QB Trent Tompkins and WR Xavier Worthy were two of the top players for No. 10 Central of Fresno in its 42-24 win on Friday over No. 17 Buchanan of Clovis at Kolegian Stadium. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Highest ranked team to go down in an upset was No. 14 La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad, which lost to San Marcos in its league opener. Friday night also saw No. 2 St. John Bosco edge No. 9 JSerra (San Juan Capistrano), No. 8 Orange Lutheran win in the final seconds over No. 19 Santa Margarita and No. 10 Central of Fresno explode past No. 17 Buchanan of Clovis.
Note: Look for a brand new State Top 50 set of football rankings that won’t simply be a list on Monday. We’ll have insights and breakdowns based on more than 40 years of going to Friday night games with an overview of the state’s top teams and what’s coming up that just can’t be matched. It’s more than 8,000 words of jam-packed info. Each new set of rankings will be for Gold Club members only. The late Friday/Weekend Scoreboards will be free posts and will provide snippets of info, comments and more.
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(Rankings based on State Top 50 released last week)
(Through reported results of Saturday, Sept. 29)
(Contributing: Daniel Poulter)
*Indicates forfeit result not included.
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 6-0*
Defeated 35-0 No. 24 Servite (Anaheim). Head coach Bruce Rollinson’s team won its 21st straight game on-the-field. Remember, there’s a forfeit loss to Bishop Amat. With small school Strathmore losing in the CIF Central Section (which had a 21-game win streak), Mater Dei’s on-the-field streak is now the longest in California. Counting forfeits, every CIF state title team from last season has now lost.
2. St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 6-0
Defeated No. 9 JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 35-28. Bosco had a 14-point lead with 7:14 to play. Hard-charging RB George Holani rushed for four touchdowns.
3. Centennial (Corona) 6-0
Defeated Santiago (Corona) 59-6 on Thursday. Santiago is a team that opened the season with a win against Murrieta Valley and QB Hank Bachmeier so it’s another solid outing for team with state and national title aspirations.
4. De La Salle (Concord) 6-0
Did not play. Bye. The extra week should help with the concussion issue that knocked out QB Dorian Hale early in the second half of game last week vs. Buchanan.
Logan Loya is more known as a top receiver at Orange Lutheran, but won game this week on a field goal. Photo: Twitter.com.
5. Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 6-0
Did not play. Bye. The Lions only have four other opponents in the Marmonte League and therefore don’t start out in that league until next week when they face Newbury Park.
6. Folsom 5-1
Defeated Rocklin 48-0. Highlight of the night for the Bulldogs was an 80-yard TD pass play from Kaiden Bennett to 6-4, 265-pound usual defensive end DeShawn Lynch.
7. Mission Viejo 7-0
Defeated El Toro (Lake Forest) 70-0. There was no letdown for the Diablos after their big win from two weeks ago against Orange Lutheran. They began South Coast League play by blasting the Chargers.
8. Lutheran (Orange) 4-2
Defeated No. 18 Santa Margarita 39-37 at Orange Coast College. Logan Loya made a 27-yard game-winning field goal and Ryan Hilinski continued to make clutch throws even though big-time WR teammate Kyle Ford is now out for the season with a torn ACL.
9. JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 5-1
LOST 35-28 to No. 2 St. John Bosco of Bellflower. Given the results above it may be hard to pull off, but the Lions deserve a rankings bump for only losing to the Braves by one score. They got to 35-28 with 4:30 left on a TD pass from Caden Bell to Tyler Shimomura.
10. Central (Fresno) 5-0
Defeated No. 17 Buchanan (Clovis) 42-24. Perhaps because of a somewhat weak schedule to this point, the Grizzlies started slowly in this game. They zoomed past the Bears, though, after being down 10-7 in the second quarter. Trent Tompkins threw for five touchdowns and now had 33 on the season.
11. Bishop Amat (La Puente) 4-2*
Defeated No. 46 Chaminade (West Hills) 28-27 in Mission League opener. Kenny Collins hit paydirt on a 2-yard run with 4:30 left to give the Lancers a game-winning score.
12. Liberty (Brentwood) 7-0
Defeated Freedom (Oakley) 55-21. This was a quality win for the Lions since Freedom was coming in after a big win against Antioch. The Lions have an 11-game win streak, which if you count Mater Dei’s forfeit (we don’t) looks like it would now be longest in California.
13. Torrey Pines (San Diego) 6-0
Defeated Carlsbad 35-28 (OT). Jason Heine’s TD run early in the fourth quarter gave the Falcons a 28-14 lead, but they gave up two scores later on and had to win in overtime.
14. La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 5-1
LOST 12-8 at San Marcos. Right at about the same time Torrey Pines was going into overtime the shocker came in that the San Diego Section’s other top-ranked unbeaten team had been upset.
With Trey Turner at the controls, No. 20 Pittsburg can be extra-explosive on offense. Photo: Prep2Prep.com.
15. St. Francis (Mountain View) 4-1
Defeated Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 14-0. St. Francis played without starting quarterback Jack Perry, but it was still a gutty effort for the underdog Fighting Irish.
16. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 5-1
Defeated Madison (San Diego) 49-7. That first game loss to La Costa Canyon is looking more and more like an aberration. The Dons beat Madison even worse than Vista Murrieta two weeks ago.
17. Buchanan (Clovis) 4-1
LOST to No. 10 Central (Fresno) 42-24. The Bears had two TDs called back on penalties, gave up a pick six and fumbled on a kickoff, which all contributed to the loss to the Grizzlies. Most in the CIF Central Section, however, believe a rematch could still take place in the D1 championship.
18. Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 2-4
LOST 39-37 to No. 8 Orange Lutheran at OCC. Is there a more tough-luck team in the state? The Eagles fell on a last-second field goal to the Lancers. Their “worst” loss is still the one by 30-20 to Mission Viejo, although they still have to play both Mater Dei and St. John Bosco.
19. Narbonne (Harbor City) 4-3
Defeated Banning (Wilmington) 50-0. After last week’s win over Lawndale, the Gauchos will be playing CIF L.A. City Section foes for the rest of the regular season. Or as we usually call it for Narbonne at this point of the season: “Let the slaughtering begin.”
20. Pittsburg 5-2
Defeated Deer Valley (Antioch) 62-0. The Pirates have outscored their first two Bay Valley Athletic League foes 128-14. The rest of the teams left to play, however, have all been in the State Top 50.
21. Upland 5-1
Defeated Damien (La Verne) 35-0. Team’s only loss is to Mission Viejo and had no trouble in Baseline League contest.
22. Del Oro (Loomis) 6-0
Did not play. Bye. The Golden Eagles will have two weeks to prepare for their first big game of the season, which will be against Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills.
23. Villa Park 5-1
Defeated Foothill (Tustin) 57-0. It was 23-0 at the end of the first quarter. Head coach Dusan Ancich honored after the game as the Los Angeles Chargers Coach of the Week.
24. Servite (Anaheim) 3-2
LOST to No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 35-0. Head coach Troy Thomas’ team couldn’t get much going against a defense that had a shutout of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman earlier this month.
25. Norco 5-1
Defeated M.L. King (Riverside) 42-7. The Cougars started league play with an easy win and will now build toward their shot at No. 3 Corona Centennial in a few weeks.
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TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
(Taken from the next group of teams we had in our State Top 50)
(Listed alphabetically)
Cajon (San Bernardino) 5-1
Defeated Redlands East Valley (Redlands) 48-38. Jayden Daniels 17-30, 353 yards, 4 TD. 12 rushes for 127 yards and 3 TD.
Calabasas 5-1
Defeated No. 40 Westlake (Westlake Village) 20-14.
California (San Ramon) 4-2
LOST 23-13 to Monte Vista (Danville).
Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo) 6-0
Did not play. Bye.
Central Catholic (Modesto) 6-1
Defeated East Union (Manteca) 48-7.
Chaminade (West Hills) 2-4
LOST 28-27 to No. 11 Bishop Amat.
Clayton Valley (Concord) 5-1
Defeated Acalanes (Lafayette) 49-3.
Corona del Mar (Newport Harbor) 5-1
Defeated Edison (Huntington Beach) 21-14 on Thursday Ethan Garbers threw three more touchdown passes.
Eastlake (Chula Vista) 5-1
Did not play. Bye.
Grace Brethren (Simi Valley) 5-2
Defeated Bishop Diego (Santa Barbara) 42-21 on Saturday.
Helix (La Mesa) 3-3
Defeated El Capitan (Lakeside) 41-7.
Heritage (Menifee) 4-2
Defeated Elsinore (Lake Elsinore) 35-7.
Lawndale 4-2
Defeated Beverly Hills 61-0.
Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 5-2
Defeated Cabrillo (Long Beach) 48-0.
Los Alamitos 5-1
Defeated Fountain Valley 69-0.
Monterey Trail (Elk Grove) 6-0
Defeated River City (West Sacramento) 76-0.
Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 4-2
Defeated Serra (Gardena) 38-7.
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 5-1
Defeated Grant (Sacramento) 33-6.
Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley) 6-0
Defeated Temescal Canyon (Lake Elsinore) 63-0.
Serra (Gardena) 3-3
LOST 38-7 to Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks).
Serra (San Mateo) 3-2
Defeated Bellarmine Prep (San Jose) 43-0 on Saturday at home.
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 5-2
Defeated Crespi (Encino) 60-13.
South Hills (West Covina) 6-0
Defeated Walnut 38-7.
St. Mary’s (Stockton) 2-4
Defeated West (Tracy) 49-0.
Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 4-2
Defeat Murrieta Mesa (Murrieta) 31-6.
Westlake (Westlake Village) 3-3
LOST 20-14 to No. 28 Calabasas.
Wilcox (Santa Clara) 6-0
Defeated unbeaten Palo Alto 35-21.
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One Comment
After watching last night’s game, a few opinions:
1. JSerra is one heck of a team that may deserve a ranking in front of Oaks Christian and Mission Viejo.
2. St. John Bosco has some kinks in the armor.
3. There is hope for Centennial and De La Salle.