With a win over 5-1 American of Fremont and with only a 14-10 loss to Campolindo, Dublin enters the honor roll as one of three newcomers. Serra and Monte Vista, meanwhile, only drop two and one spot respectively after losing to higher-ranked opponents.
Note: For this week’s Gold Club post highlighting the State Top 25 overall rankings, CLICK HERE.
It’s hard to remember when Cal-Hi Sports coined the phrase “the wild-and-wacky West Catholic Athletic League” but right now it’s beginning to look like it could be a crazy scramble once again this season, although early on Bellarmine is looking like it’s at the head of the class.
Some rankings didn’t seem to acknowledge what the Bells had done, but even prior to the 36-28 win over Serra the bell had already tolled over a more difficult schedule than any team in the Bay Area except No. 1 De La Salle and No. 3 Clayton Valley.
QB Luis Ramos and RB Ray Jackson III can be very effective on rushing plays for No. 3 Clayton Valley of Concord. Photo: Harold Abend.
There is a reason Cal-Hi Sports has Bellarmine No. 11 in the state.
As for Serra and Valley Christian, many argued in the past that the Warriors should be ahead of the Padres in the rankings, and despite a weak schedule and a 1-point win over a Milpitas team that lost by a much larger margin to Antioch, the switch was made this week, and mostly due to the upcoming WCAL matchups this weekend.
The bottom line is the rubber meets the road in the WCAL with two key matchups that will help sort out the pecking order behind Bellarmine, provided the Bells can handle an Archbishop Mitty team coming of a 37-21 upset loss to upstart Riordan.
Speaking of Riordan, the Crusaders are in one of the big matchups on Saturday at City College of San Francisco when they host Serra. The other big one is Friday night in San Jose where Valley Christian hosts St. Francis in a battle of unbeatens.
For Riordan and first-year head coach and De La Salle alum Kevin Fordon, it’s the first time Riordan has beaten Mitty since 2008 and the best start since the Crusaders started 5-0 in 2007.
“I’m definitely pleased with the 4-0 start and getting my first WCAL win under my belt in my first game, but this is a tough league and in the next three weeks we have Serra and Valley Christian,” Fordon told Cal-Hi Sports. “This week against Serra against Coach (Patrick) Walsh is even more special since he coached me in my senior year at De La Salle.”
Walsh has never been able to beat De La Salle so it will be interesting to see if Fordon can get the best of one of his mentors.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(Through games of Saturday, Oct. 3)
(Includes all Central Coast Section schools but no North Coast Section schools north of the Santa Rosa Metro area)
Dublin head coach John Wade once had a mythical D3 state title team at Miramonte. Photo: DublinHighFootball.com.
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 4-1
2. (2) Bellarmine (San Jose) 4-0
3. (3) Clayton Valley (Concord) 4-1
4. (5) Foothill (Pleasanton) 6-0
5. (7) Valley Christian (San Jose) 4-0
6. (4) Serra (San Mateo) 2-2
7. (6) Monte Vista (Danville) 4-1
8. (8) Pittsburg 4-1
9. (9) St. Francis (Mountain View) 4-0
10. (10) Antioch 5-0
11. (11) Campolindo (Moraga) 5-1
12. (12) Palma (Salinas) 4-1
13. (13) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 5-1
14. (15) Archbishop Riordan (SF) 4-0
15. (16) California (San Ramon) 4-1
16. (17) James Logan (Union City) 5-1
17. (14) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 3-1
18. (18) Milpitas 3-2
19. (19) Miramonte (Orinda) 6-0
20. (21) Freedom (Oakley) 3-2
21. (23) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 3-2
22. (24) Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 4-1
23. (NR) Dublin 4-1
24. (NR) Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 4-1
25. (NR) Analy (Sebastopol) 5-0
Dropped Uut: Previous No. 20 San Ramon Valley (Danville); No. 22 Wilcox (Santa Clara), No. 25 Moreau Catholic (Hayward)
Teams On the Bubble
(Alphabetical order)
American (Fremont) 5-1, Aptos 1-4, Burlingame 4-0, Dougherty Valley (San Ramon) 5-1, Half Moon Bay 4-0, Los Gatos 2-2, McClymonds (Oakland) 5-0, Menlo (Atherton) 4-0, Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 5-1, Oak Grove (San Jose) 2-2, Piedmont 3-2, Piedmont Hills (San Jose) 4-0, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 2-2, Salinas 3-2, San Benito (Hollister) 3-2, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 1-4, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 3-1.
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
