I don't know who's on third next season for the San Francisco Giants, but I do know this about the CCS football playoffs:
APTOS IS LOADED WITH A CAPITAL L: Until last season when Aptos stunned St. Ignatius for the CCS Division III title, the school's greatest sports achievement emanated from a hang-loose 1980s gang of hoopsters a Bay Area paper dubbed "the surfer kids from Santa Cruz."
It seemed like they were all blond, about 6-3 and shot first and asked questions later. Coach Bill Warmerdam guided them to the 1985 NorCal title with a shocking win against 32-0 Mt. Eden.
Then along comes this Randy Blankenship character, the oozing-with-confidence current coach of the football Mariners. He has six section titles in three different section on his resume after a bunch of coaching stops and has Aptos washing over opponents like a tidal wave over a sleepy coastal town. Last victim Branham, 50-3.
Break up the Mariners.
"We'll play anybody around," Blankenship said. "Even if we lose, it will be one (heck) of a game. "We're athletic, we have speed and we have size. This is a special group. I like this team."
The No. 2-seeded Mariners (10-1) meet host No. 3 seed Burlingame (10-1) at 7 p.m. Friday in the section D-III semifinals at Trevin Dilfer Field -- the venue named after Aptos grad Trent Dilfer's late son, who would be 17 years old now if he hadn't died prematurely. Dilfer of Super Bowl-winning quarterback and ESPN announcing fame, starred in football, basketball and golf at Aptos and remains close to the program.
And what a program it is, with a combined 27-4 record between its stellar frosh, JV and varsity programs combined. That's even more impressive considering Aptos kids mostly play flag football until hitting high school.
"We have three freshmen up for the playoffs, about 15 or so sophomores and a ton of juniors," said Blankenship who enjoyed his greatest success at Clovis West where his team's won four section titles. "Some teams have four good backs but they only have four wins. We have 14 good running backs and they all touch the ball every game."
Offensively Aptos' Wing-T is a meat-grinder with Brandon Pierce and Ben Farris both averaging about 9.5 yards per carry.
Quarterback Michael Chavez dislocated his knee early in the season against San Lorenzo Valley and the Mariners didn't miss a beat when Bo Kittleson stepped in for him that game and completed 3-of-4 passes for 105 yards and two scores. The same goes for when it lost running back Austin Verdugo, whose brother Gordon is the team's center.
Other key players include Dante Gomez, who is the best linebacker Blankenship says he's ever coached, running back/free safety Ben Sherriffs, safety Connan Hauser, offensive lineman Andrew Galvan, tight end Jack Harris and the list goes on.
Located south of Santa Cruz and north of the football hotbed of Salinas/Monterey, Aptos is a one-school town that loves its Mariners and thinks they're oft-overlooked because of their location.
Blankenship hints it's just a matter of time until the plaudits come.
"If we keep doing what we've been doing people will know who we are," he said.
LOS GATOS AIN'T BAD EITHER: The Wildcats have won more section titles (14) than any school around but not all of them were at the highest level. They were supposed to lose to St. Francis last season in the section title game and won, were supposed to fall to Mitty in this year's non-league opener and won again and were six-point underdogs (according to CalPreps.com) against Serra last week and -- you guessed it -- prevailed in convincing fashion.
Three WCAL teams, three Los Gatos victories and the latest saw Wildcats leave Tom Brady Family Stadium last Saturday almost giddy after vanquishing the reigning Open Division champion Padres 28-0.
"It was a fun day for sure," said Wildcats coach Mark Krail whose Pioneer High playoff team fell to Serra 37-21 in 2009. "We knew it would be a tough challenge and I don't think the score reflects the physicality of the game.
"We got off to a fast start (14-0 after one quarter) and I think those early touchdowns got them out of some of the things they like to do which is to run and be super physical. It worked out well and our defense was phenomenal all day against the pass and run."
Krail lauded linebacker Colton Doughty, end Miles Beach, free safety Mitchell Schwager and others, including senior running back Joey Wood and senior quarterback Dru Brown who was money all day, especially on the Wildcats' pivotal first scoring drive.
I recently wondered aloud on this site why no scholarship offers for Terra Nova's laser-throwing QB Anthony Gordon and Krail is mulling the same thing about Brown, a 6-foot completion-machine who carves up defenses like the Thanksgiving turkey we'll all soon be enjoying.
"Saturday he did what he's done all year," Krail said. "He's an amazing athlete and when things get chaotic (Serra was averaging 3.5 sacks per game) he can extend plays and focus downfield and complete passes. That was a big part of our drives. How he doesn't have offers is beyond me. He's a great football player and the fastest guy on our team."
MIXED WEEK FOR WCAL HATERS: While the anti-WCAL crowd no doubt rejoiced over Los Gatos' dispatching of defending champ and WCAL co-titlist Serra, elsewhere the Catholics (and Valley Christian) prevailed.
Bellarmine fired the shot heard around NorCal with its 9-6 overtime victory against previously unbeaten Milpitas. Also, Valley Christian defeated Palma 14-7 in the Open Division, Mitty pounded Willow Glen and St. Francis routed Mt. Pleasant in D-II and St. Ignatius edged Monterey in D-III.
The good news for WCAL detractors is Valley Christian meets Bellarmine in one Open semifinal, meaning it won't be an all-WCAL Open final like last season.
This week's other semifinal is potentially the best matchup of this weekend in any division -- gritty and talented Los Gatos against the well-oiled machine that is small-school Sacred Heart Prep led by its running back/linebacker star Ben Burr-Kirven.
Burr-Kirven is a pre-season all-state pick by Cal-Hi Sports who led the Gators to last season's state title game.
"I don't think we've met a player like him yet," Krail said. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Saturday at Independence High.
THROW OUT THE RECORDS: Both Terra Nova (now 5-6) and St. Ignatius (6-5) entered the post-season with non-winning records. That was true of SI last year too when it lost many close games during league but surged to the D-III title game where it barely fell short against Aptos. But now SI is just a win against Pioneer away from another date in the championship game, against either Aptos or Burlingame.
Meantime Terra Nova started 0-3 this season under first-year head coach Tim Adams, rallied in the middle of the season and then suffered that mind-boggling one-point loss to rival Half Moon Bay in the Skull Game -- a contest TN led by 16 points entering the fourth quarter.
Now TN needs to knock off Carmel (7-3) to reach the D-IV title game that its star senior QB Gordon has been envisioning for weeks.
Should be interesting and a shot to Gordon's scholarship hopes as well if he can light it up this weekend.
CONSOLATION PRIZE?: The new consolation bracket for the Open Division had some coaches grumbling even before the season started, including Serra's Patrick Walsh. But Walsh's own senior running back Kava Cassidy had an interesting take on the consolation games -- Serra plays Palma at Rabobank Stadium at 2 p.m. Friday -- telling the San Jose Mercury that because he missed most of the season with a broken collarbone that he welcomes the chance to play more games.
Meantime the consolation is looking like a mixed blessing for Oak Grove coach Jay Braun whose team is a bit banged up after falling to No. 1 seed SHP and now gets -- ta da -- the behemoths of Milpitas, fresh off its painful defeat against underdog Bellarmine.
As anyone who's paid attention knows, the Trojans are to big what Yao Ming was to long. It's a tough matchup any team, even if your program does get an extra game.
"They look like the Orc Army," quipped Braun, referring to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Maybe Braun can borrow some of Bellarmine's pixie dust to spread around the stadium and slow down the Trojans.
