Miramonte), among others.

E-mail Jim Mannion at mannion.jim@gmail.com with any questions, comments or feedback.

Pierre Bautista and Kyle Bonagura contributed to this report.