SRV-MV Resume Rivalry in NCS Semifinals

quarterback Zach Kline couldn’t have dreamt a better storyline for Saturday’s North Coast Section semifinal playoff game between No. 6-seeded and No. 7 San Ramon. 

“Nothing more can you ask for,” Kline said. “It’s for all the marbles and only one winner goes to the Coliseum. It could be my last game in the green and gold, so you have to play like it’s your last game.”

When the brackets were released, an all-Danville semifinal was clearly a likely scenario, if not the expectation, despite the teams’ relatively low seeds.

“It worked out pretty well for our league and for us,” said Monte Vista coach Craig Bergman of the NCS bracket. “I think we proved (with three teams in the division-I semifinals) we’re still the best league.”

Monte Vista limped to a 3-4 start before rebounding to wins its last five games, including a 34-33 win against San Ramon in the regular-season finale. Last year, the Mustangs beat San Ramon in the regular season before getting eliminated by the Wolves in the playoffs.

The game is set for 7 p.m. at Monte Vista.

On Thursday, Kline, who is , was named the Gatorade California Football Player of the Year. He’s thrown for 3,079 yards and 32 touchdowns with just six interceptions.

SRV coach Mark Kessler was notified Kline had won on Wednesday night.

“I was just excited for Zach,” Kessler said. “The reality is, for those who have been watching, he’s a completely different player this year. It’s two different books. He improved in the right way and had a great season for us.”

The announcement comes a couple weeks after Monte Vista quarterback Jeff Lockie, who is committed to Oregon, was named the league’s most valuable player.

“If you take Jeff off our team I don’t know how many games we’d win, if any,” Bergman said.  “He was the real meaning of MVP this year.”

Kyle Wright was the last Monte Vista player to win the EBAL MVP, doing so in 2002 when he was also the Gatorade State and National Player of the Year. It was also the last year the Mustangs reached the North Coast Section championship, when they, coincidently, beat San Ramon in the 3-A East Bay championship.

Lockie is hoping to be remembered similarly as that team.

“Three or four years from now I want to be able to look back and say, ‘We played in the Coliseum,’” he said. “That’s definitely something that everyone wants to remember.”

The winner of Saturday’s game will play the winner of Friday’s other semifinal, between top-seeded De La Salle and Pittsburg. De La Salle has won every NCS title since losing to Pittsburg in the 1991 final.

San Ramon will be without top receiver Matt Turner, who will miss the game with an injury, but Kline said he is confident in the team’s other options, most notably Patrick Worstell, who missed the past two games. Worstell caught 35 passes for 671 yards and nine touchdowns in the regular season.

Follow @KyleBonagura on Twitter for live updates from the game.