Oceanside coach John Carroll talks with the media at Qualcomm Stadium after one of his team’s seven straight CIF San Diego Section titles from 2004 to 2010. The Pirates are No. 15 in this week’s rankings.
13. (14) MATER DEI (SANTA ANA) 5-1
Why This Ranking: The Monarchs move up a spot after rebounding from their one-point loss to No. 4 Narbonne by routing previously unbeaten JSerra of San Juan Capistrano 42-10. The Monarchs will obviously have a chance to move up again next week if they can defeat No. 2 Santa Margarita.
Weekend Result: Mater Dei’s Thomas Duarte dominated on both sides of the ball, catching two touchdown passes from Ryan McMahon and returning an interception 52 yards for a score in the win over JSerra. Duarte’s defensive play came in the final seconds of the first period to give Mater Dei a 21-0 lead. With the victory,
Mater Dei upped its all-time record against JSerra to 7-0.
Up Next: Mater Dei will look to keep pace in the tough Trinity League against No. 2 Santa Margarita. The Monarchs are not terribly explosive on the outside and neither are the Eagles, but coach Bruce Rollinson feels his defense is where Mater Dei may have an advantage.
14. (16) CHAPARRAL (TEMECULA) 5-1
Why This Ranking: The Pumas have now moved up five spots in the last two weeks as they have picked up wins while teams ahead of them have suffered loses. Their lone loss was to No. 7 Tesoro of Rancho Santa Margarita and by just 17-14. Their big win over No. 15 Oceanside also has continued to gain in importance.
Weekend Result: After a 46-0 win over Santa Fe of Santa Fe Springs, Chaparral put up 46 points again in their Southwestern League opener. The 46-20 defeat of Murrieta Mesa of Murrieta featured Justin Harris rushing for 122 yards while Skyler Seibold rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Chris Stratton also showed he could make an impact more than just as a wide receiver as he returned a punt 61 yards for a score and intercepted a pass and returned it 27 yards for six points.
Up Next: The Pumas should remain undefeated as they host a Temecula Valley of Temecula squad that has lost four straight while allowing an average of 51.5 points during that span.
15. (17) OCEANSIDE 5-1
Why This Ranking: With a two-spot bump this week, the top team from the CIF San Diego Section has now moved up seven spots the last two weeks. The lone loss to Chaparral with starters out continues to drag the Pirates along for the ride upward with Chaparral.
Weekend Result: As predicted, and unfortunately for the Carlsbad faithful, it was more of the same as the past two years in a 54-3 drubbing of the Lancers. In the last three games, the Pirates have outscored the Lancers 122-5. This past Friday junior running back Thai Cottrell scored on runs of 29 and 11 yards, and added an 80-yard kickoff return for a third touchdown. The Pirates also got rushing TDs from William Gulley and Jace Whittaker. Despite pulling most of the starters at halftime and with a 38-3 lead, the defense still held Carlsbad to 168 total yards.
Up Next: The Pirates face a 1-4* (*not including forfeits) Vista team whose only win was 2-0, that’s correct, 2-0 three weeks ago over San Diego Torrey Pines. This could be another very ugly Avocado West League contest.
16. (18) FRANKLIN (ELK GROVE) 6-0
Why This Ranking: Like several other teams, the Wildcats get a two-spot bump thanks to Bakersfield and Serra of Gardena losing while they picked up a nice road win over Grant of Sacramento.
Weekend Result: While Grant has struggled this season, it’s still a feat to go to Grant and return home with a 34-26 win. Leading 28-26, the Pacers lined up for a potential game-winning field goal but the Wildcats blocked it and returned it for a touchdown and the 34-26 win. Kyran Harris rushed for 147 yards on 21 carries while scoring four touchdowns.
Up Next: Trying not to get caught looking ahead to their road game at No. 8 Elk Grove, Franklin will host Davis on Friday. Davis has won its last two games by 40-0 and 42-7 scores and has scored at least 40 points in four of its six games this season.
17. (19) CRESPI (ENCINO) 7-0
Why This Ranking: After a solid win over a Loyola of Los Angeles team that was unbeaten officially (but lost on the field to St. John Bosco 45-0), the Celts move up naturally by two positions this week due to other teams losing. They will certainly be tested during the rest of their Serra League schedule as well.
