Valley Christian goes back up to No. 8 as we’ll wait and see if it will be another re-shuffling next week of the WCAL and CCS squad. This week’s only newcomer is Amador Valley, which is back in after win against California of San Ramon.
Note: For this week’s Gold Club post highlighting the State Top 25 overall rankings, CLICK HERE.
At the midway point of the season it’s pretty obvious after last week’s action that the same 24-year-old story in the Bay Area is playing out once again, and that’s other than the immense power of Sparta-land in Concord the real Northern California strength below De La Salle has to be classified as “et al” or “the others.”
The Spartans had a few early mistakes in their 52-6 shellacking of Long Beach Poly, which would cost them in a likely CIF Open Division state title matchup with Corona Centennial or St. John Bosco, but in these parts the win over a Poly team that on the field looked as good as any of the top-ranked teams from Northern California only reaffirms the dominant stranglehold De La Salle still has in the region.
Figuring out the wild-and-wacky West Catholic Athletic League pecking order, however, is a different story.
Amador Valley head coach Rick Sira poses after game last season. Photo: AVHS Football via PleasantonWeekly.com.
Three weeks ago, Bellarmine was coasting along as the top-ranked team from the league but when the Bells lost to Mitty last week and Riordan routed Serra it was the Crusaders who ascended to the top spot.
This week, a third new team takes over the WCAL catbird seat and that’s St. Francis. It was mentioned last week that if Riordan faltered against Bellarmine, the St. Francis boys were poised to snatch the top spot if the Lancers took care of business against Sacred Heart Cathedral. The 28-21 home win over the Irish was closer than head coach Greg Calcagno would have liked, but his Lancers now sit alone at 3-0 in league so that gets them the top spot for the WCAL in these rankings as well.
Figuring who is tops in the league was pretty easy, but the remaining pecking order wasn’t for the next three teams tied at 2-1. Valley Christian was slotted next for now, but once again if St. Francis loses this week to visiting Bellarmine, and Valley Christian beats a Mitty team that beat Bellarmine, the pecking order will be thrown into a frenzy once again.
Watch for Mack in Bowl Game picture
It went without notice last week that McClymonds got a piece of the action in the Bay Area rankings and continues to hold down the final spot after a 46-0 win over Oakland gets them to 7-0 and 2-0 in the Oakland Athletic League/CIF Oakland Section.
The Warriors have a couple of close wins at Piedmont and Stockton Stagg, but they also have some solid wins in a 5-0 non-league schedule where they played every game on the road and put on some big miles doing it, including a 750-mile round trip to Crescent City for a 42-14 win over Del Norte.
Should Mack run the table and win the Oakland Section title, the school’s enrollment of below 300 could put it in a lower division for the CIF bowl games. If that happens, McClymonds could be a real contender for a state title.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(Through games of Saturday, Oct. 17)
(Includes all Central Coast Section schools but no North Coast Section schools north of the Santa Rosa Metro area)
Laipeli Palu scores for unbeaten Burlingame, which could move into the Bay Area Top 25 real soon. Photo: Willie Eashman.
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 6-1
2. (2) Clayton Valley (Concord) 6-1
3. (3) Foothill (Pleasanton) 8-0
4. (5) St. Francis (Mountain View) 6-0
5. (6) Monte Vista (Danville) 5-2
6. (7) Pittsburg 5-1
7. (8) Antioch 7-0
8. (11) Valley Christian (San Jose) 5-1
9. (10) Bellarmine (San Jose) 5-1
10. (4) Archbishop Riordan (SF) 5-1
11. (12) Serra (San Mateo) 3-3
12. (13) Campolindo (Moraga) 7-1
13. (9) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 4-2
14. (14) Palma (Salinas) 5-1
15. (15) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 7-1
16. (17) Miramonte (Orinda) 7-0
17. (18) Milpitas 5-2
18. (19) James Logan (Union City) 6-2
19. (20) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 5-2
20. (23) Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 4-2
21. (21) Freedom (Oakley) 3-4
22. (NR) Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 5-2
23. (16) California (San Ramon) 5-2
24. (24) Analy (Sebastopol) 7-0
25. (25) McClymonds (Oakland) 7-0
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 22 Dublin.
Teams On the Bubble
(Alphabetical order)
Aptos 2-4, Burlingame 6-0, Dougherty Valley (San Ramon) 6-2, Dublin 5-2, Half Moon Bay 6-0, Justin-Siena (Napa) 5-2, Live Oak (Morgan Hill) 6-0, Los Gatos 3-3, Menlo (Atherton) 5-1, Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 7-1, Oak Grove (San Jose) 4-2, Piedmont 5-2, Salinas 5-2, San Benito (Hollister) 5-2, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 2-5, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 5-1.
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
