Clayton Valley of Concord running back Ryan Cooper heads downfield during team’s Week 2 win over Tracy on school’s black home field. Photo: Dax Crabbe.
Here come the Bells up to No. 4 after beating a San Leandro team that owns a win over James Logan. This week’s highest ranked newcomer is Palma of Salinas.
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The who-beat-who scenarios are beginning early this season, especially in the CIF North Coast Section, and the results have caused numerous changes in this week’s Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area 25 Football Rankings.
Although there was really only one big upset this week, the two teams involved, San Ramon Valley and James Logan, have so many common opponents in the mix this early in the season, it jangled things up a bit. Logan, for example, has a loss to San Leandro, which just lost itself to Bellarmine Prep and also has a loss to Foothill of Pleasanton.
The Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area caravan stayed close to home again to watch a Saturday night match-up between host Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa and Clayton Valley of Concord.
Two Ugly Eagles, including star running back Miles Harrison, were held out of the first half because of missing classes, and it definitely affected the visitors on both sides of the ball.
Griffin Bentley of Clayton Valley can be an effective pass rusher. Photo: Dax Crabbe.
Not only did the Clayton Valley offense bog down but Cardinal Newman was holding its own in the trenches of a 14-14 tie at halftime.
When Harrison returned in the third quarter. it seemed like the energy level on the Ugly Eagles’ sidelines came alive.
On the first series on defense, Ricky Helena tipped a pass in the air and Elijah Breon gathered it in and rumbled 58 yards to make it 21-14. After holding on fourth down in the next series, Clayton Valley scored again on an 8-yard run by Justin Zapanta. Then when Jax Carter took a Wildcat direct snap 10 yards it was 35-14 after three quarters.
Cardinal Newman closed to 35-21 on a 10-yard run by Jordon Brookshire, but Harrison sealed the deal with a 40-yard sprint down the left sidelines that closed out a 42-21 Clayton Valley victory.
“Sitting Miles for missing classes is actually a good message in my opinion,” CV head coach Tim Murphy told Cal-Hi Sports. “Miles handled himself like a man and took full accountability when I talked to him at halftime. In the long run, that’s what this whole thing is all about.”
In the short run, there were some lessons learned.
“We need 100-percent total team commitment,” Murphy continued. ”On the field we’ve got to do a better job of handling the football, and in class they know they have to take care of business.”
The bright side for Cardinal Newman was the play of quarterback Brookshire. The 6-1, 190-pound sophomore accounted for all three Newman touchdowns. He was 15-of-21 for 117 yards and one touchdown, and rushed 22 times for 138 yards and two more scores, including a 49-yard run.
Here are this week’s second rankings (after games of Saturday, Sept. 13):
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 3-0
The doubters were quieted early as Sparta marched to 21-0 and 35-7 leads over a stunned Byrnes team from South Carolina. The boys from back east finally put some points on the board but by that time the game was over in 56-28 victory. Next is Del Oro of Loomis on the road.
2. (2) Valley Christian (San Jose) 2-0
There are those that comment that the Warriors are ranked too high for having easy wins over San Jose public schools, the latest an easy 41-14 winner over cross-town Oak Grove. Either head coach Mike Machado and his charges will silence the doubters this week against Milpitas or they will drop down.
3. (6) Foothill (Pleasanton) 2-0
It was a bye week but the Falcons get to come up for two reasons. First, their 30-12 win over San Leandro is looking strong now that San Leandro is a team with a win over James Logan. Second, they have a sink-or-swim game coming up in two weeks against San Ramon Valley.
4. (9) Bellarmine (San Jose) 2-0
It was a solid 28-17 win at home over San Leandro (which also is coming up this week due to owning a win over Logan). Bellarmine’s first win over Franklin of Elk Grove also is looking even better than it did last week.
Head coach George Zuber’s team from James Logan of Union City beat previous No. 3 San Ramon Valley last Friday. Photo: Mark Tennis.
5. (5) Serra (San Mateo) 0-2
The best 0-2 team in the Bay Area lost to state bubble team Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks with its other loss to De La Salle. The Padres should get back on track this week against South San Francisco.
6. (7) Clayton Valley (Concord) 3-0
The Ugly Eagles looked very pedestrian for a half with Miles Harrison on the bench but exploded in third quarter against Cardinal Newman when he returned. San Jose Independence is on tap next.
7. (10) Milpitas 2-0
The Trojans had no problems in 54-7 blowout of host Newark Memorial that followed 27-0 whitewash of Riordan. Now the rubber meets the road when the Trojans travel to San Jose to face No. 2 Valley Christian.
8. (18) San Leandro 1-2
The best 1-2 team in the Bay Area lost this week to a surging Bellarmine team but played well and owns a win over a James Logan team that just beat San Ramon Valley. The other loss is to No. 3 Foothill. At Oakley Freedom this week.
9. (22) James Logan (Union City) 2-1
The biggest jump this week goes to a Colts team that had a close loss to San Leandro and followed it up with the week’s big upset, a 28-23 victory on the home pasture of previous No. 3 San Ramon Valley. After a bye this week, Castro Valley at home is next.
