Welcome back to the Bay Area News Group’s high school football preview.

Here, you’ll find the week’s top matchups and complete weekend schedule for teams in this news organization’s coverage area, which encompasses leagues based primarily in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Check back every Thursday morning during the season for the preview.

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On the top matchups …

Thursday

Christopher (3-1) at Branham (3-1), 7:15 p.m.: A battle of Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division contenders kicks off the Mt. Hamilton slate in style. Branham enters riding a wave of three straight wins, including a Hail Mary victory over Soledad and a convincing win over Aragon. Christopher lost narrowly against Carmel to start the year but has won three straight since then as well, each by at least 10 points. The Cougars most recently traveled to Gilroy and took the Mustangs down 47-0. – Christian Babcock

Friday

No. 1 De La Salle (4-0) at No. 7 El Cerrito (4-0), 7:30 p.m.: As the saying goes, something’s gotta give. Following three dominant wins at home to open its season, De La Salle squeaked by St. Mary’s-Stockton, 38-35, in its first road game. Quarterback Toa Faavae and running back Derrick Blanche each had two touchdowns in the win. El Cerrito, meanwhile, cruised to a dominant 49-0 victory against Campolindo. Lavern Malikii ran for three touchdowns, while Joezon Broussard accounted for two of his own. Still, everything will have to go right for El Cerrito to hang around with De La Salle, which has already dominated then-No. 2 Serra and then-No. 4 St. Francis. – Justice delos Santos 

No. 3 Serra (1-2) at No. 9 St. Ignatius (2-1), 7 p.m.: A matchup of West Catholic Athletic League contenders comes after intriguing nonleague results from both squads. Both teams were off last week in anticipation of WCAL play. Before that, Serra endured a gauntlet of nonleague opponents, including a 56-16 home loss to nationally ranked St. John Bosco-Bellflower. The Padres split their other nonconference games against Folsom and De La Salle, two of the best (if not the two best) high school football teams in Northern California. St. Ignatius faced a slightly easier nonleague slate but still experienced a high degree of rigor. The Wildcats’ nonleague campaign saw them first travel to Bay Area News Group No. 6 San Ramon Valley and fall 28-10. They rebounded with a 35-6 win over Tamalpais before earning their signature win of the early season – a 16-14 victory at Cathedral-San Diego. We’ll see if the good vibes from that win two weeks ago make a difference on Friday night in San Francisco. – Christian Babcock 

No. 15 Clayton Valley (2-2) at No. 14 Liberty (3-1), 7 p.m.: This matchup will be a battle between two of the most physical teams in the East Bay. Liberty won its last game against Amador Valley in comeback fashion, beating the Pleasanton school 34-28 behind a 214-yard, three-touchdown game from running back Jaxon Bell. The junior is averaging 146 yards per game and has five touchdowns through Liberty’s first four games. Liberty’s defense will be tasked with stopping a Clayton Valley offense that was firing on all cylinders in its 34-17 win over Northgate. Running back Hayezon Jackson totaled 203 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns while quarterback Tyson Lovett threw for 190 yards and two scores. CalPreps computers projects a 28-14 Liberty win. – Nathan Canilao

No. 23 Half Moon Bay (4-0) at Foothill (3-1), 7 p.m.: These two teams have had quite a turnaround from last season. Half Moon Bay was 3-7 a year ago, while Foothill stumbled to a 1-8 record in the brutal EBAL Mountain Division. Foothill has thrived under new coach Greg Chandler. The offense is led by senior wideout Michael O’Donoghue Jr. and the defense is paced by linebacker Brayden Brown. Running back Dylan Souza rushed for two touchdowns in the Falcons’ overtime victory over San Leandro last week. Half Moon Bay is led by another first-year coach in Ronnie Ekis. After winning its first three games by a total of 11 points, the Cougars defeated Woodside 43-29. Connor Heath is a gifted athlete who rushed for a touchdown and returned a kick for six in the victory. Adler Halterman and quarterback Dusty Dimas rushed for touchdowns too as Half Moon Bay’s run-heavy attack hummed along. CalPreps predicts Half Moon Bay will win 28-20. – Joseph Dycus

Mills (1-3) at Saratoga (3-0), 7 p.m.: Saratoga, which hasn’t finished above .500 since 2019, is pointing in the right direction through three games this fall. The Falcons edged Prospect 20-18 to open the season, then had dominant triumphs over El Camino and Cupertino to open Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division play. Keion Ashjaee-Marshall has rushed for 362 yards and five touchdowns in 32 carries, and Doug Bettinger has gained 176 yards and four TDs in 14 attempts to lead Saratoga. Mills opened with three consecutive losses before bouncing back in a big way last week, beating Lynbrook 62-0. Matthew Juul ran for three TDs and Givanni Angelini threw for two touchdowns in the win. — Darren Sabedra

