PAL Ocean Division football preview: Smack dab in the middle of PAL hierarchy

This year, Aragon and Hillsdale fall into that category.

“We had a little dip in our numbers. Our numbers were sky high in the last few years. We’re probably about 15, 20 kids lower (than in the last several years),” said Hillsdale head coach Mike Parodi. “(Being back in the Ocean is) a matter of re-establishing our program and getting our numbers back up.”

For the teams moving up from the El Camino Division, it’s a chance to prove they are, indeed, an up-and-coming program. In 2025, that team is Woodside — meaning half the division is seeing turnover this season, with Half Moon Bay, Sequoia and Milpitas the holdovers.

“The last time we were in the Ocean (2017), we had the top-end talent to compete, but we didn’t have the depth,” said Woodside head coach Justin Andrews. “This time around, I feel the gap between our 1s and 2s are way smaller than last time.

“I think we have the talent, the system and the coaching in place to compete.”

But don’t think the Ocean Division being a proving ground is simply lip service. It has, and continues to be, one of the strongest divisions in the Central Coast Section, regularly sending teams to CCS title games. Sequoia advanced to the Division V championship game last year and Aragon won the Division V title in 2021.

“The Ocean has been one of the stronger [divisions] is the section,” Parodi said.

Sequoia is the defending Ocean Division champion, sharing the title with San Mateo last season. The Ravens will have to replace 1,200-yard rusher Jordan Crockett and starting quarterback Shawn Royer. But Sequoia has a nice core of juniors and seniors returning who saw significant playing time last season. The Ravens will hang its hat on its defense to keep them in games as the Ravens’ offense gets up to speed.

Half Moon Bay will not only be breaking new skill-position players, they’ll be doing so with a new coach.

“New” is probably not the correct term. How about returning? Keith Holden had run the Cougars’ varsity program since 2013 before moving down to the junior varsity level last season. But he is back as varsity head man and has a new perspective.

“I got a group of seniors who I never worked with,” Holden said. “When they were juniors (last year), I was on JV.

“I’m getting to know them. It’s good for them. They got new eyes on them.”

Hillsdale believes it enters PAL play on more level footing than the last couple of years, which should allow his players to actually relish success instead of constantly battling teams that may be a step or two better.

“We haven’t won a league title since 2015, but we kept getting moved up,” Parodi said. “We’re not going down there (to the Ocean) to wreck shop. We’re going down to compete.”

Aragon has struggled the last couple of years, but the Dons return a quarterback who got half a season worth of starts last year. And like rival Hillsdale, are just looking to catch their breath and rebuild the program.

Woodside also returns a quarterback who got his feet wet as a sophomore last year, but the Wildcats’ biggest issue is replacing Evan Usher, who rushed for more 4,100 during his Woodside career.

And then there is a Milpitas team that has fallen on hard time over the last half decade. The Trojans appeared in six Central Coast Section championship games from 2012 to 2019, culminating in a CCS and state championship in 2019.

Since the COVID spring season of 2021, Milpitas is just 15-31. Only their 36-26 win over Terra Nova prevented the Trojans from replacing the Tigers in the El Camino Division.

Aragon Dons

2024: 0-5, 6th De Anza Division, 1-9 overall

2024 playoffs: none

A young Aragon squad took its lumps in the De Anza Division in 2024, necessitating a move down to the Ocean Division for 2025.

The Dons are still young — they have only 11 seniors on the team — but a lot of those youngsters got plenty of playing time last year which should help in 2025.

One of those handful of seniors, Charlie Wilcox, is expected be an impact player. The Dons’ defensive player of the year at cornerback, he’ll add wide receiver duties to his resume this season.

The Dons will also return a senior on the offensive line, Leka Kama, who played every offensive line position as injuries took their toll last season. He’ll be joined by junior Oye Oyegbami, who started as a sophomore.

Quarterback Isaiah Johnson is only a junior, but he got half a season worth of starts last year as a sophomore. He is a legit dual-threat quarterback, but he was mostly in scramble mode last season. He threw for just shy of 700 yards, but only one touchdown.

“We don’t want to rely on his legs too much,” said Ash Parham, who enters his second season as the Dons’ head coach.

To limit those quarterback runs, Aragon will turn to junior running back Jaxson Sullivan, who started on junior varsity last season before an injury ended his season prematurely. Sullivan will be spelled by the likes of Fabian Nova, a senior returner, and junior newcomer Ollie Amaro. Both will play at linebacker, as well.

Junior Nick Castroviejo — at 6-3, 220 pounds — gives Johnson a big target at tight end and will be counted on defensively, too, at defensive end.

