7 Bay Area High Schools Advance to State Football Championship

The excitement around Bay Area high school football has reached new heights as seven schools advance to the state championships. This marks an exciting moment for local fans, athletes, and communities across the region. From Concord to San Francisco, and San Jose to Oakland, these schools represent a diverse and dynamic range of communities. The teams advancing to the state finals include De La Salle (Concord), McClymonds (Oakland), St. Ignatius (San Francisco), Balboa (San Francisco), Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland), Lincoln (San Jose), and El Cerrito. Their success showcases the depth of talent that continues to flourish in the Bay Area.

The region is well-known for its competitive football programs, with both established teams and rising newcomers making their mark. Among these, De La Salle (Concord) stands out with a continued legacy of success, while teams like Balboa (San Francisco) and McClymonds (Oakland) are making impressive strides. This season has highlighted not only the region’s athletic strength but also the dedication of coaches, players, and supporters.

As these teams prepare for their state matchups, there is heightened anticipation surrounding the challenges they will face from Southern California’s top teams. Will Bay Area schools maintain their strong showing against these rivals? The upcoming games are sure to deliver thrilling action and further demonstrate the talent this region is known for.

Bay Area Football’s Historic Season

Bay Area high school football is no stranger to state championships, but this year’s display has caught the attention of many. A number of teams have secured their place in regional finals and are now looking to advance further into the state championship rounds. Historically, De La Salle has been a powerhouse, but other schools like McClymonds and Balboa are emerging as serious contenders, adding to the excitement surrounding Bay Area football.

7 Bay Area High Schools Advance to State Football Championship

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With seven schools making a significant run, this season stands out as one of the best in recent years. The impressive performances of teams from diverse areas—such as Concord, San Francisco, and San Jose—add a new layer to the story of Bay Area football. For many, this season is more than just a series of games; it’s a testament to the hard work and passion of players, coaches, and communities who’ve supported them every step of the way.

While the season continues to unfold, the Bay Area’s presence in the state championships represents a defining moment for regional high school football. The spotlight on these teams has brought attention to the depth of talent throughout the area, showcasing not only the skill of the players but the spirit of their schools and communities.

Rising Stars Ready for the State Stage

As the championship games draw near, individual athletes are stepping into the spotlight. The state finals present a unique opportunity for players to showcase their talents on a larger stage, with college scouts and fans watching closely. Bay Area athletes, many of whom have had standout seasons, are now poised to make their mark at the state level.

Athletes like Lamar Ellis from Bishop O’Dowd and Dominic Davis of McClymonds have captured attention throughout the season. These rising stars have broken records and inspired their teams with their commitment and skill. Their performances have been a major factor in their schools’ successful runs to the state championships.

For many of these athletes, reaching the state championships is the culmination of years of hard work, and this moment presents them with the chance to take their game to the next level. Whether it’s making an impact on the field or gaining attention from college recruiters, the state finals provide a platform that could change the trajectory of these athletes’ futures.

The Thrill of the Bay Area’s Football Legacy

The Bay Area’s football teams have earned a reputation for being strong competitors in the state championships, and this season’s results only strengthen that legacy. Each team brings its own history and identity to the field, and fans across the region are rallying behind their local teams. From long-standing football programs like De La Salle, to newer teams making a name for themselves like Balboa and McClymonds, this season reflects the evolution of Bay Area football.

Communities across the region are feeling the pride that comes with seeing their teams advance. For schools like Balboa and McClymonds, the journey to the state finals represents the culmination of years of dedication. The collective spirit of these schools shines through as families, alumni, and local businesses come together to support their teams during this historic run.

While the rivalry between Northern and Southern California teams adds an exciting dynamic to the championship, the pride of the Bay Area is undeniable. This season is set to be a significant chapter in the long and storied history of Bay Area football, further solidifying its place in the state’s football culture.

What’s Next for Bay Area High School Football?

The outcome of these state championship games will have lasting effects on the future of high school football in the Bay Area. The success of multiple schools at the state level has the potential to inspire younger athletes and solidify the Bay Area’s reputation as a breeding ground for football talent. The momentum from this season could also lead to increased support for local programs, helping to further elevate the quality of the sport.

