Helix of La Mesa’s Elelyon Noa was given some inspirational words by former NFL running back Reggie Bush (also from Helix) before he hit the field on Friday to score three times in second half in win over state No. 5 Cathedral Catholic of San Diego. Photo: fox5sandiego.com.
The shocker of Friday night was in San Diego County where Helix of La Mesa knocked off No. 5 Cathedral Catholic just one week after the Dons had edged No. 8 Corona Centennial. At Trinity League vs. USA event on Saturday, No. 1 Mater Dei topped St. Frances Academy of Maryland in a contrived No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup for one national poll while No. 6 JSerra rallied for a win.
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 continue to be free posts and will provide snippets of info, comments and more.
We hope you enjoy this free post on CalHiSports.com. To join our Gold Club to get all new state rankings, state record updates and all-state team announcements, CLICK HERE.
(Rankings based on last week’s State Top 50 released last Monday)
(Through reported results of Saturday, Sept. 14)
THANKS TO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CORRESPONDENT DANIEL POULTER FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THIS POST.
1. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 4-0
It was a mythical national title type of game for the Monarchs played on Saturday night against St. Frances Academy of Baltimore, a school that like Mater Dei brings in players from a wide swath of geography (in its case the East Coast). Mater Dei won 34-18 behind the running of QB Bryce Young. At least one national ranking (MaxPreps) had those two at No. 1 and No. 2.
2. St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 4-0
The Braves didn’t have their best showing, but it was still enough to blowout Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Maryland) 31-8 on Friday night. The visitors managed to score their eight points in the fourth quarter, with the St. John Bosco defense standing strong all evening.
3. De La Salle (Concord) 3-1
Defeated No. 4 Folsom 42-27. For recap of this game, CLICK HERE.
4. Folsom 2-1
LOST to No. 3 De La Salle (Concord) 42-27. For recap of this game, CLICK HERE.
Mission Viejo head coach Chad Johnson is starting to see his team’s offense catching up to its rock em, sock em defense. Photo: cui.com.
5. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 3-1
After upsetting No. 8 Centennial (Corona) last week, Cathedral Catholic was upended at No. 42 Helix (La Mesa) 45-27 in the upset of the evening. Delshawn Traylor had a 62-yard quarterback keeper to open the scoring and Helix never trailed. Elelyon Noa had three rushing touchdowns in the second half to clinch the victory.
6. JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 3-1
Head coach Pat Harlow’s squad was also in the “Trinity League vs. the World” event being held at St. John Bosco. In their game on Saturday, the Lions rallied in the second-half to beat Milton, Ga., 17-14. JSerra still has a game to play against Calabasas before starting the Trinity League.
7. Mission Viejo 4-0
Mission Viejo has had some close games to open the season but smashed Villa Park 59-0. The Diablos had 21 points on turnovers and scored 24 points in the second quarter. Mission Viejo led 38-0 at halftime.
8. Centennial (Corona) 2-2
The Huskies had little trouble with Liberty of Henderson, Nev. cruising to a 63-29 victory. Jake Retzlaff had the start for Centennial, with the signal caller throwing for three touchdowns. But will Centennial drop some spots in the next rankings due to Helix beating Cathedral Catholic?
9. (10) Narbonne (Harbor City) 3-1
Jake Garcia and the Gauchos made quick work of No. 37 Lutheran (Orange) Friday at Orange Coast College, with a 38-0 victory. Garcia threw for 361 yards and had four touchdowns passes. Narbonne squares of with No. 10 Serra (Gardena) next week.
10. Serra (Gardena) 3-0
The Cavs took the lead with nine minutes remaining and held on for a 27-24 victory over Long Beach Poly.
11. Grace Brethren (Simi Valley) 4-0
This team keeps winning and blows past Oak Hills (Hesperia) 48-0. Freshman Will Henderson had a touchdown late and may be a player to keep an eye on for the future.
12. Calabasas 3-1
The Coyotes had a bounce back game after falling last week to Serra (Gardena), with a 46-35 victory over No. 26 La Habra. Former Cal and current Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford was at the game to watch his quarterback commit — Calabasas’ Jaden Casey.
13. Liberty (Brentwood) 4-0
Defeated No. 34 Monte Vista (Danville) 24-21. Darrion Bartley rushed for 199 yards on 38 carries (according to Bay Area News Group), but Lions had to hold on when a possible game-tying field goal at the end hit the crossbar.
14. Central (Fresno) 4-0
Jameson Silva had four touchdown passes and the top team in the Central Section cruised to a 49-0 victory over Paso Robles. The Grizzlies had 28 points in the first quarter and UC Berkeley commit Jeremiah Hunter had a punt return for a touchdown.
15. Valley Christian (San Jose) 3-0
The Warriors were only up 21-12 after three quarters, but scored 13 unanswered points to defeat formerly ranked Clovis West (Fresno) 34-12. Deven Vanderbilt had a 25-yard pick six in the fourth quarter.
16. Norco 3-0
The Cougars pulled away late to defeat No. 25 Vista Murrieta 49-28. Norco outpaced Vista Murrieta 21-7 in the second half.
Jaylin Smith isn’t running through lighting in photo, but he and Alemany teammates put out a shocking result this week in win vs. Oaks Christian. Photo: @AlemanySports / Twitter.com.
17. St. Augustine (San Diego) 3-0
The Saints put up 42 points in the first half against Otay Ranch of Chula Vista on Friday and cruised to a 62-0 victory. It’ll be Helix next week so look for those two teams to be in the top two spots of the San Diego Section rankings next week. Which one will be No. 1, though, will be the tough question.
18. Serra (San Mateo) 3-0
It was only a seven-point lead at halftime, but Padres outscored No. 47 St. Mary’s (Stockton) 28-7 the rest of the way. The Padres come away with a 56-28 victory. Nate Sanchez had four touchdowns for Serra.
19. Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 4-0
The Sea Kings had little trouble blasting their former head coach with a 56-7 rout of Lakewood. Ethan Garbers had 221 passing yards and 4 touchdown passes. Unbeaten San Clemente is next and likely will be joining the top 25 portion of our rankings next week.
20. Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 2-2
The Lions were thumped by No. 22 and unbeaten Alemany (Mission Hills) 44-7. Oaks Christian didn’t score until the fourth quarter.
21. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 3-1
Trailblazers ran past No. 46 Valencia 38-10 on Saturday behind 12 carries for 172 yards and one TD from sophomore Jason Jones Jr. (according to @PollonPreps).
22. Alemany (Mission Hills) 4-0
Floyd Chalk had three rushing touchdowns and Alemany got signature win by blasting No. 20 Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 44-7.
23. Buchanan (Clovis) 3-1
In a Thursday night special between two teams that both had legit reasons to be considered No. 2 in the CIF Central Section behind Central (Fresno), it was the Bears who slugged out a 19-17 triumph over No. 33 Liberty (Bakersfield).
24. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 3-0
In a classic defensive struggle, Norte Dame turned the ball over four times, but outlasted Paraclete (Lancaster) 22-7. The Knights did lose senior running back Nick Brenner for the game with a neck injury.
25. Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 2-1
Team we saw last Friday in Sacramento kept close with No. 16 Norco for a half, but Norco ran away with a 49-28 victory.
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
Bishop Amat (La Puente) 3-1
Opened up a 20-7 lead by halftime and easily handled Chino Hills 33-14.
Our book was published one year ago and was written so that almost all chapters are timeless. Now available on Amazon.com for less than $10.
Clayton Valley (Concord) 3-1
Overfelt (San Jose) was overmatched against the Ugly Eagles, as Clayton Valley made quick work in a 69-6 beatdown.
Helix (La Mesa) 2-1
Helix grabs the headline upset of the evening, as it bruised and bashed No. 5 Cathedral Catholic 45-27. Elelyon Noa has been one of the top running backs in the San Diego Section and had three second half touchdowns.
La Habra 2-2
La Habra was close to pulling off an upset, but fell 46-35 to No. 12 Calabasas.
Lawndale 2-1
As expected, the Mayor’s Cup stays with Lawndale after a 35-8 victory over their rivals Leuzinger (Lawndale). Jalon Daniels had four total touchdowns and 215 yards passing.
Liberty (Bakersfield) 3-1
LOST to No. 23 Buchanan (Clovis) 19-17 on Thursday.
Lutheran (Orange) 2-2
The Lancers couldn’t keep up with No. 9 Narbonne (Harbor City), as they fall 38-0.
McClymonds (Oakland) 3-0
Mack racked up another quality win on Friday by toppling Campolindo (Moraga) 41-21.
Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) 1-2
The Bears jumped out to a 20-7 lead after the first quarter, but could hold off Utah power East (Salt Lake City, Utah) in a 49-20 defeat in Utah.
Monterey Trail (Elk Grove) 3-1
Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) stunned Monterey Trail 36-35. Austin Taylor grabbed a 20-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Grigsby with 30 seconds remaining to pull off the upset.
Monte Vista (Danville) 2-1
LOST to No. 13 Liberty (Brentwood) 24-21. Nate Rutchena continued to soar for Mustangs with three more TD receptions.
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 2-0
Did not play. Bye. Playing No. 4 Folsom next week.
Pittsburg 3-1
The Pirates routed a down year Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) squad 56-10. Pittsburg had four interceptions for the game, with Kamahl Thompson taking his interception back for a pick six.
Rancho Cucamonga 2-2
Defeated Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas, Nev.) 49-7 on Saturday.
San Clemente 4-0
The Tritons notched 29-0 shutout of quality opponent in No. 44 Lincoln (San Diego). That’s also four straight wins over San Diego Section opponents.
Servite (Anaheim) 2-1
The Friars travelled to the Inland Empire and dispatched Cajon (San Bernardino) 45-21. Justin Blandburg had a 30-yard pick six to push the lead to 22 in the third quarter.
Upland 3-1
Team had little trouble with 0-4 Central Catholic (Modesto) in a 49-27 victory. The Raiders have taken their lumps early this season, with one of the tougher preseasons. Upland was ahead 37-7 after three quarters.
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:
5 Comments
Servite and San Clemente seem to be flying under the radar this year. With the new rules in SS D1 of now 8 teams (?) and a lower section, is it possible for these teams to gey to a state bowl without having to go through the MD/SJB/Centen gauntlet?
Good move on San Clemente joining Top 25. In two weeks the rematch with Corona del Mar should be epic in a battle for Orange County publics. CDM last second victory at San Clemente was possibly the game of the year. CDM returns all those D1 starters on what might be the best aerial game in the state.
Serra defeated St. Mary’s 56-28, outscoring Rams 28-7 in second half.
Interesting how the bias of the pollster comes out comparing MD to St. Francis as though MD recruits the entire west coast. Simply not true and like all top private schools most of the top players choose to come to MD to play the best and all live within 35 miles of the school. Hell MD lost 3 starters to transfer and a high school party fight where they were attacked and turned the table on the attacker (look it up). MD is simply better than everyone at this point and proving it against the nations best when they actually want to play them. SF had won 26 games in a row and blew out 3 state champs the last 2 years and that game was not close.
That isn’t exactly what was said, but most people know what we’re talking about in relation to MD and Bosco. And we celebrate the players and coaches for their accomplishments all the time. MD and Bosco will have to continue to play out-of-state opponents and maybe all of them outside of league and playoffs. We’re glad they win and continue to be No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation.