Week 7: NorCal CIF Bowl Rankings

Junior quarterback Nsimba Webster has emerged as a big-time playmaker for Deer Valley.
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. Folsom; 6. Serra (San Mateo); 7. Deer Valley (Antioch); 8. Placer (Auburn); 9. Luther Burbank (Sacramento); 10. Buhach Colony (Atwater).

With assistance from Harold Abend and Paul Muyskens, here are the Week 7 rankings for each of Northern California’s CIF bowl game divisions (previous ranking in parentheses; after games of Saturday, Oct. 6):

DIVISION I NORTH
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 6-0
2. (2) Elk Grove 6-0
3. (3) Franklin (Elk Grove) 6-0
4. (4) Bellarmine (San Jose) 4-1
5. (6) Folsom 6-0
6. (7) Serra (San Mateo) 5-0
7. (11) Deer Valley (Antioch) 5-1
8. (9) Luther Burbank (Sacramento) 6-0
9. (10) Buhach Colony (Atwater) 4-2
10. (12) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 4-2
11. (14) Oak Grove (San Jose) 5-0
12. (NR) Monte Vista (Danville) 5-1
13. (5) Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 5-1
14. (15) Granite Bay 3-3
15. (8) California (San Ramon) 5-1
Drops: Previous No. 13 Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) lost Bellarmine (San Jose) 14-10.
Bubble Teams: Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 3-2, Del Oro (Loomis) 2-4, Foothill (Pleasanton) 3-3, Freedom (Oakley) 4-2, Grant (Sacramento) 2-4, James Logan (Union City) 5-1, Lincoln (Stockton) 3-3, Milpitas 4-1, Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 4-2, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 3-3, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 4-1.
No. 1 Team Result: De La Salle (Concord) defeated Foothill (Pleasanton) 34-17.
Race for No. 1: Games on Friday, Oct. 19 could be big for this division. That’s when No. 1 De La Salle hosts new No. 12 Monte Vista and when No. 2 Elk Grove plays No. 3 Franklin. Monte Vista inserted itself into the conversation with an impressive 44-26 win last week over previous No. 8 and unbeaten California. The Mustangs do have a loss to Foothill of Pleasanton, but turnovers contributed to that. If they play clean against the Spartans and the Spartans have some turnovers, it could get interesting. What makes the Elk Grove-Franklin game more significant is that the two teams will be in different divisions in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. Then if by some chance both teams win out, the head-to-head result could possibly decide which team goes to the Open Division for the CIF bowl games and which one is in Division I. As stated in the State Top 25, Folsom may end up being Elk Grove’s toughest hurdle in the SJS D2 playoffs. St. Mary’s of Stockton and Buhach Colony also project to be D2 for the SJS playoffs.

DIVISION II NORTH
1. (1) Placer (Auburn) 6-0
2. (3) Oakdale 5-1
3. (4) Paradise 5-1
4. (5) Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 6-0
5. (6) Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) 5-1
6. (9) Casa Grande (Petaluma) 5-1
7. (NR) Northgate (Walnut Creek) 5-1
8. (NR) Yuba City 5-1
9. (2) Concord 6-1
10. (10) Benicia 5-1
Drops: Previous No. 7 Inderkum (Sacramento) lost to Yuba City 49-42; No. 8 American Canyon lost to Vallejo 33-28.
Bubble Teams: Enterprise (Redding) 4-2, Foothill (Palo Cedro) 4-2, Inderkum (Sacramento) 4-2, Live Oak (Morgan Hill) 5-0, Sierra (Manteca) 5-1, Washington (Fremont) 4-2.
No. 1 Team Result: Placer defeated Foothill (Sacramento) 68-14.
Race for No. 1: With Concord’s 28-20 loss to Northgate and with Oakdale and Paradise having lopsided losses to Oceanside and Sacramento Grant on their resumes, Placer has become a more clear-cut No. 1 team among this group. If Placer does end up as a D3 North team, however, due to its bubble team enrollment status in the SJS playoffs, the field opens up in a big way. It also makes a rout in the CIF D2 state bowl game more likely. Without Placer, it’s hard to see any NorCal D2 team coming very close in a matchup against opponents like Oceanside, Lompoc, Hart, Edison, Chaminade and others. The addition of a CCS Division I or D2 team (which could end up being a top tier West Catholic Athletic League squad) might help some, but it’s too early to say. Northgate, which has suffered its only loss to D1 Antioch, rallied from a 20-6 deficit heading into the fourth quarter. The Broncos were led by quarterback Joe Pelletier, who tossed a pair of touchdown passes.
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) 6-1
2. (2) El Cerrito 7-0
3. (3) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 6-0
4. (4) Seaside 5-0
5. (5) Sutter 6-0
6. (6) Campolindo (Moraga) 5-1
7. (7) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 5-1
8. (8) Ripon 7-0
9. (10) Los Banos 5-1
10. (NR) Soquel 5-1
Drops: Previous No. 9 West Valley (Cottonwood) lost to Central Valley (Lake Shasta) 31-7.
Bubble Teams: Analy (Sebastopol) 7-0, Aptos 4-2, Argonaut (Jackson) 6-0, Carmel 4-1, Escalon 5-2, Hilmar 6-1, Menlo School (Atherton) 5-0, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 5-0, Salesian (Richmond) 6-1, St. Helena 6-0, West Valley (Cottonwood) 5-1.
No. 1 Team Result: Marin Catholic (Kentfield) defeated Novato 49-7.
Race for No. 1: Routs may be the norm for Marin Catholic and El Cerrito in the coming weeks. In addition to the Wildcats’ easy win over Novato, El Cerrito won its game last week 59-6 against Berean Christian of Walnut Creek. The Gauchos led 59-0 at halftime. Injuries to a pair of top players, meanwhile, contributed to West Valley’s loss to Central Valley in the annual Valley Bowl. It was then a tough choice to see which team would go into the top 10 to replace West Valley. Soquel ended up with the nod. The Knights’ only loss is to No. 4 Seaside (33-19) and they have a win over Carmel. Soquel also plays Aptos in two weeks in a matchup that could decide the Santa Cruz County Athletic League title.
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) 5-2
2. (2) McClymonds (Oakland) 2-3
3. (3) Ferndale 5-1
4. (4) Le Grand 5-1
5. (5) Pierce (Arbuckle) 6-0
6. (7) Capital Christian (Sacramento) 5-1
7. (8) Portola 6-0
8. (6) Valley Christian (Dublin) 4-2
9. (NR) Upper Lake 4-2
10. (10) Foresthill 5-1
Drops: Previous No. 9 Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) lost to Golden Sierra (Garden Valley) 28-14.
Bubble Teams: Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 3-4, California School for the Deaf (Fremont) 5-1, Chester 6-0, Modesto Christian (Modesto) 3-3, St. Bernard (Eureka) 5-1, St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma) 4-2.
No. 1 Team Result: Central Catholic defeated Pacheco (Los Banos) 55-15.
Race for No. 1: The first five in this division seem locked in solidly. One possibility for movement is what McClymonds does in its Oakland Athletic League schedule. The defending OAL champs, though, might have to lose more than once to drop very far in the D4 rankings. Upper Lake had to go in this week in place of Bradshaw Christian partly because it has a win over California School for the Deaf and just a three-point loss to Portola. The Cougars also have a loss to Middletown, which has been D4 in the past but is now over 500 in enrollment and therefore would be D3 for the CIF bowl games.

Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.