Bay Area high school football games of the week: SRV faces Monte Vista

San Ramon Valley's Aden Owolabi, left, and Monte Vista's Kai Stone square off during last season's Battle of Danville game. Host San Ramon Valley won 28-10. (Jason Weed/MaxPreps) Close to 10,000 fans jammed Monte Vista's Sam Zackheim Stadium in the 2002 version of the Battle of Danville.The host Mustangs and crosstown rival San Ramon Valley delivered one of the greatest regular-season high school football games in Bay Area history.Two future NFL-rostered quarterbacks, Monte Vista's Kyle Wright - the nation's No. 1 recruit - and Arizona State-bound Sam Keller drove their teams up and down the field all night, each with massive touchdown drives in the final minute. Wright capped a 71-yard march in 40 seconds with his sixth touchdown pass, a 5-yarder to Cal-bound Sam DeSa with four seconds left to pull out a 46-44 victory to clinch Monte Vista's first first East Bay Athletic League title in 10 years. Keller had seemingly driven his team to the game-winning TD with a 7-yard TD pass to Mike Jaeger with 44 seconds left.The quarterbacks combined for 713 passing yards and 10 touchdowns, the game featured 1,014 total yards, and the lead changed hands four times in the final 8 minutes, 47 seconds."Electric" was how Monte Vista current head coach Joe Wingert described it. A former two-way lineman for the Mustangs watched from the sideline after graduating the season before, when Monte Vista pulled out a 38-34 game. "Thrilling. I was exhausted just watching it."The teams met three weeks later for the North Coast Section 3A championship at the Oakland Coliseum that Monte Vista won in more conventional fashion, 35-14, to complete a 13-0 season. The Wolves finished 10-3. The two squads meet again Friday at Monte Vista with the EBAL Mountain Division title at stake in the Chronicle's Game of the Week. Both teams are 8-1 and 2-1, with both teams having lost to top-ranked De La Salle-Concord, in completely different fashion.The third-ranked Wolves actually led 7-3 at De La Salle at halftime and gave the Spartans their only real tussle in weeks before losing 31-14. In a game at 10th-ranked Monte Vista, there was a running clock in the second quarter of De La Salle's 51-0 win.Though the series between the two rivals is almost even at 33-31-1 in favor of San Ramon Valley, the Wolves have dominated of late with six straight wins, including 28-10 last season. Computer ratings from hsratings.com predict San Ramon Valley will win Friday 31-21.The Wolves, ranked 15th in the state by Sports Illustrated, led by senior quarterback Cole Dawes (1,694 passing yards, 22 touchdowns), junior running back Owen Power (943 yards, 16 TDs), 4-star junior offensive linemen Aden Owolabi (6-foot-6, 280 pounds), Oklahoma-bound receiver Colton Fitzgibbon and a rugged, balanced defense punctuated with third-year starting cornerback Dietrick Burks Jr.Monte Vista, which rebounded from last year's loss to SRV to win the NCS Division 2 title, has largely overachieved behind senior quarterback Jimmy Lagios (1,614 yards, 15 TDs), a running fleet led by sophomore Charles Hawkins (nine touchdowns) and two-way standout Caden Boscia.The recent San Ramon Valley power surge in Danville is explained partially in numbers. Longtime Danville residents generally describe San Ramon Valley as the sports school, while Monte Vista is more focused on academics. With open enrollment, Danville's top athletes have been flocking to San Ramon Valley.This season, the Wolves boast a roster of 58 to 44 for Monte Vista. Last season, the discrepancy was 71-50. From 2021-24, the Wolves had rosters of 76, 79, 74 and 66, while Monte Vista was at 29, 39, 76 and 53. Wingert isn't looking for sympathy and certainly isn't conceding defeat. "First off, (SRV coach) Aaron Becker and his staff do a great job. Really good," he said. "We match up well in certain areas. We'll have to move some guys around to handle their big offensive line. They're the favorites for sure, but of course I think we can win. It's a rivalry game. It's the battle of Danville." More top games of the week(All 7 p.m. Friday unless noted)Analy-Sebastopol (8-1) at San Rafael (8-1):The host Bulldogs are after their first nine-win seasons since 2010 thanks largely to a high-powered passing attack that features senior quarterback Freddy Yah (1,726 yards, 19 touchdowns) and an array of receiving threats, led by senior tight end Will Healy (54 catches, 751 yards, 10 TDs). Four others have at least 20 catches while combining for 13 TDs. Analy, led by quarterback Matthew Medina (2,294 passing yards, 27 TDs) and running back Kaleb Jacobs (1,432 total yards, 22 touchdowns), averages 46 points per game. Benicia (7-2) at No. 6 