Here are rankings done by longtime Bay Area analyst Harold Abend and done for use on Antioch High football game broadcasts. We’ll run these lists with a short intro on our blog. Anyone wishing to see writeups and breakdowns of the top teams in the Bay Area and in the state, sign up for our Gold Club membership. For details, CLICK HERE.
With St. Francis of Mountain View posting an 8-7 squeaker win over a Salinas Palma team that was dominated in week one by Sutter of the CIF Northern Section, the Lancers get a sort de facto move up to coincide with the state rankings, but the top team from the CIF Central Coast Section will need to show more offense in West Catholic Athletic League action. The state rankings didn’t favor them but the team that makes a solid move up is a Pittsburg team that stays behind Monte Vista after a second straight offensive explosive effort in a rout of Union City James Logan that followed a blowout of Archbishop Mitty of San Jose.
The bad news for our friends in Antioch is for this week’s broadcast of their home game against San Leandro they will have to live with the fact their boys have had to take a bit of a tumble. The good news is the season is young and they have some great matchups coming, including a September 23 date in Sparta with De La Salle.
As for the Najee Harris watch, the Antioch star was swarmed by the Milpitas defense but still had 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground, but the Panthers’ defense could not slow down Milpitas in a 49-28 road loss, their first regular-season loss since 2014. The Trojans made Harris work for his yards as his 6.3 yard per carry average on 33 rushes was his lowest since a 2014 quarterfinal loss to Foothill. Harris now has 426 yards and five touchdowns, two TDs receiving, and six 2-point conversions. He also has a pass interception on defense.
There are three newcomers this week with McClymonds (Oakland) the highest ranked after a huge win over Moreau Catholic of Hayward.
Sophomore QB Kaun Green had a breakout game coming off the bench after an injury in McClymonds’ win over Moreau Catholic. Photo: Willie Eashman.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, Sept. 3)
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 2-0
2. (4) St. Francis (Mountain View) 2-0
3. (5) Monte Vista (Danville) 1-0
4. (8) Bellarmine-San Jose 2-0
5. (6) Pittsburg 2-0
6. (2) Clayton Valley (Concord) 1-1
7. (9) Valley Christian (San Jose) 2-0
8. (7) Serra (San Mateo) 0-2
9. (12) Milpitas 1-0
10. (3) Antioch 1-1
11. (10) California (San Ramon) 2-0
12. (11) Freedom (Oakley) 2-0
13. (14) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 1-1
14. (16) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 1-1
15. (20) Analy (Sebastopol) 2-0
16. (18) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 1-0
17. (NR) McClymonds (Oakland) 2-0
18. (22) San Benito (Hollister) 2-0
19. (15) Oak Grove (San Jose) 0-1
20. (NR) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 1-1
21. (23) Campolindo (Moraga) 1-1
22. (25) Granada (Livermore) 2-0
23. (19) Los Gatos 1-1
24. (NR) Miramonte (Orinda) 2-0
25. (24) Aptos 1-1
Dropped out: Previous No. 13 San Leandro, No. 17 Foothill (Pleasanton), No. 21 Moreau Catholic (Hayward), No. 24 Aptos
On the Bubble
Acalanes (Lafayette) 2-0, Aragon (San Mateo) 2-0, Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 1-1, Burlingame 1-1, Carmel 2-0, Concord 1-1, Foothill (Pleasanton) 0-2, Half Moon Bay 2-0, Heritage (Brentwood) 2-0, Hillsdale (San Mateo) 2-0, Justin-Siena (Napa) 1-1, Kennedy (Fremont) 2-0, Leigh (San Jose) 2-0, Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) 0-2, Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville) 2-0, Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 1-1, Palma (Salinas) 0-2, Palo Alto 1-1, Piedmont 2-0, Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 0-1, Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 1-1, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 0-2, Salinas 1-1, San Leandro 1-1, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 1-0, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 1-1, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 0-2.
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
2 Comments
Interesting Top 25.
Both of us agree on #s 1 and 5; and are only 1 spot different on #s 3, 11, and 14; and 2 spots on #s 8, 12, and 17. (I only rank 20 teams for the Bay Area).
I’m afraid I don’t see what St. Francis has done so far to put them ahead of Monte Vista, Valley Christian, Milpitas, Pittsburg, and Bellarmine. The 24-7 home win over Oak Grove may be impressive if Oak Grove is anywhere as strong as last year. However, traditionally, any San Jose public school win over a WCAL team is usually an anomaly. (The Eagles have Granite Bay at their place Friday night, and although the 0-2 Grizzlies appear to be “down” this season, a win or strong showing against the Grizzlies would give St. Francis, as well as Oak Grove, considerably more credence.) What I feel really hurts the Lancers’ power rating is the 8-7 ONLY road win over Palma. True, the Chieftans really “load up” for their games against the Lancers, but a 1 point win on the road or anywhere else to a team that was beaten 52-31 by a small (about 650 students)public school team the previous week has to drop a team’s power points. True, Sutter has been a small school power over the last several seasons, but is no where near the playing level of the better NorCal teams.
This week’s outcomes of Serra at Pittsburg; Del Oro at Bellarmine; Granite Bay at Oak Grove; San Jose Valley Christian at Chico Pleasant Valley; as well as Sacred Heart Prep at Palma; should be strong factors for next week’s Bay Area higher rankings.
We just don’t drop teams week to week based on those kinds of factors. That’s where St. Francis was in the preseason and dropping them out or down based on a weak win has often proven foolish. We know eventually of course they’re going to play Bells, VC, etc. It’ll work itself out.