Washington commit Elijah Qualls from Casa Grande of Petaluma has helped his team get back into the Division II North bowl game rankings. Photo by Harold Abend.
Note: The top 10 teams that would be ranked by CalHiSportsFootball for the CIF Open Division in Northern California would be:
1. De La Salle (Concord); 2. Elk Grove; 3. Franklin (Elk Grove); 4. Bellarmine (San Jose); 5. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills); 6. Folsom; 7. Serra (San Mateo); 8. California (San Ramon); 9. Placer (Auburn); 10. Luther Burbank (Sacramento).
With assistance from Harold Abend and Paul Muyskens, here are the Week 6 rankings for each of Northern California’s CIF bowl game divisions (previous ranking in parentheses):
DIVISION I NORTH
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 5-0
2. (2) Elk Grove 5-0
3. (4) Franklin (Elk Grove) 5-0
4. (5) Bellarmine (San Jose) 3-1
5. (6) Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 5-0
6. (7) Folsom 5-0
7. (8) Serra (San Mateo) 4-0
8. (10) California (San Ramon) 5-0
9. (13) Luther Burbank (Sacramento) 5-0
10. (12) Buhach Colony (Atwater) 3-2
11. (NR) Deer Valley (Antioch) 4-1
12. (14) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 3-2
13. (9) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 3-1
14. (15) Oak Grove (San Jose) 4-0
15. (NR) Granite Bay 2-3
Drops: Previous No. 3 James Logan (Union City) lost to Del Oro (Loomis) 20-13 in OT; No. 11 Palo Alto lost to Milpitas 24-19.
Bubble Teams: Antioch 5-0, Del Oro (Loomis) 1-4, Foothill (Pleasanton) 3-2, Freedom (Oakley) 4-2, Grant (Sacramento) 2-3, Lincoln (Stockton) 2-3, Milpitas 3-1, Nevada Union (Grass Valley) 3-2, Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 3-2, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 2-3, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 3-1.
No. 1 Team Result: De La Salle (Concord) defeated Livermore 57-0.
Race for No. 1: De La Salle and Elk Grove would currently project to be the two teams in the NorCal Open Division bowl game if both do not lose through the section playoffs. While Franklin and Elk Grove are in the same league and actually play each other on Oct. 19, they will not be in the same division of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. Elk Grove seems like a lock for Division II based on its enrollment total while Franklin is the same for Division I. This week’s top game is Oak Ridge hosting Folsom on Friday in El Dorado Hills. Both teams moved up one spot in this week’s bowl rankings due to James Logan’s overtime loss to Del Oro. Logan’s loss, combined with California of San Ramon beating Foothill of Pleasanton 36-7, seems to move California into the position of being the team mostly likely to give De La Salle a tough test in the North Coast Section.
DIVISION II NORTH
1. (1) Placer (Auburn) 5-0
2. (2) Concord 6-0
3. (3) Oakdale 4-1
4. (4) Paradise 4-1
5. (6) Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 5-0
6. (8) Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) 4-1
7. (9) Inderkum (Sacramento) 4-1
8. (10) American Canyon 5-0
9. (NR) Casa Grande (Petaluma) 4-1
10. (5) Benicia 4-1
Drops: Previous No. 7 Foothill (Palo Cedro) lost to Paradise 53-25.
Bubble Teams: Dublin 4-2, Enterprise (Redding) 4-1, Foothill (Palo Cedro) 3-2, Live Oak (Morgan Hill) 4-0, Northgate (Walnut Creek) 4-1, Sierra (Manteca) 4-1, Washington (Fremont) 3-2.
No. 1 Team Result: Placer defeated Woodcreek (Roseville) 54-14.
Race for No. 1: The big winner of the week is No. 4 Paradise as the two-time defending CIF Northern Section Division I champs overwhelmed previous No. 7 Foothill of Palo Cedro 53-25. There was no way to give the Bobcats a rankings boost, however, since the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 teams also won easily. Running back Jonathan Dixon led Paradise with 167 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Previous No. 5 Benicia’s loss was by just one point 29-28 to Oakland Tech so the Panthers were not dropped completely out of this week’s rankings. They also still own a head-to-head win over Dublin. This week’s only newcomer, Casa Grande, plays No. 5 Rancho Cotate on Oct. 12. The Gauchos, who have lost only to D1 school Napa, won 45-0 last weekend over Santa Rosa.
