Prep2Prep NCS Rankings
THROUGH WEEK 10
Just about all the 10 CIF Sections except the North Coast Section and the Central Coast Section have seeded their playoffs, but in the NCS and CCS there is still another week of regular season action. So these rankings are still fluid heading into the final week before the playoffs begin. There were no changes in the first 20 spots but after that the shakeup saw two newcomers.
Note: Last week's rankings in parentheses
De La Salle trailed pesky Amador Valley 7-0 after one quarter, and it was 7-7 at the half before the Spartans came alive and ended up scoring the game’s final 27 points in a 27-7 victory. De La Salle is still slightly behind Pittsburg in the computer rankings despite De La Salle’s competitive equity advantage. According to our sources, the NCS is considering using computer rankings as a starting point in the seedings. Next up is an East Bay Athletic League-Mountain Division and regular-season finale at Clayton Valley.
The Pirates sailed into Brentwood and left with all the bounty after crushing Heritage by 36 points. Up next is a date with host Antioch in the Little Big Game in a matchup of neighboring Bay Valley Athletic League rivals. A victory delivers a league title and if Pittsburg and De La Salle both win, we’ll be anxious to see what the NCS seeding committee does.
The Ugly Eagles are coming off a 55-6 rout at Monte Vista. Up next is an EBAL-Mountain Division and regular season ending matchup at home against De La Salle. It could get especially interesting if the Uglies continue their stellar play and the Spartans get off to another slow start like they did last week against Amador Valley.
The game was tied 7-7 after one quarter and 14-14 with less than a minute to go in the half, but from there host Campolindo took charge with three straight TDs and then coasted home to a 42-21 victory over Las Lomas. The only thing standing between a perfect 10-0 regular season for the Cougars is a date with host Miramonte in the DFAL finale.
After a 38-point victory over San Rafael, the Wildcats have now outscored their four MCAL opponents 186-19. But the dominance is not just in league play. Overall in the other five games, including three NCS D1 teams and one of the top large schools in the Reno, Nevada area, Marin Catholic has a 410-81 overall scoring advantage. Can San Marin stem the tide this week? We shall see.
Host San Ramon Valley led only 24-21 with around nine minutes left, but California couldn’t pull off the upset. An interception by the Wolves Jack Horton led to a 40-yard TD pass by Luke Walker to Danny Drucker. Then after a California punt, Walker connected with Marco Jones to give San Ramon Valley a 38-21 lead with around three minutes to play and that turned out to be the game’s final tally. Archrival Monte Vista will close out EBAL-Mountain Division and regular season action. The computer has the Wolves as the NCS Division II top seed, and despite our ranking them behind Campolindo, a road win over the Mustangs will do nothing to diminish their claim.
The drive to the NCS Division III top seed saw the Gauchos throttle De Anza and with the victory gave El Cerrito the Tri-County-Rock League title. El Cerrito will be a big favorite this week against visiting Salesian, and with a victory the Gauchos will have their first 10-0 regular season record since 2012.
Windsor won by three TDs in a high-scoring affair at Analy. A trip to Cardinal Newman will close out regular season and North Bay League-Oak Division play. A win will give the Jaguars the league title and almost assuredly no worse than the No. 2 seed in the NCS D2 playoffs.
Rancho Cotate stays put behind the Windsor team that edged them 34-30 after an as expected easy 20-point win over visiting Montgomery. The Cougars will be even bigger favorites this week against Santa Rosa to close out regular season and North Bay League-Oak Division play. At this point Rancho Cotate is looking like the No. 3 seed in the NCS D2 playoffs.
After picking up a spot last week, there’s nowhere to go despite a 53-28 win over Miramonte that was a lot closer than the score indicates. The host Dons trailed 28-26 early in the fourth quarter but things changed in a hurry after the Miramonte offense exploded for 27 unanswered points to close things out. A win at Northgate in the DFAL and regular season finale should secure a No. 2 seed in the NCS D4 playoffs
A 72-0 win over Deer Valley might fan the flame of discussion about blowouts in high school football, but it won’t do anything to get the Lions a bump in these rankings. We’ll wait for the regular season and BVAL finale where an interesting matchup with visiting Heritage will likely have some NCS D1 playoff implications.
Even after a 38-21 loss to San Ramon Valley – in a game in which the Grizzlies were competitive - we’re not going to drop an NCS D1 playoff team below D4 and D5 teams in the rankings. California closes out regular season and EBAL-Mountain Division play at pesky Amador Valley, a team that almost assuredly needs to win to qualify for the NCS D1 playoffs.
