As expected, St. John Bosco moves up to No. 1 after avenging one of its two losses by topping previous No. 1 Mater Dei in CIFSS D1 final. De La Salle also edges up to No. 4 with Narbonne dropping one spot to No. 5.
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, Dec. 3)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
1. (2) St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 12-2
Braves won second CIFSS top divisional title in four years with 42-28 triumph over Mater Dei last Saturday at the Big A. That avenged earlier loss. Only other loss to national No. 1 Bishop Gorman.
2. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 13-1
Yes, you could argue that Centennial should now be second due to comparative playoff scores. But Mater Dei actually beating St. John Bosco once takes precedence.
Narbonne’s win at Sac State last year in D1-A final was the first for an L.A. City Section school since bowl games began in 2006. Photo: Mark Tennis.
3. (3) Centennial (Corona) 11-2*
Only losses for the Huskies all year were due to conversion points – 50-49 to IMG and 49-47 to Bosco.
4. (5) De La Salle (Concord) 11-1
With a chance to win seventh CIF Open Division title in eight years and with 42-7 win over Freedom of Oakley in pocket, only makes sense to move up Spartans this week.
5. (4) Narbonne (Harbor City) 14-0
Dorsey got closer to the Gauchos than many thought in L.A. City D1 final so it has to be a slight drop in rankings.
6. (6) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 13-0
They say it’s real hard to beat a good team twice, but the Dons did that on Saturday and won SD Open title by topping Helix.
7. (11) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 13-1
Margin of victory over Folsom in Sac-Joaquin Section D1 final and way they’ve looked in last three weeks makes Rams a real threat in CIF D1-AA bracket.
8. (8) Rancho Cucamonga 12-1*
St. Mary’s going up and Freedom dropping down after big loss to DLS means Cougars stay same this week.
9. (9) Mission Viejo 11-1*
Diablos also stay same and probably not happy watching league rival San Clemente win CIFSS D2 title while they were eliminated in quarterfinals of super-tough CIFSS D1 bracket.
10. (13) Calabasas 14-0
We also could have lifted Huntington Beach Edison, which suffered its only loss to Mater Dei, up into 10th but haven’t had Chargers ahead of Calabasas at any point this season.
