PCAL Playoffs week 2-
PCAL did well for the most part last week. We are at least guaranteed some championship appearances in DII and DIII!
Biggest Surprise-
- Monterey- The “good” Monterey team showed up n the 2nd half and were able to take care of a strong SHP. Now we should get a really entertaining re-match with Soquel. If Monterey defense shows up, we could have one heck of a game.
- Palma. Not that they won, but they dominated Hollister. (Full disclosure I picked Hollister to win a close game.) But My goodness they came out and were able to control the line of scrimmage and also get WR1 involved. That is a very dangerous combination.
Anti Climatic-
- Greenfield- A great year for this C division champion. They were a product of the CCS point system, that had them up in DIV playing a very solid Branham team. Meanwhile there were 2 A division teams playing DV. But they get to hang a banner, and they own south Monterey County, going 3-0 Vs King City, Soledad and Gonzales!!
- Salinas- Similar bad luck the CCS point system (and Wilcox shenanigans?). They received the most unfortunate draw in all of the playoffs this year as the #8 seed to Serra. But Coach Zenk and the team should be proud bouncing back and going undefeated in the Gabilan. He has the built quite the program there. Safe to say Salinas is one of the top public-school programs in the CCS.
- Carmel- As discussed on other threads, they had their chances, but at the end of the day Soquel is the better team. I think Carmel being seed in DII is ok, I don’t buy the argument they didn’t belong there. They were one of the best B divisions schools in the CCS, they went 10-0 and they have a hell of an offense. In my opinion, top to bottom not a lot of difference between DII and DIII brackets. Carmel would have had just a tough time with Alisal, Palma or Scott’s Valley in DIII.
PAL vs PCAL
Scott’s Valley and
Alisal - Both these teams went up to San Mateo county as “underdogs” and came back with victories. Scott’s Valley Defense was able to slow Aragon down in the first half with a safety and timely interception before half. In addition, the balanced offense was able to extend the lead in the 2nd half. Meanwhile Alisal used a walk off field goal to advance to the semi finals next week. It was not pretty but that Alisal offense contuse to just dominate the line of scrimmage.
This Weeks Games
DII
Fri 11/17 Monterey (CA) at Soquel (CA), 7:00pm CCS DII Playoffs- I picked against both these teams last week. Thought Carmel could out score Soquel and thought Monterey’s inconsistencies would catch up with them. I was wrong on both counts. This week is a rematch that Soquel won 21-7 in week 5. Unfortunately for Monterey this Soquel team might be better as the Santa Cruz transfers are fully integrated and contributing. Monterey played great football last week against a good SHP team. If they can continue to play that well on Defense, they will have a chance. But that consistently has been an issue for Monterey.
Soquel 28-14
DIII
Fri 11/17 Palma (Salinas, CA) at Menlo-Atherton (Atherton, CA), 7:00pm CCS DIII Playoffs – If we were going on Strength of Schedule MA wins the game easily. Their non-league schedule was well put together (CAL preps 17.4 Average), Palma (-2.8) should take some notes. But obviously game is played on the field. If Palma can control the line of scrimmage and open up WR1 down field, like last week vs Hollister, this game will be a cake walk. Problem with Palma is they do not do that every week. MA is battle tested having played a much tougher non-league schedule and competing in the PAL Bay. (Tougher than Gabilan, this year). I say Palma outs it together for 2 weeks.
Palma 28-21
Sat 11/18 Alisal (Salinas, CA) at Scotts Valley (CA), 1:00pm CCS DIII Playoffs – Ok bet the under on total points and the over on rushing yards. It should be a soggy grass field. And Scott’s Valley keeps the field thick (like Wrigley field when Ron Cey and Larry Bowa were on the left side). Good new for Alisal is their ground and Pound dive offense is perfect for that type of condition. The bad news is that Scott’s Valley defense is the best that they have seen. Not taking anything away from Scott Valley, but a win would be much bigger for the Alisal school and the East Salinas community. However, I think the SV defense is just too good.
Scott’s Valley 21-7
CCS Playoffs
One last note on the CCS playoffs. I still think they are better than the other sections in NorCal with their playoffs. But going forward, they should use their current point system to set the field with the at large births and use it to
help set the divisions. But then a committee made of regional representatives (or preferably NorCal prep Posters) should finish the divisions with an “eye” test. Including no A league participants below DIII. Move some teams around based on their schedule and quality of opponent. Not every A &B victory is the same in every year. Don’t use the “points” as the final determination of division rankings or alignment.
DV
Santa Teresa at Woodside
Leland at South San Francisco
DIV
Leigh @
Palo Alto
Branham @ Mountain View
DIII
Palma @ Menlo Atherton
Alisal @
Scott’s Valley
DII
Monterey @
Soquel
Christopher @
Menlo
DI
Los Gatos@ Saint Ignatius
Open
Wilcox @
Serra
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