The Cardinals can’t move up despite a 35-point home win over cross-town Santa Rosa. However, they’ll get that chance on Friday at home in a NBL-Oak Division and regular season finale with Windsor.
The Mustangs are further down in the computer pecking order than they are in these rankings, but using our methodology San Marin doesn’t budge after following up 17-7 win over a pesky Tamalpais with a 49-0 rout of cross-town arch rival Novato. If the Mustangs can somehow pull off a MCAL and regular season ending upset of Marin Catholic, they will make a big move up. Even if they fall short, the top seed in D5 for the NCS playoffs is most likely still theirs.
A week after getting taken to overtime by Dublin, the Falcons concluded their regular season with a convincing 36-14 victory over visiting Granada. Foothill concludes with a 4-0 record and first-place finish in the EBAL-Valley Division. Foothill has its bye this week and barring some upsets looks like the No. 4 seed in the NCS D2 playoffs.
Winless Healdsburg wasn’t expected to do much against the Mustangs and didn’t in a 49-6 rout at home. The only thing standing between a 10-0 regular season for the first time in school history is a date with Maria Carrillo at home this week that would also wrap up sole possession of the North Bay League-Redwood Division championship with a win. With 194 yards and three rushing TDs, senior running back Kai Hall continues as the No. 2 leading reported rusher in the NCS with 1,433 yards and 20 rushing TDs. For his four-year varsity career, Hall has 5,216 yards and 67 rushing TDs. According to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, that’s good for No. 2 all-time in the Redwood Empire portion of the NCS and within 202 yards of tying the top mark.
The computer rankings have the Lancers way below the James Logan team they beat 26-6 two weeks ago on the road, but disqualifying a decisive head-to-head win is not how we operate or how the NCS seeds. For this week Tennyson holds tight after a 34-6 thrashing of Encinal. Castro Valley closes out the regular season and a win delivers first place in the West Alameda County Conference-Foothill Division.
The Colts rebounded from their 20-point home loss to Tennyson with a solid 28-6 victory at Bishop O’Dowd. A win this week over visiting Encinal to conclude WACC-Foothill Division and regular season action will secure a spot in the NCS D1 playoffs – and Logan will be huge favorites.
A decisive loss two weeks ago to Liberty dropped the Panthers four spots, but this week they maintain the pecking order and stay put after are resounding 32-point victory over host Freedom. Antioch is in the NCS D1 playoffs at 3-1 in the BVAL regardless of what happens at home this week against Pittsburg where Antioch will be a big underdog.
The Patriots suffered a 43-7 loss to Pittsburg, but at 6-3 and 2-2 in the BVAL they are still in the NCS D1 playoff picture. They’ll be underdogs, but a win this week over cross-town archrival Liberty to close out league and the regular season solidifies the spot. But even if they don’t win, they’re still in unless Amador Valley beats California.
Despite the Warriors beating Eureka two weeks ago on the road, Del Norte lost a spot. Now, after a convincing 36-point win at St. Bernard’s, the Warriors gain that spot back. Plus, with teams above them losing, coupled with their competitive equity resume, the Warriors move up two more notches heading into a regular-season and Humboldt-Del Norte Big 4 League finale with Fortuna at home.
The Knights have now lost two straight DFAL games to Acalanes and now to Campolindo, but they gave the Cougars a tussle as evidenced by the fact the game was tied 7-7 after one quarter and 14-14 with less than a minute to go in the half. But in the end they couldn’t sustain things in what turned out to be a 21-point loss. Even so, in this group and based on all losses coming to teams ranked above them, Las Lomas holds tight. Now, if they beat Benicia to finish 5-5 overall and 3-2 in league, Las Lomas should still snag a potential No. 3 seed in the NCS D3 playoffs.
The Dons come into the rankings based on two factors. First, they gave De La Salle a game and even led 7-0 after one quarter and held the Spartans to a 7-7 tie at the half before falling 27-7. The second reason is if they can pull off an upset over California, the Dons have a chance to make the NCS D1 playoffs.
The Mats lost seven spots after losing to Las Lomas two weeks ago and lose one more after another spot after a loss last week to Acalanes. However, even if they lose this week to Campolindo, the Mats will likely draw the No. 2 seed in the NCS D5 playoffs.
With Livermore losing to Dublin last week and with the Matadors holding a win over Dublin, Granada gets the second spot from the EBAL-Valley Division pending a matchup with cross-town archrival Livermore in the regular season finale.
