Quarterback Spencer Thomas was the sparkplug for Oakdale in its impressive win against Sierra of Manteca.
Photo by Paul Muyskens.
Note: The top 10 teams that would be ranked by CalHiSportsFootball for the CIF Open Division in Northern California would be:
1. De La Salle (Concord); 2. Elk Grove; 3. James Logan (Union City); 4. Franklin (Elk Grove); 5. Bellarmine (San Jose); 6. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills); 7. Folsom; 8. Serra (San Mateo); 9. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose); 10. Placer (Auburn).
With assistance from Harold Abend and Paul Muyskens, here are the Week 5 rankings for each of Northern California’s CIF bowl game divisions (previous ranking in parentheses):
DIVISION I NORTH
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 4-0
2. (2) Elk Grove 5-0
3. (3) James Logan (Union City) 5-0
4. (5) Franklin (Elk Grove) 5-0
5. (6) Bellarmine (San Jose) 2-1
6. (NR) Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 5-0
7. (7) Folsom 5-0
8. (8) Serra (San Mateo) 3-0
9. (10) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 3-0
10. (13) California (San Ramon) 4-0
11. (11) Palo Alto 2-1
12. (9) Buhach Colony (Atwater) 3-2
13. (14) Luther Burbank (Sacramento) 4-0
14. (NR) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 3-2
15. (NR) Oak Grove (San Jose) 3-0
Drops: Previous No. 4 Lincoln (Stockton) lost to St. Mary’s (Stockton) 51-18; No. 12 Nevada Union (Grass Valley) lost to Elk Grove 43-19; No. 15 Granite Bay lost to Pittsburg 28-27.
Bubble Teams: Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 2-2, Foothill (Pleasanton) 3-1, Freedom (Oakley) 3-2, Granite Bay 1-3, Grant (Sacramento) 2-3, Lincoln (Stockton) 2-2, Nevada Union (Grass Valley) 3-2, Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 3-2, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 2-1, Vacaville 2-2, Valley Christian (San Jose) 2-1.
No. 1 Team Result: De La Salle (Concord) defeated Granada (Livermore) 48-14.
Race for No. 1: There are still a handful of key non-league games left to be played – such as No. 3 James Logan traveling to meet perennial power Del Oro of Loomis on Friday – but most top teams are now in league competition and it’s time to start looking forward to significant league matchups. Perhaps the first of those is Friday when No. 8 Serra of San Mateo plays No. 9 Archbishop Mitty of San Jose in the West Catholic Athletic League. Upcoming showdowns to watch include unbeatens Oak Ridge (No. 6) and Folsom (No. 7) colliding in two weeks in the Delta River League and then No. 4 Franklin of Elk Grove playing No. 2 Elk Grove in the Delta River League on Oct. 19. Top-ranked De La Salle will play all seven teams in the East Bay Athletic League (unbeaten California of San Ramon is the highest-ranked of those teams) but all results will be officially considered as non-league.
DIVISION II NORTH
1. (1) Placer (Auburn) 4-0
2. (3) Concord 5-0
3. (5) Oakdale 3-1
4. (4) Paradise 3-1
5. (6) Benicia 4-0
6. (8) Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 4-0
7. (9) Foothill (Palo Cedro) 3-1
8. (10) Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) 3-1
9. (2) Inderkum (Sacramento) 3-1
10. (NR) American Canyon 5-0
Drops: Previous No. 7 Sierra (Manteca) lost to Oakdale 49-7.
Bubble Teams: Casa Grande (Petaluma) 3-1, Dublin 3-2, Northgate (Walnut Creek) 4-1, Sierra (Manteca) 3-1, Washington (Fremont) 2-2.
No. 1 Team Result: Placer defeated Yuba City 42-33.
Race for No. 1: Inderkum’s impressive win from two weeks back over Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove was followed up last week by a dud in a 31-22 loss to Rocklin (a team Pleasant Grove beat early in the season). That obviously puts Concord back squarely as the No. 2 team in this division behind Placer. Oakdale, meanwhile, was jumped in front of Paradise into the No. 3 position after its big win over previous No. 7 Sierra. Both Oakdale and Paradise have somewhat lopsided losses to D1 teams, but Oakdale’s loss is to Oceanside (No. 1 overall team in San Diego) while Paradise’s loss is to Grant of Sacramento (2-3 overall). Paradise has probably its biggest matchup of the regular season against a fellow CIF Northern Section school this week against No. 7 Foothill. The Cougars, who lost to Paradise in last year’s section final, have already lost this year to No. 1 Placer. Paradise won last eek 48-6 against Pleasant Valley of Chico. Foothill outlasted Shasta of Redding 37-29.
