If a season opener is supposed to give you a glimpse of what a football team might become, the Acalanes JV Dons offered plenty to work with Friday afternoon at Foothill College. There were tough runs, big catches, defensive stops, a little trickery from the playbook and, after falling behind Archbishop Mitty early, a second-half response that made clear these Dons weren’t going quietly.
The Monarchs eventually prevailed 27–14, but the final score doesn’t quite tell the story of an Acalanes team that battled throughout and seemed to get stronger as the afternoon went along.
The defense helped keep things close early. Luke Kelly made his presence felt, breaking up a long pass and coming tantalizingly close to turning another opportunity into a pick-six. Jayden Lifson helped end a Mitty possession with a solid tackle as Acalanes turned the Monarchs over on downs. Mateo Valenzuela was active on that side of the ball as well, making multiple plays for a defense that kept giving the Dons opportunities.
Plenty of that work started where football games usually do: in the trenches. Harrison Clark, Beau Tandler, Anthony “AJ” Bishop, Luke Fratarcangeli, Kanishka Giridhar, Reese Caicedo, Arian Majlessi and Salvatore “Salvo” Coniglio, along with Valenzuela, held their own along the offensive and defensive fronts. The group gave Will Feinstein time to operate, helped create running room for the Dons’ backs and, on the other side of the ball, generated pressure on the Mitty quarterback and battled for control of the line of scrimmage. It wasn’t glamorous work, which is pretty much in the job description for linemen, but a lot of what went right for the Dons started up front.
The offense had its moments too, including multiple key catches by Zenai Kaplanes-Jones before the afternoon took an unfortunate turn. Kaplanes-Jones suffered a fractured foot, bringing an early end to his opener. The Dons will certainly be looking forward to having No. 12, and his highly contagious energy, back with his teammates when he is able.
Mitty took a 14–0 advantage into halftime. But if the Monarchs expected the Dons to quietly play out the final two quarters, they were about to be disappointed.
Coming out of halftime, Valenzuela did his best to provide a spark. An impressive kickoff return got the Dons moving, and as the primary tight end he became a recurring target as the afternoon progressed, hauling in multiple passes that moved the chains. Kelly, already making his presence known on defense, added receptions of his own.
The Dons offense began moving the ball more consistently and methodically, stringing together chunk gains and showing flashes of an offense capable of making trouble. Andre Lewis was particularly difficult to bring down. Again and again, Lewis rumbled into defenders and continued driving forward, taking the first defender, and sometimes several of his friends, along for the ride. Those yards after contact helped keep the chains moving. Lewis was every bit as disruptive when the Dons were on defense.
Kellan Middleton also got a turn carrying the ball as the Dons worked more of their backs into the offense.
And then the Dons reached a little deeper into the playbook.
Feinstein took the snap and lateraled the ball to Kelly, and for a moment Mitty had every reason to think it was another running play. Instead, Kelly pulled up and let it fly. Jackson Cooper made a terrific grab and took care of the rest, scampering into the end zone to complete the flea-flicker and put the Dons on the board.
The Dons weren’t finished.
Valenzuela continued helping move the chains, and Feinstein went back to the air. This time he found Stone Jaquet, who appeared destined to be stopped just short of the goal line. Jaquet had other ideas. With a little razzle-dazzle of his own, he kept the play alive and launched himself into the end zone for the Dons’ second touchdown.
Acalanes went for two, and Feinstein connected with Lifson for an impressive conversion.
After being held off the scoreboard for the entire first half, there was considerably more noise coming from the Acalanes sideline.
The Monarchs ultimately had enough to secure the 27–14 victory, but the Acalanes team that walked off the field bore considerably less resemblance to the one that had headed into halftime.
And that may be the most useful thing to take from a season opener. When the Dons found themselves down 14–0 at halftime, nobody seemed particularly interested in treating the second half as a formality.
The scoreboard goes into the books as Mitty 27, Acalanes 14. But the second half offered a pretty good glimpse of what these Dons might become.
And they have an entire season to find out.
Until next time, this is Alden’s dad, reporting from somewhere safely outside the huddle. Go Dons.
