Week 5: SoCal CIF Bowl Rankings

USC-bound Su’a Cravens of D1 South No. 2 Vista Murrieta is all smiles after last year’s CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship win over Corona Centennial.

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. Narbonne (Harbor City); 4. Bakersfield; 5. Mission Viejo; 6. Tesoro (Rancho SM); 8. St. Bonaventure (Ventura); 9. Centennial (Corona); 10. Mater Dei (Santa Ana).

With assistance from Harold Abend and Paul Muyskens, here are the Week 5 rankings for each of Southern California’s CIF bowl game divisions (previous ranking in parentheses):

DIVISION I SOUTH
1. (1) Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 5-0
2. (2) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 4-0
3. (4) Narbonne (Harbor City) 4-0
4. (5) Bakersfield 5-0
5. (7) Mission Viejo 5-0
6. (6) Tesoro (Rancho SM) 5-0
7. (8) St. Bonaventure (Ventura) 4-1
8. (9) Centennial (Corona) 3-1
9. (11) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 4-0
10. (13) Alemany (Mission Hills) 5-1
11. (10) Upland 5-0
12. (12) St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 4-0*
13. (14) Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 4-1
14. (15) Chaparral (Temecula) 3-1
15. (NR) Central (Fresno) 5-0
*Does not include forfeit losses.
Drops: Previous No. 3 Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) lost to Crenshaw (Los Angeles) 13-2.
Bubble Teams: Bishop Amat (La Puente) 4-0-1, Chino Hills 3-1-1, Clovis North (Clovis) 5-0, Crenshaw (Los Angeles) 4-1, Crespi (Encino) 6-0, El Toro (Lake Forest) 5-0, Loyola (Los Angeles) 4-1*, Lutheran (Orange) 5-0, Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 4-1, Rancho Cucamonga 4-1, Servite (Anaheim) 1-3, Westlake (Westlake Village) 3-2.
*Does not include forfeit win.
No. 1 Team Result: Santa Margarita defeated St. Bonaventure (Ventura) 35-27.
Race for No. 1: Oaks Christian’s loss to Crenshaw was particularly stunning because Crenshaw had a loss earlier to Westlake of Westlake Village, which lost two weeks ago to La Serna of Whittier and was routed last week by Crespi. And since the two CIF Sac-Joaquin Section teams that Oaks Christian beat early in the season – Del Oro of Loomis and Granite Bay – are a combined 1-7 it’s even more okay to drop the Lions all the way out of this week’s top 15. That loss, though, doesn’t change the dynamic of the eventual CIF Southern Section Pac-Five champion getting one of the two slots in the first CIF Southern California Open Division bowl game since Oaks Christian is a Pac-Five school. Which team eventually will win that title also now appears to be more up-for-grabs with the announcement that Santa Margarita quarterback Johnny Stanton will be lost for the season due to surgery for an ACL knee injury. If Narbonne beats Mater Dei this week and then goes on to finish as unbeaten L.A. City champs, it’s hard not to see the Gauchos getting that other open division berth.

DIVISION II SOUTH
1. (1) Serra (Gardena) 4-1
2. (2) Lompoc 5-0
3. (5) Oceanside 3-1
4. (4) Hart (Newhall) 3-1
5. (3) Edison (Huntington Beach) 3-1
6. (6) Tustin 5-0
7. (7) Citrus Hill (Perris) 5-0
8. (10) Garces (Bakersfield) 4-1
9. (9) Chaminade (West Hills) 3-1
10. (11) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 3-1
11. (12) Serrano (Phelan) 4-0
12. (13) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 2-2
13. (14) Helix (La Mesa) 3-1
14. (8) La Serna (Whittier) 4-1
15. (NR) La Mirada 4-1.
Drops: Previous No. 15 Poway lost to Oceanside 23-13.
Bubble Teams: Carter (Rialto) 4-0, Kaiser (Fontana) 4-0, Kingsburg 4-0, Olympian (Chula Vista) 4-0, Palmdale 4-0, Poway 2-2, St. Francis (La Canada) 3-1, Summit (Fontana) 3-1, Villa Park 4-1, West (Torrance) 4-0.
No. 1 Result: Serra lost to Narbonne (Harbor City) 22-9.
Race for No. 1: Losing to Narbonne by 22-9 after that team routed Long Beach Poly 56-0 is enough to keep Serra of Gardena in the top position. The Cavs also will be in a very good league for the next few weeks (including Chaminade and St. Francis of La Canada) and will be in the same CIFSS Western Division playoffs as No. 2 Lompoc. If Oceanside and Hart of Newhall continue to play well and eventually both win section titles, we hope a choice doesn’t have to be made between them to decide a bowl berth. That one already looks like it will be hair-splitting. Oceanside was given a bump this week due to its 23-13 win over Poway, but Hart’s only loss is 10-7 to D1 South-ranked Tesoro of San Juan Capistrano and that could end up being better than Oceanside having a 40-30 loss to Chaparral of Temecula.

