Bay Area high school football 2026: Week 8 preview, schedule

De La Salle returns to the field on Friday for the first time in two weeks.

The Spartans had last week off after roaring through their nonleague schedule with a 6-0 record, highlighted by a breakthrough win over Centennial-Corona and a season-opening win at Serra .

They will make the short drive to Danville to face Monte Vista, which is also undefeated.

The Week 8 schedule also includes intriguing matchups in the West Alameda County Conference Foothill Division, Peninsula Athletic League De Anza Division, Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton South Division and the West Catholic Athletic League.

As always, the Bay Area News Group will have complete coverage all weekend – and season. Please sign up for a digital subscription if you have not already. Your contributions keep us going.

Here are this week’s top matchups:

No. 1 De La Salle (6-0) at No. 8 Monte Vista (7-0), 7:15 p.m.: Monte Vista has had a great start to its season but is a heavy underdog against a De La Salle team that looks as if it will seriously contend for the Open Division state championship. The Concord powerhouse has beaten a number of heavyweights, most notably Centennial-Corona, on its way to an unbeaten start. Monte Vista has noteworthy wins over Marin Catholic, Liberty and California but, as always, De La Salle is at another level. The Spartans are 19-0 against Monte Vista since MaxPreps began archiving results in 2004 and only one of those games (28-21 in 2009) was decided by single digits. Jimmy Lagios has thrown 13 touchdown passes and Charles Hawkins IV has rushed for seven TDs to lead Monte Vista. Duece Jones-Drew has rushed for 602 yards and seven TDs and Jaxon Loftin has passed for 755 yards (73.5% completion rate) and nine TDs to lead De La Salle. HSRatings.com ’s computer projects DLS to win 46-7. – Darren Sabedra

No. 7 St. Ignatius (5-1, 2-1) vs. No. 13 Bellarmine (5-1, 2-1) at San Jose City College, 7 p.m.: The Bells, 4-26 the previous three seasons, already have proven to be among the Central Coast Section’s biggest turnarounds. But can they keep pace in the West Catholic Athletic League? A win here is imperative to stay in the race for either team. Bellarmine for years had the upper hand, but the league’s balance of power has shifted from the South Bay to the north, and S.I. has won their past three meetings. Bellarmine first-year coach Tom Williams is 5-0 on the field, discounting a one-game suspension in a loss to Serra. St. Ignatius junior Hawkes Packard leads the Central Coast Section in receiving yardage, with 679 on 39 catches, and sophomore Isaac Liu is among the most exciting young quarterbacks in the CCS. HSRatings says St. Ignatius wins 24-14. – David Kiefer

No. 21 Half Moon Bay (6-0, 2-0) at No. 20 Burlingame (5-1, 0-1), 7 p.m.: It’s hard to believe that as good as Burlingame is, a loss would likely drop the Panthers out of the Peninsula Athletic League De Anza Division race after only two weeks. Half Moon Bay features Paxton Holden, a dynamic dual threat at quarterback, while Burlingame showcases receiver Will Armstrong. Both teams are explosive: Half Moon Bay is outscoring opponents by an average of 45-16, and Burlingame by 38-11. This is Half Moon Bay’s best start since going 10-0 in the 2019 regular season. This is their first year in the same division since 2022 when Half Moon Bay tied for second and Burlingame tied for fourth. Since then, Burlingame played a tier higher in the PAL. Half Moon Bay has won their past three matchups, including 29-21 in last year’s Central Coast Section Division IV first round. HSRatings projects HMB to win 31-21. – David Kiefer

No. 17 Palo Alto (5-1, 1-0) at No. 22 San Mateo (5-1, 1-0), 7 p.m.: One week after knocking off Burlingame in decisive fashion, Palo Alto will travel to San Mateo seeking to maintain pole position in the PAL De Anza title chase. San Mateo managed a 28-14 win over Mountain View last week with starting quarterback Lukas Fitzgerald out and backup Roman Toki at the controls. Palo Alto got five touchdowns last week from QB Justin Fung, who found playmakers Bronson Lindgren and Clement Romanski in space for three scores and ran in two himself. HSRatings.com projects a 38-31 Palo Alto win. – Christian Babcock

No. 10 Bishop O’Dowd (5-1, 1-0) vs. No. 23 San Leandro (5-1, 1-0) at Burrell Field, 7 p.m.: O’Dowd is coming off a 23-point win over Moreau Catholic that first-year coach Majett Whiteside called “ugly” in a speech to his team after the game. It’s possible he had one eye looking ahead to this week’s matchup, which could ultimately decide the WACC Foothill Division championship, when he shared that sentiment. O’Dowd boasts standout running back Lamar Ellis but will have to contend with San Leandro’s Jaymeion Bradley, a star in his own right, on defense. Ellis, a Sacramento State commit, has run for 804 yards in six games. Bradley ran for over 1,000 yards as a sophomore, averaged 9.5 yards per carry as a junior and ran for 186 yards and a score in San Leandro’s win over Hayward last Friday. Quarterback Christian Cermenelli-Johnson also had a nice outing for O’Dowd against Moreau, completing 7 of 10 passes for 174 yards and running in the go-ahead touchdown. HSRatings.com projects O’Dowd to win 24-21. – Christian Babcock

