RB Dylan Smith & OT Louie Canepa (left) were two of the top players for 6-0 Vintage of Napa. Crushers had first unbeaten season as members of the CIF North Coast Section. At right players from Highland of Palmdale race onto the field. The Bulldogs went 5-0 after reaching 2019 CIF D4-A state title game. Photos: Twitter.com & @HHSFBoosters.
Some may object to counting any of the teams in this strange spring football season that didn’t lose a game as an unbeaten team. But we’ll leave the interpretation to others and we are going to count them. By our totals, we have 93 teams in California that have been added to the all-time state list of unbeaten teams. The all-time lists (one for NorCal, one for SoCal) have been updated, but all 92 for this season can be seen in this post for free.
For companion post of updated All-Time NorCal Unbeaten Football Teams (Gold Club), CLICK HERE.
For companion post of updated All-Time SoCal Unbeaten Football Teams (Gold Club), CLICK HERE.
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Viewing Notes: We went with five wins minimum to be on this list and ties were included before the pandemic. If a team was shown in our files at 4-0 or 3-0-1 or similar (more often during World War II years) before the 2021 spring season, it’s not listed. We have decided to include all teams that were at least 3-0 during the 2021 spring season for obviously different circumstances. There are separate lists in our state records for teams that have the best all-time records (16-0, 15-0, etc.) so we don’t feel we’re disrespecting them by including these spring 2021 teams and we also want to give credit to the players and coaches who worked so hard to be able to play.
Cameron Dingman was a top-notch RB-DB for Ramona, which earned its first unbeaten season since 1959. Photo: everythingramona.com.
CIF SAN DIEGO SECTION
Unbeaten For More Than One Season
Carlsbad 5-0
The only other unbeaten season in Lancers’ history came in 2006 (10-0-2).
Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 5-0
For a somewhat new school, the Dons have now gone unbeaten in football three times. The others were also teams that won CIF state titles (14-0 in 2008, 15-0 in 2016).
Central (El Centro) 5-0
This is the first time Central has gone unbeaten as a member of the San Diego Section. The school was unbeaten three times before (the last in 1946).
La Jolla 5-0
This is the third time for the Vikings to be unbeaten. The most recent was 13-0 in 1993.
Poway 5-0
The Titans’ only other unbeaten season came in 1987 (12-0).
Ramona 5-0
The Bulldogs were unbeaten the last time in 1959 (12-0). This counts as No. 4 all-time for them.
Sweetwater (National City) 5-0
Powerhouse program from 1980s was last unbeaten in 1984 (13-0). This is the Red Devils’ fifth overall.
Unbeaten For First Time In School History
Mission Hills (San Marcos) 5-0
CIF SOUTHERN SECTION
Unbeaten For More Than One Season
Baldwin Park 4-0
The last and only other time for this school to go unbeaten was in 1980 (13-0).
Coachella Valley (Thermal) 4-0
The Arabs were high-scoring and grabbed their third unbeaten season. Their last was in 1964 (11-0).
Etiwanda 4-0
The Eagles’ only other unbeaten team is for 1999 (13-0).
Lompoc 4-0
That 2011 team that went unbeaten and probably should have gotten to play in a CIF state game was the last time and the only other time when the Braves were unbeaten.
Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 4-0
School known for all its NFL alums now has had 10 unbeaten teams. The last one was in 2000 (14-0).
Los Alamitos 6-0
Former head coach John Barnes had several unbeatens in the 1990s. This year’s is the sixth in all. The last unbeaten Los Al team was in 2002 (13-0-1).
Loyola (Los Angeles) 4-0
The last time the Cubs were unbeaten was in 1975 (13-0). This is their fifth overall.
Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 5-0
Head coach Bruce Rollinson may be unique in state history for playing on an unbeaten team (1965) and then later coaching more than one of them at the same school. This was MD’s seventh in all. Rollinson coached the last two (14-0 in 1996, 15-0 in 2017).
Norco 5-0
The Cougars went back-to-back with unbeatens for 1992 and 1993 (both 14-0). This is their third.
Pasadena 5-0
This is actually the first unbeaten season in Pasadena’s long history with no ties. The others (in 1933 and 1964) both had a tie game with no losses.
Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley) 5-0
This school was unbeaten for one other season (14-0 in 2011).
Rio Hondo Prep (Arcadia) 3-0
Several of the Kares’ previous five unbeaten seasons came when they were playing at 8-man level.
San Clemente 5-0
Santa Ana 6-0
The Saints have been unbeaten for just two other seasons. The most recent was 7-0-1 in 1944.
Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 5-0
Officially, this would be the Broncos’ first unbeaten season. But we don’t count forfeits and do continue to list them as 14-0* for 2011.
These seniors at Warren of Downey completed 5-0 spring, won their league title and recorded the first undefeated season in their school’s history. Photo: @CoachPearson / Twitter.com.
Unbeaten For First Time In School History
Apple Valley 5-0, Ayala (Chino Hills) 5-0, Bishop Diego (Santa Barbara) 5-0, Cajon (San Bernardino) 5-0, Ganesha (Pomona) 4-0, Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) 6-0*, Highland (Palmdale) 5-0, Hillcrest (Riverside) 5-0, Indian Springs (San Bernardino) 3-0, Inglewood 4-0, Jurupa Hills (Fontana) 4-0, La Habra 6-0, La Serna (Whittier) 5-0, Lawndale 3-0, Maranatha (Pasadena) 3-0, Ontario Christian 4-0, Pacifica (Oxnard) 5-0, Palm Desert 5-0, Rancho Alamitos (Garden Grove) 5-0, San Clemente 5-0, Saugus 5-0, Warren (Downey) 5-0.
*Earlier version of school (boys only) had four undefeated teams.
CIF L.A. CITY SECTION
Unbeaten For More Than One Season
Lincoln (L.A.) 4-0
This team made it three for their school’s history. The last unbeaten team was in 1947 (7-0).
Manual Arts (L.A.) 3-0
The Toilers were a powerhouse in the 1910s. That’s why this year’s team goes down at No. 8 all-time. The last unbeaten was in 1983 (12-0).
Venice 4-0
This is the third unbeaten team for the Gondoliers. Their most recent was 7-0 in 1951.
Unbeaten For First Time In School History
Arleta 3-0, Chavez (San Fernando) 4-0.
CIF CENTRAL SECTION
Unbeaten For More Than One Season
Kingsburg 5-0
This goes down as the fifth unbeaten team in Kingsburg history. The last one was in 2009 (13-0).
Shafter 5-0
The Generals had their third unbeaten team in school history. The other two are for 1950 and 1962.
Unbeaten For First Time In School History
Buchanan (Clovis) 5-0, Liberty (Bakersfield) 5-0, St. Joseph (Santa Maria) 5-0.
Shafter High players and coaches show how many wins they had during pandemic-shortened season. They had no losses, too. It’s school’s 3rd unbeaten season all-time. Photo: @KHSDAthletics.com.
CIF CENTRAL COAST SECTION
Unbeaten For More Than One Season
Gunn (Palo Alto) 5-0
The Titans were last unbeaten in 1971, which also is their only other unbeaten season.
Los Gatos 5-0
This is counting as the Wildcats’ 7th unbeaten team with the last one from 2002.
Serra (San Mateo) 5-0
The school’s 9-0 squad from 1954 is its last unbeaten team. This year is going to count as the third.
RB Max Griffiths was one of the top players for 5-0 Leigh of San Jose. It was the Longhorns’ first-ever unbeaten season. Photo: Hudl.com.
Unbeaten For First Time In School History
Aptos 4-0, Carlmont (Belmont) 4-0, Christopher (Gilroy) 3-0, Leigh (San Jose) 5-0, Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) 5-0, Prospect (Saratoga) 5-0, Scotts Valley 6-0.
CIF NORTH COAST SECTION
Unbeaten For More Than One Season
Campolindo (Moraga) 6-0
Head coach Kevin Macy had the school’s only other unbeaten team as well. That was the 16-0 team in 2014 that won CIF D3 state title.
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 5-0
This marks the eighth time for the Cardinals that they were unbeaten (most of those years were during that 46-game win streak from 1973 to 1977). The last team to do it was in 1982 (11-0-1).
