Football

Date	Opponent	Time	Acalanes	Opponent	Season	DFAL
9/12	@ El Cerrito	7:00pm	20	6	1-0	0-0
9/19	@ Campolindo	7:00pm	9	47	1-1	0-1
9/25	@ Mt. Diablo	7:00pm	35	27	2-1	1-1
10/3	@ Concord	7:00pm	33	13	3-1	2-1
10/10	Dublin	7:00pm	38	32	4-1	3-1
10/17	@ Las Lomas	7:00pm	21	35	4-2	3-2
10/24	@ Alhambra	7:00pm	34	13	5-2	4-2
10/31	Northgate	7:00pm	53	7	6-2	5-2
11/7	Miramonte	7:00pm	20	57	6-3	5-3
11/14	College Park	7:00pm	42	35	7-3	6-3

11/22	NCS Playoffs J.F. Kennedy (Fremont) at Acalanes	7:00pm	49	48	8-3	6-3
11/28	NCS Semi-Finals @ Miramonte	7:30pm	20	52	8-4	6-3

The Don's look to return to the NCS Playoffs following a great 2002 campaign, but will have a challenge this year with a very young team. Read the article from the Contra Costa Sun dated 9/10 about the upcoming season here. In the Contra Costa Times, the Don's have a player to watch among the East Bay Stars in running back Tim O'Neill, a game to watch against Las Lomas on October 17th and here are picked to finish in the middle of the DFAL pack, all in the Contra Costa Football Preview dated 9/18.

Senior Tim O'Neill ran for 147 yards and three scores to lead the Don's Varsity team to an impressive 20-6 win in the season opening win over El Cerrito on Friday night. The Don's traveled to the East Bay school and virtually repeated the results from last year's preseason game that saw O'Neill also run for three scores in a 21-0 win. O'Neill scored on a 4th-down play with just seconds remaining in the first half to give the Don's a 13-6 lead and they played a solid game in the second half to preserve the win. Read the story from the Contra Costa Times dated 9/13 here.

Two teams with playoff aspirations will meet in Moraga in the DFAL opener for both the Don's and Campolindo. The 7:00pm game should be a great one as both teams are coming off back-to-back NCS playoff appearances and the Don's holding the honor of winning their last match-up in the DFAL season finale last year. Read the story from the Contra Costa Times dated 9/19 here. Contra Costa Times Football Poll dated 9/18 here.

Following a Phil Gyulai 40-yard touchdown catch that put the Don's ahead 9-6 early in the game, the team was called for a rare "over celebration" penalty in what turned out to be the only thing the Don's could celebrate in their 47-9 loss to Campolindo Friday night. The Don's would miss the PAT attempt and then basically imploded during a nightmare second quarter when Campolindo took advantage of every Don's miscue to score 35-points in a 4-minute stretch to close out the half. Acalanes did settle down after another quick Campo score to start the second half, and the Don's were allowed to test their bench and provide some experience for this youthful Varsity squad. You can be sure that this rare humbling loss will be a wake up call to the players and you can also bet the Don's next opponent (Mt. Diablo), better be on the look-out. Read the story from the Contra Costa Times dated 9/20 here.

Football Team pictures are on-line in the 2003 Football Gallery accessible by clicking here. Also, check out action pix from the Campo game here.

In a rare Thursday night game, the Don's held off a late rally by Mt. Diablo and put up 406-yards in total offense to even their DFAL record at 1-1 with a 35-27 win. Tim O'Neill (139-rushing yards, 2- TD's), and Junior Dan Lorenzana (102-rushing yards, 2-TD's) led the Dons attack. Greg Corbett also tossed a 50-yard TD pass to Phil Gyulai to help the Don's cause. The Don's broke open the game in the 3rd-quarter following a 14-14 halftime tie, but held on to the win after Mt. Diablo scored late in the game to make things interesting. Read the game summary from the Contra Costa Times dated 9/26 here.