Saturday

No. 17 Archbishop Mitty (3-0) at No. 11 Valley Christian (1-2), 6 p.m.: Will another week of grit be enough to keep Archbishop Mitty undefeated? The gritty Monarchs have been an early surprise, earning hard-fought nonleague wins over James Logan, Aptos and Menlo-Atherton, all by a minimum of 21 points. Valley Christian, though, provides a stiff test to open WCAL play. The Warriors, perennially an excellent program, are likely a better team than their record indicates. Valley took down No. 16 Wilcox 24-7 week one, then struggled against strong Salinas and Soquel programs in nonleague action. But the opportunity is there for the Warriors to right the ship in WCAL play, starting this Saturday night at home up on the hill. – Christian Babcock

Schedule

Thursday, Sept. 26

SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA

BVAL Mt. Hamilton

Christopher at Branham, 7:15 p.m.

Leigh at Oak Grove, 7:15 p.m.

Live Oak at Lincoln-San Jose, 7:15 p.m.

Non-league

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

Independence at Prospect, 7:15 p.m.

Wilcox at Santa Clara, 7 p.m.

INTERSECTIONAL

Non-league

Oakland at Kennedy-Richmond, 6 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 27

EAST BAY

WACC Foothill

Berkeley at Moreau Catholic, 7 p.m.

Bishop O’Dowd at Tennyson, 7 p.m.

Logan at Castro Valley, 7 p.m.

Non-league

Acalanes at Amador Valley, 7:15 p.m.

Bethel at Benicia, 7 p.m.

California at Granada, 7 p.m.

Clayton Valley at Liberty, 7 p.m.

College Park at Las Lomas, 7 p.m.

Concord at Mt. Eden, 7 p.m.

De La Salle at El Cerrito, 7 p.m.

Dougherty Valley at Deer Valley, 7 p.m.

Dublin at Freedom, 7 p.m.

Heritage at Livermore, 7:15 p.m.

Monte Vista at Antioch, 7 p.m.

Newark Memorial vs. Alameda at Thompson Field in Alameda, 7 p.m.

San Lorenzo at Hercules, 7 p.m.

San Ramon Valley at Hayward, 7 p.m.

St. Mary’s-Berkeley vs. Kennedy-Fremont at Washington-Fremont, 7 p.m.

St. Patrick-St. Vincent at De Anza, 7 p.m.

Ygnacio Valley at Richmond, 7 p.m.

SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA

Friday, Sept. 27

BVAL West Valley 

Gunderson at Mt. Pleasant, 7:15 p.m.

Hill at Yerba Buena, 7:15 p.m.

Lick at San Jose, 7:15 p.m.

PAL Lake

Gunn at Cupertino, 7 p.m.

Jefferson at MacDonald, 7 p.m.

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Mills at Saratoga, 7 p.m.

Monta Vista at El Camino, 7 p.m.

West Catholic

Bellarmine at St. Francis, 7 p.m.

Serra at St. Ignatius, 7 p.m.

Non-league

Aragon at Menlo-Atherton, 7 p.m.

Fremont-Sunnyvale at Sequoia, 7 p.m.

Homestead at Capuchino, 7 p.m.

Leland at Silver Creek, 7:15 p.m.

Palo Alto at The King’s Academy, 7 p.m.

Piedmont Hills at Westmont, 7:15 p.m.

Sacred Heart Prep at Hillsdale, 7 p.m.

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

INTERSECTIONAL

Galileo at Alhambra, 7 p.m.

Half Moon Bay at Foothill, 7 p.m.

Irvington at Skyline, 7 p.m.

Lincoln-San Francisco at Northgate, 7 p.m.

Mt. Diablo vs. Mission-San Francisco at Kezar Stadium, 7 p.m.

Pinole Valley at Oakland Tech, 7 p.m.

Terra Nova at Vallejo, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 28

EAST BAY

Non-league

Redwood Christian at Berean Christian, 12:30 p.m.

SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA

West Catholic

Mitty at Valley Christian, 6 p.m.

Sacred Heart Cathedral at Riordan, 1:30 p.m.

Non-league

Overfelt at Sobrato, 2:30 p.m.

INTERSECTIONAL

Miramonte at Menlo School, 1:30 p.m.