Receivers Carter Williams & Presley Keltner made huge catches in the first half that helped Manteca defeat Valley Christian of San Jose 22-20 in matchup of NorCal ranked preseason squads. Manteca was No. 34 in State Top 50 for preseason and while the Buffs might not yet be in Top 25 next week they will move up. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Preseason No. 13 Murrieta Valley gets shocked 30-28 by Corona Santiago in what would be the state’s biggest upset of the opening Friday night of the 2017 season. The night also saw big wins for No. 3 Corona Centennial, No. 6 Narbonne of Harbor City and No. 7 Chaminade of West Hills. Up north, Del Oro of Loomis handed San Diego Cathedral Catholic a loss in matchup of CIF state champs from last two seasons.
What We Learned: St. Mary’s-Serra
What We Learned: Manteca-Valley Christian Breakdown
Note: On Monday mornings each week, look for a brand new State Top 50 set of football rankings that won’t simply be a list. We’ll have insights and breakdowns based on more than 40 years of going to Friday night games with an overview of the state’s top teams and what’s coming up that just can’t be matched. Each new set of rankings will be for Gold Club members only. The late Friday/Weekend Scoreboards will be free posts and will provide snippets of info, comments and more for the Top 25 teams within the Top 50.
We hope you enjoy this free post on CalHiSports.com. To join our Gold Club to get all new state rankings, state record updates and all-state team announcements, CLICK HERE.
(Rankings based on Preseason State Top 50 released earlier in August)
1. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 1-0
Compared to last year’s 63-14 victory in the first game over Bishop Amat, winning 31-7 this year over the Lancers might normally be a warning sign for what the Monarchs are hoping to do. They are playing Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas next week, however, in a possible mythical national title game so it’s likely very little was shown on either side of the ball.
2. St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 0-1
LOST to nationally ranked St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 9-3. Two missed field goals (one with 1:52 left) and three turnovers were costly for the Braves.
3. Centennial (Corona) 1-0
Defeated No. 11 Pittsburg 63-21. Tanner McKee ran for three TDs and passed for three TDs as the Huskies crushed one of the preseason top-ranked teams in Northern California. Keep in mind Bosco clobbered a similarly ranked NorCal squad last year (St. Mary’s of Stockton). Other than De La Salle, it’s probably a big gap between any NorCal team and any of the top three in SoCal.
4. De La Salle (Concord) 1-0
Defeated Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 42-7. Up next is East Coast powerhouse St. John’s of Washington DC at De La Salle.
Demontii Peoples made the people who like Narbonne happy when he returned an interception for a TD during team’s win vs. Serra of Gardena. Photo: Twitter.com.
5. Mission Viejo 1-0
Defeated Baldwin (Maui, Hawaii) 39-14 last Saturday, Aug. 19. The Diablos didn’t play this week and face Vista Murrieta next week.
6. Narbonne (Harbor City) 1-0
Defeated No. 9 Serra (Gardena) 17-14. The Gauchos were down 14-0 and came back on a 34-yard interception return TD by Demontti Peoples and a late 1-yard TD run from QB Jalen Chatman.
7. Chaminade (West Hills) 1-0
Defeated Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 47-10. We have been surprised our preseason high state ranking for the Eagles wasn’t matched by many others. That’s why this score was our favorite of the night. The others are going to match ours next week.
8. Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 1-0
Defeated Los Alamitos 28-10. The first game in green-and-gold for QB Matt Corral saw him throw for more than 400 yards according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
9. Serra (Gardena) 0-1
LOST to No. 6 Narbonne (Harbor City) 17-14. Kobe Smith caught a 96-yard TD pass from Blaze McKibbin that helped build 14-0 lead. Max Williams also scored on a 70-yard punt return.
10. Rancho Cucamonga 1-0
Defeated Chaparral (Temecula) 49-14. All those big boy linemen from Chaparral were not enough to deny senior leader QB Nick Acosta and the rest of the Cougars from getting a solid first win.
11. Pittsburg 0-1
LOST to No. 3 Centennial (Corona) 63-14. We knew the Pirates were in trouble when starting QB Trey Turner suffered a season-ending knee injury in a scrimmage last weekend.
12. Helix (La Mesa) 1-0
Defeated Herriman (Utah) 35-0. This win set up the Highlanders to play Paraclete of Lancaster next week at the Honor Bowl.
Folsom grad Jonah Williams is one of the top offensive tackles in college football at A;labama. Photo: Twitter.com.
13. Murrieta Valley (Murrieta) 0-1
LOST to Santiago (Corona) 30-28. The Nighthawks lost a similar early-season game last year to a team from Colorado. They’ll have to bounce back fast because San Clemente and Oaks Christian are also on the non-league schedule.
14. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 0-1
LOST to Del Oro (Loomis) 22-12. The Dons won their final game of last season in the Sacramento area when they played for the CIF D1-AA state title. They opened 2017 at Loomis and fell to the host Golden Eagles. Cathedral Catholic also had 15-game win streak stopped.
15. St. Mary’s (Stockton) 1-0
Defeated preseason No. 33 Serra (San Mateo) 41-13 on Saturday night at St. Mary’s. The Rams debuted soph QB Noah May and several speedster receivers but May suffered shoulder injury that at minimum will keep him out a few weeks.
16. Calabasas 1-0
Defeated Dorsey (Los Angeles) 35-12 on Thursday. Coyotes were the preseason No. 1 team by the L.A. Daily News and displayed big-time WR duo of Mycah Pittman and Johnny Wilson against the Dons.
17. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 1-0
Defeated Vista del Lago (Folsom) 49-0. We may or may not drop the Trojans next week to match Sac Bee preseason rankings, which had them behind Folsom and two other teams.
18. Bishop Amat (La Puente) 0-1
LOST to No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 31-7. The only TD for the Lancers came reportedly with just four seconds left in the game. They lost by an even bigger margin last year to MD but came back to earn CIFSS D1 playoff berth.
19. Valencia 0-0
Did not play. Vikings start their season next week on Friday, Sept. 1 at Palmdale.
20. Folsom 1-0
Defeated Couer d’Alene (Idaho) 56-33. It’s hard to take much from this outing without digging into the Idaho squad. We’ll find out about the Bulldogs soon enough in upcoming games vs. Jesuit and Oakdale.
21. San Ramon Valley (Danville) 1-0
Defeated Tracy 27-7. In their only non-league game, the Wolves cruised past the host Bulldogs. It’s all building for SRV for matchup vs. De La Salle that ends the regular season.
22. St. Augustine (San Diego) 1-0
Defeated Canyon Springs (N. Las Vegas, Nev.) 51-12. De’Andre Daniels got the Saints going on their first play by scoring on a 52-yard run.
23. JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 1-0
Defeated Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 45-27. QB Matt Robinson and the McClain brothers (MuNir & Abdul-Malik) all reportedly had strong outings for the Lions, who made their debut under new head coach Pat Harlow.
24. Bakersfield 1-0
Defeated Edison (Fresno) 16-0. Defending CIF Central Section champs opened with home game at Centennial. The “new” Griffith Field will be ready in weeks.
25. Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 0-1
LOST to Colquitt County (Moultrie, Ga.) 26-7. This game was played in Georgia and we’ll have to check to see if there’s been any previous California-Georgia contests. Colquitt County is a school that has been nationally ranked many times in recent years so it’s not like the Broncos went back there and played a stiff.
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
(Some of these were in the preseason Top 50; others were not)
(All listed alphabetically)
Del Oro (Loomis) 1-0
Defeated Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 22-12
Edison (Huntington Beach) 1-0
Defeated Tesoro (Las Flores) 48-47
Granite Bay 1-0
Defeated Jesuit (Carmichael) 31-21
Heritage (Menifee) 1-0
Defeated Great Oak (Temecula) 42-0.
Lompoc 1-0
Defeated Arroyo Grande 44-7.
Lutheran (Orange) 1-0
Defeated La Mirada 35-0.
Manteca 1-0
Defeated Valley Christian (San Jose) 22-20.
Mission Hills (San Marcos)
Defeated Paramount 41-14.
San Clemente 1-0
Defeated Oceanside 28-18.
Serra (San Mateo) 0-1
LOST to No. 13 St. Mary’s (Stockton) 41-13 on Saturday.
Oakdale 1-0
Defeated Sonora 47-13.
Paraclete (Lancaster) 1-0
Defeated Serrano (Phelan) 48-24.
Servite (Anaheim) 1-0
Defeated Norco 35-21.
St. Francis (Mountain View) 1-0
Defeated Oak Grove (San Jose) 35-0.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle:
7 Comments
Amador valley not even starting their best receiver. What is that about?
just a quick comment about Folsom’s win, score is deceiving as it was 58 – 6 at one point until they rested their starters and played back ups…additionally, Couer D’Alene was the 2nd ranked team in Idaho, so a very good win.
We shall learn more soon as they play Jesuit (which just lost to GB). The team does have 12 starters back I believe so if they have a good QB, could be another good year but lets see how they match up against St. Mary’s in the playoffs
Depending on the next several weeks, I wouldnt be surprised if Folsom isnt tested much until they play Oak Ridge and DO if at all, until playoffs
We obviously are only getting scores on Friday night so thanks for the details. Also looking forward to see what Folsom does at Oakdale. Never easy to play there, but similar to Del Oro and we know what Folsom has done against Del Oro on the road the last few years.
it will be interesting, especially when as you pointed out, DO has been crushed by Folsom at home the last several years….
interesting stat on folsom qb…7/8 208 yrds 3 td and 34 rush yrds all in first half, then he sat out rest of game i believe….if he holds up as season progresses, could make folsom really dangerous, especiallly if 1st string defense is really solid
Mark, Re Georgia v. California games, the most recent matchup I recall is North Gwinnett High defeating Crenshaw (led by De’Anthony Thomas) 17-12 in Suwanee, Ga. in 2010. See Maxpreps.
Thanks, Larry. There were none before 2009 so that may be the only one previously to Vista Murrieta vs. Colquitt County.
Couer D’Alene was also missing its starting QB University of WA commit Colson Yankoff (recivering from Miniscus surgery) and also their backup QB, and were going with their 3rd string QB. Probably impacted their offense substantially, and tough against a team like Folsom. Will know more about how good Folsom is after Jesuit and Oakdale. Couer D’Alene was rannked #2 in Idaho but probably not without their two QBs. Folsom is probably favorite in SFL but their schedule isn’t at the early part anything special. Probably a team that is expected to grow alot as season progresses.
The team that looked pretty good to me was St Francis. Nasty defense and offense is relatively balanced. They will be get better as season progresses.
Manteca QB is really good. Not sure they win if VC didn’t start so slow and turnovers. Still VC is a work in progress on offense. Serra didn’t match up at all with St Mary’s.