Prep football: Week 4 preview capsules for all Marin teams

After a month of preseason games, the MCAL schedule finally kicks off this weekend with a trio of matchups.

San Marin travels to San Rafael to open the season on Friday night. The Mustangs swept through their four MCAL games last year but no official champion was recognized. The Mustangs are considered by many to be the favorites to claim the 2021 title.

Redwood, the last official league champ with a 6-0 mark in 2019, opens MCAL play when it hosts Novato on Saturday afternoon.

Tam, also among the contenders in recent years, opens with a road game on Saturday night against Terra Linda at San Rafael High.

Coincidentally, none of the three all-league games on the slate this week took place in the shortened spring campaign.

After sticking to the same schedule in 2018 and 2019, the league is mixing it up this season.

The previous schedule was front loaded and basically allowed Redwood to clinch the title three weeks in after it dispatched of Tam, San Marin and TL. This season, games between expected contenders are taking place at the back end of the schedule.

Friday

San Marin (3-0) at San Rafael (2-1): 7 p.m., San Rafael

The MCAL season officially kicks off when the defending champion Mustangs travel to Miller Field to face the Bulldogs. San Rafael is coming off a 41-0 victory against Albany that got called off in the third quarter. The Mustangs are coming off a bye week and have had plenty of time to prepare for this meeting. San Marin won the prior meeting in 2019 by a 48-7 score. Will Hickey and Dante DiMare scored multiple touchdowns in that game. A then-sophomore Justin Guin also made his varsity debut for San Marin in that game.

Archie Williams (3-0) at Richmond (0-4): 7 p.m., Richmond

The Peregrine Falcons have built up some serious momentum in the preseason, having only given up a safety in three blowout wins. “We’re looking to be the first team to go 4-0 between Archie Williams and Drake as far as I can look back on Maxpreps,” AW coach Anthony Jackson said. “Hopefully we go into the MCAL undefeated.” Despite their 0-4 record, the Oilers have kept it close on a couple of occasions, losing to Alameda, 14-6, to open the season and to San Lorenzo Valley, 30-28, two weeks ago. Richmond’s other results were blowout losses to Salesian (55-6) and Berean Christian (49-0). If early-season results are a harbinger of things to come, Archie Williams should prevail. The Peregrine Falcons shut out Berean Christian 27-0 in the season opener.

Branson (3-0) at Tomales (1-1): 7 p.m., Tomales

The Bulls have won all four previous meetings against Tomales, including a memorable playoff game in 2018 where the teams combined to score 120 points. The Braves were able to keep the game close on that occasion, but eventually lost 62-58. Kwentyn Wiggins threw and ran for more than 200 yards in that game, scoring eight touchdowns. Branson-Tomales games have always been a contrast in styles — Branson’s high-powered passing game against Tomales’ powerful ground attack. The Braves ran 67 times for 349 in that postseason defeat.

Saturday

Antioch (1-2) at Marin Catholic (3-1): 2 p.m., Kentfield

After spending the entire first month of the season on the road, the Wildcats are finally playing a game inside the county this week. The Panthers come in with a blowout loss to California, a comfortable win against Skyline, and a 21-17 loss to San Ramon Valley on their ledger. Antioch was predicted to finish fourth in the Bay Valley Athletic League by the San Jose Mercury News this season. RB Cameron Ahokovi has been the top offensive threat for the Panthers so far, amassing 243 yards and three touchdowns. MC’s offense was held relatively in check last week by McClymonds but sophomore Charles Williams has started to emerge as a multi-purpose threat. Against the Warriors, Williams caught one pass for 60 yards, ran for 29 yards and a touchdown, plus had three kickoff returns for another 83 yards.

Novato (1-2) at Redwood (2-1): 2 p.m., Larkspur

The Giants won the 2018 and 2019 meetings by a combined score of 119-0. Although there have been reasons for optimism around the Hornets’ football program this season — most notably a blowout win over Kennedy (Richmond) two weeks ago — opening against the Giants is a pretty big ask.

Tam (1-2) at Terra Linda (1-2): 7 p.m., San Rafael High

The Trojans begin perhaps their toughest stretch of the season — a three-game span against Tam, at Santa Rosa, then against San Marin. TL has a win against Sonoma Valley under its belt but is coming off a 34-0 loss against West County last week. The Red-tailed Hawks open league after a tough preseason schedule that included a blowout loss against McClymonds — one of the top 10 teams in the Bay Area — and a 15-8 loss against Archbishop Riordan two weeks ago. Tam coach Matthew LemMon has had an extra week to prepare for this game. Tam won the previous meeting between the two teams, 63-14, in 2019. Terra Linda’s last win against Tam wasn’t that long ago — a 55-32 victory in 2018.