De La Salle (Concord) 6-0
The Spartans are of course far and away the all-time state leader for unbeaten seasons. This was their 22nd. The last one was the 14-0 squad of 2014 that captured the school’s second straight CIF Open Division state title.
Eureka 5-0
The Loggers now have nine unbeaten teams in their history. The last one was in 2003 (13-0).
Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 5-0
It’s the fourth time in school history for the Wildcats to go unbeaten. The most recent was 12-0 in 1998.
Mt. Diablo (Concord) 4-0
Seeing the Red Devils do this was extra-special since they’ve been struggling mightily in recent years. Still, this was their fifth unbeaten team. The last one was 8-0 in 1953.
Piedmont 5-0
Bay area powerhouse from 1940s was last unbeaten in 1976 (11-0). This counts as their eighth overall.
Pittsburg 5-0
It’s been since 1964 when the Pirates were last unbeaten. They were 9-0 in that year. This was their fourth overall.
Vintage (Napa) 6-0
When the Crushers were unbeaten the only other time in school history, they went 13-0 and won the top divisional title in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section. Napa schools switched to the NCS several years ago.
Unbeaten For First Time In School History
El Cerrito 5-0, Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 3-0, Tennyson (Hayward) 4-0.
CIF OAKLAND/SAN FRANCISCO SECTIONS
McClymonds (Oakland)
With the S.F. schools not playing at all, the Warriors went 6-0 and grabbed their fourth unbeaten season (on-the-field).
CIF SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION
Timothy Plowman breaks loose for 5-0 Vacaville. Among all of the teams in the state this spring that were unbeaten for the first time, we were surprised the most to learn that the Bulldogs had not finished unbeaten before. They have multiple CIF Sac-Joaquin Section titles and the first result we have for them is from 1898. Photo: Twitter.com.
Unbeaten For More Than One Season
Casa Roble (Orangevale) 4-0
This goes down as the Rams’ third unbeaten season. The last one was in 2008 (13-0).
Colfax 3-0
Head coach Tony Martello also had the school’s only other unbeaten team (13-0 in 2002). He also won his 200th game this spring.
El Dorado (Placerville) 3-0
It’s the second time for the Cougars. Their best record of 9-0 was set in 1954.
Folsom 6-0
This is counting as the Bulldogs’ fifth unbeaten season. Their last was the 16-0 club in 2017 that won the CIF D1-AA state title after a triumph against Helix of La Mesa.
Hughson 5-0
The only other unbeaten season for the Huskies is from 1997 (13-0).
Turlock 5-0
It’s been since 1970 when the Bulldogs were last unbeaten (10-0). This is No. 6 for them and counts a bizarre 6-0-4 season from 1966.
Unbeaten For First Time In School History
Central Valley (Ceres) 5-0, Lincoln (Stockton) 4-0, Monterey Trail (Elk Grove) 5-0, Oakmont (Roseville) 3-0, Rocklin 4-0, Vacaville 5-0.
CIF NORTHERN SECTION
Unbeaten For More Than One Season
Biggs 6-0
This school has now been unbeaten four times in its history. The most recent was 11-0 in 1989.
Portola 7-0
The Tigers can always say that this spring they had the best record of any team in the state. This is their fifth unbeaten team (the last was 12-0 in 2009).
Sutter 5-0
It’s the seventh time for the Huskies to have an unbeaten season. Their most recent was in 2007 (12-0).
Unbeaten For First Time In School History
West Valley (Cottonwood) 5-0.
Mark Tennis is the editor and publisher of Cal-Hi Sports. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
3 Comments
I think above note on Folsom is off-base: 2017 season 16-0 – D1-AA championship game was not against Cathedral Catholic overtime win – that was the 2018 CIF D1-AA state title game – Folsom was 15-1 – only loss to De La Salle – 14-0.
“Their last was the 16-0 club in 2017 that won the CIF D1-AA state title after an OT triumph against San Diego Cathedral Catholic.”
Got the two San Diego Section teams they beat in those back-to-back years mixed up. It was Helix in 2017.
Thanks.
I remember the 2017 season well because I thought Folsom should have gotten the Open bid over De La Salle. Folsom was 14-0 after Section play – De La Salle was 11-2.
You do great work.
Thanks, again.