Acalanes-Lafayette (8-1):Besides playing for the Diablo Athletic League Foothill crown, Benicia has payback on its mind after losing four straight to the Dons, including 51-25 last season. The three previous seasons were by a combined 149-14 count, so the Panthers are making up ground. But they have to deal with the area's most prolific quarterback in Tyler Winkles (3,100 total yards, 42 touchdowns) and top receiver Finn Rivera (69 catches, 1,036 yards, 14 touchdowns). No. 7 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (7-2) at Windsor (8-1):A Windsor win would likely create a three-way tie for the Redwood Empire Adobe League title with Marin Catholic-Kentfield, which handed the host Jaguars their only defeat (28-27 on Oct. 9). Newman beat Marin Catholic 28-7 a week later. The programs have split their last four meetings, with Newman winning the last two seasons 35-20 and 24-23. This Newman team, winners of seven straight, looks particularly stout, especially on defense, having given up seven or less points with three shutouts in six of its wins. Junior tailback James Caruso is up to 1,375 yards rushing and 24 touchdowns for the Cardinals. Liberty-Brentwood (6-3) at Antioch (7-2):The visiting Lions have won four straight and eight of nine in the series, but a big, physical and fast Antioch team looks a lot different than recent history. Second place in the Bay Valley Athletic League and North Coast Section playoff seedings are on the line. Liberty quarterback Leysen Rodrigues (2,200 total yards, 28 TDs) spreads the ball around while Antioch's defense is swarming, led by Damajae Woods (eight sacks) and Jelani Carter (five interceptions). Vintage-Napa (8-1) at Ukiah (8-1):Two high-powered offenses face off. Vintage attacks via the run (2,407 rushing yards), led by sophomore Darrian Johnson (1,175, 17 TDs), while Ukiah is more balanced via quarterback Jayden Bird (1,751 passing yards, 17 TDs) and running back Dante Giacomini (979, 23). San Mateo (6-3) at Burlingame (7-2), 11 a.m. Saturday:Burlingame has dominated the long history of the Little Big Game with a 59-35-4 edge, including an 18-4 edge since 2004. However, San Mateo has won the last three, including 24-14 last season. With San Mateo star quarterback Lukas Fitzgerald (1,605 rushing yards last season, 19 touchdowns) out with a knee injury, Burlingame is the prohibitive favorite in the 99th meeting between the rivals. No team spreads the ball around to more players than the host Panthers. Lowell (7-2) at Lincoln (5-4), 1:30 p.m. Saturday:This will determine second place in San Francisco's Academic Athletic Association and who will host a first-round playoff game the following week. Lowell, behind senior QB Owen Leblo, has scored 134 points during a three-game win streak. First-year Lincoln coach Tyson Lyles has has the Mustangs peaking late, winning four of their last five. Flag football:Seven section championship games are scheduled for Saturday at Los Gatos (CCS) and Campolindo (NCS) after semifinal play on Wednesday. In CCS play, Helena Younan completed 30 of 42 for 313 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers including Paige Purcell (11 catches, 131 yards) as top seed Los Gatos (17-1) rolled to a 27-13 Open Division win over No. 5 Carlmont-Belmont. The Wildcats will host second seed and defending champion Menlo School-Atherton (15-3), a 35-0 semifinal winner over Mitty, in Saturday's 5:30 p.m. title game. Other CCS title games Saturday at Los Gatos are third seed Menlo-Atherton (14-6) against No. 1 Los Altos (18-5) in Division 1 (12:30 p.m.), sixth seed Sobrato-Morgan Hill (19-2) against No. 5 San Mateo (14-6) in Division 2 (3 p.m.) and No. 3 Riordan (12-10) versus top seed Castilleja (16-3) in Division 3 (10 a.m.). In NCS action, Maggie Kruger threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns - all to Hannah Shank (6 catches, 138 yards) - as top seed and the Chronicle's No. 1 team Las Lomas-Walnut Creek upended Acalanes 18-6 in Division 2 semifinal action. The Knights (23-0) play second seed Carondelet-Concord (19-6), a 32-13 semifinal winner over Windsor, in a 5 p.m. title game at Campolindo. Top Division 1 seed Amador Valley-Pleasanton (23-3) was defeated 13-6 by No. 4 and visiting Castro Valley, which now plays defending champion and third seed San Ramon Valley-Danville (19-6), which also went on the road to win a semifinal game, 33-20 at Liberty-Brentwood. Castro Valley and San Ramon Valley play for the title at 7 p.m.In Division 3, the top two seeds Cardinal Newman (19-2) and Alhambra-Martinez (16-6) won semifinal games easily and battle for the championship at 3 p.m. SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Bay Area high school football games of the week: SRV faces Monte Vista.