2017 WCAL - Looking Forward

[Rmbr26]

WCAL 2016 – Are You Ready for Some Football?

Looking ahead the start of the 2016-17 season is approaching quickly with many questions to be answered. As history shows in the WCAL often results are similar in 2-3 year cycles depending on the talent pool of soph’s, junior’s & senior’s at any one school. This season will be similar with slight fluctuations among the top schools depending on the seniors graduating and how many starting positions need to be filled. The WCAL as a league appeared a bit stronger last year in 2015 starting pre-season in strong fashion with notable wins both inside & outside the CCS. The WCAL Bell’s crushed Franklin Elk-Grove 42-0 in the opener & then edged an always strong Del Oro team by 34-31. Mitty opened with a surprisingly dominant victory over Los Gatos by 45-16, while Riordan was the talk of week 1 in CCS with a shocking 48-21 win over reigning CCS Open Champ SHP. Serra scored 3-TD’s in a 37-21 loss vs eventual state Open champ DLS with 2 TD passes coming in the 2nd ½ from Serra’s back-up soph QB [starter Leki Nunn out with minor injury]. Serra then followed up with a solid win over Notre Dame Sherman Oaks. St Francis was very impressive as well starting with wins over Oak Grove & Palma while Valley Christian romped over Oak Grove before edging Milpitas with a 4th quarter come-back. So some very good games prior to league play and this year’s schedule offers more of the same type of strong competition.

To refresh your memories here is the final standings of how the WCAL teams finished the 2015 season at the levels of play:

Varsity: Bell’s & SF Co-Champs at 6-1 in league, Riordan, VC & Serra tie for 2nd at 4-3 followed by Mitty, SI & then SHC at the bottom.

Junior Varsity: Bell’s league champs 9-1, VC 9-1, Serra 7-3, SI 4-5, Mitty 5-5, SHC 3-7, SF 2-8, ARHS 0-7.

Frosh: Serra league champs 9-1, SF 7-2, VC 6-3, SHC 6-3, SI 4-5, Bell’s 3-6, Mitty 4-5, ARHS 0-7.

Combined JV & Frosh Records with best players moving up to varsity:

Serra 16-4, VC 15-4, Bell’s 12-7, SF & SHC 9-10, SI 8-10, Mitty 9-11, ARHS 0-14


Based upon the finishes in the 3 divisions this is how the varsity teams appear to be rated going into this coming 2016 season: Serra, Bell’s, St. Francis, Valley Christian, Riordan, Mitty, SI & SHC.


Looking at Freeman Ratings and projections based upon last season’s ending records and players returning for this season these are the initial projected ratings for the 8 WCAL teams.

Note: the +/- is how the team is rated either higher or lower than the final rating at end of last season.


Serra 52.6 [+4.6]

Bell’s 46.5 [-12.3]

SF 46.4 [-2.1]

VC 42.0 [-2.2]

Riordan 31.3 [-9.7]

Mitty 26.4 [-8.0]

SI 14.4 [-5.5]

SHC 11.0 [-3.3]


Serra is slightly up while all other 7 teams shows a drop in their strength rating. Bell’s & Riordan show the largest drop in ratings due to graduating a large number of skill players & starters. SF & VC show initial numbers close to their final ratings which essentially means there is little or no drop off expected [and SF looks very strong on paper so far]. Mitty could surprise with their more than capable back-up QB Philip Tran although they lost talent as well to graduation. SI shows a further drop from a dismal season last year though some help should be expected from a decent JV team. SHC as well should get some players of talent from lower levels, but sheer numbers are what will tell the story for the Irish again this season. That leaves us with the Riordan Crusader’s with major loss of skill players to graduation and a JV & Frosh team who went a combined 0-14. So what to expect of the Riordan varsity team this year? Riordan had a break-out year last season with huge wins over numerous league & CCS power teams, but must find a way to avoid returning to prior seasons struggles to win more than one WCAL league game. Riordan has opted for a weaker pre-season schedule this year and must concentrate on winning games vs SI & SHC & possibly Mitty or ?. If Riordan can do well in pre-season and win 2-3 league games this year it should be considered a successful season & only time will tell.

 

[Rmbr26]

WCAL 2016 – Are You Ready for Some Football?

Note: Part of original thread post as NCP's new format limits the size of any post or response - Sorry.


2015 Ending Season Records/Results:
Bellarmine: Overall record 13-2, masters at winning close games with 6-wins of 7-points or less & much credit once again to Coach Janda who seems to do this season after season. Undefeated in pre-season with only loss to Mitty in league with Bell’s starting QB out for that game. Went on to roll through CCS taking down Milpitas in championship 26-13. Next up undefeated Folsom AT Folsom where Folsom had a 30-game home field win streak– result: Bellarmine in an upset 42-35. Bell’s then over-matched in 24-0 loss to Mission Viejo in state title game for Division 1 – never the less the season is an overwhelming success with only 2 losses in a rugged schedule with the 2nd being in a state title championship.


