Aragon routs South City

"We needed to win this game bad," Fale said after the Dons' 31-13 victory. "(Starting off 0-3) hurt us. We had no one to blame but ourselves. We're back on our feet. We came in here to dominate."

And that's exactly what the Dons (1-0 PAL Bay, 2-3 overall) did. They outgained the Warriors 303-160, completely shutting down an offense that was averaging 332 yards rushing per game. Fale, a big-time playmaker on both sides of the ball, had a fumble recovery and interception to go along with a huge 26-yard reception -- his only catch of the game.

It came with Aragon facing a fourth-and-14 from the South City 27-yard line. Sam Tuivailala threw a ball down the right side that South City was poised to grab. The Warriors' Damiano Calgaro and Juan Velasco were both in position to make the interception, but they collided with Fale and the ball popped straight up in the air.

Fale, who had fallen to the ground, made the catch from his knees. One play later Sifa Tonga scored from a yard out to give the Dons a 21-7 lead with 6:34 left in the third quarter. Aragon was never threatened the rest of the way, and Dons coach Steve Sell could only marvel at what Fale had done.

"That play was a big turning point," Sell said. "Josh is a special player. When you're talking about guys who can make a play at any time, he's one of the best we've had here. Just getting a victory takes a lot of pressure off our guys. This was a real critical win, an absolute must win. We made plays when we had to."

Indeed, Aragon converted on two other fourth-down plays that led to touchdowns. The Dons never trailed, taking advantage of a South City (0-1, 4-1) turnover on the game's opening possession. They got the ball on the Warriors' 14 and took four plays to cash in, scoring on Christian Gonzalez's 1-yard run. After South City went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, the Dons needed only five plays that covered 68 yards to strike again.

Gonzalez's 50-yard run set up his own touchdown, a 2-yard run to make it 14-0 with 5:32 left in the first quarter. Gonzalez finished with a game-high 104 yards on 19 carries. Tuivailala completed 8-of-15 passes for 123 yards. South San Francisco's Will Cormier was 10-of-16 for 77 yards. The Warriors made it 14-7 with 8:52 to go until halftime when Cormier hooked up with Shadi Azar for a 26-yard TD, but that's as close as they would get.

Aragon scored the next 17 points to win going away. After a slow start, the Dons are in a familiar position -- they're one of the favorites, if not the favorite, to capture another Bay Division championship.

"We're getting better and better," Fale said. "At the beginning of the season our chemistry wasn't there. Now it's there."

And that's bad news for the rest of the PAL.

Menlo School 29, Terra Nova 26

Jerry Rice Jr. rushed for 178 yards and scored two touchdowns in Menlo School's 29-26 win over Terra Nova Friday night in Pacifica.

A prolific rushing game is nothing special for Rice. But here's what is -- with quarterback Danny Diekroeger out with a bad shoulder, Rice handled most of the quarterbacking duties. He was perfect on the night, completing 9 of 9 passes for 108 yards.

Paul Schemel also saw some time under center. He completed 2 of 6 for 37 yards and a touchdown.

Menlo School improved its record to 1-0 in Bay Division play and remains undefeated at 5-0 overall. Terra Nova fell to 0-1, 3-2.