For alumni, fans, and supporters, these games are more than just a competition—they are a celebration of their team’s legacy and a moment to rally around their community. The pride felt by these groups as they cheer on their teams is a reflection of the deep connection between high school football and local identity in the Bay Area.

While the immediate future holds state championships, the long-term impact of this season’s success will likely continue to shape the Bay Area’s football scene for years to come. The champions of this year will leave behind a legacy that inspires future generations of athletes, coaches, and fans to keep striving for greatness.

When the World Goes Dark: Becky Bronson on the Science and Humanity Behind When North Becomes South

By: Emily Carter

A Story Sparked by a Journey Off the Grid

The idea for When North Becomes South did not come from a lab or a newsroom or a writer’s retreat. It began in a rural Liberian village where Becky Bronson’s son was serving in the Peace Corps. In 2017, Becky and her husband traveled to the town, a place without running water, electricity, or the systems most of the world relies on every single day.

What struck Becky most was not the lack of technology. It was how fully the community functioned without it. People worked, shared meals, raised children, and supported one another with a natural rhythm that felt quietly powerful. When she returned home to the United States, she could not stop thinking about what she had witnessed.

If the power grid collapsed in the Western world, Becky thought, we would spiral into chaos. Yet the people she met in Liberia might not even notice the outage right away. That contrast stayed with her. It became the seed for a novel about what happens when modern life stumbles and communities must face a world shaped by survival, connection, and resilience.

Around that same time, Becky read The Spinning Magnet by Allana Mitchell. This nonfiction work explores the science of Earth’s magnetic poles and the possibility of a future reversal. The idea that a solar flare could accelerate such a shift fascinated her. It provided the scientific foundation she needed to imagine a worldwide blackout powerful enough to reshape the planet. With that, When North Becomes South took its first breath.

Imagining Life Without the Modern Systems We Take for Granted

As Becky began writing, she quickly discovered how unsettling it was to imagine life without the infrastructure that defines daily existence. Questions she had not expected flooded her mind. How would people communicate? How would they survive without refrigeration, medicine, or clean water? What would happen to cities built on constant access to power?

The process became emotionally challenging. Becky describes many sleepless nights spent imagining a world stripped of convenience. She realized how easy it is to tell ourselves that we would adapt if things went wrong. But writing this book forced her to dig into the uncomfortable details. Survival is not glamorous. It is not simple. It requires creativity, community, and sometimes painful choices.

This vulnerability and honesty anchor the novel. Becky did not write an idealized version of collapse. She wrote a world that feels real because she forced herself to enter the fear and uncertainty of the unknown.

Connecting Characters Across Continents

One of the most compelling aspects of When North Becomes South is its structure. The story follows three characters living through the same global crisis from radically different places.

Becky initially planned two narrative threads: a mother and father in the United States and their son living in an African village. These two perspectives created an emotional and geographic contrast, but Becky soon realized the story needed a third voice to reflect the societal impact more fully. That is when she introduced Josh, a character whose life unfolds in an urban American environment.

Together, these three viewpoints reveal how one event can fracture the world. The mother and father navigate suburban uncertainty. Josh witnesses chaos in the city. The son, isolated in Africa, experiences an entirely different rhythm of change.

Becky connected their stories through time rather than geography. By framing the novel around the solar flare that sets the disaster in motion, she could shift between settings with clarity. The threads remain separate yet emotionally linked, each revealing a piece of the larger human experience.

Where Science Meets Imagination

Becky’s scientific background contributes significantly to the novel’s authenticity. With a PhD in biochemistry and years of research experience, she approached the scientific elements with careful precision. She read studies on solar flares, magnetic pole shifting, and the vulnerabilities of global power grids. She followed the references in The Spinning Magnet and expanded her research from there.

Yet her background also created challenges. The scientist in her wanted to control the narrative, evaluate every possibility, and question each leap of imagination. The creative part of her needed space to explore the emotional landscape and let the characters lead. Keeping those parts in balance became one of the most interesting parts of writing the book.

Sometimes she had to quiet the analytical part of her mind to let the story breathe. At other times, she relied on that same analytical side to keep the narrative grounded. The blend of these worlds gives the novel a texture that feels both thoughtful and deeply human.

