Sophomore RB Ayon Bryant gets a lift from teammate Malaki Te’o after he scored in the second half of Mater Dei’s 42-21 win on Friday over St. John Bosco. Photo: @MDFootball / Twitter.com.
There weren’t any big upsets, but several really big wins on Friday night in California prep football, none bigger than No. 1 Mater Dei topping No. 2 St. John Bosco for the second time in a few months. There also was No. 6 Mission Viejo defeating No. 7 Sierra Canyon. Saturday update had No. 8 Serra (San Mateo) with a big win but a big injury loss.
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.
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(Rankings based on State Top 50 released last Tuesday)
(Through reported results of Saturday, Oct. 2)
(Thanks to Northern California correspondent Daniel Poulter for contributions)
1. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 4-0
Defeated No. 2 St. John Bosco 42-21. At halftime, the two teams were tied 21-21, but it was the Monarchs’ defense that made the best second-half adjustments. Sophomore Elijah Brown fired five TD passes, two to C.J. Williams, who also played a lot of corner on defense with 2020-21 State Athlete of the Year Domani Jackson out for the year.
2. St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 5-1
LOST to No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 42-21. In the spring, the Braves had a 14-7 lead in the first half and lost 34-17. This game was similar. Katin Houser led SJB with a TD run and TD pass. Could some rank Servite second in the state next week knowing that it will play MD next? We wouldn’t touch that, not with Bosco owning several recent wins over the Friars but someone else might.
3. Servite (Anaheim) 6-0
Defeated No. 16 Lutheran (Orange) 56-12 on Thursday. The sense for the last few weeks is that the top four teams from the CIF Southern Section this year are well beyond the rest of Southern California and probably the eventual NorCal entrant to the CIF Open Division state final. This is more proof of that. Servite is playing Mater Dei on Oct. 23 and will have Bosco after that.
4. Centennial (Corona) 6-0
Defeated M.L. King (Riverside) 84-0 on Thursday. The team’s twitter feed on Thursday didn’t mention the score. It was Centennial’s league opener. Its other league games may be similar other than the one vs. No. 11 Norco.
Uluiakinofo Taliauli is one of the line standouts for No. 9 St. Francis of Mountain View, which played Friday in San Francisco. Photo: Willie Eashman.
5. Folsom 6-0
Defeated Del Oro (Loomis) 58-6. One of the early TDs for the Bulldogs was on an impressive catch-and-run by big-time junior TE recruit Walker Lyons. Folsom is hosting De La Salle next Friday.
6. Mission Viejo 5-1
Defeated No. 7 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 27-10. The Diablo D forced four turnovers and only gave up three points in the last three quarters. Kadin Semonza also threw for two TDs. This cements Mission as the No. 5 team from the CIFSS by logic, but who knows if computer agrees.
7. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 3-3
LOST to No. 6 Mission Viejo 27-10. Terrell Cooks had a four-yard TD for the Trailblazers’ only TD. Depending on how Serra (SM) looks on Saturday, it’s still probably just a one or two-spot drop in the next rankings.
8. Serra (San Mateo) 4-0
Defeated Bellarmine (San Jose) 41-7 on Saturday. In perhaps the top game in Northern California this week, the Padres shut down the previously unbeaten No. 34 Bells. Dominique Lampkin threw for 2 TDs and Patelo Gi (pronounced Gee-hee) rushed for two TDs. The Padres lost all-state RB/WR Hassan Mihasin, however, to an injury in which everyone believes is an ACL knee. “We’re not a scoreboard team, we’re more like a family and this hurts,” head coach Patrick Walsh said.
9. St. Francis (Mountain View) 4-0
Defeated Sacred Heart Cathedral (SF) 37-13. The Lancers were only ahead 16-13 entering the fourth quarter at Kezar Stadium, but woke up at the finish with three scores.
10. De La Salle (Concord) 3-2
LOST to St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) 42-28. It was 35-14 at halftime so the Spartans played better in the second half. SFA is in the top 20 in some national polls and this was an ESPN2 game. DLS is still a solid brand name nationally and ESPN has a soft spot for the Spartans since they were the first team ever shown on the national network in 2003.
11. Norco 5-1
Defeated Santiago (Corona) 57-14. One week after falling to Sierra Canyon, the Cougars bounced the Sharks. With De La Salle playing Folsom next, Norco isn’t moving up next week.
12. Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 5-1
Defeated JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 38-13. Team with a loss to Norco and a win over Los Alamitos had four interceptions vs. the Lions while Jaxon Potter threw for three scores.
13. Carlsbad 6-0
Defeated Torrey Pines (San Diego) 34-33. Super soph Julian Sayin threw a TD pass to Josh Davis with just seven seconds left for the game-winner. The Lancers were down 28-14 at halftime.
14. Los Alamitos 5-1
Defeated Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 42-14 on Thursday. Malachi Nelson tossed four TD passes as the Griffins won by the same score they lost to in their previous game to No. 11 Santa Margarita. CdM came in No. 29 in our State TOP 50 and was 5-0.
15. Lincoln (San Diego) 5-1
Defeated St. Augustine (San Diego) 34-18. The Saints pulled to within 21-18 in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they got.
16. Lutheran (Orange) 5-1
LOST to No. 3 Servite (Anaheim) 56-12 on Thursday. Reality set in for the Lancers in a matchup against the Friars. They were down 42-6 at halftime. How many teams in the state could even win once in the Trinity League, however, so the reality also is that OLu won’t drop far if at all in the next rankings.
