North Bay League – Oak Preview

Story by Cardinal Newman HS student Hugo Traverso | Feature image by Jim Rael

The NBL Oak will kickoff this year on October 7th with Cardinal Newman taking on Montgomery, Analy taking on Rancho and Windsor taking on Santa Rosa. The Oak added 2 teams this year but also lost 2. Montgomery joined this year after a 7-4 season last year, finoshing 2nd in the Redwood posting a 3-1 league record. Santa Rosa will join this year after a 6-4 record last year, finishing 3rd in the Redwood also posting a 3-1 league record. Ukiah will go to the Redwood this year after going 3-7 last year and finishing 4th in the Oak with a 2-3 league record. Maria Carrillo will also be going to the Redwood this year after going 1-9 last year and finishing 6th in the Oak going 0-5 in league.

Last year was a rocky year with game postponements and cancellations due to COVID-19, but it was a good year. Fans sat on the edge of their seats around the county as Rancho stopped a 2 point conversion attempt by Windsor to clinch the Oak Title for the first time in seven years. Newman had won it 6 years in a row since the 2014 season and were coming off a 2019 State Championship season under Head Coach Paul Cronin. Cronin, however, left Cardinal Newman for Windsor and Newman hired Head Coach Richard Sanchez who had a great resume and did well in his opening season at Newman. Newman went 8-4, came 2nd in league and went all the way to the NCS D4 Title game where they lost to Marin Catholic. Cronin led Windsor to a great season, going 11-2, finishing 3rd in the Oak with a 3-1 record, winning the NCS D3 Title but losing in the Nor Cal Championship to Vanden. Analy finished 5th in league with a 1-4 record and had a 4-6 regular season record. The questions this year are: Will Rancho repeat?, Will Newman return to the top?, Will Windsor have another great season?, Will Santa Rosa and Monty get to the top in their first year?, and Will Analy be a dark horse and rise from a 1-5 league record in 2021 to the top in 2022?

Analy Tigers

         Season Prediction: 5-5 (2-3 in League)

Santa Rosa Panthers

                 Season Prediction: 3-7 (0-5 in league)

Despite losing big defensive contributors like Manuel Garcia who led the team in sacks last year and Ryan Hsez who averaged four tackles a game for the Panthers, the Panthers still have their 2021 First Team Redwood All League junior LB Adan Lemus. Lemus led the team in tackles with 70, averaging 7 per game with 3 of them being TFLs. He also had 2 sacks in his sophomore season. Lemus is a threat on the ground for the Panthers and will most likely be taking a bigger role in the Panthers runnung game after they lost their top 3 RBs. Lemus had 19 carries for 140 yards and 2 TDs. If Frost, who averaged 5.5 yards per carry and Lemus who averaged 7.4 yards per carry, become bigger contributors in the run game, the Santa Rosa offense will look very good.

Montgomery Vikings

                   Season Prediction: 6-4 (2-3 in League)

Windsor Jaguars

              Season Prediction: 7-3 (3-2 in League)

The Jags have a tough season and open it at home against Tamalpais and face Escalon, Campolindo, Lincoln and Skyline before opening league play against Santa Rosa.

Cardinal Newman Cardinals

                  Season Prediction: 7-3 (3-2 in League)

The Cardinals are coming off a good season where they went 8-4 and finished 2nd in the NCS Division 4. Despite losing QB Lucas Knechtle, RB Albert Beerbower, WR Nick Beste, WR Cooper Kohut, WR Jacob Carinalli, OL/DE Dylan Wagner, OL Michael Gonzalez, OT Matt McCormack and OL Gabriel Bardis, the Cardinals still have explosive playmakers like Santino Acevedo, Nick Ayre, Jesse Myers, Zack Homan, Kaize Steverson, Santiago Adan and Jamari Gentry. Acevedo was the Oak Player of the Year last year, leading the league in rushing yards and TDs with 135 carries for 1,153 yards and 23 TDs. Acevedo also had 23 receptions for 241 yards and a TD and on the defensive side, had 76 tackles, 8 TFL and 3 sacks. Ayre was the Cardinals return man and had 24 kickoff returns for 490 yards and 15 punt returns for 251 yards. He also had 6 catches for 98 yards and 2 TDs. Zack Homan had 54 tackles (45 solo) last year, 5.5 sacks and 2 caused fumbles, and on offense, Homan had 3 receptions for 30 yards and a TDs. Kaize Steverson had 77 tackles (53 solo), a pick, a caused fumble and 1.5 sacks. On offense, he had 38 carries for 287 yards and 3 TDs along with 3 catches for 39 yards and a TD. Jesse Myers had 37 tackles, 11 TFL, 10 sacks (led League) and won NBL Oak Freshman of the Year. He is due for a great sophomore season. Santiago Adan had 21 catchesfor 237 yards and 3 TDs last year and could have a breakout season at Tight End. In 8 games as a freshman for Newman’s Varsity Team, Jamari Gentry had 21 carries for 218 yards and 2 TDs along with 13 tackles and a pass deflection. Gentry is due for an explosive sophomore season which will show off his speed and talent.

The QB1 this year for the Cardinals is Junior Matthew Hilden who over the offseason, has competed in some Pylon 7-on-7 events at the QB position. Hilden was a lineman for the Cardinals last year but will be playing QB this year. He stands at 6’5″, 272 lbs and has a good arm. Hilden could be a big contributor to the Cardinals success this year. Seniors Jack Grafe and Zach Kelly could be big contributors this year for the Cardinals at DB and WR. Kelly had 26 catches for 249 yards and 2 TDs last year on offense while having 45 tackles and 3 pass deflections on defense. Grafe had 9 tackles in 5 games last year and had 2 pass deflections. He is due to step up and have a good year at the DB position.

Rancho Cotate Cougars

                        Season Predction: 9-1 (5-0 in League)

Best Game Week by Week

Week 0: Rancho Cotate @ Las Lomas

Week 1: Windsor @ Escalon

Week 2: St. Bernard’s @ Montgomery

Week 3: Rancho Cotate @ Vanden

Week 4: St. Mary’s @ Cardinal Newman

Week 5: Maria Carrillo @ Analy

Week 6: Montgomery @ Cardinal Newman

Week 7: Rancho Cotate @ Windsor

Week 8: Rancho Cotate @ Cardinal Newman

Week 9: Montgomery @ Rancho Cotate

Week 10: Cardinal Newman @ Windsor

Follow Hugo on Twitter @HS360Founder