PCAL week 4
Last week 13-3 Overall 50-14
This is crossover week, so the PCAL plays only PCAL teams in different divisions. Picks will follow the division recaps.
Gabilan-Not a lot of surprises this past week. Aptos, Hollister, and Alvarez all beat weaker teams. (Oak Grove has really dropped as football power). Soquel, after paying to powerhouses, got their first win over a mid- level Valley Christian team. Palma went to Yuma and got beaten by their new Arizona rival. And Salinas lost the “Rodeo Bowl” to a very good Clovis team. Monterey had a bye week to lick its wounds after being beaten badly by Menlo-Atherton the week prior. This week every Gabilan team will be heavy favorites in their cross over game, for the exception of Monterey, who according to Cal Preps will be underdogs to a very good Carmel team.
Mission North – This league should be competitive. But maybe not in a good way. NMC had a close loss vs a very good Sobrato team. Alisal had a nice win vs Sequoia. Scott’s Valley had a very bad loss vs cross mountain rival SLV. Scott’s Valley maybe to depleted to repeat as champions. MVC and Watsonville both loss to better team. Although I though MVC high powered offense would of kept it a little closer. The only teams favored to win this week will be Watsonville and St. Francis as they both play Santa Lucia teams. I am curious to see how NMC, who has been playing very well does vs Palma.
Mission South – Carmel went on the road and beat a good Miramonte team. One of the bigger wins for Carmel in the past few years. Everyone can agree this Carmel team belongs in the Gabilan this year. The problem is there will be a huge drop off next year, and the JV numbers are not super strong. As a program, Carmel has trouble competing in the Gabilan. Last time they were in there 2019, the varsity competed, but JV was only able to play 6 games due to injuries and lack of players. Not saying it is right, but that is the reason they were not put up this year. (in my opinion). North Salinas is the 2nd best team, then a pretty large drop off. King City beat a struggling Marina program. Rancho San Juan is struggling and looks like it is going to be relegated to the Santa Lucia. Soledad gave up a winning TD on the last play of the game as they were trying to upset Branham.
Santa Lucia- RLS beat up on a bad Washington (San Francisco) team last week. SLV had the best victory as they beat their rival Scott’s Valley. These 2 teams will probably vie for the lone playoff berth. Gonzales had a disappointing loss to PG, and really did not look great. Marina is really struggling to stop anybody from scoring, so is Santa Cruz, but at least they are getting some points on the board.
Games:
Thu 09/19 Seaside (CA) at Aptos (CA), 7:30pm – Aptos should have no problem with the undermanned Seaside team. Jury still out on the new regime as the TKA win is not quite as impressive. Aptos 24-7
Thu 09/19 St. Francis (Watsonville, CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 7:00pm- Harbor is improving as a program the past couple years, but they are still not at the B level. St. Francis 34-14
Fri 09/20 Gonzales (CA) at King City (CA), 7:30pm- The Battle for the Megaphone, Monterey County’s oldest rivalry! King City is young and coming off a win vs marina. Gonzales is also young, but they did not look good vs PG. King City 20-7
Fri 09/20 Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA) at Marina (CA), 7:30pm – Marina is actually favored, despite being outscored 130-13 in 3 games. Why? Rancho San Jaun has bee outscored 95-2 in its 3 games. @StreakOne, this would have been an excellent game for Pick’em. Granted for all the wrong reasons. Rancho in the “upset?” Rancho 21-20
Fri 09/20 Stevenson (Pebble Beach, CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:30pm -Ok, PG is the better team this year. I know that. But I also know that you can discount the boys from the Del Monte Forrest, and they will be ready and give PG all it can handle. It is PG’s homecoming game (RLS has always been a favorite homecoming game), the PG alumni will leave disappointed. RLS 24-23
Fri 09/20 Santa Cruz (CA) at Soledad (CA), 7:30pm- Soledad was one play away from pulling off the biggest upset of the year vs Branham. They should beable to rebound nicel vs a rebuilding Santa Cruz team. Soledad 30-14
Fri 09/20 Alisal (Salinas, CA) at Hollister (CA), 7:30pm -Alisal has struggled to score points in their new open up offense. It may not get easier vs a defense that just posted a shutout. Hollister 28-10
Fri 09/20 Alvarez (Salinas, CA) at Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA), 7:30pm- The opening season loss to NMC does not look as bad anymore for Alvarez. Meanwhile MVC is having trouble stopping people. They just try to out score you. Alvarez 35-30
Fri 09/20 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Salinas (CA), 7:30pm- Salinas will try to rebound with their cross town rival. North Salinas is good, and may keep this close, but Salinas has just too much depth. Salinas 32-14
Sat 09/21 Palma (Salinas, CA) vs North Monterey County (Castroville, CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm-Can’t get upset for Palma scheduling this game. Palma had to play a cross over game and besides Carmel, there is nobody in the B divisions that can hang with the top Gabilan teams this year. NMC has been a pleasant surprise, but not enough to beat Palma. Palma 27-7
Sat 09/21 Soquel (CA) at Scotts Valley (CA), 2:00pm-At the beginning of the season, I thought this may be a potential trap game for Soquel. Not anymore, Scott Valley just does not have the depth this year. Soquel 45-10
Sat 09/21 Watsonville (CA) at Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA), 12:30pm – I think this game will be closer than Cal preps says. I actually think PV has a chance to beat their crosstown rivals. If they don’t win at least they will score. Watsonville 14-13
Sat 09/21 Greenfield (CA) at San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA), 1:00pm – Cal preps has SLV as a 8 point favorite. They did have a great win last week vs Scott’s Valley, but they may be getting too much credit for beating a depleted team. Greenfield is solid this year. Greenfield 20-17
Sat 09/21 Monterey (CA) at Carmel (CA), 2:00pm -This could be a great game. Carmel has 2 good wins vs Christopher and Miramonte. Monterey has only played twice and looked like they gave up vs Menlo Atherton. Carmel is going to come out and try to get Monterey to quit. Monterey must stay focused and disciplined if they want to win. Monterey has the athletes to stay with Carmel and make big plays, Carmel’s kryptonite. I just don’t know if Monterey will stay disciplined if things start to go south. Carmel 45-34
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