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CONCORD – William Orr was expected to lead a stacked Serra football team this fall that seemed poised to return to the top of the West Catholic Athletic League.
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But it was not to be for the rising sophomore quarterback, who left the San Mateo private school last winter and has enrolled at Clayton Valley Charter in Concord after being homeschooled in the spring.
Orr said the commute from his family’s home in Antioch and adjusting to his new surroundings became too much. On some occasions, he even stayed with teammates to avoid the 65-mile drive to East Contra Costa County.
“I wanted to be closer to home, and I felt like Clayton Valley gave me the best chance to still play at a high level and be close, versus me at Serra in San Mateo every day and my family in Antioch,” Orr told the Bay Area News Group on Wednesday night, hours after the news organization reported that the quarterback had found a new school.
Orr noted that he enjoyed his time at Serra, where he took over as the starting quarterback late last season and led the Padres to the Central Coast Section Division I championship.
“It’s a great school,” Orr said. “Great school. I met a lot of people, saw a lot of things, had some great connections, great bonds.”
As he transitions back to the East Bay, Orr feels confident in his chances to pick up where he left off at Serra. First-year Clayton Valley coach Nathan Kenion told the Bay Area News Group that he expected Orr to be immediately eligible and that he will compete with the Ugly Eagles’ other quarterbacks – a group that includes three seniors – for playing time.
“I don’t really look at it as competition,” Orr said. “I look at it as me versus me. I don’t really worry about them, but I know at the end of the day, I have to be on my A-game at all times, and I have something to prove. So that’s how I go at that. It’s my year to either make it or break it. So I don’t see it as a competition. I just find it like it’s me versus me.”
Orr said he hopes to double his yardage total from last season, when he threw for 891 yards and rushed for 204 in 12 games, mostly as a backup.
He aspires to throw for 2,000 yards, drop his interception total from seven to three – “really zero,” he said – and compile 30 touchdowns.
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“As a team, I just want to do better than last year,” Orr said. “It’s the same thing. I kind of just want to double everything. So instead of losing the game to go to state, I want to win that game to go to state and win state.”
When Serra lost to St. Mary’s-Stockton in the NorCal 2-AA title game last season, it ended a bounce-back year for the Padres that also featured a win over Los Gatos in the CCS Division I final.
Clayton Valley, though it was once a perennial contender at the top of the North Coast Section, has backslid since those days. The Ugly Eagles won NCS Division II titles in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2019, NorCal titles in 2014 and 2015 and a 2-AA state title in 2019.
But after an extended run lording over the Diablo Athletic League’s Foothill Division, Clayton Valley has been overtaken by Acalanes as the league’s top team, and the Concord school has won no more than seven games in a single season since 2022.
It’s possible the addition of Orr, who is also good friends with Ugly Eagles junior safety Darris Glenn, will help CVC challenge for the league title once again.
Orr noted matchups with Archbishop Riordan and San Ramon Valley as two games he’s particularly looking forward to this fall. He competed with Clayton Valley at a 7-on-7 event at De La Salle on Wednesday and said the Ugly Eagles came out on top.
“I want to win all of our big games,” Orr said. “I just want to come out on top of everything.”
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This story was originally published July 16, 2026 at 3:17 PM.