Sobrato (4-2, 1-0) at Live Oak (4-2, 1-0), 7:15 p.m.: The Battle of Morgan Hill could help decide the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton South Division championship. Both teams won league openers last week, with Sobrato rolling past Christopher 28-3 and Live Oak defeating Lincoln 42-14. The Sobrato defense will no doubt place its attention on running back Gage Jones, who has rushed for 811 yards and 13 touchdowns to lead Live Oak. Sobrato’s losses have come against Bellarmine and North Salinas. Live Oak also lost to North Salinas, in addition to falling in double overtime against Santa Teresa. Live Oak is 12-2 against Sobrato since their first meeting in 2007, which includes a 56-21 victory last season. Sobrato won the 2024 game between the teams, 20-14. HSRatings predicts a nailbiter, with Live Oak winning 31-28. – Darren Sabedra

SCHEDULE

Thursday, Oct. 15

Encinal vs. American at Tak Fudenna Stadium, 7 p.m.

Fremont-Sunnyvale at Terra Nova, 7 p.m.

Gunderson at Gilroy, 7:15 p.m.

Homestead at Mills, 7 p.m.

Santa Clara at South San Francisco, 7 p.m.

Santa Teresa at Piedmont Hills, 7:15 p.m.

The King’s Academy at Los Gatos, 7:30 p.m.

Willow Glen at Christopher, 7:15 p.m.

Woodside at Mountain View, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 16

Acalanes at Miramonte, 7 p.m.

Albany at Pinole Valley, 7 p.m.

Alhambra at College Park, 7 p.m.

Amador Valley at San Ramon Valley, 7:15 p.m.

Antioch at Hercules, 7 p.m.

Aragon at Milpitas, 7 p.m.

Archbishop Riordan vs. Archbishop Mitty at Foothill College, 7 p.m.

Benicia at Northgate, 7 p.m.

Bethel at De Anza, 7 p.m.

Bishop O’Dowd at San Leandro, 7 p.m.

California at Granada, 7:15 p.m.

Capuchino at Carlmont, 7 p.m.

Castlemont at Oakland Tech, 7 p.m.

Concord at Dougherty Valley, 7 p.m.

Deer Valley at Emerald, 7 p.m.

De La Salle at Monte Vista, 7:15 p.m.

Freedom at Pittsburg, 7 p.m.

Half Moon Bay at Burlingame, 7 p.m.

Hillsdale at Sequoia, 7 p.m.

Independence at Evergreen Valley, 7:15 p.m.

James Logan at Moreau Catholic, 7 p.m.

Las Lomas at Campolindo, 7 p.m.

Leigh at Branham, 7:15 p.m.

Liberty at Heritage, 7 p.m.

Livermore at Arroyo, 4 p.m.

Los Altos at Jefferson, 7 p.m.

MacDonald at El Camino, 7 p.m.

Menlo School at Wilcox, 7 p.m.

Monta Vista at Prospect, 7 p.m.

Mt. Eden at Newark Memorial, 7 p.m.

Oakland at McClymonds, 7 p.m.

Palo Alto at San Mateo, 7 p.m.

Piedmont at Castro Valley, 7 p.m.

Pioneer at Leland, 7:15 p.m.

St. Helena at Gunn, 7 p.m.

St. Ignatius vs. Bellarmine at San Jose City College, 7 p.m.

St. Mary’s-Berkeley at Vallejo, 7 p.m.

Salesian at El Cerrito, 7 p.m.

San Jose at Overfelt, 6:30 p.m.

San Lorenzo at Kennedy-Fremont, 7 p.m.

Saratoga at Cupertino, 7 p.m.

Silver Creek at Lincoln-San Jose, 7:15 p.m.

Sobrato at Live Oak, 7:15 p.m.

Tennyson at Alameda, 7 p.m.

Valley Christian at St. Francis, 7 p.m.

Washington-Fremont at Redwood Christian, 7 p.m.

Westmont at Del Mar, 7:15 p.m.

Ygnacio Valley at Lynbrook, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 17

Hayward at Berkeley, 1 p.m.

Menlo-Atherton at Sacred Heart Prep, 2 p.m.

Serra vs. Sacred Heart Cathedral at City College of San Francisco, 1 p.m.