In another twist on the Don's Football schedule, they team travels to Concord High this afternoon for a 3:30pm game time. Acalanes (2-1, DFAL) has yet to play a home game this year due to the field renovations and last week played a rare Thursday game at Mt. Diablo. Concord High has no lights, causing the early start time this afternoon.

The Acalanes Varsity Football team has rebounded nicely to move back in the hunt for a run at the top of the DFAL standing with two impressive wins since their loss in the opener to Campolindo. The team handed Concord a 33-13 loss in an afternoon game played Friday at Concord High and the Don's attack was in full stride led by Tim O'Neill with 110-yards rushing and a TD. Quarterback Greg Corbett was 8-14 throwing the ball including two TD passes to Senior Phil Gyulai (4- Rec./82-yards). John McGlynn added 3 receptions for 41-yards and Dan Lorenzana had 41-yards rushing including a TD run of 30-yards. Acalanes took a 28-7 halftime lead and were never really tested in the game. The Don's will finally play at home next Friday when they will hopefully debut their newly renovated football field in the Homecoming game against Dublin High at 7:00pm. See the game stats from the Contra Costa Times dated 10/4 here.

The long wait is finally over for the Don's Football program, they get to play a home game. After playing the first four games on the road, the Don's will host Dublin (1-2) in their "Homecoming Game", and it truly will be a homecoming of sorts. The new Measure "B" funded field will make it's debut as well before the home crowd that last saw the Don's play at Acalanes in the NCS playoffs against the same Dublin team last fall. This should be a great game to measure the Don's chances of returning to the NCS playoffs this year as the two teams are evenly matched. Game time is 7:00pm. Read the preview from the Contra Costa Times dated 10/11 here.

Acalanes played a solid first-half to build-up a large lead against Dublin High on Friday in their first game at home this season, and held on to move to 3-1 in the DFAL. After jumping to a 38-7 lead at the half, the Don's backed-off the accelerator allowing Dublin (1-3) to make things interesting at the end in the 38-32 final. Greg Corbett tossed three touchdowns and Tim O'Neill (162) had another 100+ yard night rushing the ball for Acalanes who played their first ever game on their new "FieldTurf" playing field before a large Homecoming crowd. Acalanes is alone in third-place in the DFAL trailing undefeated Miramonte and Campolindo. They play at Las Lomas (2-2) next week in a big game that could have a major impact on the Don's chances to returning to the NCS playoffs. See the game stats from the Contra Costa Times dated 10/11 here.

The Don's will attempt to win their fourth consecutive game and perhaps settle a score with the Las Lomas team that beat them in the NCS 2A Championship game last season. The Don's (3-1) are in third-place in the DFAL and will need this victory to keep their title hopes alive. Las Lomas is an explosive team that is 2-2 on the year, but is always tough at home. The game will be at Las Lomas at 7:30pm. Read the game preview from the Contra Costa Times dated 10/17 here.

Acalanes looked like they were out of the game when a last minute touchdown put Los Lomas up 28-7 at the half, but a determined second half effort came up a little short and the Don's lost by a 35-21 final. The Don's scored on their first two possessions of the second half to cut the lead to 28-21 and their defense held Las Lomas to a "three-and-out" again, but the Don's offense could not get the score to tie the game and Las Lomas sealed the win with a late touchdown. The Don's (4-2, 3-2 DFAL), dropped only their second game of the season, but will have to go nearly perfect the rest of the way to gain a NCS playoff spot this season. The Don's were held on the ground for the first time this season but scored through the air on touchdown passes to Phil Gyulai (51-yards) and Peter Doherty (40-yards) from Acalanes Quarterback Greg Corbett. Marshall Nunn's 1-yard run on fourth down as the second period began for the Dons' only lead of the game at 7-6. Acalanes will host Alhambra next week. Read the game summary from the Contra Costa Times dated 10/18 here. Click here for pix from the game.

Acalanes Varsity Football will play at Alhambra in a key DFAL game this evening at 7:00pm. The Don's (4-2, 3-2 DFAL), hope to improve their DFAL record against the always tough Bulldogs.