Serra: Overall a deceptive 6-4 record with losses in a competitive game vs DLS, a loss to the Bell’s, a game for the ages against Riordan of which the likes of offensive output may never again be witnessed in the WCAL and a 1-point loss 43-42 to a state bound St. Francis Lancer team – yes 2 teams from the same WCAL league of 8 teams in state title games [Divisions 1 + 2]. Serra entered the season knowing they would not compete in post-season play due to a controversial & much debated situation. Needless to say there may just not have been as motivation for the Padres to play at their absolute best under the ban all season. This season no such ban exists and Serra returns its 3-year QB Leki Nunn the prior Soph of the Year & last year’s WCAL MVP. Coach Walsh should have the troops raring to go and ranked at the top of the CCS in pre-season.


St. Francis: Like the Bell’s the Lancers had a terrific season with an overall record of 12-3, second only to the Bell’s 13-2 and losing to Bellarmine 28-26 in regular season. St Francis had only a few “hiccups in their successful season, losing to Oak Grove 27-21 in post season after a win by 28-13 in their initial early season meeting. In the state title game St. Francis starting QB Kamali Akina sat out the game while his largely untested back-up played the entire game, ultimately losing in a close contest to Citrus Hill 23-20. With Akina at the helm it is more than likely that the Lancers would have taken down Citrus Hill and returned home with the Div. II title. The soph who started in Akina’s absence was Reed Vittel a 6’5 soph who played admirably throwing 8/17 for 201 yards, 2-TD’s and no INT’s against a solid Citrus Hill team. This bit of info should certainly have the Lancer fans excited coming into this season. SF returns many good players on defense and their rugged RB Cyrus Habibi-Likio who has caught the interest of a number of college programs [more on Habibi-Likio later]. SF should have another smothering defense this season and the question will be at QB, which should be answered early on. SF may very well be the team to beat this season.


Valley Christian: Overall 8-4 the Warrior’s ended their season losing 42-23 to Oak Grove who VC beat 24-0 early in the season – which is a 43-point swing, but in the wrong direction. Easily VC’s most dramatic win was the 45-27 win over arguably Riordan’s best team in well over a decade. VC returns a lot of good players on both sides of the ball and once again has some terrific and BIG outstanding lineman. The trend with VC has been outstanding RB’s and a huge imposing O-line. If VC can pass the ball efficiently and tighten up their D, then possibly the Warrior’s advance to finals this coming season.


Mitty: Overall 6-4 Mitty endured somewhat of a tough year after a very fast start taking down an always solid Los Gatos team 45-16 in what many predicted would be a close contest. Mitty’s worst loss came at the hands of Serra 26-0 with their best game a 14-13 heartbreak loss to St. Francis. Mitty ended the season with a 52-25 loss to Oak Grove – 1 of 3 WCAL teams to be swept by Oak Grove in the CCS Div II playoffs.


Riordan: Overall 9-4 and coming off a season few Crusader fans will forget. The 2015-16 season seemed to be the “perfect storm” for a program that had endured a long string of dismal season’s being near the bottom of the WCAL. Riordan had all the ingredients last season with superb skill players, good lineman & an aggressive defense not to mention very good coaching. Riordan merely started the season by shocking the reigning CCS Open Champ SHP by 48-21 in a game which had everyone – and I do mean everyone talking. Next up the Crusader’s rolled a good Menlo-Atherton team 26-9 before a demolition of St. Mary’s Berkeley 49-14 – a game that was competitive until one spectacular play by Riordan after another left the St. Mary’s team with no answers as to how to contain Riordan [I saw it & it was quite a game]. Moving on to the 66-45 shoot-out win over Serra which was a game for the ages – just ask anyone who was there. This was simply the game that defined Riordan’s season and proved they could compete with the best teams of the WCAL & CCS including beating them on any given day. After a close 14-6 loss to the Bell’s the following week Riordan seemed to lose some of their momentum during the 2nd ½ of the season, also losing to VC & SF. Entering the playoffs as a favorite in their division Riordan barely escaped with a win over Burlingame 30-28 and a 17-14 win over Palma in round 2 before losing to SHP 35-28 in the D-III Championship [a team they rolled first game of season by 48-21 for a 34-point swing in the 2 games].


St. Ignatius: 2015-16 is a season the Wildcats would like to forget rather soon going into this season. Prior to last season I projected SI struggling due to loss of talent along with lack of size & skill players. At the time I projected SI to go 2-8 winning only 2 games. Unfortunately SI went 1-9 winning just a single game 14-13 over SHC. SI can only improve this season although the challenge will be similar as WCAL teams seem to run in 2-3 year cycles. SI’s JV & Frosh combined record last season of 7-7 should lend some hope to upcoming players who can contribute. We’ll find out early if St. Ignatius can regroup or not in both size and badly needed skill players. SHC’s combined JV & Frosh were 6-8 so not much behind SI coming down only to the number of players and back-up at the important positions.


