Week 10: NorCal CIF Bowl Rankings

Head coach Tony Franks and junior quarterback Kaleb Parrish have St. Mary’s of Stockton looking strong for the upcoming CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs. The team’s last loss was by just eight points to De La Salle.

Note: The top 10 teams that would be ranked by CalHiSportsFootball for the CIF Open Division in Northern California would be:

1. De La Salle (Concord); 2. Franklin (Elk Grove); 3. Folsom; 4. Elk Grove; 5. Bellarmine (San Jose); 6. Serra (San Mateo); 7. Buhach Colony (Atwater); 8. Luther Burbank (Sacramento); 9. Placer (Auburn); 10. St. Mary’s (Stockton).

With assistance from Harold Abend and Paul Muyskens, here are the Week 10 rankings for each of Northern California’s CIF bowl game divisions (previous ranking in parentheses; after games of Saturday, Oct. 27):

DIVISION I NORTH
1. (1) De La Salle (Concord) 9-0
2. (2) Franklin (Elk Grove) 9-0
3. (3) Folsom 9-0
4. (4) Elk Grove 8-1
5. (5) Bellarmine (San Jose) 7-1
6. (6) Serra (San Mateo) 7-1
7. (7) Buhach Colony (Atwater) 7-2
8. (8) Luther Burbank (Sacramento) 9-0
9. (9) St. Mary’s (Stockton) 7-2
10. (10) Oak Grove (San Jose) 8-0
11. (13) California (San Ramon) 8-1
12. (12) Granite Bay 6-3
13. (14) Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 8-1
14. (NR) Freedom (Oakley) 7-2
15. (NR) James Logan (Union City) 8-1
Drops: Previous No. 11 Monte Vista (Danville) lost to Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 24-21; No. 15 St. Ignatius (San Francisco) lost to Bellarmine (San Jose) 35-28.
Bubble Teams: Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 6-2, Deer Valley (Antioch) 6-3, Del Oro (Loomis) 4-5, Foothill (Pleasanton) 5-4, Grant (Sacramento) 4-5, Lincoln (Stockton) 6-3, Monte Vista (Danville) 6-3, Pittsburg 6-3, Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 6-3, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 4-5, Stagg (Stockton) 8-1, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 6-2.
No. 1 Team Result: De La Salle (Concord) defeated San Ramon Valley (Danville) 34-9.
Race for No. 1: Bellarmine’s quality win in San Francisco last Saturday against St. Ignatius brings up the possibility of the Bells being able to run the table in the CIF Central Coast Section and win a second straight CCS Open Division title. We were asked during last Friday night’s high school football show on KNBR 1050 (San Francisco) if we thought the CIF might be reluctant to choose the Bells for the NorCal Open Division knowing that they’ve already lost to De La Salle 41-7. If either or both Franklin and Folsom win Sac-Joaquin Section titles, then it would be a moot point because both of those teams would be unbeaten. But if it ends up being a choice between the Bells and a different team from the Sac-Joaquin Section then the previous result could definitely have an impact. Such a scenario is not explicitly mentioned in the selection criteria but it’s also hard to imagine people in the room not thinking about it. Then again it might work the other way. St. Mary’s of Stockton has a 21-13 loss to the Spartans so if the Rams were to win the SJS D2 title the eight-point margin might be helpful.