Don's Running Back Tim O'Neill ran for 203-yards and three touchdowns to ignite the Don's to a come-from-behind 34-13 win at Alhambra on Friday to keep pace in the DFAL. The Don's trailed 6-3 at the half, but scored 31-points in the second half to move to 5-2, 4-2 DFAL on the year. Quarterback Greg Corbett went 14-29 including seven tosses to Phil Gyulai for 180 yards and Scott Arnold added two field goals of 35 and 25 yards in the win. Acalanes will play their last three games at home starting with Northgate next week on 10/31, followed by undefeated Miramonte on 11/7, and will close out the DFAL season against College park on Senior night on 11/14.

Due to the new Acalanes Track renovation, tonight's Don's Football game will be played at Miramonte High School in Orinda. The Dons (5-2, 4-2) will host Northgate (2-5, 1-5) at 7:00pm. Read the game preview from the Contra Costa Times dated 10/31 here. In yesterday's Freshman action, the Don's pounded Northgate by a 48-6 margin. The Don's JV will play Northgate at Miramonte at 4:30pm.

Acalanes used their game against Northgate as a warm-up for next weeks big game against Miramonte (7-0, DFAL) and came away running on all cylinders with a 53-7 win behind a potent offense and stingy defense. Seniors Tim O'Neill (156- rushing yards, 2 TD's) and Phil Gyulai (4 catches-102 yards, 3-TD's) were standouts among the many heroes for the Don's. Gyulai caught two beautiful passes from Quarterback Greg Corbett (6-13), and scored on a 40-yard end-around run that helped to give the Don's a 31-0 half-time lead. The defense held Northgate to only eight first downs and 29-rushing yards in a game played at Miramonte High due to the track renovations going on at Acalanes. The Don's are alone in third-place in the DFAL with a 5-2 record and will host Miramonte next week in a match-up of NCS semi-final contenders the past two years. You might recall the Don's won their last meeting in a thriller played at Miramonte last fall that broke a 35-game win streak for the Orinda team. You can bet the house the Don's field will be ready for the game next week. Read more about the game form the Contra Costa Times dated 11/1 here. Check out the pictures from the game including alternative edited versions by clicking here.

The Don's will host Miramonte at Acalanes tonight in a 7:00pm DFAL match-up of local rivals. The 5-2 Don's hope to continue their success they have shown during the past weeks including large wins over Alhambra and Northgate. Miramonte will be seeking revenge for the Don's streak-breaking win in last year's NCS semi-final. Read the preview from the Contra Costa Times dated 11/7 here.

The Don's suffered a big loss on Friday when Miramonte came back from a slow start to hand Acalanes it's worse loss in some time in a 57-20 final. Miramonte (8-0) was pretty motivated coming into the game and was not to be denied this time against the Don's whom dropped to 5-3 in the DFAL. After Acalanes took a brief lead in the first quarter, it was all Miramonte the rest of the way. The Don's cut the lead to 20-14 with a Tim O'Neill run late in the first half, but the Don's gave up a long TD pass on Miramonte's first play following the kick-off, and then they added another score in the final seconds to take a 34-14 halftime lead, ending any threat of a Don's upset. Acalanes will host College Park in their DFAL finale on Friday in a game that will determine their NCS playoffs opportunities. Come out and support the Don's on "Senior Night". Read the summary from the Contra Costa Times dated 11/8 here. Check out pictures from the game here.

The Don's look to secure their place in the NCS Playoffs tonight when they face College Park at home in the DFAL finales for both teams. Acalanes (6-3, 5-3 DFAL) will need a victory tonight to secure a berth in the NCS playoffs against a team just behind them in the standings and is also has an outside shot at a playoff berth. The Don's will have to rebound from the nightmare game last week against Miramonte and end the season on a high note. Tonight's game will also potentially be the last at home for the Don's Senior stars (Tim O'Neill, Phil Gyulai, et al), so come out a support the team at the 7:00pm game, rain or shine.

