Many in the Inland Empire rank QB Tyler Hilinski’s team at Upland No. 1 in that region. Hilinski has committed to Washington State. Photo: Tom Hauck/Student Sports.
This is the expanded version from the list updates that were posted on Monday and is presented for Gold Club members. There are major shifts in teams that have moved around this year due to realignment in the CIF Southern Section. To join our Gold Club so you can go through these breakdowns every week, CLICK HERE.
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Note: The top 10 teams that would be ranked by CalHiSports.com for the CIF Open Division in Southern California would be:
1. St. John Bosco (Bellflower); 2. Mater Dei (Santa Ana); 3. Servite (Anaheim); 4. Long Beach Poly (Long Beach); 5. Alemany (Mission Hills); 6. Chaminade (West Hills); 7. Westlake (Westlake Village); 8. Centennial (Corona); 9. Helix (La Mesa); 10. Oceanside.
With assistance from Ronnie Flores and Paul Muyskens, here are the Week 2 rankings for each of Southern California’s CIF bowl game divisions (first rankings of the regular season; after games of Saturday, Sept. 6):
Zach Robertson of St. John Bosco is one of the state’s most highly recruited offensive linemen. Photo: Student Sports.
DIVISION I SOUTH
1. (1) St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 2-0
2. (2) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 2-0
3. (3) Servite (Anahem) 1-1
4. (4) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 2-0
5. (6) Alemany (Mission Hills) 2-0
6. (7) Chaminade (West Hills) 2-0
7. (11) Westlake (Westlake Village) 2-0
8. (9) Centennial (Corona) 1-1
9. (12) Helix (La Mesa) 2-0
10. (13) Oceanside 2-0
11. (NR) Upland 2-0
12. (5) Serra (Gardena) 1-1
13. (10) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 1-0
14. (15) St. Bonaventure (Ventura) 1-1
15. (NR) JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 2-0
Dropped Out: Previous No. 8 Bakersfield; No. 14 Clovis North (Fresno).
Bubble Teams: Bakersfield 1-1, Bishop Amat (La Puente) 1-1, Bullard (Fresno) 2-0, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 1-1, Chaparral (Temecula) 1-1, Chino Hills 1-1, Edison (Fresno) 2-0, Loyola (Los Angeles) 2-0, Lutheran (Orange) 1-1, Mission Hills (San Marcos) 1-1, Narbonne (Harbor City) 1-1, Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 2-0, Rancho Cucamonga 2-0, Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 2-0, St. Augustine (San Diego) 1-1.
Breakdown:
Dropping Serra seven spots after losing 31-14 to a national power like Bellevue (Wash.) may seem too much, but it was based on the overall strength of the teams coming up plus big games on the horizon. Plus, in watching Serra last year and Bellevue several times in the last 10 years, it doesn’t appear that the Cavs are as strong as they were last season or during their years when all of those big-time receivers were on the roster. Bellevue itself isn’t as strong as other Bellevue teams we’ve seen, either. The Bellevue QB, Justus Rogers, though, is about as good of a magician with the ball running the team’s Delaware Wing-T that the Wolverines have ever had. That was the feeling among those on the Bellevue sidelines, too.
Here’s where Bakersfield’s one-point loss to Fresno Edison last week could get very interesting: What if Helix or Oceanside is unbeaten after beating the other in a matchup of unbeatens to decide the CIF San Diego Section Open Division title? It might only drop the Drillers to the No. 2 spot for D1 South, but if there were another unbeaten team on the board that could be a problem. Of course, there’s a chance that Edison or another CIF Central Section team also could be unbeaten and bowl eligible as well.
No. 7 Westlake playing No. 4 Long Beach Poly in this week’s top game involving D1 South state-ranked teams. Warriors’ junior QB Malik Henry will be trying to avoid throwing in the direction of big-time Poly DB Iman Marshall and he’ll also need to watch out for Poly DE Joseph Wicker, who already has 10 sacks this season.
DIVISION II SOUTH
1. (1) Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley) 2-0
2. (2) Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 2-0
3. (3) Heritage (Menifee) 2-0
4. (4) St. Francis (La Canada) 1-0
5. (5) Redlands East Valley (Redlands) 1-0
6. (6) Ridgeview (Bakersfield) 2-0
7. (7) Citrus Hill (Perris) 1-1
8. (9) West (Torrance) 1-0
9. (NR) La Mirada 2-0
10. (10) Diamond Bar 2-0
Dropped Out: Previous No. 8 Norwalk.
Bubble Teams: El Segundo 1-0, Glendora 2-0, La Serna (Whittier) 1-1, Monrovia 2-0, Norte Vista (Riverside) 1-0, Norwalk 1-1, Poly (Riverside) 1-0, San Clemente 2-0, San Gorgonio (San Bernardino) 2-0, San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno) 2-0, Serrano (Phelan) 2-0.