DIVISION II NORTH
1. (1) Placer (Auburn) 9-0
2. (3) Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 9-0
3. (2) Oakdale 8-1
4. (5) Clayton Valley (Concord) 8-1
5. (4) Yuba City 8-1
6. (7) Vista del Lago (Folsom) 8-1
7. (8) Inderkum (Sacramento) 7-2
8. (9) Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) 7-2
9. (NR) Center (Antelope) 8-1
10. (6) Northgate (Walnut Creek) 7-2
Drops: Previous No. 10 Paradise lost to Red Bluff 34-13.
Bubble Teams: Casa Grande (Petaluma) 7-2, Chico 6-3, Concord 7-2, Enterprise (Redding) 6-3, Foothill (Palo Cedro) 6-3, Newark Memorial (Newark) 7-2, Paradise 6-3, Sierra (Manteca) 8-1.
No. 1 Team Result: Placer defeated Colfax 24-7.
Race for No. 1: After holding off unbeaten Cardinal Newman for a 21-14 win last Friday on its home field, Rancho Cotate was given a bump past Oakdale into the No. 2 position in this week’s rankings. Regardless of whether Placer of Auburn stays in this division or has to be put in D3 North once the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoff pairings are released, the most likely NorCal bowl matchup in this division remains Sac-Joaquin D3 champion vs. North Coast Section D2 champion. Rancho Cotate and No. 4 Clayton Valley figure to be the top two seeds in the NCS. Speaking of Placer, the Cal-Hi Sports caravan will be in Auburn for Friday’s matchup between the Hillmen and 8-1 Center of Antelope. Based on scores between common opponents in the last month, Center has a good chance to get the upset. Coach Digol J’Beily and his team lost its first game to Chico in a shootout (41-27) but has won eight straight since then. Center also is in the same boat as Placer concerning its enrollment and probable placement in the Sac-Joaquin playoffs. We have the Cougars in this division for now, but they also will likely be D3 North and going along with the Hillmen into the section’s D4 playoffs.
Note about CIF Central Coast Section teams: Once the playoff brackets are announced (which unlike most sections will be one week later in the season on Nov. 10), we expect several quality teams from CCS “A” leagues that are not going to be in the CCS Open Division to be placed in the section’s Division I or Division II brackets. Examples could be a third-place team from the West Catholic Athletic League or a second-place team from the De Anza League (Palo Alto, Los Gatos, Milpitas, etc.). At that point, those teams would then get placed into our D2 North bowl game rankings (they are all considered Division I now) and it’s possible one or more of those teams will be ranked near the top.

DIVISION III NORTH
1. (1) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 8-1
2. (2) El Cerrito 9-0
3. (4) Sutter 9-0
4. (5) Seaside 8-0
5. (6) Campolindo (Moraga) 8-1
6. (3) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 8-1
7. (7) Ripon 10-0
8. (8) Los Banos 8-1
9. (9) Analy (Sebastopol) 10-0
10. (10) Escalon 7-2
Drops: None.
Bubble Teams: Arcata 9-1, Aptos 6-2, Argonaut (Jackson) 9-0, Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 6-3, Carmel 7-1, Menlo School (Atherton) 7-1, Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) 7-1, Salesian (Richmond) 8-1, Soquel 6-2, West Valley (Cottonwood) 8-1.
No. 1 Team Result: Marin Catholic (Kentfield) did not play.
Race for No. 1: The only move to ponder in this division for this week was how far to drop Cardinal Newman after its one-score loss to D2-ranked Rancho Cotate. We ended up dropping the Cardinals down behind Campolindo. Not only are the Cougars the defending NCS Division III champs but their only loss remains the one by just two points (16-14) to No. 2 El Cerrito. Campo also has continued to play well after the injury that has knocked out versatile starting quarterback Brett Stephens. Both Ripon and Analy are already done for the regular season and will take byes heading into their playoff openers in two weeks.
Note about CIF Central Coast Section teams: Once the playoff brackets are announced (which unlike most sections will be one week later in the season on Nov. 10), we expect several quality teams from CCS “A” leagues that are not going to be in the CCS Open Division to be placed in the section’s Division III or Division IV brackets. At that point, those teams would then get placed into our D3 North bowl game rankings and it’s possible one or more of those teams will be ranked near the top.

DIVISION IV NORTH
1. (1) Central Catholic (Modesto) 7-2
2. (2) McClymonds (Oakland) 5-3
3. (3) Ferndale 8-1
4. (4) Le Grand 8-1
5. (5) Pierce (Arbuckle) 9-0
6. (6) Capital Christian (Sacramento) 8-1
7. (8) Valley Christian (Dublin) 7-2
8. (7) Portola 8-0*
9. (10) California School for the Deaf (Fremont) 8-1
10. (9) Foresthill 8-1
*Default win not included.
Drops: None.
Bubble Teams: Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) 4-5, Brookside Christian (Stockton) 7-2, Calistoga 6-3, Maxwell 6-3, Modesto Christian (Modesto) 5-4, St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma) 7-2, Upper Lake 5-4.
No. 1 Team Result: Central Catholic defeated Central Valley (Ceres) 48-6.
Race for No. 1: McClymonds is making mincemeat out of its foes in the Oakland Athletic League so far. The Warriors followed up a 50-0 win against Castlemont by throttling Oakland 68-0 in last week’s game. The matchup against Oakland Tech in two weeks probably will be the team’s only test. Central Catholic is in cruise control as well and is regarded as the favorite in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs even in front of unbeaten Ripon (ranked in D3 North). That would change, of course, with Placer joining the bracket and while the Hillmen already own a win over the Raiders that was early in the season.

Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.