Don's senior running back Tim O'Neill had enough gas left in the tank in the Don's DFAL season ending game against College Park to capture the league rushing title (1,414-yards), and helped to lead the Don's to a 43-35 win over College Park with an incredible 267-yard, four touchdown performance. O'Neill playing in his last DFAL home game kept the Don's in the game in a wild affair that was not decided until senior Phil Gyulai hauled in a 44-yard TD pass with less than three minutes left in the game to break a 35-35 tie. Junior quarterback Greg Corbett found receives on 12 of his 16 pass attempts for 177-yards including a key 4th-down pass to Dan Masi that set up a late Marshall Nunn TD-run. The Don's finished tied with Las Lomas for third-place in the DFAL with a 6-3 record and await a NCS Playoff berth announcement that should come on Monday. Congratulations to Head Coach Ron Thompson and his entire program for a great season in which the Don's were picked to finish much lower in the standings and surprised the "experts" with a 7-3 overall record. Click here for pictures from the game including "Senior night" moments. Read the game summary from the Contra Costa Times dated 11/15 here.

The Acalanes Football team was rewarded for their 7-3 season with a NCS 2A berth in the playoffs that start this weekend. The Don's will host J.F. Kennedy (Fremont), another 7-3 team on Saturday night in a 7:00pm game. Should the Don's get by round one, they will likely face Miramonte in the semi-finals just like last year. The Don's were joined by the two other Lamorinda schools in the 2A bracket, while other DFAL teams Las Lomas and College Park earned 3A berths in the NCS playoffs. Plan to attend this important game this Saturday. Read the preview from the Contra Costa Times dated 11/20 here.

Acalanes held on to the lead when they finally stopped J. F. Kennedy (Fremont) on a fourth-down play with less than 30-second left to advance to the semi-final game next week against Miramonte. It took a comeback effort by the Don's after they gave up a hefty lead during a power surge by the JFK offense. Tim O'Neill's five-yard run capped off an exciting 65-yard winning drive with less than 3-minutes left to give a lead to Don's that would hold up in this wild 49-48 win. Read the story from the Contra Costa Times dated 11/23 here. Click here for pictures from the game.

NCS Football Playoff Box Score

Acalanes 49, Kennedy-Fremont 48

Kennedy 6 12 16 16 -- 48

Acalanes 21 8 7 13 -- 49

A -- Masi 55 pass from Corbett (Arnold kick)

A -- O'Neill 5 run (Arnold kick)

K -- Linnell 80 run (pass failed)

A -- O'Neill 3 run (Arnold kick)

A -- Gyulai 62 pass from Corbett (Nunn pass from Doherty)

K -- Lee 73 run (pass failed)

K -- Teixeira 5 pass from LInnell (pass failed)

A -- Gyulai 6 pass from Corbett (Arnold kick)

K -- Teixeira 35 run (Teixeira run)

K -- Lee 35 run (Roman run)

A -- O'Neill 1 run (Arnold kick)

K -- Lee 5 run (Teixeira run)

K -- Linnell 8 run (run failed)

A -- O'Neill 5 run (pass failed)

Kennedy/Acalanes

First downs 20 22

Rushing yards 48-480 49-261

Passing 4-7-0 8-15-1

Passing yards 51 181

Total offense 531 442

Fumbles/lost 3/1 0/0

Individual statistics

Rushing: K -- Lee 13-182, Teixeira 15-156, Linnell 17-142.

A -- O'Neill 39-214, Nunn 4-32, Blackman 3-24, Lorenzana 1-2, Corbett 1-(-1), Seder 1-(-10).

Passing: K -- Linnell 4-7-0 51. A -- Corbett 8-15-1 181.

Receiving: K -- Roman 3-45, Teixeira 1-5. A -- Gyulai 6-115, Masi 1-55, McGlynn 1-11.

Records: Acalanes 8-3, Kennedy 7-4.

