2017 Final NorCal Football Rankings
Central Coast SectionHigh School FootballNorth Coast SectionNorthern SectionOakland SectionRankingsSac-Joaquin Section December 20, 2017 Chace Bryson 5
De La Salle Retains Top Spot For Another Year; Folsom Closing The Gap •
Final Season NorCal Football Rankings
ABOVE IMAGE: Folsom senior Justin Viega prepares to grab the Gatorade bucket the Bulldogs will use to soak coach Kris Richardson at the conclusion of the CIF 1-AA State Championship Bowl game. CREDIT: James K. Leash
1. (1) DE LA SALLE (11-2)
COMMENT: CIF Open Bowl loss to mythical national-champion Mater Dei doesn’t diminish another season of NorCal dominance.
2. (2) FOLSOM (16-0)
COMMENT: Bulldogs are NorCal’s Team 1-A once again, winning the CIF 1-AA Bowl game with a roster that will bring nearly every starter back.
3. (3) SERRA-SAN MATEO (13-2)
COMMENT: Padres maintain edge over Pittsburg for No. 3 (despite Pirates’ narrow on-field win early in year) thanks to dominant CIF 2-AA Bowl performance and a pair of wins over CIF 2-A champ, No. 5 St. Francis-Mountain View.
4. (4) PITTSBURG (9-3)
COMMENT: Pirates let 21-0 lead slip away to Narbonne-Harbor City in a CIF 1-A State Bowl heartbreaker loss; only NorCal loss was to De La Salle, however.
5. (6) ST. FRANCIS-MOUNTAIN VIEW (11-4)
COMMENT: After Sept. 22, the Lancers only lost twice — both times to No. 3 Serra by a combined 11 points; were CIF 2-A bowl champs.
6. (10) ST. MARY’S-STOCKTON (11-3)
COMMENT: Despite ugly loss to Folsom (in which Rams lost their starting QB to injury), this team’s resume still includes wins over No. 3 Serra and No. 7 Oak Ridge.
7. (7) OAK RIDGE-EL DORADO HILLS (11-2)
COMMENT: Trojans were the best NorCal team NOT to reach a section final (denied by St. Mary’s-Stockton 38-31).
8. (8) GRANITE BAY (12-3)
COMMENT: Grizzlies three losses were to Folsom, Oak Ridge (in OT) and then Pittsburg in the 1-A regional playoff.
9. (5) MARIN CATHOLIC-KENTFIELD (12-1)
COMMENT: Wildcats’ wild 59-56 NCS Div. III win over Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa left them running on empty in a 3-AA regional loss at Shasta-Redding.
10. (9) MANTECA (12-3)
COMMENT: Buffs assured themselves a Top 10 spot by avenging loss to Oakdale in SJS Div. III final; came within five points of beating St. Francis in 2-A regional playoff.
11. (11) OAKDALE (12-2)
COMMENT: It’s always tough to beat a good team — and especially a good QB — twice, as the Mustangs found out with Manteca and Gino Campiotti.
12. (13) VALLEY CHRISTIAN-SAN JOSE (9-3)
COMMENT: Losses were a two-point defeat at Manteca in Week 1, and a pair to Serra; wins included a 28-21 triumph over St. Francis.
13. (12) CENTRAL CATHOLIC-MODESTO (10-2)
COMMENT: Raiders’ wins over St. Mary’s-Stockton and Manteca were enough to keep them above the two North Coast Section Open Div. losers rounding out the Top 15.
14. (14) CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER-CONCORD (8-3)
COMMENT: Ugly Eagles are on Pittsburg’s schedule next season, which will be one of the must-see NCS regular season games of 2018.
15. (15) SAN RAMON VALLEY-DANVILLE (9-2)
COMMENT: Wolves went 8-0 in the East Bay Athletic League with an average margin of victory of 37.5 points.
16. (16) HALF MOON BAY (14-1)
COMMENT: Watershed year for the Cougars comes two-points shy from a perfect 15-0 season; fall 44-42 in 3-A State Bowl at Steele Canyon-Spring Valley.
17. (17) LIBERTY-BRENTWOOD (11-2)
COMMENT: Nobody wanted to play the NCS Div. I champion by season’s end; Lions became just seventh NCS team to win a section title in shutout fashion (37-0 over Freedom-Oakley)
18. (NR) MILPITAS (13-1)
COMMENT: Trojans may not have had the strongest schedule, but they won when it counted and eventually claimed a CIF 4-A State Bowl crown.
19. (18) BISHOP O’DOWD-OAKLAND (9-3)
COMMENT: Dragons scored more points against De La Salle (24) than any other NorCal team to play the Spartans in 2017, which included Pittsburg, St. Francis, Clayton Valley and San Ramon Valley.
20. (NR) MCCLYMONDS-OAKLAND (14-0)
COMMENT: Warriors head into offseason as back-to-back CIF Bowl champions (5-A in 2016, 5-AA this season) and owners of a 25-game winning streak.
DROPPED OUT
No. 19 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa and No. 20 Del Oro-Loomis.
THE NEXT FIVE
21. Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (10-3), 22. Jesuit-Carmichael (10-3), 23. Shasta-Redding (12-2), 24. Freedom (9-2) and 25. Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park (10-2).
HEAVILY CONSIDERED
Del Oro-Loomis (8-6), Sacramento (7-5^), Placer-Auburn (13-2), Del Campo-Fair Oaks (12-1)
^ — includes 3 forfeit losses
Cast your vote on who should grace our SportStars Football Preview coming out next month on August 9th, 2018 (print edition on August 12th, 2018).
All-NorCal High School Football Defense 2017
All-NorCal High School Football Offense 2017
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Chace Bryson
Chace Bryson is the managing editor of SportStars Magazine. Reach him at [email protected]
Dave
December 22, 2017 #1 AuthorDe La Salle keeps living on its past!! This years team Folsom would have lit them up!! This years team 2018 hear me 2018 this committee needs to pull your head out of your a–!! Get off that De La Salle band wagon!!! We all respect them but be fair about it!!!
Chace Bryson
December 27, 2017 #2 AuthorWe’ll concede the gap is closing, but Folsom’s had great teams in the past — and a potential Heisman winner at QB – and those teams lost to De La Salle by double-digit margins. And Folsom would have faired no better against the Mater Dei team that beat De La Salle in the CIF Open Div. Bowl Game. So for now, the Spartans remain NorCal’s top program.
Richard Porter
July 23, 2018 #3 AuthorSerra over Pittsburgh not at all
Compare the resumes.Pitts 3 losses where against nationally ranked teams..Serra’s soft schedule and losse to their only qaulity opponents st Mary’s and Pittsburgh
This should have been a no brainer..you don’t rank a team higher than a team they loss too
Chace Bryson
July 26, 2018 #4 AuthorRespectfully disagree, Richard. There’s nothing soft about the WCAL schedule. How do you not count St. Francis (also a CIF champ) as a quality opponent? Serra defeated them twice. Serra’s regional opponent (Tulare) was arguably a tougher matchup than Pittsburg’s (Granite Bay). Serra had 13 wins to Pittsburg’s 9 (though Pitt had two games cancelled that would’ve been wins). Yes – head-to-head matters, but it can’t be the only thing. Pitt had a SLIGHT edge before the state finals, but then the Pirates lost and Serra won. Then Serra also got an extra boost when St. Francis won too.
Truth Teller
July 23, 2018 #5 Authorlol.. Pitt beats Serra but finishes below them? Makes sense… ????????♂️????????♂️????????♂️