Weekend Result: With the Crespi defense holding Loyola to just 145 yards and also coming up with six turnovers, the offense didn’t have to be spectacular in a 20-7 win against the Cubs. Still, head coach Jon Mack probably would have wished for a couple more touchdowns than field goals. Leading the way was quarterback Cody Cordell, who was 20 of 30 passing for 166 yards and one score. Ja’Brian Blackwell also caught nine balls for 90 yards and the one TD while Patrick Cassley was solid by nailing the two field goals.
Up Next: Crespi’s offense will likely have to score more than 20 points this week to match up against the explosive offense of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. The Knights just lost 49-42 to No. 10 Alemany and have been in the State Top 25 themselves earlier in the season.
18. (20) CENTRAL (FRESNO) 6-0
Why This Ranking: While previous No. 5 Bakersfield was falling 28-17 to a Bakersfield Liberty team the Grizzlies defeated 10-9 in Week Two, the new top team from the CIF Central Section was taking care of business with a win over Buchanan of Clovis.
Weekend Result: As expected, the Grizzlies put up big numbers in the 50-22 victory over a Buchanan squad that had given up huge points in three straight previous losses.
Up Next: Tri-River Athletic Conference play continues and it doesn’t get any easier in the Valley’s toughest league. To hold onto the Valley’s top spot and stay in the rankings, coach Justin Garza will have to have his boys ready this Friday against a 5-1 Clovis team whose lone loss was at home to No. 21 El Toro.
19. (25) FOLSOM 6-0
Why This Ranking: A 49-21 romp past previous No. 24 and previously unbeaten Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills warrants a strong jolt up the ladder for the Bulldogs. They look pretty certain to be 9-0 heading into a league matchup on Nov. 2 against Pleasant Grove and could end up being the biggest threat to No. 8 Elk Grove in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs. In fact, Folsom was the team that knocked out Elk Grove in last year’s playoffs.
Weekend Result: We asked co-coach Kris Richardson after the Oak Ridge game if it was a fair comparison to look at this group as similar to the 2009 Bulldogs that had junior Dano Graves at the controls plus many other underclassmen. He agreed quickly. Whether this group can be as good as Graves and the rest of the Bulldogs were in 2010 remains to be seen, but they have a chance. Sophomore QB Jake Browning completed 37 of 48 in the win for 353 yards and six TDs. Junior Troy Knox caught 13 passes for 147 yards and one score, sophomore Bailey Laolagi had 95 yards rushing plus six catches for 44 yards while Harry Lipnosky (2 TD catches) and Phillip Carter (2 TD catches) also had solid outings.
Up Next: Folsom plays a rare Saturday afternoon game at Jesuit of Carmichael. The Marauders are 4-2, but just lost to Ponderosa of Shingle Springs 17-3.
20. (21) LOMPOC 6-0
Why This Ranking: The Braves continue to move up in the rankings after blasting Templeton 42-3. It was supposed to be perhaps Lompoc’s toughest Los Padres League test, but don’t look for Lompoc to make big jumps in the rankings until the CIFSS Western Division playoffs when the competition will
get tougher. Other teams, such as No. 21 El Toro or even a current bubble team like Bishop Amat, also could make major moves higher due to beating higher-ranked teams.
Weekend Result: Standout senior RB Lavon Coleman sat out another game with his thigh injury, but it made no difference as Nikko Hayes and Taylor Cornejo combined for 144 yards rushing in the Braves’ easy win. Templeton was the last team to defeat Lompoc in 2010, but the Eagles couldn’t compete with Lompoc’s powerful offensive line.
Up Next: Lompoc will look to extend the state’s longest winning streak (26 and counting) against 1-5 Santa Maria.
21. (22) EL TORO (LAKE FOREST) 7-0
Why This Ranking: We said last week that the Chargers will have to continue to put up big numbers on the board to keep on winning and they did just that against San Clemente to help set the stage for one of the state’s biggest games this weekend.
Weekend Result: Conner Manning completed 28 of his 40 pass attempts for 367 yards and three touchdowns as El Toro remained undefeated with a 49-37 win over San Clemente to kick off the team’s quest for top honors in the South Coast League. Also earning himself a spot later this week in our state stat stars was senior running back Jacob Furnari. He rushed for 195 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries while also catching five passes for 40 yards. Alec Shoffeitt had nine catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns.
Up Next: In the final home game of the regular season, coach Rob Firth’s bunch will host undefeated and No. 7 ranked in the state Tesoro of Rancho Santa Margarita. The two squads didn’t face each other last year as the Chargers were in the Sea View League.