Note about CIF Central Coast Section teams: Once the playoff brackets are announced, we expect several quality teams from CCS “A” leagues that are not going to be in the CCS Open Division to be placed in the section’s Division I or Division II brackets. Examples could be a third-place team from the West Catholic Athletic League or a second-place team from the De Anza League (Palo Alto, Los Gatos, Milpitas, etc.). At that point, those teams would then get placed into our D2 North bowl game rankings (they are all considered Division I now) and it’s possible one or more of those teams will be ranked near the top.
DIVISION III NORTH
1. (1) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 5-1
2. (2) El Cerrito 6-0
3. (3) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 5-0
4. (4) Seaside 4-0
5. (5) Sutter 5-0
6. (6) Campolindo (Moraga) 5-1
7. (7) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 4-1
8. (9) Ripon 6-0
9. (NR) West Valley (Cottonwood) 5-0
10. (10) Los Banos 4-1
Drops: Previous No. 8 Salesian (Richmond) lost to El Cerrito 42-6.
Bubble Teams: Acalanes (Lafayette) 4-1, Analy (Sebastopol) 6-0, Aptos 3-2, Argonaut (Jackson) 5-0, Carmel 3-1, Escalon 4-2, Hilmar 5-1, Menlo School (Atherton) 4-0, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 4-0, Salesian (Richmond) 5-1, Soquel 4-1, St. Helena 5-0.
No. 1 Team Result: Marin Catholic (Kentfield) defeated Redwood (Larkspur) 51-12.
Race for No. 1: El Cerrito’s big win over previous No. 8 Salesian still isn’t enough for us to push the Gauchos past Marin Catholic. The Wildcats, after all, also won big last week plus El Cerrito has not played an opponent that is at the same level as Vacaville (the team Marin Catholic lost to on a last-second fumble). Both of those teams plus Cardinal Newman will all be in the CIF North Coast Section Division III playoffs so it won’t be rankings that decide a bowl berth anyway. The real battle will likely be among the other section champions in Northern California to see which would be best to face the NCS D3 champ in the first NorCal D3 bowl game.
Note about CIF Central Coast Section teams: Once the playoff brackets are announced, we expect several quality teams from CCS “A” leagues that are not going to be in the CCS Open Division to be placed in the section’s Division III or Division IV brackets. At that point, those teams would then get placed into our D3 North bowl game rankings and it’s possible one or more of those teams will be ranked near the top.
DIVISION IV NORTH
1. (1) Central Catholic (Modesto) 4-2
2. (2) McClymonds (Oakland) 2-3
3. (3) Ferndale 4-1
4. (4) Le Grand 4-1
5. (5) Pierce (Arbuckle) 5-0
6. (6) Valley Christian (Dublin) 4-1
7. (7) Capital Christian (Sacramento) 4-1
8. (NR) Portola 5-0
9. (9) Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 3-3
10. (10) Foresthill 5-1
Drops: Previous No. 8 St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma) lost to California School for the Deaf (Fremont) 44-17.
Bubble Teams: California School for the Deaf (Fremont) 4-1, Chester 5-0, Modesto Christian (Modesto) 3-3, St. Bernard (Eureka) 4-1, St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma) 3-2.
No. 1 Team Result: Central Catholic defeated Ceres 69-7.
Race for No. 1: Even if Central Catholic ends up not having to worry about Placer of Auburn in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs, the Raiders still may have a tough road to negotiate to win their title and gain bowl eligibility. Another potential SJS D4 team that posted an impressive win last week was unbeaten Ripon (ranked in D3 North). Ripon blanked Modesto Christian 52-0. In the North Coast Section, it was revealed that No. 3 Ferndale did not move up into the NCS Division IV playoffs but No. 6 Valley Christian of Dublin did move up. This could come into play if both teams were to win section titles because Valley Christian’s title will have come in the more difficult of the two divisions. This week’s lone newcomer, Portola, was an easy choice to go in because the Tigers have a win over Upper Lake, which has a win over California School for the Deaf. CSD is the team that knocked out previous No. 8 St. Vincent de Paul.
Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.
