Here are rankings done by longtime Bay Area analyst Harold Abend and done for use on Antioch High football game broadcasts. Anyone wishing to see writeups and breakdowns of the top teams in the state, sign up for our Gold Club membership. For details, CLICK HERE.
The Antioch show invades Sparta and gets the Friday Night Lights routine and the ESPN cameras to go along with the nation’s high school football spotlight.
The big question is what will Najee Harris do against a De La Salle team reeling from a last-second home loss on a field goal to Utah Salt Lake City East?
Some teams like Analy dropped a bit in this week’s rankings and not because they lost but due to their matchup or the matchup of teams right above or below the Tigers this week.
Only two newcomers came in and it was between Marin Catholic and Palma for the final spot, and the choice went to the Wildcats. That’s mainly because other rankings have had them higher than some teams that already were listed in ours. However, Palma is knocking on the door pretty hard.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, Sept. 17)
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 3-1
No drop in this group despite heartbreaking home loss. Next up is Najee Harris and Antioch.
2. (2) St. Francis (Mountain View) 3-0
Solid win at Atascadero with Archbishop Riordan to open West Catholic Athletic League action.
Marin Catholic head coach Mazi Moayed and team have dominated the MCAL in recent years. Photo: Bill Schneider/VarsityPix.
3. (3) Monte Vista (Danville) 3-0
It was a second straight blowout in win over San Ramon Dougherty Valley with California on tap.
4. (4) Pittsburg 4-0
The Pirates smashed Berkeley and now face a test at Vacaville.
5. (6) Clayton Valley (Concord) 2-1
The Ugly Eagles soared past Logan and get to jump Bellarmine like in the state rankings.
6. (5) Bellarmine (San Jose) 2-1
We didn’t drop the Bells after their loss to Del Oro but they went behind Clayton Valley in the state rankings last week and we’ll adjust now.
7. (7) Valley Christian (San Jose) 3-0
The Warriors had a bye and face Serra to open WCAL play.
8. (8) Serra (San Mateo) 0-3
Every other ranking has Serra a lot lower, but before we make big adjustments in CCS pecking order we want to see what the Padres do against a Valley Christian team that hasn’t beaten Serra since 2010.
9. (9) Milpitas 4-0
The Trojans will likely be moving up with Saratoga on tap and at least one team above them has to lose, but Saratoga won’t be a cakewalk.
10. (11) California (San Ramon) 4-0
We agree with some other rankings that bumped California above Antioch. They will either have a big win over Monte Vista and move up more or possibly drop down depending on what Antioch does against De La Salle.
11. (10) Antioch 3-1
12. (12) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 2-1
13. (13) Freedom (Oakley) 4-0
14. (15) San Benito (Hollister) 4-0
15. (16) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 3-0
16. (14) Analy (Sebastopol) 3-1
17. (17) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 2-1
18. (18) McClymonds (Oakland) 3-1
19. (20) Granada (Livermore) 3-0
20. (21) Miramonte (Orinda) 4-0
21. (19) Campolindo (Moraga) 2-2
22. (NR) Concord 3-1
23. (24) Oak Grove (San Jose) 1-2
24. (22) Liberty (Brentwood) 2-2
25. (NR) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 2-2
Dropped Out: Previous No. 23 Aptos, No. 25 Los Gatos.
On the Bubble
(In alphabetical order)
Acalanes (Lafayette) 2-2, Aptos 2-2, Aragon (San Mateo) 4-0, Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 2-1, Carmel 3-0, Foothill (Pleasanton) 1-3, Half Moon Bay 4-0, Heritage (Brentwood) 4-0, Kennedy (Fremont) 4-0, Live Oak (Morgan Hill) 3-0, Los Gatos 1-3, Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) 2-2, Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville) 4-0, Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 3-1, Palma (Salinas) 2-2, Piedmont 3-1, Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 1-2, Redwood (Larkspur) 3-1, Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 1-2, Salinas 2-2, San Leandro 1-3, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 2-1, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 2-1, Saratoga 3-1, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 1-3, Woodside 4-0.
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
2 Comments
Mr. Abend;
We agree on #s 1, 3, 7, 14, and 17; and only one off on #s 10, 11, and 18 . (I’ve had McClymonds in my Greater Bay Area Top 20 since after Zero Week, I might add.).
I’m afraid I don’t see what Mountain View St. Francis has done so far this season to be #2. Their 1 point squeaker over Palma was way too close.
Besides DLS, I feel Pitt has shown the most so far this season. I saw the Pitt-Serra game and I thought the Pirates had the quickest closing secondary I’d ever seen in Northern California, with the exception of some I’ve seen at DLS (not this year, though). Montaz Thompson’s not too shabby of a running back, also. If Pitt can manage not to “shoot themselves in the foot” (they’ve been known to have done this more than a few times in the past) , I can see the Pirates unseating the Winton Drive Club from the NCS crown this season.
Although I don’t have them quite as high as you d0 (your #8 compared to my #10), Serra showed in that game that they should be a WCAL contender. Arguably, the Padres have had the toughest non-league schedule in NorCal this season.
Although I only rank 20 teams, I would have included Half Moon Bay at 4-0 in a top 25: especially ahead of MC who’s showing the least this season that I can remember seeing in years.
I want to commend you for doing your weekly Bay Area rankings. It’s very important to me that I have ranking lists to compare mine with.
TinyTim
I am looking forward to seeing Pitt this season as well.
Seems like NCS Open Division going to be DLS vs. Clayton Valley & Pitt vs. Monte Vista.
If Antioch isn’t in it, then good chance for them perhaps to go on run to D1 title and then into a lower division of the CIF state bowl games.
Fear is that Najee isn’t on a good enough team to be Mr. Football once again and someone like the Mater Dei soph QB is going to put up stats too hard to ignore.