De La Salle win and losses by Bellarmine and Clayton Valley in CIF bowls causes Foothill and Antioch to move up to third and fourth in final evaluations. Oak Grove also gets moved back in front of St. Francis.
Note: For this week’s Gold Club post highlighting the final state divisional rankings according to our own traditional five-division format, CLICK HERE.
The Cal-Hi Sports Caravan was out in force at the five games contested at Sacramento State on Friday and Saturday, and the Bay Area was well-represented with three teams in action.
Clayton Valley’s Jake Peralta operates in the backfield during Ugly Eagles’ game vs. Narbonne in CIF Division I-A state bowl game. Photo: Willie Eashman.
Unfortunately for Bay Area fans, their boys only snagged one game and that was pretty difficult as De La Salle needed to hold by inches twice on fourth down to help secure a seventh state title with its 28-21 victory over Centennial of Corona.
Bellarmine never got it going in the rain on Friday night and despite Mission Viejo head coach Bob Johnson complaining about having a long bus ride and playing in the rain the Bells were no match for his Diablos and the 24-0 victory by Mission Viejo gave the No. 4 winningest coach in California his 330th career victory.
Things started out bad on Saturday as well when Clayton Valley did everything it could, and the Ugly Eagles played their hearts out, but the banged up Uglies just couldn’t do it trying to use running back Jake Peralta in a wildcat formation against a speedy Harbor City Narbonne in the CIF Division I-A game.
Watching head coach Tim Murphy talk to his team after the game, one could feel his disappointment and pain, and the emotion in his face said everything as he told the team to go ahead and cry while holding back tears himself.
The most compelling thing Murphy told the team was about life on and off the field.
“We had some wonderful kids that made some mistakes last year. Make sure you guys make good decisions this off-season.”
The final pecking order gives a boost to Foothill (lost only to De La Salle) and Antioch (lost only by one point to Foothill) as the Falcons and Panthers get to move in front of Clayton Valley, which still qualifies for the top five.
Campolindo had to drop down a bit as well but the Cougars took on bigger schools throughout the non-league schedule and all the schools they played in the CIF playoffs dwarfed them in size.
Despite a heartbreaking 23-20 loss to Citrus Hill (Perris) in the CIF Division II-A title game, St. Francis led 13-0 after one quarter and only trailed 16-13 after the third. The Lancers now have to go back behind the Oak Grove team they lost to in the CCS Open Division II title game for the final rankings.
Oak Grove’s Rashaan Fontanette is about to score a huge TD vs. St. Francis. Photo: GetSportsFocus.com.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(Through games of Saturday, Dec. 19)
(Includes all Central Coast Section schools but no North Coast Section schools north of the Santa Rosa Metro area)
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 13-1
2. (2) Bellarmine (San Jose) 13-2
3. (4) Foothill (Pleasanton) 12-1
4. (5) Antioch 11-1
5. (3) Clayton Valley (Concord) 13-2
6. (6) Pittsburg 10-3
7. (9) Monte Vista (Danville) 7-4
8. (10) Oak Grove (San Jose) 11-3
9. (7) St. Francis (Mountain View) 12-3
10. (11) Serra (San Mateo) 6-4
11. (12) Valley Christian (San Jose) 8-4
12. (13) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 12-2
13. (18) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 11-3
14. (8) Campolindo (Moraga) 14-2
15. (14) Milpitas 10-4
16. (17) Freedom (Oakley) 7-5
17. (20) Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 8-4
18. (15) Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 11-3
19. (16) Archbishop Riordan (SF) 9-4
20. (19) Palma (Salinas) 10-2
21. (21) California (San Ramon) 7-5
22. (22) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 6-5
23. (23) Los Gatos 7-4
24. (24) Analy (Sebastopol) 13-1
25. (25) McClymonds (Oakland) 12-1
Dropped Out: None.
On the Bubble
(Alphabetical order)
Aptos 9-4, Burlingame 9-2, Concord 9-4, Dublin 7-4, Granada (Livermore) 6-7, Hillsdale (San Mateo) 11-2, James Logan (Union City) 7-4, Justin-Siena (Napa) 9-3, Leigh (San Jose) 8-3, Live Oak (Morgan Hill) 9-2 , Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) 6-5, Miramonte (Orinda) 11-2, Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville) 10-2, Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 11-2, Palo Alto 5-7, Piedmont 9-3, Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 9-4, Salinas 6-5, San Benito (Hollister) 7-5, San Leandro 6-5, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 3-7, St. Mary’s (Berkeley) 8-4, Tennyson (Hayward) 9-3, Wilcox (Santa Clara) 9-3.
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