Junior lineman Santiago Corona, along with junior receivers/defensive backs Zach Laguna and Nick Mazzola all earned call ups from the junior varsity squad midway through last season. Mazzola moved into the starting lineup and stayed there, while the other two bounced between varsity and JV, but still got important varsity reps.

Gabe Wilcox and Brandon Grant, both sophomores, will assume starting linebacker roles this season.

“A lot of the guys who played last year were young. It was kind of trial by fire,” Parham said. “Hopefully they learned from that experience.”

Half Moon Bay Cougars

2024: 3-2, tied 3rd Ocean Division, 8-3 overall

2024 playoffs: Lost first round

After a one-year hiatus heading the Half Moon Bay junior varsity program, Keith Holden is back as varsity head man and he’s bringing his son with him.

Paxton Holden is a sophomore who will take over the quarterbacking reins this season. He the started for a JV team that went 10-0 in 2024, but it is only his second year of playing tackle football. Keith Holden said Paxson played Next Level flag football growing up, but was more into club baseball and basketball.

“He’s a good athlete. Good arm, runs well,” Coach Holden said. “He’s a kid who picks up on stuff quickly and handles pressure pretty well. We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback.”

Senior Ronin McCauley will get his shot to be the Cougars’ featured back as he moves from a slot position to running back. He had only 19 carries last season, but averaged more than 15 yards a carry. He was also the team’s third-leading wide receiver and finished 2024 with nearly 500 yards of offense.

“He’s just a really solid, all-around football player,” Coach Holden said. “In our offense, the first option is the running back.”

Replacing McCauley in the slot is junior Brandon Melo, a standout on the JV squad last year, who will also see time in the defensive backfield.

Taty Serrano, a senior entering his third season at the varsity level, will anchor the offensive line. Serrano will be aided by junior Vince Parmann, who was mostly a defensive tackle in 2024, but will add offensive line play this season.

Coach Holden is also excited to see what he has in a number of athletes from the basketball team will be playing playing football for the first time — seniors Will Wimsett and Caden Guevarra, who will enter his fourth season a varsity basketball player. Levi Meighan is a junior and Carlos Sanchez a sophomore. All are slated to work at receiver, tight end and the defensive secondary.

“They’ve been good. They’re tough. They’ve handled it well,” Coach Holden said. “I’ve been tough on them and they’ve taken the criticism.”

Hillsdale Knights

2024: 3-2, 3rd De Anza Division, 5-5 overall

2024 playoffs: none

It was a good time for the Knights to move from the De Anza Division into the Ocean, considering they lost a lot from 2024’s team — nine All-De Anza Division selections last season.

Hillsdale has spent the last several seasons punching above its weight class and head coach Mike Parodi is somewhat relieved to have a chance reload his team, while staying competitive at the same time.

“We were placed in the appropriate spot. We’ve had some varsity success and have had growth on the JV level for the last couple of year,” Parodi said. “We want to re-establish ourselves in the Ocean.”

The quarterback spot is in a bit of flux as the season approaches. Senior Grant Mattias got some run last year, starting a pair of games and appearing in five games, overall. Mattias would seem to have the upper hand, but Parodi said he’s in competition with junior Branden Kee, who started all season for the junior varsity squad last year.

Moving into the starting running back role is Jacob Bonner, who in spot playing time last season rushed for just shy of 200 yards. Tyler Essa, a senior receiver/defensive back, is the leading returning receiver, having caught 13 balls for 154 yards.

Despite losing a couple of offensive linemen to graduation, this year’s line might be the most veteran unit on the team. Senior Tommy Schultz returns for his third varsity season. Johnathan Soudah also returns on the line and they’ll be helped with the addition of Carlos Barron, who starred on defense last season and will see more time on the offensive side of the ball this season. Gio Castro and Vincent Cockerell are also moving up from the JV squad and will give the Knights some line depth.

“We have a rotation of dudes (on the lines). We have a starting guy in each spot and we’ll also have a finisher group,” Parodi said. “These guys are going to go both ways, so at some point we need to rest them.”

Sequoia Ravens

2024: 4-1, tied 1st Ocean Division, 7-6 overall

2024 playoffs: Lost CCS DV championship game

Now the work begins for second-year head coach Frank Mems. After winning an Ocean Division co-championship and advancing to the CCS Division V championship game in his first season as a varsity head coach, Mems and the Ravens will be going through a bit of a rebuild this season.

One he hopes is actually a reload.

“We’re young, but kind of experienced,” Mems said.