Note on CIF San Diego Section: Eventually, the section’s Division I champion will be among the ranked teams in this division. At this point, though, it’s too early to speculate on which San Diego D1 teams beyond the obvious (Helix, Mission Hills, Oceanside, Eastlake, St. Augustine, Cathedral Catholic) will be in that section’s Open Division and therefore classified as D1 North. If we see a team in the ninth or 10th spot of the section rankings that can be D2 South for these rankings, we’ll get them listed at least on the bubble.
Breakdown:
It’s too bad we couldn’t give a bump to No. 6 Ridgeview after its 42-21 win over Liberty of Bakersfield. The Wolfpack deserved one since Liberty had beaten SoCal D1 power Mission Viejo 18-7 in its first game. Ridgeview couldn’t move up because the five teams in front of it also won by big scores last week.
La Mirada firmly established itself as a top D2 South contender after knocking off Charter Oak of Covina 48-28 and getting help from Tesoro of Las Flores, a team the Matadores beat 26-23 in their opener. Tesoro bounced back from that loss to beat Chaparral of Temecula.
No. 1 Rancho Verde beat Murrieta Mesa 59-16 in its second game while No. 2 Corona del Mar won its 28th straight game by steam-rolling Dana Hills of Dana Point 37-0. You’ve got to think that if CdM is bowl eligible with another CIFSS title that it will be lock for the D2 South contest. Having the longest win streak in the state and being a state champion from the year before should be more than enough for that team.
Linebacker Josiah Erickson of San Dimas was on last year’s all-state sophomore team. Photo: Student Sports.
DIVISION III SOUTH
1. (1) Newbury Park 2-0
2. (2) El Capitan (Lakeside) 2-0
3. (3) Lompoc 2-0
4. (5) Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) 2-0
5. (7) Nordhoff (Ojai) 2-0
6. (8) San Dimas 1-1
7. (9) Garden Grove 1-0
8. (NR) Atascadero 2-0
9. (10) Pomona 2-0
10. (NR) Paso Robles 2-0
Dropped Out: Previous No. 4 Camarillo; No. 6 Palmdale.
Bubble Teams: Camarillo 1-1, El Modena (Orange) 1-0, Nipomo 1-1, Palmdale 1-1, Paraclete (Lancaster) 1-1, Sweetwater (National City) 2-0, Thousand Oaks 2-0, Tulare Western (Tulare) 1-0.
Breakdown:
The CIFSS Northern Division (which has a lot of teams that previously were D1 or D2 for the bowl games) continues to be a focal point for this division.
In the actual CIFSS rankings, Lompoc is listed No. 1 this week despite a 35-34 win over Nipomo. Newbury Park is listed No. 2. We had Newbury Park No. 1 last week and we didn’t change after the Panthers beat Saugus 44-36. Nordhoff, Atascadero, Paso Robles, Palmdale, Thousand Oaks and Camarillo are all from the Northern Division as well. Nipomo is from a different CIFSS playoff division, but it’s enrollment is too high to be considered D4 South for the bowl games.
Camarillo, which was No. 4 in last week’s rankings, was dumped by Paso Robles 41-35. The Bearcats also notched a win over D1 South team Clovis in their first game, but are ranked lower than Atascadero. We ended up choosing both as newcomers in this week’s rankings.
DIVISION IV SOUTH
1. (2) Christian (El Cajon) 2-0
2. (4) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 2-0
3. (3) St. Margaret’s (SJ Capistrano) 1-0
4. (9) Central Valley Christian (Visalia) 2-0
5. (5) Bishop Diego (Santa Barbara) 2-0
6. (6) St. Joseph (Santa Maria) 2-0
7. (NR) Grace Brethren (Simi Valley) 2-0
8. (1) Bakersfield Christian 1-1
9. (NR) Kern Valley (Lake Isabella) 2-0
10. (10) Santa Clara (Oxnard) 1-0
Dropped Out: Previous No. 7 Rio Hondo Prep (Arcadia); No. 8 Desert (Edwards AFB).
Bubble Teams: Desert (Edwards AFB) 1-1, Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo) 1-1, Rio Hondo Prep (Arcadia) 1-1, Saddleback Valley Christian (SJ Capistrano) 1-0, Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach) 0-2.
Breakdown:
MacIntyre Garbani led a potent ground game as previous No. 9 Central Valley Christian opened a lot of eyes in this division with a 49-19 win over Bakersfield Christian, which represented the south in last year’s D4 state bowl game. Garbani carried 19 times for 222 yards and three TDs as CVC piled up 411 total rushing yards. Bakersfield Christian didn’t help matters by committing five turnovers.
With Bakersfield Christian falling big, Christian of El Cajon moved up to No. 1. The Patriots won their game 43-29 over West Hills of Santee and got help from Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo), which downed previous No. 7 Rio Hondo Prep 28-27. In the first game, Christian topped Mission Prep 56-21.
Sierra Canyon hopped over St. Margaret’s into the No. 2 spot by rolling past D1 South school West Ranch of Valencia 35-6. The Trail Blazers have the appearance so far that they are comparable to their 2011 CIF D4 state bowl title team.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
