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SRV VS. DLS: ANOTHER STREAK ON THE LINE

Luke Baker was in fifth grade when his brother Clark, playing quarterback, almost led San Ramon Valley to a victory over De La Salle seven years ago.

But the younger Baker can’t tell you much about the game.

He didn’t go.

“I was like, ‘Oh, they’re playing De La Salle. They’re going to lose by a lot,” Luke Baker said last week, smiling. “I wish I could have been there for that one.”

De La Salle held off Clark Baker and SRV in October 2016, prevailing on the road in Danville 28-27. Clark passed for 321 yards and three touchdowns that night.

It was one of De La Salle’s closest calls against a North Coast Section opponent since its last loss within the section, to Pittsburg in 1991.

The Concord powerhouse has extended its now 32-year unbeaten streak against NCS teams to 265. The Spartans are 264-0-1 since the Pittsburg loss, the tie coming against Clayton Valley in 2004.

Friday, on his team’s home field in Danville, Luke Baker gets his chance against De La Salle in a game that has been anticipated for weeks.

SRV is 6-0 with Baker leading the offense – he threw for 334 yards and four TDs on Friday in a rout of Clayton Valley – and linebacker Marco Jones anchoring the defense.

De La Salle has used a physical ground game and punishing defense to beat four good teams – St. Francis, St. Mary’s-Stockton, Folsom and McClymonds – since opening the season with losses to Orange Lutheran and Serra.

“We’re just going to treat it like every other game,” said Baker, the last of three Baker brothers to play quarterback for SRV. “It’s just another team. Just a bunch of high School kids. We’re going to go in and do what we do and hopefully come out with a W.”

– Darren Sabedra

SRV: INJURED RB PAU MENDOZA HAS A NEW ROLE

San Ramon Valley running back John Ben Pau Mendoza got a lot of attention as he sat on the bench during warmups Friday, the senior’s right knee in a brace with crutches nearby. Teammates and even an opposing coach stopped to give him well-wishes.

Two weeks earlier, Pau Mendoza suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first half of a 66-12 rout of Liberty. He said he will have surgery on Wednesday to repair to torn ligaments, including the ACL.

No longer able to play for the Wolves, Pau Mendoza, a team captain, said he has a new role for the rest of the season.

“I’m a coach now,” he said.

The loss hit the red-hot Wolves hard. Coach Aaron Becker said it was good that SRV had a bye week between the Liberty game and Friday’s at Clayton Valley. It gave the team time to adjust.

“You can’t replace the kid,” Becker said. “You just try to manage the game moving forward without him.”

Told that Pau Mendoza seemed in good spirits on the sideline, Becker said, “He’s got a good support network, a good family. He’s got a good outlook on it. He knows he’s not done being a leader on the team. It’s just taking a different shape now.”

– Darren Sabedra

HILLSDALE VS. MENLO: UNBEATEN TEAMS COLLIDE

There are 12 teams in the Bay Area News Group’s coverage area that have not lost this season. Two of them will meet on Friday afternoon for first place in the Peninsula Athletic League’s De Anza Division when Hillsdale visits Menlo School.

Both teams shut out opponents last week to improve to 6-0. Hillsdale beat Homestead 35-0 and Menlo turned back Palo Alto 14-0.

The other undefeated teams are Serra, San Ramon Valley, Pittsburg, El Cerrito, Christopher, Las Lomas, Live Oak, Miramonte, Capuchino and Alameda.

– Darren Sabedra

BELLARMINE: THE BELLS’ DUAL-THREATT 

Bellarmine QB Parker Threatt has done everything but catch his own passes during a brilliant run of play in an otherwise rough 1-5 start to the season for the San Jose private school.

Threatt rushed for 210 yards and threw for 164 in a four-touchdown game against St. Ignatius two weeks ago. He then one-upped himself in a wild 55-41 loss against high-powered Riordan on Friday.

The dual-threat was 17 for 22 with 234 yards and three TDs passing. He also ran for 111 yards with three touchdowns.

It will be tough to replicate those numbers on Saturday as the Bells travel to San Mateo to face the Bay Area News Group’s No. 1 team, Serra. But don’t be surprised if the speedster keeps the Padres’ defense on its toes.

“Gutsy. He’s an athlete,” Bellarmine coach David Diaz-Infante said about Threatt after the QB put up 300 total yards last month in a loss to Monte Vista.

– Joseph Dycus

OAKLAND: WILDCATS DO “COMMUNITY SERVICE”

Terry Hendrix’s Oakland team spent last week doing what the coach called “community service.”

That meant running around Lake Merritt and down Grand Avenue in uniforms and full pads to stay fit during the team’s bye week and helping anyone who needed it.

“They were able to help a lady with a flat tire,” Hendrix said. “It’s a morale booster, getting out in the city and moving around.”

Spirits are high at the school on MacArthur Blvd., where a 21-game losing streak is a distant memory after a 4-1 start this fall.

Up next for the Wildcats is a visit on Friday to Fremont-Oakland, where Hendrix coached from 2012-17.

“This is Fremont’s homecoming, and it’s like a homecoming for me,” Hendrix said. “The last few years, Oakland has been 0-5 in the OAL, so this should be a challenge.”

– Joseph Dycus

MIRAMONTE: ROMAN REIGNS FOR UNDEFEATED MATS

A year ago, Miramonte was a high-flying bunch, propelled by the prodigious arm of quarterback Luke Duncan, now a freshman at UCLA.

The Orinda school has maintained that success after Duncan’s graduation but has done so with a far different formula.

One of its leaders is LB/RB Gabe Roman, who has scored six touchdowns while also being one of the team’s top tacklers.

The senior is listed at 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, but the two-way thumper is a huge part of a new-look Matadors team that has relied on defense and a gritty running game during a 6-0 start.

The ascension doesn’t surprise coach Jack Schram, who said Roman’s breakout season could have happened even sooner had he not been banged up last year.

“Gabe was the heart and soul of the JV team two years ago,” Schram said. “ Last year he fought through hamstring issues.”

– Joseph Dycus

PEEK AHEAD TO WEEK 8

Thursday

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Santa Teresa (3-3) at Christopher (6-0), 7:15 p.m.: Big game in the BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division. ST has won three in a row.

Friday

De La Salle (4-2) at San Ramon Valley (6-0), 7 p.m.: DLS is 18-0 against SRV since its last loss to an NCS opponent, 32 years ago. Average margin of victory: 36.3.

Hillsdale (6-0) at Menlo School (6-0), 3 p.m.: Two teams projected to finish in the bottom half of PAL De Anza standings playing to reach 7-0.

Mt. Diablo (5-1) at Alhambra (5-1), 7 p.m.: Mt. Diablo’s Herschel Turner Jr. has rushed for 28 TDs. Alhambra scored 71 points on Friday. 

California (4-2) at Monte Vista (4-2), 7 p.m.: These teams are 10-10 against one another in the MaxPreps era (2004-present).

Bishop O’Dowd (3-3) at Moreau Catholic (3-3), 7 p.m.: The winner will stay atop the MVAL/WACC Foothill standings.

San Mateo (3-3) at Capuchino (6-0), 7 p.m.: San Mateo was the preseason pick to win the PAL Ocean. Cap was projected to come in last.

– Darren Sabedra