Evaimalo Ama saved his best for crunch time.

An afterthought in the first half when he carried only four times, Ama provided Menlo-Atherton — ranked 20th by the Bay Area News Group — with the first two-score lead in the game with an 85-yard run for a touchdown in the third quarter.

And then with No. 16 Menlo School, down by three points and itching for an equalizer in the fourth quarter on its home field, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior broke off runs of 30 and 31 yards as M-A held on for a 21-18 victory Friday.

“He’s explosive and fun to watch,” M-A coach Chris Saunders said. “His style is very elusive. He’s got a way about him that is really fun. We try to give him opportunities to go north-south and to fend lanes.”

Ama finished with 207 yards on 18 carries with 185 of those yards coming in the second half.

“Staying patient was the biggest key,” Ama said. “This was a really fun game today, definitely one to remember.”

No. 2 Pittsburg 45, Heritage 0 >> Pittsburg ran away with this one early. Jamar Searcy rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns on six carries to lead the Pirates to their 26th straight Bay Valley Athletic League win.

No. 7 Valley Christian 21, Sacred Heart Cathedral 7 >> The Warriors turned to their leading rusher and top tackler to win a defensive struggle against visiting Sacred Heart Cathedral. Marcel Leggett scored on two short runs and Corban Bixby returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown for Valley Christian (5-2, 4-0 in the WCAL). SHC is 3-4, 1-3.

No. 17 Acalanes 28, No. 9 Clayton Valley 27 >> Trailing by one point with no time left on the clock, Clayton Valley coach Nick Tisa decided to go for the win. Acalanes rose to the occasion and got the stop, giving the Ugly Eagles their first DAL Foothill Division loss since returning to the league this year. Tyler Winkles threw for 243 yards and five touchdowns, and Niko White had two receiving touchdowns to help lead the way. CVC fell to 4-3, 1-1. Acalanes is 6-2, 2-0.

No. 11 California 50, No. 19 Monte Vista 36 >> Jhadis Luckey rolled up five – yes, five – rushing touchdowns as California bounced back from a loss to San Ramon Valley with the team’s first EBAL Mountain victory of the season. Nick Fox caught a touchdown as well for the Grizzlies (7-1, 1-1). Washington commit Julian McMahan rushed for three touchdowns and Kellan Ford caught two scores for Monte Vista (5-2, 0-1).

No. 13 Wilcox 42, Palo Alto 13 >> After a hard-fought first half that concluded with Wilcox in a 14-7 lead, the Chargers dominated the second half. Kai Imahara, Brayden Rosa and Elijah Vallejo all rushed for more than 100 yards. Imahara scored three touchdowns, Rosa one. Wilcox is 5-2, 2-0 PAL Bay. Palo Alto fell to 5-2, 1-1.

No. 15 Liberty 42, Deer Valley 7 >> Quarterback Sage Robertson had his best game of the season, throwing for six touchdowns as Liberty dominated Deer Valley to improve to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the BVAL. Jaxon Bell and Thomas Mota each caught two touchdowns for Liberty. Deer Valley fell to 2-5, 0-2.

No. 21 Christopher 43, Oak Grove 20 >> Christopher continues to assert its dominance as the top dog in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division. Jaxen Robinson completed 15 of 27 passes for 219 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for a score. Salomon Quintero, Terrence Barnes and Evan Vernon caught Robinson’s TD tosses. Christopher improved to 7-1, 4-0. Oak Grove fell to 0-7, 0-3.

Sequoia 21, No. 23 Half Moon Bay 20 >> Sequoia pulled off the upset and remained undefeated in PAL Ocean play after clutch fourth-quarter play in Redwood City. Jordan Crockett scored the second of his two rushing touchdowns with 3:20 left, and then Marco Baisch got an interception. Sequoia improved to 3-4, 2-0. Half Moon Bay is 6-1, 1-1.

The King’s Academy 28, No. 24 Burlingame 21 >> Burlingame’s first foray into the Bay Area News Group rankings ended with an upset loss at the hands of The King’s Academy. The Knights led 20-7 at halftime, 28-7 after three quarters and withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally by Burlingame to emerge victorious. Burlingame QB Luke Levitt threw for 188 yards and one touchdown. TKA improved to 3-4, 2-0. Burlingame fell to 5-2, 2-1.

Campolindo 30, Las Lomas 7 >> Campolindo (3-4, 1-0 DAL Foothill) enjoyed a complete performance as it cruised to a victory over Las Lomas (5-3, 0-2), receiving contributions from offense, defense and special teams. Junior running back Micah Parker totaled 151 yards on 19 carries, reeling off an explosive 74-yard rushing touchdown. Junior quarterback Reid Habas connected on 14-of-22 passes for 233 yards and had his own big play, connecting with senior Joe Revelos on a 72-yard score through the air.

Moreau Catholic 37, San Leandro 33 >> Jeremiah Charles scored from 2 yards out with 20 seconds left in the Mariners’ come-from-behind victory in MVAL/WACC Foothill play. Moreau (5-3, 4-0) began its winning drive at its own 30 with 4:41 remaining and San Leandro (4-3, 2-1) leading 33-30. Moreau led 24-8 midway through the second quarter before San Leandro scored 17 unanswered points to take a 25-24 lead early in the fourth period. Peyton Collins rushed 25 times for 235 yards and Jalen Arnold caught four passes for 93 yards to lead the Mariners’ offense.

Santa Teresa 17, Live Oak 16 (OT) >> Santa Teresa pulled out a thriller over Live Oak in its homecoming game. Casey Carr converted a 20-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining to tie the game 10-10 and force overtime. In the extra session, Live Oak scored a touchdown first but missed the extra point. Santa Teresa responded with a 1-yard TD run by Jaikob Wright on third-and-goal, and Carr nailed the ensuing PAT to give the Saints the walk-off win. Santa Teresa improved to 6-1, 2-1. Live Oak is 3-5, 3-1.

South San Francisco 29, Woodside 17 >> Elijah Fields scored two touchdowns to lead South City into first place by itself in the PAL El Camino Division standings. Fields scored on a 17-yard run to initiate the scoring. Then after Woodside went up 7-6, he scored on a 2-yard run. A 65-yard punt return by Darren Miller extended South City’s lead and his interception late in the game iced the win. South San Francisco is now 5-2 overall and 3-0 in league. Woodside, which went into the game tied with SSF, is 4-3 and 2-1.

Glenn Reeves, Joseph Dycus, Nathan Canilao, Christian Babcock, Mike Lefkow and Justice delos Santos contributed to this report.