Cal 14 said:

Palma's in deep trouble. Legit risk of missing the playoffs.

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Agree, bad loss last night for Palma. They have a bye, then Hollister, Monterey and Alvarez. They probably need to go 3-0. They will only be favored vs Alvarez as both Hollister and Monterey beat up on Aptos. The playoff streak is in real danger.

We have one more game to play in this third week of WCAL action. If Sacred Heart Cathedral beats Archbishop Mitty (which might happen in this crazy week), I will come back to adjust this round of my rankings. [Post note: And of course in this topsy-turvy weekend, SHC beats AM.]

St. Francis beat Junipero Serra by TD tonight. There were a few that believed this would happen but I still thought JS would win out. The other surprising, really far more surprising game outcome, was Valley Christian dominating Archbishop Riordan. One or two posters called this game a tossup. But I thought AR would throttle VC via their passing game. Something has fundamentally changed for both teams.

Here's my rankings.
1. SI - No challenge from BCP and still holding the top spot. Next week, SI meets SF which should be a good game and very likely the last big test for the Wildcats.
2. SF - Tonight, the Lancers shut up critics by controlling the outcome of their win over JS. Next week, they meet SI and proponents of SF will get a chance to be vindicated.
3. JS - Serra started out the season ranked #1 but most people, including me, thought they could easily fall as low as #3. Then JS edged Folsom and it seemed the Padres were on their way to another stellar year. Two WCAL losses later, here they are #3. They play AM next week.
4. VC - The Warriors unexpectedly (at least by me) dominated AR to pull themselves back into the upper half of WCAL. At the beginning of the season, I put VC at either #4 or #5 but I thought it would be a position battle with SI, not AR. Something has fundamentally changed for the Warriors. I have my theory but still need to verify it against their roster. VC has the WCAL top three still ahead on their schedule, starting with SI in two weeks.
5. AR - The Crusaders have hit some kind of crisis in their season this year. Many thought they would be contending for the top 3 of WCAL this year and a few thought they would contend for the top levels of NorCal. But that hope has not materialized.
6. SHC - The Irish earned their opportunity to move ahead of AM on Saturday. Next week, they travel to San Jose to play VC.
7. AM - The Monarchs misfire in their battle with the Irish. Next week, they travel to JS for a Saturday afternoon game.
8. BCP - Enough said.

Burford for the night 5 rushing TD 1 kick off return. Most dominant second half I have seen from Oakdale. General agreement with my sitting group. I am the young one st 69. Oakdale is not hot bed for athletes! Burford is for Oakdale an outstanding athlete. He is also a state and nationally ranked wrestler. I obviously am not a great judge of what makes a good player. I don't hear anything about recruiting. Some on wrestling.

Surprised espot didn't their picks in - they were one of the fastest rising competitors.

Foothill 21 Shasta 14 final according to Maxpreps
Bradshaw Christian 35 Union Mine 0 according to MP

observer22 said:

Wow, didn’t see that one coming.

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Someone on this board called this game a toss up but I thought AR would throttle VC. Something has fundamentally changed for both teams.

northbaybbguru said:

Boy my CN would roll Windsor prediction didnt pan out but at least CN still won! Lol

A mixed extra pt by Windsor in OT was the difference.

CN 24
Windsor 23
OT- Final


Windsor coach DJ came with a good game plan. Shortened the game and the Windsor special teams played well (up to the mixed extra point) had CN backed up deep in their own territory most of the blame.

I thought there was some suspect play calling in the 2nd half by CN...they abandoned the run game almost completely which led to too many 3 and outs and their defense playing way too much...which led to the CN defense being gased at the end.

CN escapes with the win at Windsor. 1st win over Windsor in the Sanchez era.

Next week at home for CN vs another tough league opponent Rancho Cotate.

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Yeah your blowout predication wasn’t even close. I think CN got exposed tonight and Windsor got some validation to being labeled having a soft schedule. Windsor is tougher that you think. The Redwood Adobe is going to be crazy tough.

Boy my CN would roll Windsor prediction didnt pan out but at least CN still won! Lol

A mixed extra pt by Windsor in OT was the difference.

CN 24
Windsor 23
OT- Final


Windsor coach DJ came with a good game plan. Shortened the game and the Windsor special teams played well (up to the mixed extra point) had CN backed up deep in their own territory most of the game.

I thought there was some suspect play calling in the 2nd half by CN...they abandoned the run game almost completely which led to too many 3 and outs and their defense playing way too much...which led to the CN defense being gased at the end.

CN escapes with the win at Windsor. 1st win over Windsor in the Sanchez era.

Next week at home for CN vs another tough league opponent Rancho Cotate.

Palma v Salinas frosh game was closer than the score. He had a couple nice deep throws. Soquel is in up swing including next season. Salinas will have a tough time starting a frosh. Not sure what happened to Palma defense last couple games. Their youth looks like it is showing

Cal 14 said:

Salinas beats Monterey 28-21, reportedly with a freshman QB (awaiting confirmation on that).

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Yes. Freshman. Saw him play in a frosh game. Pretty good. Not sure what happened to Salinas junior back up.

Great wins by St. Francis over Serra and Valley Christian over Riordan tonight.

Riordan couldn't seem to get anything going and am wondering if they were still reeling from that SI loss the week prior.

Im any case, the WCAL is still formidable with 3 undefeated teams still in league play.

