Prep2Prep NCS Rankings
THROUGH WEEK 11
The CIF North Coast Section and Central Coast Section now join the other sections already into the playoffs, so for the NCS this will be the final regular-season rankings. There were no changes in the first 11 spots but after that the shakeup affected all but three of the next 14 teams in the rankings. There were no newcomers but a newcomer from last week, Amador Valley, made a huge jump up 10 spots.
Note: Last week's rankings in parentheses
Word of the demise and collapse of the De La Salle football program is a bit premature. Did the Spartans lose three games to teams ranked Nos. 4, 6 and 11 in the Cal-Hi Sports state rankings - Serra, Folsom and St. Mary’s, respectively? Yes they did, but here’s the kicker. Those are very good football teams, and the bottom line is the overall competitive equity strength of the NCS and its top teams is weaker than the top teams in the CCS and SJS this season, plain and simple. A 42-6 running-clock victory over Clayton Valley, the No. 3 team in NCS, drives that point home. As a result, the Spartans deservedly earned the top seed in the Open Division.
In the last regular season game for head coach Vic Galli, who announced his retirement last week after a 21-year career at Pittsburg, the Pirates took care of business with a 48-21 victory over Antioch in the annual Big Little Game. Pittsburg couldn’t shake Antioch early on and only led 21-14 at the half. The victory delivered a 15th Bay Valley Athletic League title for Galli. With star senior quarterback Jaden Rashada at home due to illness, Pittsburg fans got a glimpse of the future as sophomore Marley Alcantara took over as signal caller and passed for five touchdowns. Despite a better record than De La Salle, the competitive equity resume of the Pirates is significantly lower than the Spartans and warranted the No. 2 seed.
The Ugly Eagles were routed at home by De La Salle but the seeding committee still saw fit as they should have to seed Clayton Valley No. 3 and the top seed in the Division I bottom half of the top NCS division. Clayton Valley knew all along this was the best they could do unless Pittsburg or De La Salle lost in league. This is the same spot as No. 3 seed the Ugly Eagles found themselves in last year entering the playoffs. Clayton Valley is still alive in the chase for a CIF Division 1-A Bowl Game title and that keeps them tight in the NCS pecking order as we see it.
This is a situation where we differ from the seedings as well as the computer rankings, but agree in part with the Cal-Hi sports rankings. Campolindo is behind Marin Catholic, San Ramon Valley and even El Cerrito in the computer rankings, but in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings the Cougars are ahead of all of them including Clayton Valley. The Cougars were seeded No. 2 in Division II mostly on competitive equity and computer rankings. Last season they had some losses and only received a fourth seed in D2, but they upset the apple cart and beat top-seeded San Ramon Valley in the semis en route to the title.
The computer has the Wildcats at No. 3 in the NCS despite the fact their strength of schedule is weaker than three of the four teams below them - San Ramon Valley, Clayton Valley and Campolindo. A factor in their No. 3 overall rating is wins over two teams that qualified for the Open/Division I - Antioch and James Logan. Top-seeded Marin Catholic is expected to waltz to the D4 title, but nothing is a given and there are several teams in the bracket capable of upsetting the defending champions. Marin Catholic will carry a 21-game winning streak into its opening round matchup on Saturday with visiting Newark Memorial.
The battle for bragging rights in Danville went to San Ramon Valley, which beat archrival Monte Vista for the seventh time in the last eight meetings. The 48-20 final score was a bit misleading as the Wolves built a 41-7 third-quarter lead. The Wolves are back again as the Division II top seed. The question is can they win this time?
As expected, El Cerrito rolled past Salesian in a 37-point rout that gave them their first 10-0 regular season since 2012 and earned the Gauchos the Division III top seed. Last season as the No. 4 seed in D3, they were edged 33-32 by eventual champion Windsor, the No.2 seed this season.
The end result is all that counts and despite trailing the entire game, Windsor won the North Bay League-Oak Division title with a 14-13 home victory over Cardinal Newman. The winning score came on a two-yard TD run by Wyatt Morris on the last play of the game. Kailer Behrens still needed to convert the PAT to avoid overtime and he split the uprights to the delight of the Jaguars faithful. It was the first time in school history Windsor has beaten Cardinal Newman and the first league title since 2011. With the win first-year head coach DJ Sexton and his Jaguars secured the No. 2 seed in D3 behind El Cerrito just like in the rankings.
After a running clock rout of Santa Rosa to complete league and regular season play, Rancho Cotate continues to fall in behind a Windsor team that edged them 34-30 in NBL-Oak Division action. The Cougars drew the No. 3 seed in the Division II playoffs and open at home on Friday night against Livermore.
