No. 8 California High remains undefeated, makes a statement with vindicating win over No. 5 McClymonds

SAN RAMON There was a thought that California High s - start while impressive came against inferior competition and was not necessarily a true indication of the Grizzlies quality You can throw that theory right out the window after No California controlled its matchup with McClymonds in a - win on Friday night in San Ramon holding the Warriors to only a late touchdown in a strong second-half defensive display All-purpose star Luke Taylor caught two passes for TDs returned a kickoff yards for another and sealed the mastery with a key run around the right side Where the Grizzlies go from here isn t certain But one thing s for sure Cal High football is no longer an afterthought this season Eli Varanini of California High School celebrates the touchdown of teammate Luke Taylor against the visiting McClymonds in the second half in San Ramon CA on Friday Sept The Cal High Grizzlies beat the Warriors - at the end of regulation Don Feria for Bay Area News Group We knew this was our biggest test so far declared quarterback Arjun Banerjee who tossed both TD passes to Taylor and ran for another They re a very physical gang We watched a lot of film and we just got after it The two teams traded scores in the early going California - took the ball and the lead to start the meeting marching yards in plays as Taylor caught his first touchdown on an -yard slant from Banerjee McClymonds - responded with a quick -play drive of its own as Dominic Davis ran up the middle for a -yard TD California put together another strong offensive series and went up - when Banerjee ran up the middle on a read-option keeper early in the second quarter McClymonds once again had an answer as Berell Staples ran his own keeper through the teeth of the Grizzlies defense for a -yard total We ll take a win California coach Dan Calcagno commented That s a good football association They re physical athletic Our guys battled and we got one so we re happy The Grizzlies began to take control of the challenge late in the second quarter On the ensuing McClymonds kickoff Taylor weaved his way through traffic and went yards untouched to put Cal up - Then with less than a minute to go in the half California s defense made the play of the encounter On fourth-and- from the Cal -yard line multiple Grizzlies stonewalled Staples at the preventing Mack from cutting into the deficit right before the half and getting the ball with a chance to take the lead to start the third quarter That was huge stated McClymonds coach Michael Peters We result there we get the ball back and then it puts a little pressure on them there Instead California came out in the third quarter and stopped McClymonds again on fourth down when the Warriors drove into plus territory The Grizzles then finished their first drive of the second half with a -yard seed up the seam from Banerjee to Taylor We just desired to prove that we can come out and beat a good company and execute like we demanded to Taylor explained Because we ve been struggling a little bit in previous games But I think that we ve improved a lot throughout the season and you can see that from the start to the finish Calcagno lamented that Cal which had a second-and-goal from the early in the fourth quarter fumbled and set up McClymonds last gasp a -yard rush TD by Keian Davis-Jimenez with about four minutes to play But Mack never got the ball back After a kickoff out of bounds gave California great field position Taylor sealed the win with a clock-expiring first-down run on third-and- It was the perfect capper to the night Taylor and rest of the Grizzlies had arrived in the conversation among the best teams in the Bay Area We longed to come out and play Grizzly football Taylor stated We just wished to play our style of offense and execute all-around offense and defense and special teams And I think we did that Subscribe to our Bay Area Preps HQ newsletter for all our Bay Area high school sports coverage including championship analysis scores and everything you want to know about your Bay Area high school teams