22. (23) BELLARMINE (SAN JOSE) 4-1
Why This Ranking: The No. 2 team from the Bay Area inches upward again but their hold on this spot is becoming something that looks like it might be threatened after a less than stellar performance in a come-from-behind win at crosstown West Catholic Athletic League rival Archbishop Mitty.
Weekend Result: The Bells trailed 10-7 when Vanderbilt-committed quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels connected with Jared Vallner on a 46-yard touchdown pass on third-and-10 and with only 2:14 remaining. On a game played on grass and in the one time each year they roll out portable lights at Mitty, the Bells were outgained 182-12 in total yards but only trailed 7-0 at halftime thanks to a defense that bent but only broke once. Carta-Samuels also had a 1-yard keeper on fourth-and-goal that tied the score at 7-7 in the third quarter. “We have a lot of work to do,” Bells coach Mike Janda said. “We didn’t move the ball at all in the first half. For us to contend in this league we have to be more consistent.”
Up Next: The consistency Janda is talking about will be tested immediately and on the road in San Mateo on Saturday afternoon when the Bells travel to play new No. 25 Serra.
23. (NR) HART (NEWHALL) 5-1
Why This Ranking: We’re going against the L.A. Daily News on this one but the Indians’ lone loss is by just 10-7 to No. 7 Tesoro while other teams the paper has higher have losses to lower-ranked teams. Hart’s best win is the one by 49-27 to Ridgeview of Bakersfield, which then beat Liberty of Bakersfield. Liberty, of course, also is the team that just knocked out previous No. 5 Bakersfield.
Weekend Result: Hart’s resurgence this season has been fueled by a potent passing attack, which was the hallmark of the program in the 1990s and early 2000s. In a 49-6 defeat of Valencia West Ranch, Brady White connected on 18 of 19 passes for 221 yards and three TDs and scored on a 25-yard run. White also completed his last 16 pass attempts in a row. Super sophomore Trent Irwin caught one of the TD passes while Austin Murillo shined by getting an interception and setting up a score with a 77-yard kickoff return.
Up Next: Coach Mike Herrington’s club should have another easy outing Friday at Golden Valley of Santa Clarita. The team probably will face Canyon of Canyon Country on Nov. 2 for the Foothill League title.
24. (NR) EDISON (HUNTINGTON BEACH) 5-1
Why This Ranking: The second of three newcomers gets the nod for a spot based on a pretty solid non-league schedule with the lone setback a 20-14 home loss to No. 13 Mater Dei. It also doesn’t hurt that the Chargers would look to be the top team at this stage in the Sunset League after a shutout of visiting Newport Beach Newport Harbor in their league opener last week.
Weekend Result: Coach Dave White spread it around in a 35-0 blanking of Newport Harbor. Seven different running backs carried the ball 46 times for 266 yards with four of them scoring touchdowns. Donald Rice led the way with 95 yards rushing and two scores.
Up Next: We’ll find out right away if the Chargers will be the Sunset’s dominant team and whether they’ll stay ranked when the take a short trip north up the 405 freeway to face 5-1 Las Alamitos at Long Beach Veterans Stadium.
25. (NR) SERRA (SAN MATEO) 5-0
Why This Ranking: It makes perfect sense for what many in the Bay Area consider as the top team this year in the West Catholic Athletic League to crack the State Top 25 rankings, particularly since the Padres will come off a walloping of Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) and take on No. 22 Bellarmine at home, in a game that could end up deciding the WCAL title.
Weekend Result: The Padres put the hurt on Riordan in a 56-0 shellacking. It’s the second time this year the powerful running game has put up 56 points for an offense that’s outscoring opponents 208-69 this season. Against Riordan, sophomore running back Kava Cassidy ran for a score and caught a touchdown pass, as seven different Serra players scored, and 12 different running backs combined for 43 carries and 319 yards rushing.
Up Next: Although Serra, Bellarmine, St. Ignatius and St. Francis (Mountain View) are all tied at 2-0 atop the WCAL, this Saturday’s matchup with Bellarmine could be the league’s game of the season. On paper, it looks like Serra in this one but anything can happen in the wild and wacky WCAL, and besides the Padres have dropped three straight to the Bells.
TEAMS THAT DROPPED OUT
Previous No. 5 Bakersfield; No. 15 Serra (Gardena); No. 24 Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills).