DIVISION III SOUTH
1. (2) Mission Oak (Tulare) 4-0
2. (5) Paraclete (Lancaster) 4-1
3. (4) Segerstrom (Santa Ana) 5-0
4. (9) Nordhoff (Ojai) 5-0
5. (1) Valley Center 3-1
6. (3) St. Augustine (San Diego) 3-1
7. (6) Monrovia 2-2
8. (8) Wasco 4-0
9. (NR) Madison (San Diego) 3-1
10. (NR) Laguna Beach 3-0-1
Drops: Previous No. 7 Rubidoux (Riverside) lost to Tahquitz (Hemet) 50-0; No. 10 Irvine lost to Laguna Hills 13-0.
Bubble Teams: Big Bear (Big Bear Lake) 5-0, Imperial 3-1, La Salle (Pasadena) 5-0, Rim of the World (Lake Arrowhead) 4-0, San Dimas 4-1, Woodbridge (Irvine) 2-2.
No. 1 Team Result: Mission Oak defeated Exeter 42-6.
Race for No. 1: If Valley Center’s loss to Mission Hills of San Marcos was closer than 38-14, then a shift for the No. 1 ranking in this division this week might not have happened. Yes, Mission Hills is perhaps the best San Diego D1 team this season but there are other teams to consider as well. Mission Oak was put up as the new No. 1 not just because of its easy 42-6 win over Exeter but also because the Hawks are getting a huge test this week from Mt. Whitney of Visalia. Mt. Whitney is one of the top D2 teams in the CIF Central Section. The biggest riser of the week is Nordhoff after the Rangers topped Thousand Oaks of the Marmonte League 29-21. Valley Center also will get a chance to move back up a few spots because it is playing Poway (San Diego Section D1 champ from last year) in this week’s game.

DIVISION IV SOUTH
1. (1) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 4-0
2. (2) Bishop Diego (Santa Barbara) 4-0
3. (3) Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo) 5-0
4. (4) Ontario Christian 5-0
5. (5) Rio Hondo Prep (Arcadia) 3-1
6. (8) Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach) 2-2
7. (6) St. Margaret’s (SJ Capistrano) 3-1
8. (9) Francis Parker (San Diego) 3-1
9. (7) Christian (El Cajon) 3-1
10. (10) Poly (Pasadena) 4-0
Drops: None.
Bubble Teams: Aquinas (San Bernardino) 3-2, Bakersfield Christian 3-1, Boron 4-1, Capistrano Valley Christian (SJ Capistrano) 5-0, Chadwick (Palos Verdes) 3-1.
No. 1 Team Result: Sierra Canyon defeated La Jolla Country Day 34-3.
Race for No. 1: The top-ranked Trail Blazers will likely roll on until their Nov. 2 matchup with D3 South No. 2 Paraclete of Lancaster. The No. 2 ranking in the division could get shaken up, though, due to this week’s showdown between Bishop Diego and Santa Fe Christian. While Bishop Diego is coming into that matchup off a bye week, Santa Fe Christian enters after a 38-0 romp past La Jolla. Two ranked teams from this division that lost last week but continue to be ranked are St. Margaret’s (loss was 31-17 to larger school Laguna Beach) and Francis Parker (loss was 24-20 to Christian of El Cajon).

Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.