Week 4: SoCal CIF Bowl Rankings

Paraclete linemen Mason VanKirk (6-7, 270) and D’errick Chambers (6-2, 285) are both juniors and did an outstanding job in team’s big win over Dorsey of Los Angeles. Photo: Mark Tennis.

What to do with La Serna after team’s monstrous win over Westlake is the toughest challenge of the week. No. 1 teams, meanwhile, remain Santa Margarita, Serra of Gardena, Valley Center and Sierra Canyon. Go to our Twitter page @CalHiSports for game reports and check our Facebook page for more highlights.

Note: The top 10 teams that would be ranked by CalHiSportsFootball for the CIF Open Division in Southern California would be:

1. Santa Margarita (Rancho SM); 2. Vista Murrieta (Murrieta); 3. Oaks Christian (Westlake Village); 4. Narbonne (Harbor City); 5. Bakersfield; 6. Tesoro (Rancho SM); 7. Mission Viejo; 8. St. Bonaventure (Ventura); 9. Serra (Gardena); 10. Centennial (Corona).

With assistance from Harold Abend and Paul Muyskens, here are the Week 4 rankings for each of Southern California’s CIF bowl game divisions (previous ranking in parentheses):

DIVISION I SOUTH
1. (1) Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 4-0
2. (2) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 3-0
3. (3) Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 4-0
4. (8) Narbonne (Harbor City) 3-0
5. (5) Bakersfield 4-0
6. (6) Tesoro (Rancho SM) 4-0
7. (7) Mission Viejo 4-0
8. (10) St. Bonaventure (Ventura) 4-0
9. (12) Centennial (Corona) 2-1
10. (11) Upland 4-0
11. (14) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 3-0
12. (NR) St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 4-0
13. (4) Alemany (Mission Hills) 4-1
14. (13) Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 3-1
15. (15) Chaparral (Temecula) 3-0
Drops: Previous No. 9 Westlake (Westlake Village) lost to La Serna (Whittier) 38-9.
Bubble Teams: Bishop Amat (La Puente) 3-0-1, Central (Fresno) 4-0, Chino Hills 2-1-1, Clovis North (Clovis) 4-0, Crenshaw (Los Angeles) 34-1, El Toro (Lake Forest) 4-0, Liberty (Bakersfield) 3-1, Lutheran (Orange) 4-0, Rancho Cucamonga 3-1, San Clemente 4-0, Servite (Anaheim) 1-2, Westlake (Westlake Village) 3-1.
No. 1 Team Result: Santa Margarita defeated Carson 72-0.
Race for No. 1: This week’s matchup between Santa Margarita and St. Bonaventure could tell us a lot about what to expect for the rest of the regular season. If the Seraphs are close, then the Eagles will likely get more tough challenges from teams in the Trinity League. If we were picking the bowl game matchups right now, it would be CIFSS Pac-Five (Santa Margarita) vs. CIFSS Inland (Vista Murrieta) for the SoCal Open Division and then CIF Central Section Division I (Bakersfield) vs. CIF L.A. City Division I (Narbonne) for SoCal Division I. If Narbonne, though, beats Serra of Gardena and Mater Dei in the next two weeks and then rolls to its section title, there will be a big-time debate that the Gauchos and not Vista Murrieta or whichever team wins the Inland Division should be the team to take a crack at the CIFSS Pac-Five champ.

DIVISION II SOUTH
1. (1) Serra (Gardena) 4-0
2. (3) Lompoc 4-0
3. (6) Edison (Huntington Beach) 3-0
4. (5) Hart (Newhall) 2-1
5. (7) Oceanside 2-1
6. (8) Tustin 4-0
7. (9) Citrus Hill (Perris) 4-0
8. (NR) La Serna (Whittier) 4-0
9. (4) Chaminade (West Hills) 3-1
10. (14) Garces (Bakersfield) 3-1
11. (10) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 2-1
12. (NR) Serrano (Phelan) 4-0
13. (15) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 2-1
14. (2) Helix (La Mesa) 2-1
15. (13) Poway 2-1
Drops: Previous No. 11 Canyon (Canyon Country) lost to Quartz Hill 56-49; No. 12 Heritage (Menifee) lost to Great Oak (Temecula) 35-32.
Bubble Teams: Carter (Rialto) 3-0, Kaiser (Fontana) 3-0, Kingsburg 3-0, La Mirada 3-1, Mt. Whitney (Visalia) 3-0, Olympian (Chula Vista) 3-0, Palmdale 3-0, St. Francis (La Canada) 2-1, Summit (Fontana) 3-1, Villa Park 3-1.
No. 1 Result: Serra blanked Banning (Wilmington) 43-0 in preparation for this week’s showdown at home against D1 South ranked Narbonne.
Race for No. 1: Although it was easy to keep Serra in the No. 1 position, the rest of the order in this division was not easy to determine. Complicating factors included previous No. 2 and defending D2 state bowl champ Helix losing to Cathedral Catholic, Edison of Huntington Beach beating D1 powerhouse Servite and previous No. 4 Chaminade making a run at Oaks Christian in the second-half of a 44-30 defeat. The real challenge, however, was what to do with La Serna of Whitter. The Lancers shocked the SoCal prep scene with their 38-9 shellacking of Westlake. Sure, Westlake didn’t have standout Dashon Hunt available, but the score indicates that even with him that the Warriors would have lost on this night. We could have moved La Serna as high as No. 4 in this division after that win, but as a newcomer we went with a more conservative No. 8. That’s still a huge jump for the Lancers, who lost in last year’s CIFSS Southeast Division final 84-21 to West Covina. Major props to coach Margarito Beltran and his players for coming back this year after suffering a defeat like that. After Helix lost, the CIF San Diego Section’s No. 1 overall ranking this week went to Oceanside after the Pirates rebounded from their loss to Chaparral of Temecula with a 48-0 victory against Mira Mesa. La Costa Canyon, which lost to D1 South San Clemente 21-10, was still ranked No. 2 overall in the section. That’s because the Mavericks beat Poway the week before and San Clemente is 4-0.