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
Bishop Amat (La Puente) 5-0-1
Chaminade (West Hills) 5-1
Charter Oak (Covina) 5-1
Citrus Hill (Perris) 6-0
Clovis North (Clovis) 6-0
Clovis 5-1
Crenshaw (Los Angeles) 5-1
Deer Valley (Antioch) 5-1
Helix (La Mesa) 4-1
La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 5-1
La Serna (Whittier) 5-1
Luther Burbank (Sacramento) 6-0
Lutheran (Orange) 5-1
Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 6-1
Moorpark 5-1
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 5-1
Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 6-1
Palos Verdes (PV Estates) 3-3
Placer (Auburn) 6-0
Rancho Cucamonga 4-2
Serra (Gardena) 5-1
Serrano (Phelan) 6-0
St. Mary’s (Stockton) 4-2
Tustin 7-0
Westlake (Westlake Village) 4-3
Corrections or comments? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.
19 Comments
Chaminade is 5-1 with a loss to Oaks Christian, knocks the #16 and #13 teams out of your rankings in consecutive weeks and cant crack the top 25? Do they have to beat the #1 team on your list to slip in at #25?
Chaminade beat Serra who out gained your #2 team Narbonne in a close loss 520 yards to 265 yards. They beat Notre Dame on the road, who went toe to toe with your top 10 Alemany team. Chaminade outgaining Notre dame by 300 yards in that game and the game wasnt nearly as close as the score would indicate. Chaminade was driving for a TD in the final 2 minutes that would have made the score 42-20 and on 4th and 1 at the ND 10 yard line had a 25 yd FG blocked and returned for a TD.
Chaminade only has to keep winning and should for the next few weeks. Oaks Christian would still have to be in front of them. Some of the other ranked teams also are playing each other in the next few weeks, which also will create some room.
Chaminade has already played 2 teams in your top 15 and beaten them. What will wins over weaker teams over the next 4 weeks tell you that you dont know already?
Your rankings are wacked out, when do you stop holding a loss to one of your top 10 teams against Chaminade. Oaks was in your top 10 when Chaminade lost to them weren’t they?
Any team can have an off game, Chaminade has proven they are better than that over the last 2 weeks. If you dont see it its probably above you. When Chaminade wins the state game maybe they will break your top 25 and maybe you will recognize Newby as one of the best football players in the state.
I will be on you until they get the recognition they deserve. You guys need to wake up.
If you have 3 loss Westlake on the bubble shouldn’t you have a one loss La Serna who beat Westlake on the road?
I was told they take last years W – L record into consideration, Westlake had a better record than La serna last year. That must be the reason. Plus Westlake beat 2 of the better teams from Northern Ca.
If that makes any friggin sense.
La Serna has been added. As stated last week, we meant to do that, but it was a mistake.
Bakersfield at #5 dropping out of the top 25 shows the Southern Section bias we all know exists.
There are a group with one loss still in the top 25. BHS is as good or better then all of those teams.
When I first thought about where BHS would be with one loss I thought maybe still in the top 15. Then I saw they dropped all the way out of the top 25.
6. ST. BONAVENTURE (VENTURA) 6-1
9. CENTENNIAL (CORONA) 5-1
10. ALEMANY (MISSION HILLS) 6-1
13. MATER DEI (SANTA ANA) 5-1
14. CHAPARRAL (TEMECULA) 5-1
15. OCEANSIDE 5-1
22. BELLARMINE (SAN JOSE) 4-1
23. HART (NEWHALL) 5-1
24. EDISON (HUNTINGTON BEACH) 5-1
The only way a CS team will ever be chosen is if it is undefeated and every SS teams has at least 2 losses. Maybe 3. Look at what happened to BHS last year. End of story.
First off, there’s no way BHS can be ahead of Fresno Central (win over Liberty) or undefeated Clovis North or Clovis (loss was to El Toro, which is No. 21) even in the CIF Central Section in this week’s rankings. All three of those teams, of course, are in the same league so by the time of the playoffs if there’s no more bad losses then I can see BHS getting back to No. 1 or No. 2 in the section. They can still get a bowl game, too. All they have to do is be chosen over the CIF San Diego Section Division I champion and as everyone in San Diego knows the D2 teams there are a lot better than D1.