The Difficulty of Writing Survival

Among all the themes in When North Becomes South, the survival scenes were the most difficult for Becky to write. She has never lived through an infrastructure collapse and had to imagine what that level of vulnerability would feel like.

Writing about social change came more naturally because she had lived through periods of turmoil and transition. Writing about personal transformation also felt familiar. But imagining characters who must navigate hunger, fear, separation, and physical danger required emotional courage. She wanted to portray survival honestly, not through sensationalism but through the lens of human resilience.

What Becky Hopes Readers Will See in Themselves

Becky hopes readers leave the novel with a deeper awareness of how deeply modern life depends on fragile systems. She does not want people to fear collapse. Instead, she wants them to appreciate how interconnected communities truly are and how easily we can forget the value of local relationships when technology shields us from our own vulnerability.

The message is not about becoming a survivalist. It is about recognizing the importance of human connection when everything else falls away. Becky believes that strengthening local bonds, relying on each other, and valuing community may be the key to resilience in any crisis.

In When North Becomes South, Becky offers readers a story built from science, imagination and empathy. It is a novel that asks tough questions and invites readers to consider not only what might happen if the lights go out, but what parts of themselves might shine brighter in the dark.

Attract It All: Tsikki Thau’s Manifestation Guidebook Teaches Secrets to Cultivating Everyday Happiness, Alignment & Abundance

By: David Wallace

More than ever, manifesting is gaining momentum among Americans, especially with an array of big-name celebs and social influencers talking about it openly. Even though there have been countless books about the law of attraction, there is still confusion about whether the practice is simply  “positive thinking” or more about energy, vibrations, visualizations, or even spells, as some Instagram pages lead you to believe.  

Do you want to have real, measurable personal growth, attract wealth, cultivate lasting relationships, and experience everyday happiness? 

Renowned personal development mentor Tsikki Thau’s new book, Attract It All draws from 30 years of practice teaching others about manifesting their dreams by offering a blend of ancient practices and modern techniques with easy exercises and real-life success stories that show the transformative power to revolutionize your life. It’s a must-read book for everyone looking to enhance their lives. 

Tsikki Thau has over 30 years of experience as a leading stress educator and speaks nationally about the transformative power of manifestation. Her new book unveils the secrets to attracting your heart’s desires by blending ancient practices and modern techniques, with practical exercises and real-life success stories. This empowering guide shows step-by-step transformative work with proven tools to revolutionize your life, attract wealth, and cultivate lasting happiness. 

What is manifestation, and what are some of the myths associated with it?

From the very first pages, the reader learns about Tsikki’s personal story that is both tragic and empowering. She notes that manifestation is the art of aligning your inner world with the life you desire to create and bring it to the present moment. It’s not wishful thinking, it’s a conscious relationship with energy, intention, and self-awareness. Manifestation happens when your beliefs, your emotions, and your actions all flow in the same direction and yes say “yes” to it all. 

A common myth is that manifesting is about “asking the universe” for something and then waiting or expecting it to just happen. Another myth is that you must be positive all the time and not regress in your thinking. That’s simply not true. Tsikki shares that you’re human, you will feel everything. I always tell my clients that when their thoughts don’t flow or they feel off, to simply give themselves 30 seconds to cancel a negative thought and challenge themselves to continue until the train of negative thoughts ends and are replaced with a content feeling. This also ends the self-sabotage or the feeling of failure. 

She also notes that real manifestation happens when you become deeply honest with yourself, patient, clear about your intentions, and willing to shift the internal patterns that no longer serve you. That’s when the external world begins to align with you. 

A Different Approach to the Law of Attraction: There is a Science Behind Manifestation

Thau’s central question — If manifesting were as simple as thinking positive thoughts, wouldn’t we all be living our ideal lives? In her words, “positive thinking alone is not enough although a fantastic way to live happily. Alignment is everything. The mind may say one thing, but your subconscious may hold very different beliefs, and energy always follows the deeper truth.”

She also explains that there is science behind this. Thau explains that we know that the brain rewires based on focus and repetition. We know the nervous system responds to emotion before thought. And we know that the body emits a measurable electromagnetic field influenced by our internal state. 

