Prep2Prep NCS Rankings
THROUGH WEEK 14
As the funnel narrows, the only teams left standing are the eight section champions that now advance to a CIF Northern Regional Bowl Game this Friday or Saturday night. For these next to last rankings we had some movement in the top six spots with San Ramon Valley beating Campolindo for the Division II title. From there the movement didn’t begin again until No. 17 where the upset of St. Vincent de Paul moved teams behind them up and brought in the week’s lone newcomer, Clear Lake.
Note: Last week's rankings in parentheses
After winning the NCS Open Division championship two weeks ago, the Spartans rested last week and waited to see who their opponent would be. It was almost a cinch to be the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champions, and as expected it’s Folsom in the CIF Northern Regional Division 1-AA Bowl Game this Friday on the road. De La Salle has now lost the last two meetings with Folsom. In week five this season they lost at home 24-20 on the last play of the game, and in the NorCal 1-AA game last season they lost 28-27 in similar fashion at home.
Just like last year when Pittsburg dropped down to Division I after losing to De La Salle in the Open title game, the Pirates won the D1 championship with a victory over Clayton Valley. Last year they won 28-14 and this year in a defensive battle it was 13-3. The New NCS playoff format has served Pittsburg well. After not winning a section title since 1991 the Pirates have now won in back-to-back titles. The only thing left to accomplish on the resume of Pittsburg and retiring head coach Victor Galli is a state championship. In 2017 Pittsburg won the CIF Northern Regional 1-A title but lost in the state championship 28-21 to Narbonne in the rain at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento. Last year Pittsburg was placed in the 1-A Division for the Northern Regionals and was overwhelmed on the road 35-7 by Liberty-Bakersfield. This year the Pirates are back in 1-A and at home hosting CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 champion Manteca on Saturday night.
Season is complete with a loss the Pittsburg. For the second straight season the Ugly Eagles were made the No. 3 seed in the NCS Open/Division I bracket and once again had their season was ended by second-seeded Pittsburg in a 13-3 loss. The decision to radically change his offense from a running juggernaut to a spread to accommodate the players he had, most notably quarterback senior quarterback and Pittsburg transfer Christian Aguilar, didn’t pay off in a section title, but it did get them to another NCS championship game.
Division II top-seeded San Ramon Valley lived up to its seed and avenged a semifinal 17-14 loss to Campolindo in last year’s D2 playoffs with a 35-21 victory in this year’s title game. The Wolves led 21-14 at halftime, but with Campolindo driving towards a score, senior Caleb Padrid came up with the first of three second-half interceptions and turned it into a game-changing 70-yard pick six that gave the Wolves their first two-score lead in the game. San Ramon Valley now hosts NCS Division IV winner Marin Catholic in the CIF Northern Regional Division 2-A Bowl Game.
The Division IV top-seeded Wildcats won the championship with a final score of 48-22 over Redwood Empire Catholic School rival and No. 3 seed Cardinal Newman but it wasn’t that close. The Marin Catholic defense stymied the Cardinals for three quarters and led 48-7 before head coach Mazi Moayed emptied the bench and Newman got two scores against the subs in a running clock fourth quarter. In fact, they only allowed 13 yards of offense and one first down in the first three quarters. Junior standout running back Charles Williams ran for two TDs and got a third score on an 85-yard kickoff return, and senior quarterback Joey Cook passed for three touchdowns. Now, in an all NCS CIF NorCal 2-A Bowl Game the Wildcats travel to San Ramon Valley on Saturday night. The Wildcats were bumped up three spots by the CIF from 4-AA where they won a state championship last season.
Season is completed in loss to San Ramon Valley. The Division II second-seeded and defending champion Cougars were unable to make it two straight wins over San Ramon Valley after they won 17-14 in last year’s D2 semifinals but suffered a 35-21 loss in the title game this year. As a result of the loss they flip with San Ramon Valley for now with Marin Catholic still splitting the pair.
In a tale of two different seasons the NCS Division III top-seed Gauchos held off a comeback by Windsor in the title game after the Jaguars held off an El Cerrito comeback in last year’s D3 semifinals. El Cerrito led 34-6 in the early third quarter on a 54-yard run by senior running back Tony McAdoo but needed a second interception of the game by junior Kamani Jackson with 1:08 left to preserve a 34-27 victory that gives El Cerrito its first NCS title since 2013. El Cerrito now hosts Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 champion Grant-Sacramento on Friday night in the NorCal 3-AA Bowl Game.
Season is complete in loss to El Cerrito. The Jaguars fell behind 34-6 in the early third quarter and the hole they dug was too deep for a comeback for D3 No. 2 seed in a 34-27 loss to El Cerrito. Despite the loss Windsor maintains its spot in the rankings.
Season was previously completed in a D2 semifinal loss to Campolindo.
Season was previously completed in a D1 loss to Clayton Valley.
Season is complete with a loss to Marin Catholic. The Division IV third-seeded Cardinals defense had been playing well down the stretch but that was until they faced Marin Catholic and fell 48-22 in a running clock in the D4 title game where they trailed 48-7 after three quarters.
Season previously completed with a loss to Cardinal Newman in the D4 semifinals.
Season previously completed with a D1 loss to Liberty.
Season previously completed with a D1 loss to Clayton Valley.
Although the Division V top-seeded Mustangs didn’t score 50-plus points for the third straight week they got close after a 42-28 victory over No. 2 seed Miramonte in a game they led 35-7 at halftime. Junior quarterback Dominic Ingrassia passed for two TDs, and junior running back Charlie Singleton ran for two TDs, but it was the defense that really did the job and its stars were junior Wesley Garton and senior Frankie Quinci. Garton had three interceptions and Quinci had two, but two of the three thefts by Garton went for pick sixes and he also had two tackles for loss and helped break up a fourth down pass in Mustangs territory. San Marin has been moved up to 4-A this season by the CIF after winning a state championship in 5-AA last year. They got a home game and will host Central Coast Section Division III champion Menlo.
Season previously completed with a D2 loss to San Ramon Valley.
Season was previously complete with a D4 semifinal loss Marin Catholic but with St. Vincent de Paul losing they move up and take that spot.
Season was previously complete with a D1 loss to Pittsburg but the Panthers move up a spot along with Del Norte.
Season previously completed with D4 loss to Del Norte but like the two teams above them they move up a spot.
Season previously completed with a loss to D1 De La Salle but the Colts are also a beneficiary of a move up one spot.
Season was previously completed after failing to make the playoffs but even so the Pats have to move up past D7 teams.
Season is complete with a Division V title-game loss to San Marin. The Mats dug a 35-7 halftime hole and despite outscoring San Marin 21-7 in the second half the deficit was too much to overcome and the final TD they scored came with under two minutes to play. It was still a great season for the Matadors who were playing for a section championship for the first time since 2013. Senior UCLA-committed quarterback Luke Duncan finishes his career as the No. 2 reported leading passer in the NCS with 3,415 yards and 42 TDs with 14 interceptions, five of which unfortunately for the Mats and their faithful came against San Marin.
Season was previously completed with a D3 loss to El Cerrito but like the six team above them they go in front of the D7 teams
The Cardinals’ late October loss to a Willits team that was shut out by McKinleyville in the Division VII and then McKinleyville lost to St. Vincent de Paul by 35 points had kept Clear Lake from breaking into the rankings, but that was then and this is now. Stats and a game summary were not available but what we know is the Cardinals trailed 27-13 after one quarter, 41-27 at the half and 55-41 after three quarters, but they shut out the host Mustangs in the final period and scored twice themselves and then won the game on a successful 2-point conversion in a wild 56-55 victory. Now the Cardinals move on to the CIF Northern Regional Division 5-A Bowl Game on the road Saturday at CIF Northern Section Division 2 champion Orland.
The dream season is over for St. Vincent de Paul after it failed to repeat as Division VII champions when the Mustangs suffered a heartbreaking 56-55 loss to Clear Lake. The host led 27-13 after one quarter and maintained a 14-point lead to the end of the third quarter before getting shut out in the final stanza and then losing on a late touchdown and 2-point conversion. Senior standout running back Kai Hall rushed for 222 yards and five TDs but it wasn’t quite enough. Hall falls just short of his goal of a 2,000 yard season after finishing with 1,957 yards and 29 TDs rushing. Hall’s career total of 5,740 yards (76 TDs) gets him to the No. 4 spot all time in the NCS according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book. Senior quarterback Jaret Bosarge hit a milestone as well as one of a handful of quarterbacks to go over 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving after finishing with 1,650 yards passing with 16 TDs and 1,098 yards rushing and 13 more scores.