Acalanes holds tight with the final spot in the top 10 after a 33-14 win over Northgate in a game where they trailed 14-0 before rattling off the final 33 points. With the victory, the Dons secured the No. 2 seed in Division IV and a potential showdown with top-seeded Marin Catholic.
In the battle for bragging rights of Brentwood, the Lions roared past crosstown rival Heritage, 35-28, and in doing so they knocked Heritage out of the playoffs and elevated Amador Valley into the fray. In fact, Liberty decided its opponent as the No. 4 seed takes on fifth-seeded Amador Valley at home.
Even after losing to North Bay League-Oak Division rival Windsor by one point on the last play of the game after leading the entire way, the Cardinals move up with California losing to Amador Valley. Had they beat Windsor they may have even gotten the D4 No. 2 seed but the No. 3 spot was not in jeopardy.
We were correct on our decision to bring Amador Valley into the rankings last week and it paid off big-time as the Dons jumped 10 spots. More importantly, they played themselves into the D1 playoffs and knocked Heritage out after coming up with a grind-it-out 16-6 win over visiting California. After almost not being in the playoffs, the Dons ended up as the No. 5 seed and open at Liberty.
Since starting quarterback Jayden Macedo went down with a shoulder injury in a loss to Clayton Valley, the Grizzlies have struggled. They lost that decisively, lost to San Ramon Valley, and finished EBAL-Mountain Division regular-season play with four straight losses. They dropped down to the No. 6 seed in D1, setting up a rematch at Clayton Valley.
San Marin loses a spot not because of a 32-15 loss to Marin Catholic, but because they have to make room for Amador Valley. The Mustangs played the Wildcats as well as anyone this season, and in fact it was 8-8 at halftime before the hosts couldn’t hold off the potent Marin Catholic offense. However, as expected, the defending D5 champions still snagged the D5 top seed.
Foothill didn’t play last weekend. As expected, the Falcons landed the No. 4 seed in the D2 playoffs and open at home against Vintage.
Because of the rise of Amador Valley, we’re sorry to have to drop the Mustangs a spot since they made school history when the 105-year old school went 10-0 in the regular season for the first time ever. They also won the North Bay League-Redwood Division. The Division VII top seed and champion last year drew the No. 1 seed again in D7 and look to repeat.
The Lancers blasted Castro Valley in a game that went to a running clock, and just like the rankings have them as the No. 4 team in Division IV, the NCS awarded Tennyson the D4 fourth seed and a date at home with Del Norte.
The Panthers weren’t expected to beat visiting Pittsburg in the Big Little Game, but they made a game of it, trailing just 21-14 at halftime before falling 48-21. Now, they get to do it all again as the No.7 seed in the Open Division in a rematch with the Pirates on the road.
After the D1 shakeup, the Colts were awarded the No.8 seed in the Open Division despite a running clock blowout of visiting Encinal. The reward is a matchup at De La Salle this week
Season complete. The Patriots needed to beat archrival Liberty or have Amador Valley lose to California and neither happened. So the season is over for Heritage despite owning a win over Antioch. Fresno State-committed Devon Rivers rushed for 138 yards and one TD in his final high school game. Rivers finishes currently with the top reported rushing total in the NCS and No. 16 mark in the state with 1,759 yards.
After moving up three spots last week, the Warriors drop one this week to make room for Amador Valley despite a running clock rout of Fortuna. The faithful of the top team from Behind the Redwood Curtain were hoping for a No. 4 seed in the D 4 playoffs and a home game, but even though the computer has them higher than several teams ranked ahead of them - including Tennyson - Del Norte only snagged the No. 5 seed has to make a 750-mile round trip to Hayward to play Tennyson.
The Knights were hoping for a No. 3 seed in the Division III playoffs, but despite a running-clock thrashing of Benicia, the NCS awarded them the No. 4 seed behind American Canyon. They still get a home game, but now it’s a rematch with Northgate, a team they beat 34-7 on the road in DFAL play.
As expected, the Mats received the No. 2 seed in Division V despite being soundly beaten by Campolindo to close out DFAL and regular season action. The D5 field is not very strong - although No. 3 seed Analy could make some noise - but things point to a showdown with defending champion San Marin in the title game.
The Mats edge out several teams for the final spot, just like a 28-21 win over a Dublin team with a 6-4 overall record and the same 2-2 record in the EBAL-Valley Division knocked that team out of the playoffs by a team with a losing record. Granada was awarded the Division II No. 7 seed.