DIVISION III SOUTH
1. (1) Valley Center 3-0
2. (2) Mission Oak (Tulare) 3-0
3. (3) St. Augustine (San Diego) 3-0
4. (4) Segerstrom (Santa Ana) 4-0
5. (7) Paraclete (Lancaster) 3-1
6. (6) Monrovia 2-1
7. (10) Rubidoux (Riverside) 4-0
8. (9) Wasco 3-0
9. (NR) Nordhoff (Ojai) 4-0
10. (NR) Irvine 3-0
Drops: Previous No. 5 San Dimas lost to Monrovia 35-23; No. 8 Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) lost to Newport Harbor (Newport Beach) 27-26.
Bubble Teams: Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 1-2*; Imperial 2-1, La Salle (Pasadena) 4-0, Madison (San Diego) 2-1, Rim of the World (Lake Arrowhead) 3-0, San Dimas 3-1, Woodbridge (Irvine) 2-1.
*Record does not include forfeits.
No. 1 Team Result: Valley Center defeated La Jolla 24-0.
Race for No. 1: It was an impressive showing indeed for Paraclete last Thursday when the Spirits met and defeated L.A. City Division I team Dorsey of Los Angeles 26-24. There ended up not being much of a chance to move them up in this week’s rankings, however, because only one team in front of them lost. Paraclete’s ranking also is benefitting because the team’s only loss is to Serrano of Phelan, which itself is now in the D2 South rankings. The major benefit from getting the win over Dorsey may not come for several weeks because some of the higher-ranked teams are playing similar opponents. Top-ranked Valley Center meets D1 school Mission Hills this week, then gets 2011 San Diego D1 champ Poway the week after. Mission Oak also will have its toughest game in two weeks with a matchup against Mt. Whitney of Visalia.

DIVISION IV SOUTH
1. (1) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 3-0
2. (2) Bishop Diego (Santa Barbara) 4-0
3. (3) Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo) 4-0
4. (NR) Ontario Christian 4-0
5. (6) Rio Hondo Prep (Arcadia) 3-1
6. (7) St. Margaret’s (SJ Capistrano) 3-0
7. (8) Christian (El Cajon) 3-0
8. (4) Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach) 1-2
9. (9) Francis Parker (San Diego) 2-1
10. (10) Poly (Pasadena) 3-0
Drops: Previous No. 5 Boron lost to Rio Hondo Prep (Arcadia) 48-6.
Bubble Teams: Aquinas (San Bernardino) 2-2, Bakersfield Christian 2-1, Boron 3-1, Capistrano Valley Christian (SJ Capistrano) 4-0, Chadwick (Palos Verdes) 2-1, Desert (Edwards) 3-1, Grace Brethren (Simi Valley) 1-2.
No. 1 Team Result: Sierra Canyon shut out Kilpatrick (Malibu) 49-6.
Race for No. 1: We’d like to welcome another contender into the mix this week with the addition of Ontario Christian into the top five. We had previously considered the Knights to be Division III South because we had the school’s enrollment above 500. Athletic director David Parkes confirmed in an email last week that the new, more updated enrollment of 460 should be used. Ontario Christian won last week 47-6 over Jurupa Valley and also has wins this season over big school El Monte and bubble team Bakersfield Christian. The Knights would have to win the CIFSS East Valley Division (same as Rubidoux of Riverside) to become bowl eligible. That’s tough, but not as tough as Sierra Canyon having to beat the likes of Paraclete and Monrovia to win the Mid-Valley Division.

Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.

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