Week 1 Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 25

Quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels and the Bellarmine Bells should be among the Bay Area’s top-ranked teams all season long. Photo: Harold Abend.

Pleasanton rivals Amador Valley and Foothill plus Analy of Sebastopol are the teams that made the most noise on the opening weekend of the 2013 season. Next week, all of the teams in the CIF Central Coast Section will join the rest of the Bay Area in getting their schedules underway.

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Welcome to the first Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 25 compiled in conjunction with the award-winning Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area TV show that is aired every Sunday night on KOFY, Channel 20, San Francisco and during the week on CSN Bay Area throughout Northern California. These rankings are after games played through Saturday, Aug. 31. We have more than 35 years of compiling high school football rankings in Northern California.

With the Bay Bridge closed, the Cal-Hi Sports Caravan decided to stay close to home in the Redwood Empire and ended up at a very interesting matchup in Apple Country where D3 Analy of Sebastopol was hosting East Bay D1 power Pittsburg.

Watch highlights of the Bay Area’s best teams every Sunday at 7 p.m. on KOFY, Channel 20, San Francisco.

The hosts bolted out to a 23-7 halftime lead and held on for one of the old-time North Bay school’s biggest wins ever.

“I would definitely have to say this is the biggest win in school history,” Analy head coach Daniel Bourdon told Cal-Hi Sports.

Quarterback Jacob Royer was 20 of 30 passing for 250 yards and four touchdowns.

Junior wide receiver Kerr Johnson caught nine passes for 171 yards and two TDs of 33 and 31 yards.

Junior running back Ja’Narrick James carried 22 times for 116 yards and two scores, one of them a nifty 41-yard run in which the 5-foot-6 diminutive but hard to tackle James changed direction five times before finding paydirt.

Senior defensive end Jaxson Cantu had a safety, two sacks and a tackle for loss, and highly regarded 6-foot-4, 285-pound senior lineman Jacob Hicks had eight tackles with two for loss.

Pittsburg got 82 yards and one TD rushing from Harris Ross, but it all came in the second half after he was held out of the first half for undisclosed reasons.

There was no action in the CIF Central Coast Section, which starts play this weekend.

Here are this week’s rankings:

1. De La Salle (Concord) 1-0
The Spartans beat visiting Concord Clayton Valley 34-14 in the debut of head coach Justin Alumbaugh.

2. Palo Alto 0-0
QB Keller Chryst and a multitude of returnees will lead the Vikings this season.

3. Bellarmine (San Jose) 0-0
The Bells also have one of the top quarterbacks in the nation with K.J. Carta-Samuels directing the offense.

4. California (San Ramon) 1-0
The offense got rolling against Washington of Fremont in a 46-20 victory on Friday night.

5. El Cerrito 1-0
It was a slow start for the Gauchos but they ended up beating Sutter 34-14 on the road. They will play the biggest game in recent school history next with a matchup against Bellarmine.

6. Serra (San Mateo) 0-0
Coach Patrick Walsh’s team will open up at home on Saturday, but the opponent is a daunting one: De La Salle.

7. Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 1-0
The Wildcats spotted Orinda Miramonte a 14-3 lead before exploding for 42 unanswered points in a 45-14 victory.

8. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 1-0
A 41-28 win at Modesto Christian is good but not spectacular.

9. Valley Christian (San Jose) 0-0
Running back Kirk Johnson could be one of the top juniors at his position in the state and will lead a strong squad this season for head coach Mike Machado.

10. St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 0-0
The Wildcats will defend their CCS Open Division title with a lineup led by running back Elijah Dale.

11. James Logan (Union City) 0-1
A 27-14 loss to Del Oro of Loomis on Friday doesn’t hurt the Colts much in these rankings because Del Oro is one of the highest-ranked teams in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.

12. Clayton Valley (Concord) 0-1
A 34-14 loss to Sparta doesn’t drop the Eagles that far, either. In fact, they will likely move up in this week’s CIF NorCal Division II bowl game rankings from being second in the preseason.

13. Foothill (Pleasanton) 1-0
A 51-6 blowout win at Novato shows this team is for real. Sophomore quarterback and hot D1 recruiting commodity Kyle Kearns looked sharp and running back Jamirr Holland ran for 125 yards.

14. Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 0-0
One of the handful of CIFNCS teams that were idle in the first week will square off with Alhambra (Martinez) this Friday at home.

15. St. Francis (Mountain View) 0-0
The Lancers won the CCS Division II title last season and are expected to be solid once again.

16. Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 1-0
It was a big win on Friday for the Dons over Freedom and its big-time running back Joe Mixon and it came on the road.

17. Casa Grande (Petaluma) 1-0
The Gaucho offense exploded in 51-13 win over visiting Eureka.

18. Campolindo (Moraga) 1-0
A 40-26 win over visiting Heritage of Brentwood is a good one for head coach Kevin Macy’s boys. .

19. Analy (Sebastopol) 1-0
This team came ready to play against Pitt and it showed in the outcome.

20. Pittsburg 0-1
The 37-21 loss to Analy of Sebastopol was with a raw quarterback, Harris Ross held out of first half for disciplinary reasons, and a top lineman out as well for the same.

On the Bubble

Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 0-0, Berkeley 1-0, Carmel 0-0, Castro Valley 1-0, Concord 0-1, Deer Valley (Antioch) 0-0, Freedom (Oakley) 0-1, Justin-Siena (Napa) 1-0, Liberty (Brentwood) 1-0, McClymonds (Oakland) 1-0, Menlo School (Atherton) 0-0, Milpitas 0-0, Miramonte (Orinda) 0-1, Monte Vista (Danville) 0-1, Northgate (Walnut Creek) 1-0, Oak Grove (San Jose) 0-0, Palma (Salinas) 0-0, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 0-0, San Marin (Novato) 1-0, San Benito (Hollister) 0-0, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 1-0, Sobrato (Morgan Hill) 0-0, Terra Nova (Pacifica) 0-0, Valley Christian (Dublin) 0-0, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 0-0.

Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend