During his team’s 44-0 victory at Richmond on Friday, Ygnacio Valley’s Rae Jackson Sr. noticed something he hadn’t seen in his three seasons as head coach. Looking into the stands, he saw coaches from his league scouting his team.

“In the past I’ve never seen any high school coaches from other schools at our games watching what we’re doing,” Jackson said. “Our whole valley is waking up and everybody is trying to figure out what is going on at YV.”

Just a month ago, the Wolves lost their 35th straight game, a 73-0 defeat to Alameda. They held the longest active losing streak in the state, which spanned five seasons. But since then, YV has won three of its last four, which includes a 20-15 victory over Pinole Valley last week.

YV has gone from aiming to win a single game this season to possibly finishing .500, or better, for the first time since 2019.

“It’s just a lot of positive things that we’ve been working on over the years that are now just starting to shine,” Jackson said. “This is going to be the start of what is probably going to be a resurgence of Ygnacio Valley football.”

Freshman quarterback Jalen Fayad has been sensational for YV, and seniors Fred Fine and Dalton Gates have provided leadership for the young team. Transfers Jacari Gibson and Kiminuao Knox add dynamic playmakers to the roster.

For Jackson, this season has been three years in the making. Taking the head coaching job at YV before the 2022 season, he knew changing the culture was going to be a heavy lift.

But after finally breaking the losing streak in a Week 2 win against Redwood Christian, which is in its first season of varsity football, and rattling off back-to-back victories the last two weeks, Jackson said he feels more at ease than he did at the beginning of the season.

“It seems like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Jackson said. “It’s amazing to set goals (and) watch the goals be accomplished.”

Since the Bay Area News Group first reported on YV’s quest to break the longest losing streak in the state in August, the team has gotten the most attention it has received in years. According to Jackson, both home games this season were packed and he has gotten positive feedback from local residents about how well the Wolves have started to play.

“We’re revitalizing the community and giving them a team,” he said. “We got the A’s gone, the Warriors gone, the Raiders gone. People can come on and be a YV fan.”

— Nathan Canilao

ST. IGNATIUS’S HOGAN SILENCES DOUBTERS >> A lot of people doubted that St. Ignatius would beat Serra last weekend in San Francisco. And for most of the teams’ West Catholic Athletic League opener, it looked like they were right.

But St. Ignatius was having none of it. Despite going down 20-7 in the third quarter, the Wildcats scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to steal a 21-20 win.

The winning TD was scored by running back Jarious Hogan on a 30-yard run. After the game, he noted that not many would have pegged SI as a title contender in the WCAL this year. He begs to differ.

“I’ve been saying this since preseason,” Hogan said. “We need to be on everybody’s radar. Our team’s coming different this year. We’re excellent this year, and we can take it all the way.”

— Christian Babcock

RIORDAN, ST. IGNATIUS SET FOR CLASH >> The Archbishop Riordan first-team offense scored touchdowns on nine consecutive drives Saturday as the Crusaders routed Sacred Heart Cathedral 63-34. Jeremiah Jones rushed for three touchdowns and Vanderbilt commit Mike Mitchell threw for three scores.

Riordan’s next test against another WCAL rival from San Francisco will be much tougher.

The Crusaders will make the short drive Friday to face St. Ignatius, which is coming off victories over reigning WCAL champ Serra and San Diego powerhouse Cathedral Catholic.

The Wildcats’ win over Serra last weekend was their first against the Padres since 2019. St. Ignatius has already made a statement in WCAL play. Can it do it again?

— Joseph Dycus

CLAYTON VALLEY FRESHMAN PLAYS FOR LATE MOTHER >> Clayton Valley freshman quarterback Javale Jones plays for more than himself on game days.

Following a clutch performance Friday in which he led his team on a 10-play, 78-yard drive that ended with him throwing the game-winning touchdown pass in a 21-17 victory over Liberty, Jones put on a gold chain that featured a picture of his late mother in the center.

“She passed away in 2021,” Jones said. “It was hard, but I have to overcome things. I’m here now though.”

— Nathan Canilao

DE LA SALLE READY FOR LONDON TRIP >> De La Salle heads into its bye week with a 5-0 record following a 35-14 win over El Cerrito, and given where the Spartans’ next game is located, they’ll need all the rest they can get.

On Oct. 8, De La Salle will play at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London against the NFL Academy, the NFL’s player development program for athletes in the United Kingdom.

“There’s been a lot of work that went into it,” coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “It’s one of those things that’s worth it. We knew the work that was going in when we agreed to do the game — I’m not bemoaning it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

— Justice delos Santos

OAKLAND TECH SAVORS FIRST WIN >> Oakland Tech coach Anthony McCrady knows a thing or two about winning at his alma mater. He was on the legendary 2003 team that, led by Marshawn Lynch, Josh Johnson and Virdell Larkins III, beat John Beam’s last great Skyline team in the Silver Bowl.

So McCrady hopes that his first victory as Tech’s head coach, a 23-14 victory over Pinole Valley last week, is a sign of things to come.

The coach also hopes that Caleb Rollins continues to have big games like he did against the Spartans, when the state title-winning basketball player scored two touchdowns.

“A lot of the guys on the team look up to him,” McCrady told the Bay Area News Group on Saturday. “He’s a champ, man. He knows how to get it done.”

— Joseph Dycus