The Don's will return to the scene of the crime Friday night where last year in the same match-up of NCS semi-final rivals, the Don's stole the game away from the undefeated (35-0) Miramonte team on a chilly night in Orinda in one of the area's biggest upsets in some time. Can the Don's do it again? You might remember that the final in that game was 14-10, hardly a shootout, and something this year's team hopes to repeat. Miramonte has displayed an explosive offense all year and if the 57-20 win over the Don's a few weeks back is any indication, the Mats will not take Acalanes for granted. Acalanes has scored 164 points in the past four games (3-1), but have given up 147, including high scoring affairs in the past two games against College Park in the DFAL finale and J. F. Kennedy (Fremont) in the NCS quarter-final. The Don's will have to keep Miramonte's powerhouse offense off the field as much as possible and not make any mistakes along the way. If they do that and the Don's offensive stars like seniors Tim O'Neill and Phil Gyulai, both of whom played a huge roll in last year's win, and junior quarterback Greg Corbett play their normal game, the Don's may have another upset the making. The winner will go to the NCS 2A Championship game to be played at the Oakland Coliseum Stadium next week.

Acalanes had just scored a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-7 and were starting to gain the momentum when they stopped a time-out-less Miramonte short of the goal with seconds remaining in the half, but a poor judgment by the refs stopped the clock which allowed the Mats to get their kicker on the field and complete the half at 24-7 swinging the momentum back to Miramonte for basically the remainder their convincing 52-20 win. Miramonte displayed their potent offense against the Don's who made far too many mistakes in crucial situations hurting their chances. Acalanes sputtered on offense most of the night but did drive the ball down the field scoring three times. A turnover hurt the Don's in the second half when any thoughts of a comeback were still being spoken, but our team never quit despite the obvious outcome of the game.

The Don's student/athletes can only walk off the field knowing that they were not the best in the league this year, but surprised many by earning the right to play Miramonte (11-1) in the NCS semi-final game for the third year in a row. The season-ending game also ends the careers for Don's senior players like Tim O'Neill and Phil Gyulai, both of whom have carried a large part of load this season. Congratulations on a hard-fought season to Tim and Phil and the rest of the Don's varsity team and also congratulations to Coach Ron Thompson and his program on another great and entertaining year of Acalanes Football. Read the Game summary from the Contra Costa Times dated 11/29 here. Click here for pictures from the Don's final game of the season.

NCS Football Playoff Box Score

NCS 2A East Bay Semifinals

Acalanes 0 7 0 13 -- 20
Miramonte 14 10 21 7 -- 52

M -- Hole 3 run (Sassano kick)
M -- Carrie 9 run (Sassano kick)
M -- Regan 18 pass from Humphrey (Sassano kick)
A -- Gyulai 18 pass from Corbett (Doherty kick)
M -- Sassano 20 FG
M -- Ritelli 36 interception return (Sassano kick)
M -- Regan 27 pass from Humphrey (Sassano kick)
M -- Hole 2 run (Sassano kick)
A -- T. O'Neill 1 run (pass failed)
M -- Tool 15 run (Sassano kick)
A -- Ferraris 4 run (Arnold kick)

                 Acalanes   Miramonte
First downs       15           20
Rushing yards 39-227     34-245
Passing           9-26-1     17-21-1
Passing yards     83          281
Total offense    310         526
Fumbles/lost    0/0          2/1

Individual statistics:
Rushing: A -- T. O'Neill 28-142, Masi 2-37, Blackman 4-27, Ferraris 4-20, Nunn 1-1. M -- Carrie 18-151, Hole 5-39, Tool 3-29, Landman 2-17, Humphrey 2-6, C. O'Neill 2-3, Stevens 1-0, Knickerbocker 1-0.
Passing: A -- Corbett 9-25-1 61, Doherty 0-1-0 0. M -- Humphrey 17-21-1 281.
Receiving: A -- Gyulai 3-49, Masi 2-6, Doherty 1-13, McGlynn 1-11, Lopez 1-3, Blackman 1-1. M -- C. O'Neill 7-107, Regan 6-115, Johnson 3-48, Carrie 1-7.

Records: Acalanes 8-4, Miramonte 11-1.