Buchanan’s Josiah Ayon is one of the top WRs in the CIF Central Section. Photo: Twitter.com.
17. Rocklin 6-0
Defeated Granite Bay 26-6. The first game starting for QB Joey Roberts after the loss of Kenny Lueth last week (knee) went well against a GB team that also was in our top 50. Anthony Johnston also had some impressive runs on offense.
18. Pittsburg 2-1
Did not play. The Pirates did not get a replacement for their scheduled game for Friday at McClymonds of Oakland. The AD at Mack let Pittsburg know on Thursday that positive COVID-19 tests had arisen and the game would have to be cancelled. Pitt already was missing one game that was supposed to happen on Aug. 27 vs. Serra (San Mateo).
19. Central (Fresno) 5-0
Defeated Clovis 27-20. After the Cougars took a 20-19 lead late in the game, Imari Conley raced down the field for a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown. As our friend Andy Boogaard would say: Holy Toledo.
20. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 4-2
Defeated Madison (San Diego) 52-6. Team with losses to Corona Centennial and De La Salle opened it up early vs. the Warhawks. It should be a brewing showdown to end the regular season vs. No. 15 Lincoln.
21. Alemany (Mission Hills) 2-3
Did not play. There were some questions throughout the week whether Serra of Gardena would have to take a forfeit loss and thus Alemany in that situation wouldn’t be able to even try to get a replacement. The Cavs had to cancel due to COVID earlier in the week. Alemany didn’t have another game set up as of Friday and the Mission League also clarified that it wouldn’t be a forfeit for Serra.
22. Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 5-1
Defeated Chaparral (Temecula) 35-0. It was a good start in the Southwestern League for the Broncos, who now have two shutouts in their last three outings.
23. Buchanan (Clovis) 5-1
Defeated Clovis West (Fresno) 44-14. Head coach Matt Giordano’s team will be playing No. 19 Central (Fresno) next on Thursday that also will be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 for the CIF Central Section.
24. Edison (Huntington Beach) 4-2
Defeated Newport Harbor (Newport Beach) 50-14. It was a tune up of sorts for the Chargers, who are playing at No. 14 Los Alamitos in their next game on Thursday.
25. Mission Hills (San Marcos) 4-2
Defeated Oceanside 31-13. The Grizzlies came off a bye week with a somewhat easy triumph over the Pirates.
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
Bellarmine Prep (San Jose) 4-1
LOST to No. 8 Serra (San Mateo) 41-7 on Saturday. The Bells, who have big wins over Menlo-Atherton and Central Catholic of Modesto, scored their only TD in the fourth quarter on a pass from Wade Smith to Ramy Nijmeh that made the score 27-7.
Bishop Amat (La Puente) 4-2
Defeated Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 42-21. Mission League opener for the Lancers.
Chaminade (West Hills) 4-1
Defeated Cathedral (Los Angeles) 43-6. Congrats to head coach Ed Croson, who won his 200th career game (which includes a lot of wins as well from Birmingham of Lake Balboa).
Etiwanda 6-0
Defeated Damien (La Verne) 17-3. This was a good prove-it game for the Eagles since Damien had close losses to Loyola and Orange Lutheran.
Inglewood 5-0
Defeated Beverly Hills 53-0. The Sentinels are expected to be unbeaten for the regular season.
Jesuit (Carmichael) 5-1
Defeated Franklin (Elk Grove) 47-16. Head coach Marlon Blanton’s club keeps on rolling since an opening loss to Folsom.
JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 3-3
LOST to No. 12 Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 38-13. There’s a good chance the Lions will go 3-7 after their Trinity League schedule, but still have a couple of key wins that will keep them in the State TOP 50.
Serra (Gardena) 2-3
Did not play. Cavaliers, who have a win over Long Beach Poly, couldn’t go this week vs. Alemany of Mission Hills due to COVID protocols.
St. Bonaventure (Ventura) 6-0
Defeated Bishop Diego (Santa Barbara) 21-14. Both teams came into this matchup with 5-0 records.
Valley Christian (San Jose) 4-1
Defeated St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 28-12. The Warriors, who have a loss to Pittsburg, got two more TD grabs from junior WR Jurrion Dickey.
Warren (Downey) 5-0
Defeated Dominguez (Compton) 54-12. The visiting Dons also came into this matchup unbeaten (5-0).
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
Two comments…
Folsom may have won 58-7 against DO but they were up 51 – 6 at half…knowing Rocklin beat DO I think about 36-9 or something along that lines I am just not sure how close the Folsom Rocklin game will be but I am glad to see the young Rocklin qb was successful last night against GB
Also, Mark are you going to do an intro write up leading to the Folsom DLS game?
We haven’t been doing a lot of pregame buildup stories, focusing instead on honor rolls and lists that mention many, many more than just two schools. Most of our pregame breakdowns get included in the major two rankings posts.
That is great to see other schools talked about and I am glad more players and teams are discussed! I was curious as I have seen such write ups in the past.
Thanks
1. Having seen both Servite and St. John Bosco multiple times this year, it would not shock me at all to see the Friars beat the Braves.
2. Seems there are a number of red flags for Carlsbad. Too many close calls to be ranked #13.
1. Would not be a shock to me, either, just can’t rank it that way until it happens.
2. True, but Carlsbad is still on top in SD Section. Not sure if any teams down there are going to be better than 9th best team from CIFSS down the road. We’ll see.