Mems had a lot of younger players get a lot of varsity reps last season, which he hopes will help carry the team as they replace their starting quarterback and 1,200-yard rusher Jordan Crockett.

Mems thinks he has the running back spot covered, with seniors Nolan Fausto and Jayden Russi. Fausto was a standout defensively from his linebacker spot, while Russi’s season was ended early in 2024, but was showing flashes on defense as well.

It was tough getting touches offensively with Crockett getting the bulk of the work.

Helping ease the transition to a new running back group is the return of three offensive linemen, including two starters: juniors Andrew Hamann — who goes 6-2, 22o pounds— and Brendan Hersch.

Joining them is another junior, Miguel Rodriguez, who backed up both Hamann and Hersch last season.

Mems said the quarterback competition is a three-man race with last year’s backup Mays Pagnotta, a senior, battling a pair of juniors who shared the junior varsity job last season — Ricky Delgado and Luke Ostrander.

Whoever is under center will have a weapon in receiver Randy Nuñez, who led the team in receiving with 43 catches for 536 yards — including a career night of 12 catches for 216 yards in a 27-21 loss to Leland in the CC Division V title game.

The defense looks big a physical, led by senior James Lundell, who finished with 73 tackles last season. Mems said senior defensive tackle Viliami Fuka came on strong at the end of last season and is hoping junior defensive end Soane Sili can take a step forward this season.

Milpitas Trojans

2024: 1-4, 5th Ocean Division, 4-6 overall

2024 playoffs: none

The Trojans, once again, find themselves as strangers in a strange land as they are the only non-San Mateo County teams in the six-team division.

And that lack of familiarity bears out in the records Milpitas has against its five Peninsula foes: a combined 7-5 against Aragon, Half Moon Bay, Hillsdale, Sequoia and Woodside. The Trojans have played Hillsdale only once since 2004, a 14-13 playoff win in 2019.

The most history they have is against Woodside, who they’ve played five times. But before playing the Wildcats the last two seasons, it had been a decade since they faced off.

Milpitas has had a rich tradition over the 20 years, however, and they are always a threat. Despite going just 1-4 in Ocean Division play last season, the Trojans lost three of those games by a combined 14 points.

Milpitas graduated a dozen seniors from last year’s squad, but also saw a lot of younger guys get a lot of playing time, that could translate into better success this season. Two of the Trojans’ best running backs last season, Reynaldo Dunbar and Elisha Peña, are slated to return as seniors this year.

But the passing game will be a work in progress as Milpitas will be replacing its starting quarterback and their top several wide receivers from last year.

The offensive and defensive lines could be the Trojans’ best unit. Of the players expected to return, many are on the larger size, including senior Thomas Maicki, who is listed a 6-o, 330 pounds. Another expected senior to return is Ernesto Santa Domingo, who goes 6-2, 270.

Woodside Wildcats

2024: 4-1, tied 1st El Camino Division, 7-3 overall

2024 playoffs: none

The Wildcats, after a run of late-season fades, finally turned the corner a couple of years ago and 2025 sees them at their highest level since last playing in the Ocean Division in 2017.

But Woodside moves up from the El Camino Division without Evan Usher, who ran for more than 1,000 yards last season and finished his Woodside career with more than 4,100 yards rushing.

But the cupboard is not completely bare for the Wildcats. Daniel Torres, a slot receiver and defensive back, ran for more than 550 yards and, more importantly, averaged nearly a touchdown per game, finishing with nine.

Evan Frampton also returns for his senior season, with two, injury-filled campaigns the last seasons. He appeared in only three games as a sophomore and played in only five last season. But Frampton has shown flashes and if he can stay healthy gives the Wildcats a legitimate offensive threat.

Those two should help take some of the pressure off junior quarterback Charlie Dalrymple, who started last season, throwing for 464 in the Wildcats’ run-heavy attack.

The Wildcats will have talented returners on both lines, as well. Senior Carlos Latu was a first-team El Camino selection for his defensive line play and he will see a lot more playing time on the offensive line this season.

Brett Blasing started on the offensive line last year as a sophomore and he is expected to bring a lot to the table this season — once he gets healthy. Andrews said a hand injury has limited Blasing so far, but expects him to miss only the opener.

In his stead, Andrews is looking for junior Kevin Cowan to hold down the spot until Blasing is healthy enough to play.

Andrew Alvarez is another returning senior, who Andrews calls, “A complete rock on the offensive line.”

Andrews is also expecting big things on both sides of the ball from sophomore JJ Lange, who can play multiple positions on offense and defense.

“He may be the best overall athlete on the team,” Andrews said.