It’s time for a bit of a deviation from the Thanksgiving puns and playoff talk. While 40 teams reached the CCS playoffs, and 20 of those will be playing semifinal games this weekend, here’s a look at some of the 53 teams that didn’t reach the 2017 postseason.
Fremont was the third-highest scoring team in the entire section, putting up 432 points over ten games. After being held to 13 in a season-opening loss to Homestead and 20 against Leland, the Firebird offense absolutely took off, posting at least 41 points in all eight remaining games. Fremont posted at least 50 points in three league games, beating Mountain View 58-41, trouncing Lynbrook 57-0 and taking Santa Clara to the brink in a zany 63-57 defeat. Cupertino held the Firebirds to 28 points in regulation, but wouldn’t get another stop until triple-overtime. The Pioneers won that game, 49-42.
Marina set a school record for wins on the season, closing the season with four consecutive victories to finish the 2017 campaign at 5-5. The Mariner offense erupted down the stretch after three straight shutout losses dropped them to 1-5, including 0-2 in the MTAL Coastal. The final four games were a far cry from the 13 straight scoreless quarters. Not only did they set a school record for wins, they also set a single-game record for points in a 68-13 victory over Harbor. In all, the Mariners piled up 213 points over those last four games, including a 36-12 victory over eventual league champion Santa Cruz.
St. Francis SCP learned the perils of being a big fish in a small pond. The Sharks went 8-2 but lost out on the league title to Santa Cruz due to a head-to-head loss. With the MTAL Coastal’s designation as a “C” league, the Sharks didn’t have enough points to get in despite an 8-2 record. Carlmont, in the PAL Lake, experienced the same fate.
After heartbreaking losses to city rivals Riordan and Sacred Heart Cathedral at Kezar, St. Ignatius was looking down the barrel of a 1-9 season. The Wildcats then erased a 21-7 halftime deficit at Mitty and raced out to a 21-0 advantage en route to a season finale win at Bellarmine.
It took half the season for things to take off, but the first year of the Pete Lavorato era yielded decent results at King’s Academy. Yes, the Knights started 0-5, but they battled a malady of injuries and a few players transferring. The Knights were competitive in three of the first five games, and the other two were against regional powerhouse McClymonds and league champion Menlo. Things turned around with a win over Woodside, sparking a stretch in which the Knights won four of five to close out the year. The season-finale was by far the most tightly contested, and it was TKA’s top win, a 44-43 overtime triumph at Hillsdale. Chris Boccignone threw for 217 yards, two touchdowns and the game-winning two-point conversion after both teams found the end zone three times in the fourth quarter.
Santa Teresa may have won just three games all year, but the Saints picked up the program’s biggest win in decades by knocking off rival Oak Grove for the first time since 1988. Oak Grove hadn’t lost a league game since 2013, and it turned out to be the only defeat in league play for the eventual champions.