Note about CIF Central Coast Section teams: Once the playoff brackets are announced, we expect several quality teams from CCS “A” leagues that are not going to be in the CCS Open Division to be placed in the section’s Division I or Division II brackets. Examples could be a third-place team from the West Catholic Athletic League or a second-place team from the De Anza League (Palo Alto, Los Gatos, Milpitas, etc.). At that point, those teams would then get placed into our D2 North bowl game rankings (they are all considered Division I now) and it’s possible one or more of those teams will be ranked near the top.
DIVISION III NORTH
1. (1) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 4-1
2. (2) El Cerrito 5-0
3. (3) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 4-0
4. (8) Seaside 3-0
5. (5) Sutter 4-0
6. (6) Campolindo (Moraga) 4-1
7. (7) Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 3-1
8. (9) Salesian (Richmond) 5-0
9. (NR) Ripon 5-0
10. (4) Los Banos 4-1
Drops: Previous No. 10 Hilmar lost to Modesto Christian (Modesto) 42-21.
Bubble Teams: Acalanes (Lafayette) 3-1, Aptos 2-2, Argonaut (Jackson) 4-0, Carmel 2-1, Escalon 3-2, Hilmar 4-1, Menlo School (Atherton) 3-0, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 4-0, Soquel 3-1, St. Helena 4-0, West Valley (Cottonwood) 4-0.
No. 1 Team Result: Marin Catholic (Kentfield) defeated San Marin (Novato) 30-7.
Race for No. 1: Seaside is the major mover of the week after the Spartans beat Palma of Salinas 25-15. Palma, which has lost to a Monterey County school just three times in 29 years, was expected to be one of the top teams in the Central Coast Section this season regardless of division. Seaside also has a quality win this year over Soquel. No. 2 El Cerrito crushed D4 North No. 2 Valley Christian of Dublin 54-0 and will try to end No. 8 Richmond Salesian’s 26-game win streak this weekend. Salesian’s streak is the longest current win streak in the state. El Cerrito, along with No. 1 Marin Catholic and No. 3 Cardinal Newman, will all be in the CIF North Coast Section Division III playoffs. The winner of that bracket therefore looks to have almost a lock to be one of the two teams in the first NorCal D3 bowl game. If Sutter from the Northern Section and/or Seaside in the CCS are both unbeaten, the choice for the other team in that game could be difficult.
Note about CIF Central Coast Section teams: Once the playoff brackets are announced, we expect several quality teams from CCS “A” leagues that are not going to be in the CCS Open Division to be placed in the section’s Division III or Division IV brackets. At that point, those teams would then get placed into our D3 North bowl game rankings and it’s possible one or more of those teams will be ranked near the top.
DIVISION IV NORTH
1. (1) Central Catholic (Modesto) 3-2
2. (4) McClymonds (Oakland) 1-3
3. (5) Ferndale 3-1
4. (6) Le Grand 3-1
5. (7) Pierce (Arbuckle) 5-0
6. (2) Valley Christian (Dublin) 4-1
7. (3) Capital Christian (Sacramento) 4-1
8. (8) St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma) 3-1
9. (9) Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 2-3
10. (10) Foresthill 4-1
Drops: None.
Bubble Teams: Chester 4-0, Modesto Christian (Modesto) 3-2, Portola 4-0, St. Bernard (Eureka) 3-1.
No. 1 Team Result: Central Catholic defeated Los Banos 35-14.
Race for No. 1: Since Central Catholic was playing a Los Banos team that was 4-0 (including a win over Escalon), its big win underscores just how much better the Raiders appear than any other team in this division. Beating Los Banos also makes Central Catholic a more likely favorite in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs (but only if Placer of Auburn stays up in Division III). With previous No. 2 Valley Christian of Dublin and previous No. 3 Capital Christian both suffering losses, it was decided to move up No. 4 McClymonds to No. 2 even though the Warriors lost as well. Mack’s loss was to perennial power Oak Grove of San Jose and by just 27-20. Mack also has respectable losses to D3 North bubble team West Valley of Cottonwood (20-18) and D3 North ranked Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland (33-26) with a quality win over Minico of Rupert, Idaho (34-21).
Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.