10. (3) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 2-1
The bubble burst in 28-23 home loss to James Logan with an EBAL opener with Foothill and then De La Salle coming up. The good news is the Wolves have a bye this week which gives them a week to prepare for Foothill.
11. (4) Pittsburg 2-1
It may have been a controversial OT loss to San Ramon Valley two weeks back but it was a loss and it now forces us to drop Pitt several spots this week since SRV has just lost to Logan.
12. (8) California (San Ramon) 2-1
A 49-10 win over Castro Valley was impressive, but for this week that opening week loss to Pitt continues to cost rankings spots based on all of the various head-to-head results. The Grizzlies open East Bay Athletic League play with Livermore.
13. (11) Campolindo (Moraga) 3-0
It was another walk in the park for Campo with a 49-7 blowout of Fremont Washington. Next up is Napa in another very interesting game the caravan is contemplating attending.
14. (12) Los Gatos 2-0
The Cats followed up the win against Mitty with an easy 35-7 win over Menlo-Atherton. On tap is a real test against a San Benito team.
15. (14) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 0-1
The Monarchs had a bye. They still moved up to take St. Francis’ place but have to now go behind both San Leandro and Logan.
Darius Peterson is taking over as the new quarterback at Marin Catholic. Photo: Harold Abend.
16. (16) Concord 3-0
QB Mitch Daniels gave himself a birthday present a day early after he and his Minutemen teammates stormed San Lorenzo in a 54-8 Friday night blitzing. Concord visits Oakland High this week.
17. (17) McClymonds (Oakland) 3-0
Mack had its first real test and passed with a 32-22 victory over visiting Salesian. The way this team has played they don’t deserve to drop while the play of teams around them has been sketchy. After a bye, a huge test comes in two weeks when the Warriors host Analy.
18. (NR) Palma (Salinas) 2-0
Many thought this team was a year away from being one of the elite teams in the CCS but with a 21-12 win over St. Francis that followed a 30-7 dismantling of Carmel the boys from Salinas would look to already have arrived.
19. (13) St. Francis (Mountain View) 1-1
The Lancers lost on Friday at fast rising Palma. We still can’t see dropping them behind Sacred Heart Prep. Oakland Skyline visits this week.
20. (15) Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 2-0
Without All-State Underclass Ben Burr-Kirven in the lineup again (out three more weeks), the Gators struggled in a 14-7 win over Archbishop Riordan. Neither win has been really impressive so they have to drop to make room for Palma and also fall behind Concord and McClymonds. Next up is a big test without Burr-Kirven against a Salinas team that has a loss to Aptos but just posted a 61-27 win over Carmel.
21. (20) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 2-0
It was a nice win in a 27-24 victory over host Terra Nova but until the Wildcats beat a team from the WCAL with a winning record they have to fall in behind those teams plus a Palma team that possesses one of those quality wins against a WCAL opponent. The Wildcats host 2-0 Stockton St. Mary’s on Saturday in a game the caravan is considering covering.
22. (NR) Liberty (Brentwood) 3-0
The 30-0 shellacking of Berkeley is not really the reason the Lions’ roar has been heard. The whitewash contributes but despite the Fresno Central team they beat being 0-3, the losses are not blowouts and to very solid teams, including state-ranked Sacramento Grant. The Chico team they beat has a pretty solid resume as well. They get in but until they beat someone local that’s in the pecking order this is where they have to be.
23. (23) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 1-2
The Wildcats get dropped in behind Liberty for a couple of reasons. First, the 45-27 win at Brentwood Heritage isn’t enough to have them move up, plus Liberty plays Heritage in two weeks so we can gauge things better then after seeing that result.
24. (24) Analy (Sebastopol) 2-0
The Tigers had a bye after blowouts of two reeling Redwood Empire teams. Up next is a trip to Santa Rosa Montgomery.
25. (NR) San Benito (Hollister) 2-0
After a 42-0 win at Hilmar, the Balers now have outscored two opponents 75-0 after a 33-0 blanking of Palo Alto. Los Gatos this week could be a different story. If Los Gatos wasn’t next, we’d have left 3-0 St. Mary’s of Berkeley in the No. 25 slot.
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 19 Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland); No. 21 Terra Nova (Pacifica); No. 25 St. Mary’s (Berkeley).
Teams On The Bubble:
Acalanes (Lafayette) 2-1
Alhambra (Martinez) 2-0
Alvarez (Salinas) 2-0
Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 2-0
Antioch 3-0
Aptos 2-0
Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 1-1
Burlingame 2-0
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 1-1
Carmel 0-2
Deer Valley (Antioch) 2-0
El Cerrito 1-1
Freedom (Oakley) 1-2
Las Lomas (Walnut Creek) 2-1
Monterey 2-0
Northgate (Walnut Creek) 3-0
Pacific Grove 2-0
Palo Alto 1-1
Pinole Valley (Pinole) 2-1
Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 2-0
St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 3-0
Terra Nova (Pacifica) 0-2
Wilcox (Santa Clara) 0-1
Windsor 3-0
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