I appreciate the comments. I would love to see BHS get the chance to redeem the season by running the table and win the Central Section Championship. I guess I just can’t or don’t believe BHS will get any love even if they trounce everyone else the rest of the league and playoffs. Last year was very disappointing with a 13-0 season and a 9-2 team getting the nod. Again I appreciate your thoughts. Just venting a little.
So Tennis mentions the fact that Lompoc has a very weak SoS, but ranks them anyways? There is zero sense to his raking systems…
Lompoc has the longest winning streak in the state with nearly all starters back from a team that beat Arroyo Grande (team that beat Chaminade last year in the playoffs). We’ve seen them play, running back going to Washington. Will play tough teams in the CIFSS Western Division. Makes sense ranking them to us. Can see why it wouldn’t if all you look at is strength of schedule played so far in the season.
First you say Chaminades schedule strength will be dropping from here on out and Elk Groves incredible schedule will be rising(yeah right). Now you are saying that Lompocs schedule will be picking up. But wait Lompoc and Chaminade are in the same division. and Lompoc has 4 more games of nobodies between now and the playoffs while Chaminade plays 4 more teams that are more difficult than the best opponent Lompoc will play during the season. You are obviously talking in relative terms comparing these teams first 6 games to their last 4 and disregarding the actual strength comparison between the teams schedules.
The common theme with your arguments are that last year is more important to your rankings than this year.
The way I see it, If that teams should be ranked on what they are doing now. If team A beats 2 top 15 state teams and loses to a team that is in the top 10, they deserve to be ranked ahead of a team B that has played a bunch of nobodies and not been overly impressive. Team A is consistently proving to be at a certain level now while Team B is unproven.
Once team B plays 2- 3 good teams and wins convincingly they may be able to jump ahead but not before then. I don’t care if they were super bowl champs last year.
You should consider starting your poll after week 5 and base it on those 5 weeks. Polls before then are never accurate anyway. This way your not obligated to leave a team where they are just because they havent lost a game against a bunch of weak teams and have one quality win over Arroyo Grande over the previous 7 years.
You just confirmed that you prefer rankings based on computers, strength of schedule played so far during the current season and nothing else. That’s fine and is certainly one legitimate way of doing rankings. We have just always done them (this is our 35th year) with other factors added in, such as looking at what other rankings have to say (such as L.A. Times, CIFSS, other newspapers), such as actually watching the teams and players compete, such as previous track record of success, and more. The CIFSS rankings have Lompoc ahead of Chaminade (they are 1-2) and in the big picture it doesn’t really matter because the two teams could play. One team from the division will likely go on to a SoCal bowl game and the rest will be done. Elk Grove by the way if it keeps winning and goes all the way through to win its section title would probably then play De La Salle in the CIF NorCal Open Division. Yeah, right. It’s schedule is going to get a lot tougher.
Don’t get so concerned.
The only ranking that really matters comes at the end of the year, won on the field.
Win League, Win Section, Win State.
The Times and La Daily news both have Chaminade ranked ahead of Hart, Chaminade has done better than Hart over the previous 2 years, so how do you explain ranking Hart above Chaminade.I dont care about Serra or Lompoc because that will be settled on the field. If you can explain your reasoning for hart above Nade I would appreciate hearing it. I doubt you will respond though.
I will always respond to direct questions. Last week, we had Hart higher because of its close 3-point loss to Tesoro (which was ranked high by many) and as a replacement for Bakersfield (due to Hart’s quality win over Ridgeview). This stuff does change every week, however, and with Tesoro losing and Notre Dame beating Crespi it’s certainly justified to put Chaminade higher. On the field, I do think Hart is back as one of the top teams in SoCal but I would agree that Chaminade as of now should be ranked higher. Still think Chaminade needs to be behind Oaks Christian. What really turned everything screwy was Crenshaw beating Oaks Christian.
OK, If a close loss to a proven top team makes a team worthy of a high ranking without having any real quality wins over top teams.
What happens when a team like Narbonne has a close win to a Carson? Using that logic they should drop in the rankings.
A win is a win, a loss is a loss. Sometimes a 6-7 point win or loss does not indicate how well the teams compared on the field, sometimes it does.
Anyway we both have our own opinions so the debate will continue, after last week scores you have some decisions to make, I am interested to see what you come up with.
Crenshaw is a good team so I dont know why them beating Oaks is so screwy.
Dawkins did have a horrendous game for Oaks that night, so Im not so sure that Oaks would not score an offensive point in a rematch, it would be a good game. Crenshaw is a quality team.