September 27, 2013
Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com
Page 13
Sports
Homecoming game readies Eagles for DVAL football title defense JAY BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
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Shaking off any ill effects from the season-opening loss to De La Salle, Clayton Valley Charter has won two consecutive games and has its offense purring heading into Friday night’s homecoming game against Skyline of Oakland. Kickoff is 7 p.m. The Eagles of coach Tim Murphy have the game against winless Skyline and next Saturday afternoon’s 1:30 clash in Hayward before the team begins defense of its Diablo Valley Athletic League title. The league opener is at College Park on Oct. 11, the first of five consecutive Friday night DVAL games with only two at home in Gonsalves Stadium. Off pre-season results the Eagles have to be considered heavy favorites to repeat as league champs. Northgate has been the most impressive among the other DVAL teams with a 4-0 record including a 49-6 victory over Hayward in its opener. CVCHS will be able to compare itself to the Broncos against that common opponent next week. Last Friday the Broncos won the Battle of the Creek over Las Lomas 31-17 by scoring the final 14 points of the game in the final five minutes after a field goal by the Knights
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They have battled, scratched and clawed their way to show they are the real deal, a team to be reckoned with. Last year was no fluke, and that is the message the Oakland Athletics have sent loud and clear across the baseball world. Last Sunday the A’s reached 30 games over .500 and that day clinched the American League West division title for a second straight season. They left the favored Texas Ranges and Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim in their wake as they won their 16th division championship in Oakland. The A’s have been playing the best baseball of anyone in the Majors and they aren’t about to start slumping right as the season ends; if anything they’ll only get better. The A’s will be one of the most dangerous teams in the playoffs, as they currently have every position playing at an elite level.
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MILES HARRISON (3) HAS RACKED UP THREE CONSECUTIVE HUNDRED-YARD RUSHING GAMES for Clayton Valley Charter in the early season. The junior running back gained 176 yards against De La Salle and followed that up with strong efforts in wins over Castlemont and Independence as he attempts to literally and figuratively follow in the footsteps of all-everything back Joe Protheroe, who led the Eagles to their first-ever North Coast Section title a season ago. Teammate Ruben Vega (33) came out of his helmet trying to help on this play as De La Salle defensive back Jevari Anderson (14) makes the tackle.
had tied the score in the fourth quarter at 17. Eric Haynes scored three touchdowns for the winners who rallied from an early 14-3 deficit.
The rest of the schools in the DVAL have struggled in the early part of the season. Following a bye week after the 34-14 loss to De La Salle,
Pitching and power propel A’s to playoffs TYLER LEHMAN SPORTS TALK
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One of the most important things to have in the playoffs is pitching, and Oakland has more pitching than they know what to do with. Bartolo Colon is 40 years old, yet he is still pitching at a Cy Young-caliber level, registering a 2.7 earned run average along with 16 wins. He has been absolutely dominant, painting the corner of the strike zone with his nasty fastball, whether it is his two- or four-seamed. Colon has been lights out, but so has Jarrod Parker, a young pitcher who struggled early on in the season, but is now showing his ace potential. Parker currently has a 3.8 ERA with 11 wins, and that ERA keeps going down. Not only are the A’s starters going to excel in the playoffs, they also have a lights-out bullpen. The A’s have arguably the best bullpen in baseball, stacked with hard-throwing pitchers who can overpower you with fastballs and get a key strikeout when needed. The top two relievers in the A’s bullpen are Grant Balfour and Ryan Cook, the closer and set-up man for the A’s. Both of them have been
outstanding this year, Balfour even broke the A’s long-standing record of most consecutive saves. He passed Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley’s record of 40 straight saves, showing how consistent and reliable he is as a closer. Great pitching is just one ingredient in a successful team, but so is hitting. Power has not been a problem for the A’s this year, as Oakland players have been clobbering the ball. Their best power hitter, Brandon Moss, was a platoon player most of this season, and yet he has still been able to hit 27 home-runs as of Sept. 18. A surprise power guy on the A’s has been Coco Crisp, looking to have a 20 home-run and 20 stolen-base season. The A’s have the pitching and they have the powerful offense. All that’s left is for them to perform in the playoffs and bring that World Series Trophy back to Oakland. Tyler Lehman is a sophomore at Diablo Valley College and a 2012 CVHS graduate. He plans to major in journalism and wants to be a sports writer. Email your comments or questions to Tyler@claytonpioneer.com.
Clayton Pioneer wants to hear your sports story We get plenty of information from local high schools, sports leagues and clubs. What we don’t hear about so often are from our neighbors who are competing below that radar screen. There are Claytonians who are participating in sports and recreational endeavors that we don’t normally hear about but we’d like to tell their stories too. If you know of someone —-or even if you are that someone —-let us know what you’re doing and perhaps we’ll find it something our readers would love to read about! If you’re running, jumping, hiking, biking, swimming, skydiving, bowling, golfing or participating in any of dozens of other sports and recreational activities let us know. Give us a brief rundown and your contact information and we might be in touch with you. It’s as simple as sending an email to sports@claytonpioneer.com.
which is ranked No. 1 in the state, the Eagles ran all over Castlemont of Oakland 66-6 as seven different players scored touchdowns for the winners. Miles Harrison ran just seven times but gained 100 yards and carried two into the end zone. Zach Dominquez had a touchdown reception and a TD run for two more scores as CVCHS ran up a 480 halftime advantage. Quarterback Gabe Taylor opened the scoring for the Eagles with a pair of first-quarter touchdown passes and ended the first-half onslaught with a scoring run. He ended up completing all four of his passing attempts to four different receivers. The Eagles defense forced a pair of safeties in the second half and Chandler Wakefield recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD. The game last Friday against the Independence 76ers was the second straight win for the Eagles as they outscored their San Jose hosts 42-7. Harrison carried the ball only five times in San Jose but scored touchdowns on runs of 68, 50 and 39 yards. This time CVCHS was up 35-0 at the half and 42-0 entering the fourth quarter with a running clock. Taylor and Lewis Ramos each had a TD pass on their only throws of the game for the Eagles to Dylan Jue and Abe Ibrahimi, respectively, totaling six yards. Ben Davis scored on a 70-yard fumble recovery.
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