2003 DFAL All-League Teams- Football

PREP
All-DFAL
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB Taylor Humphrey (Miramonte), Sr.; RB Tim O'Neill (Acalanes), Sr.;RB Dominick Carrie (M), Sr.; RB Brandon Pressley (College Park), Sr.; WR Alex Breaux (Campolindo), Sr.; WR Scott Engelkes (Northgate), Sr.; WR Cal Stevens (M), Sr.; TE Brendon Swisher (Las Lomas), Sr.; OL David Felso (C), Sr.; OL James Smith (M), Sr.; OL Tony Farraris (A), Sr.; OL Michael Persons (C), Sr.; OL James Jarzab (Dublin), Sr.

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL David Felso (C), Sr.; DL Brendon Swisher (LL), Sr.; DL Rich
Stachowski (M), Sr.; DL James Jarzab (D), Sr.; LB Steve Hole (M), Sr.; LB Kevin Low (LL), Sr.; LB Richard Palmer (Mt. Diablo), Sr.; LB Mike Healey (CP), Sr.; LB Scott Kidd (C), Sr.; DB Tom Warner (M), Sr.; DB Daniel Rodriquez (M), Sr.; DB Pat Galligan (C), Sr.; DB Sean Irving (C), Sr.; DB James Yamashita (LL), Sr.; U Chris O'Neill (M), Sr.; P Luke Sassano (M), Sr.; K Luke Sassano (M), Sr.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB Nick Graziano (C), Jr.; RB Jayson Palmer (MD), Jr.; RB Jeff
Anderlite (LL), Sr.; RB Rich Bononsea (Alhambra), Sr.; RB Alex
Solomon (C), Jr.; WR Colin Regan (M), Sr.; WR Phil Guylai (A), Sr.; WR Kenny Ga (Alh), Sr.; TE Chris O'Neill (M), Sr.; OL Jeremy Jacobson (LL), Sr.; OL Chris Anderson (CP), Sr.; OL Jeff Werner (M), Sr.; OL Frankie Duenas (MD), Sr.; OL Collin Corey (LL), Sr.

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL Anthony Hyjer (M), Sr.; DL John Justice (Alh), Sr.; DL Aaron
Poreda (C), Sr.; DL Torrell Daniels (MD), Sr.; DL Brandon Pressley (CP), Sr.; LB Sam Briggs (A), So.; LB Spencer Weiss (N), Jr.; LB Zach Landman (M), Sr.; LB Eamonn Dailey (C), Sr.; DB Joe Payumo (N), Sr.; DB Jayson Palmer (MD), Sr.; DB Rudy McKinnie (MD), Sr.; U Mike Healey (CP), Sr.; K Pete Schneider (CP), Sr.; P Adam Kirby (N), Sr.; P Derek Minetti (A), Sr.

The Don's Coaches announced their 2003 Football team awards at their recent end of the season Banquet. The dinner celebrated the Don's recent successful season where they competed in the NCS semi-final for the third consecutive year. It was also a night to say goodbye to the graduating student/athletes who gave so much to the Don's success.

The Contra Costa Times published their annual "All-Times" teams for the Fall Sports season for the 2003 season, and the Don's received several top honors including Top Women's Golfer and Top Women's Golfing Coach honors. Also making top teams were Acalanes student/athletes in Women's Golf, Women's Cross Country, Women's Water Polo, Men's Water Polo and second-team honors when to two Don's Football players. Read the capsules from the Contra Costa Times dated 1/10 below and congratulations to Coach Tim Scott and our Acalanes Student/athletes for being recognized for their outstanding efforts.

Men's Varsity Coach	Ron Thompson	925-935-2600 x 190/107
Men's JV Coach	Ron Martin
Men's Freshman Coach	Zach Blackman
Assistant Coaches	Adolph Bertero, Roger Fernando, Alex Georgakopoulos, Pat Johnson, Ken Major, Ray Morris, Ron Risi, Randy Takahashi

Team	Wins	Loses	GB
Miramonte	9	0	-
Campolindo	8	1	1
Acalanes	6	3	3
Las Lomas	6	3	3
College Park	4	5	5
Dublin	4	5	5
Alhambra	2	7	7
Mt. Diablo	3	6	6
Northgate	2	7	7
Concord	1	8	8

Football

	Varsity Football Team 2003