Grant Finally Cracks The NorCal Football Rankings And The Top 5 Are Likely Locked Into Their Final Spots As We Reach State Bowl Week •
A fascinating NorCal championship weekend played partly in pretty awful conditions, gave us results that has probably led us to our final Top 5 of the NorCal Football Rankings for this season. We don’t see a scenario where it would change after the CIF State Bowls get played this weekend.
As the Open Division team with wins over Nos. 2, 3 and 4, Serra-San Mateo locked itself into No. 1 two weeks ago. Meanwhile, De La Salle traded places with Folsom after avenging its September loss with a 17-14 win in the Division 1-AA regional final. And Pittsburg hung on to No. 4 by taking down previous-No. 5 Manteca 35-14 in the Div. 1-A game.
McClymonds-Oakland moves up one spot to No. 5 after defeating Lemoore in the 2-A regional. Even if they were to lose their state bowl matchup on Friday afternoon, they would likely hold onto No. 5. NorCal’s 2-AA state bowl representative, No. 9 San Ramon Valley-Danville, would be unlikely to jump to No. 5 and McClymonds has a head-to-head win over the Wolves anyway.
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Let’s talk Grant-Sacramento, now. We’ve held off ranking the Pacers for the past month, primarily because the quality of their opponents made it difficult to get a read on them and move them ahead of certain schools. But at this point, Grant definitely belongs. The 3-AA NorCal champs can stay in that spot too, should they defeat San Jacinto this Saturday.
Lastly, we couldn’t elevate Grant without bringing Monterey Trail back into the Top 20. The No. 20 Mustangs topped the Pacers 49-42 in October and that win continues to improve their resume as Grant keeps on winning.
Now onto this week’s NorCal football rankings.
NorCal Football Rankings
Preseason rank in parenthesis / Records are through Nov. 26
PICTURED AT TOP: No. 9 San Ramon Valley-Danville. (Ben Enos photo)
1. (1) Serra-San Mateo 13-0
LAST WEEK: BYE
SATURDAY: vs. St. John Bosco-Bellflower (12-1), 8 p.m. [Saddleback College, Mission Viejo]
2. (3) De La Salle-Concord 10-3
LAST WEEK: d. No. 2 Folsom 17-14
FRIDAY: vs. Lincoln-San Diego (12-1), 8 pm [Saddleback College, Mission Viejo]
3. (2) Folsom 12-2
LAST WEEK: LOST to No. 3 De La Salle-Concord 17-14
SEASON COMPLETE
4. (4) Pittsburg 12-2
LAST WEEK: d. No. 5 Manteca 17-14
SATURDAY: vs. Liberty-Bakersfield (12-2), 4 pm [Saddleback College, Mission Viejo]
5. (6) McClymonds-Oakland 12-1
LAST WEEK: d. Lemoore 49-35
FRIDAY: vs. Mater Dei Catholic-Chula Vista (10-4), 4 pm [Saddleback College, Mission Viejo]
6. (8) Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills 10-3
SEASON COMPLETE
7. (9) St. Mary’s-Stockton 10-1
SEASON COMPLETE
8. (10) Central Catholic-Modesto 8-5
SEASON COMPLETE
9. (12) San Ramon Valley-Danville 12-2
LAST WEEK: d. No. 7 Marin Catholic-Kentfield 19-17
SATURDAY: vs. Granite Hills-El Cajon (12-2), Noon [Saddleback College, Mission Viejo]
10. (5) Manteca 11-2
LAST WEEK: LOST to No. 4 Pittsburg 35-14
SEASON COMPLETE
11. (11) Clayton Valley-Concord 8-5
SEASON COMPLETE
12 (NR) Grant-Sacramento 12-2
LAST WEEK: d. El Cerrito 36-7
SATURDAY: vs. San Jacinto (13-2), 6 pm
13. (13) Archbishop Mitty-San Jose 9-4
SEASON COMPLETE
14. (14) St. Francis-Mountain View 8-4
SEASON COMPLETE
15. (7) Marin Catholic-Kentfield 13-1
LAST WEEK: LOST to No. 12 San Ramon Valley-Danville 19-17
SEASON COMPLETE
16. (16) Rocklin 8-4
SEASON COMPLETE
17. (17) Granite Bay 9-5
SEASON COMPLETE
18. (18) Campolindo-Moraga 12-1
SEASON COMPLETE
19. (19) Del Oro-Loomis 9-3
SEASON COMPLETE
20. (NR) Monterey Trail-Elk Grove 7-3
SEASON COMPLETE
DROPPED OUT:
No. 15 Salinas and No. 20 Vanden-Fairfield
NEXT FIVE KNOCKING: 21. Salinas (10-2)*, 22. Bellarmine-San Jose (8-6), 23. Turlock (8-5)*, No. 24 San Marin-Novato (12-1) and No. 25 Vanden-Fairfield (12-2)*.
* — season complete