Talk about a storyline no one expected at the start of football season.

Cal 14 said:

That very well may be true, but if they just beat Monterey with a freshman QB (28-21 final), that's gotta mean something.

Right now, we have two points of data:

Valley Christian - both Salinas and Soquel beat them by 17.
Palma - Soquel won by 18, Salinas by 14.

November 1st should be really interesting.

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The Palma vs Salinas and Palma vs Soquel were two completely different games. Soquel dominated Palma in the 2nd half blowing them out. Palma scored half way through the 4th when Soquel had let up. Salinas and Palma was a toss up game that Salinas scored last and then returned an INT at the very end of the game under 1 min.

I do think it will be a good game. Two well coached teams. I give the advantage to Soquel. Their defense is pretty tough. Salinas might have to open the playbook up. If the freshman is playing, that will be tough to do.

NorCalSportsFan said:

Wonder what happened to their junior backup QB who was competing to start before season.

x.com

x.com

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Salinas QB that came in against Palma looked bad. I am assuming its the kid you are referring to. The freshman was making it look easy at frosh level. He's legit. Not the biggest kid but he is a good athlete and can sling it. They run an offense that doesn't ask the QB to make many difficult throws. Lots of quick bubble screens and 50/50 balls to Turner. I would imagine they had a heavy run game plan too.

3Yards&ACloudOfDust said:

I did not say that Windsor is the favorite, I just think they can pull it out and win in a close game. I even said they can win if their Qb has a good game. Did you not read my post???Actually, of course Newman is the favorite on paper. Everyone has known this senior class is excellent and they have some young studs too. I especially like what their freshman QB is doing, even if he is behind a College (at least JUCO) level line. The kid can play. However, the teams still have to play the game. As you know, the Windsor staff under DJ and formerly under Cronin has pulled off many big wins in the past and has over achieved in games when they were over matched on paper. Although there has been some turnover, I just don’t discount what these coaches have done in the past. We have all seen it first hand. It’s funny to me a lot of the Newman supporters taking shots at Windsor when a lot of the staff has put in more hours at Ed Lloyd field than the current staff. How quickly people forget??? Newman needs to do two things this year that they haven’t done since Cronin and DJ left. They need to beat Windsor, and they need to beat Marin Catholic. On paper, this is the year. We’ll see how it goes. I guarantee the booster and alumni will be watching these two games closely.

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Congratulations to the Cardinals for a Huge 1pt Overtime win @Windsor tonight.
Some thoughts on this game:
1. The Adobe league is going to be tough every week.
2. Newmans lines continue to impress. It would be fun to play LB behind that D-Line.
3. Newmans kicker Gardner played a big time role in tonight’s win, and he’ll have even more confidence the next time he’s in a pressure situation. This could be huge down the stretch.
4. Retamoza continues to show why he earned the starting spot at Qb as a freshman.
5. Bertoli with another huge game. It seems like he has been playing Varsity for Newman for six years. One of the most underrated WR’s in NorCal.
6. As mentioned, Anderson was the best player on the field. Newman did a good job holding him to two TD’s.
7. Neither team has won or lost the league title yet. It’s going to be a 12 round fight. A lot of football left.
8. As talented as Newman is, anyone that thinks they are going to go into their toughest league games and blow out good programs with excellent coaching staffs is a fool and a homer. On paper, Newman should win league, but no one is going to roll over and hand it to them. That’s why we play the games!

larry legend33 said:

If you think Windsor is the favorite this year you haven't watched very much football. Being a homer is one thing but being totally blind is another. Look at the kids they lost last year and look at the returning kids and additions by Newman. Last year Windsor was fantastic and took it to Newman. Hats off to them. The year before it was a toss up with a last play PI call deciding it . But this year it won't be pretty. The schedule alone that Windsor has played is a joke. Anderson will be the best player on the field but everywhere else Newman is better. I'm not as bullish as @northbaybbguru on final score but I could see a 35-14 type game. We will see soon enough.

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The legend is suspect, drinking to much of that CN kool-aid! Great game, credit to CN they won a hard fought game! Calling everyone "Homer's and predicting a CN blowout just proves how much of an idiot you really are. Good luck to the CN Cardinals the rest of the way but larrylegend should be known as larry the "blow hard" ! You and northbayguru have proven that your pulse on the high school landscape is suspect at best👌

Salinas beats Monterey 28-21, reportedly with a freshman QB (awaiting confirmation on that).

Palma's in deep trouble. Legit risk of missing the playoffs.

My guess on Campo is…. youth and injuries.

and that was the final.

NorCalSportsFan said:

I still think Soquel is the best team in the Gab.

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That very well may be true, but if they just beat Monterey with a freshman QB (28-21 final), that's gotta mean something.

Right now, we have two points of data:

Valley Christian - both Salinas and Soquel beat them by 17.
Palma - Soquel won by 18, Salinas by 14.

November 1st should be really interesting.

Streak One said:

Hughson stops a 2 point conversion to lead Sonora 52-51 with 3 seconds left

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Hughson wins 52-51. Back to back big weeks for Hughson

Streak One said:

you can still change your MC pick for the Bradshaw-Union Mine game

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Ok I’ll take Bradshaw Christian 🤣

Hughson stops a 2 point conversion to lead Sonora 52-51 with 3 seconds left