It’s De La Salle now out of the top five after its loss to Utah powerhouse but the Spartans still have to be No. 1 in Northern California. Mission Viejo inches up to fourth, Narbonne up to fifth.
For this week’s brand new SportStars Northern California Top 20, CLICK HERE.
NOTE: Our updated State Top 25 with list of many other teams on the bubble will be posted each week but will require Gold Club membership to see. Our breakdowns and analysis of what’s coming up and what’s already happened can’t be matched anywhere else because we’ve been following the statewide scene years and years longer than any other media source. For sign up info, CLICK HERE.
(After games of Saturday, Sept. 17)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
1. (1) Centennial (Corona) 3-1
Tanner McKee threw for TDs on three of his first seven throws as the Huskies beat Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks 48-24. They can’t sleep on 3-0 Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) this week, which may be No. 2 team in that state.
College scouts with an eye for talent seem to really like Cathedral Catholic’s Jordan Genmark-Heath. Photo: Twitter.com.
2. (2) St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 3-1
We may get a pretty good idea of the difference this year between NorCal and SoCal when the Braves host No. 7 St. Mary’s of Stockton at Whittier College on Friday.
3. (3) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 4-0
It looked like the Monarchs were going to beat Upland 90-0 on Friday night but they took the foot off the gas and won 62-7. They could have won 100-0 and Upland isn’t that bad, but still have to play and beat Bosco (six straight losses) before being higher-ranked in the Cal-Hi Sports system.
4. (5) Mission Viejo 4-0
After the Diablos’ 42-14 dismantling of previous No. 19 Long Beach Poly, they look closer to being at the Centennial-Bosco-Mater Dei level than any other team so far. They’re also now a solid bet to go 10-0 for the regular season.
5. (6) Narbonne (Harbor City) 3-0
Despite not playing (bye week), the Gauchos have done enough to be placed in front of De La Salle. Their wins over Serra of Gardena, Long Beach Poly and Palos Verdes are all quality wins and two of those teams were state-ranked at the time.
6. (4) De La Salle (Concord) 3-1
It’s pretty easy to drop the Spartans to this spot. Previous No. 7 and No. 8 both lost as well, the next teams in line are from NorCal and there’s just no way we’ll rank a NorCal team higher since DLS hasn’t lost to a NorCal team since 1991. (Note: That’s NorCal not including Central Section.)
7. (9) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 4-0
Some NorCal rankings have Del Oro higher, but we always knew the Rams were going to play St. John Bosco in their fifth game. A huge test obviously, but they don’t have to win to make a point.
8. (10) Del Oro (Loomis) 4-0
Well, the shocker preventing a Del Oro-Folsom showdown being the top two teams in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section was previous No. 7 Folsom losing to Sacramento.
9. (11) Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 3-1
It gets tricky here since the Lions barely beat Alemany, struggled against Paraclete and lost big to nationally ranked team from Pennsylvania. They still have that win over Chaminade, though, and Chaminade is climbing.
10. (13) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 4-0
Instead of Chaminade going up to 10th, we put the Eagles 11th and moved up the Dons, who knocked off a Helix of La Mesa team that was No. 14 and Helix has a solid win vs. Clayton Valley of Concord.