She notes that manifestation is the intersection between neuroscience, biology, and energy. So, it’s not magic it’s coherence. When your intentions,  thoughts, emotions, and energy match your desires, manifestation becomes natural. Believing occurs effortlessly. A way of life and a beautiful habit to adapt. 

The Real Secret to Manifestation – Yes, There’s a Book for That

One of the myths of reading self-help guidebooks is that you have to read it cover to cover. Tsikki notes that many people tell her that they are intuitively open to the section they need that day and that one message shifts everything for them. This also keeps them wanting more. 

There’s a central theme in Attract It All — True manifestation is not a checklist; it’s a relationship with yourself. Tsikki states that manifestation is a way of life. Beliefs matter, intentions matter, gratitude matters but what matters most is your willingness to become the version of you that can manifest the life you desire. She shares that manifesting is not about forcing outcomes. It’s about becoming aligned with the frequency of what you seek. When you shift internally, your external world responds effortlessly.

Choosing Your Journey: How Come Manifesting is so Hard to Do 

“Many people tell me they’ve been manifesting for years and nothing happens,” Tsikki shares. “I tell them this: Never give up or stop trying until you see results. When you see results, you must maintain the practice with endless discipline.”  She highlights: 

When nothing is happening, it’s usually because:

  • There is a subconscious belief or doubt  blocking the desire 
  • The intention isn’t clear or emotionally connected
  • They are attached to the outcome
  • They’re manifesting from lack and impatience rather than abundance. 
  • They haven’t aligned their actions with an initial choice to commit to this practice. 
  • The moment you shift the internal resistance, everything begins to flow. 
  • Manifestation isn’t about forcing; it’s about remembering, creating and allowing.

Tools for Attracting It All For The New Year

Throughout the book, Tsikki offers tools and exercises designed to help readers rewrite their future. One of the most powerful exercises is “The Doors” where you connect your intention to your breath, your emotion, and your energy lit up all at once. You shift your frequency instantly and tap into a powerful system of the unknown, yet you trust the process, and before you know it, something profound and unexpected has been manifested for you. 

Tsikki shares that her clients tell her that this exercise opens a portal inside them — they suddenly remember who they are and what they are capable of attracting beyond limitations. She says that it’s powerful because it’s not just mental; it’s enlightening, emotional, and deeply embodied.

Manifesting & Beyond: Creating the Life You Deserve

Thau notes that manifestation is not reserved for the spiritual, the gifted, the rich, or the lucky. It’s your birthright. You are made of energy, creative intelligence, and power. 

She instructs readers that the moment you stop abandoning or neglecting yourself, the moment you listen to the wisdom of your own intuition, the moment you align with your truth, and the moment you choose to have an abundant life, life begins to rearrange in your favor and gift you all that you desire. 

In Attract It All, Tsikki shares secrets to having abundance, in whatever way abundance means for you. Your energy is your signature, your power, and your greatest tool. When you learn to work with it, you don’t just manifest things…you manifest a new version of yourself. Tsikki shares that she guides people back to their center so they can hear their own voice again.

Thau shares that energy psychology is one of the most powerful tools for finding your own voice again. It works with the invisible, unspoken language of the body, the energy that holds our thoughts, emotions, memories, and beliefs. When energy moves freely, stress dissolves. When it gets stuck, we feel overwhelmed, disconnected, unwell, and out of alignment. 

Tsikki teaches readers that, by gently working with the body’s energy system, you release emotional blocks, soothe the nervous system, and create spaciousness inside. She further notes that people often describe it as feeling like they breathe for the first time in years, or a huge weight is lifted off their shoulders. It’s simple, exciting, profound, and life-changing.

To explore Tsikki Thau’s transformative approach to attracting everything you ever wanted in your own life, check out Attract It All on Amazon.

 

Disclaimer: The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only and reflects the views and experiences shared by the author. The methods and concepts discussed, including those related to manifestation, are not guaranteed to produce specific outcomes. Individual results may vary. Always seek guidance from qualified professionals for personalized advice regarding personal development, mental health, or other related topics.