SHC: Overall 1-9 equaling SI’s season record, however no wins in league play. SHC each year has some talented players yet lack of depth and lack of offensive ingenuity had kept their D stranded on the field for extended lengths of time, often wearing them out and possible contributing to their injury situation the last several season’s. The last 2 season’s has seen the Irish fade quickly in the 2nd ½ of the season with numerous injuries to important positions. In both league and overall the Irish were rated last in both offense and defense, however the offensive stalemate has proven the biggest obstacle during the season. The Irish coaching staff needs to start from scratch and come up with a “new plan” altogether. We already know the “old plan” does not work and to go forward with same will likely yield similar results.


Upcoming: a team by team assessment of strengths & weaknesses along with teams scheduled opponents and what to possibly expect along with a few projections of how teams will finish overall.

 

[Irish_Cheers]

WCAL 2016 – Are You Ready for Some Football?



Combined JV & Frosh Records with best players moving up to varsity:

Serra 12-2, Bell’s & VC 10-4, SI 7-7, SF & SHC 6-8, Mitty 5-9, ARHS 14-0.

Rmbr26: Just lookin' out for you... ARHS' combined JV & Frosh record was 0-14. I wouldn't want Mr. ArhsTATS to jump all over you and accuse you of lying or "revising history".

--I.C.

 

[dcpanda]

Another fantastic job Rmbr. You do great work with the previews each year. Some great storylines to follow this year. Very interested to see especially if Riordan coaching staff can keep it going. Fordan seems like he knows what he's doing, but we shall see if he has the athletes this year.

 

[Rmbr26]

Rmbr26: Just lookin' out for you... ARHS' combined JV & Frosh record was 0-14. I wouldn't want Mr. ArhsTATS to jump all over you and accuse you of lying or "revising history".
-Irish Cheers
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ha,ha Thanks "Irish_Cheers" for that correction [now fixed], I must have been getting sleepy by that point in the post. So looking at the records of the 3 S.F. teams JV & Frosh it appears on the surface that all 3 teams may be back to a level playing field. It all depends of course on how much Riordan brings back from last year's talented squad [do Crusader's get any help from JV/Frosh teams??], and those JV & Frosh teams where SI & SHC appear about equal & which young players will emerge? Can the Irish get it together and win a WCAL League game this season? Who will star for the Irish this season? Will the coaches air the ball out a bit more or stick with a "ground & pound" game up the middle?

 

[Irish_Cheers]

About the QB situation, I think they'll go with Will Irons from the JV's. Andres Ruiz has some QB experience but he's very good on defense. If they (I hope) decide to throw more often, look for Jr. A'reon Mitchell as a favorite target. Your Soph of the Year will be Levar Watkins.

http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6612548/5721cfb30c5e681224a88046

He'll be the fastest player on the field. Look for him at running back and cornerback. Jr. Jamal Lavallier will continue to improve at running back.

I'd like to see good players emerge with the kicking game. After that, depth is a factor. Maybe they'll break that 50 mark on the roster this year. Also, I didn't see Josh Miles' name on the MaxPreps roster but he's a good power back. He's a sophomore this year. On the lines, look for Juniors Sami Nazzal (6'3", 300), Uriah Uila, John Franceschini and Matt Dean (6' 0", 285), plus Seniors Dan Nocetti (6' 2", 285) and Conrad King.

I think the Irish will beat the other City teams and I hope, pull-off a win against one of the other teams.

The Junior class on this team went 4-3 as freshmen and last season's team was 4-3 in league as well. Both teams beat S.I., Riordan and St. Francis, and one win against 2014 champ Valley Christian. I'll see what I can find out about the offensive scheme this season.

The real worst game last season was the S.I. game. One stinkin' point. The best game was the last one against Mitty. Irish had a lead into the third quarter and Ronan Murphy turned-out to be their quarterback. He had a couple of long bombs for touchdowns in that game.

Latest I get is the school is hopeful to get some practice time at Hayward Playground when it's renovated, but that will take maybe two more seasons while the City is looking at different designs for the playground.

Also, I'm told Josh Miles will be on the varsity. Maybe we'll have two Sophs of The Year.

 

[mshNASTY]

Rmbr26... Awesome write up

 

[jordan24]

Another fantastic job Rmbr. You do great work with the previews each year. Some great storylines to follow this year. Very interested to see especially if Riordan coaching staff can keep it going. Fordan seems like he knows what he's doing, but we shall see if he has the athletes this year.

Rmbr, excellent job, as usual! I look forward to this season.
Agree, DCPanda, will be interesting to see if Coach Fordon has continued success this year with the graduation of many key players. Success for the Crusaders this season is continued development of its players throughout the program, beating their non-league opponents and notching 3 wins in WCAL play. Fordon's staff has to be the youngest (age and experience) in the WCAL and came away the wiser from last season's campaign going against the likes of Walsh, Janda,and SHP's Lavorato. The Crusader coaches have all experienced success, played in D1 college programs and can relate to the players. Also, I was very impressed with the development of many of last season's star seniors who were not touted going into their senior campaigns - 1st Team WCAL'ers Daniel Norman wr/db and Rocco Russell (DL). Truly a good indicator of coaching development. Imagine if Fordon and his staff took the reigns a season sooner? O/D Line play should be a strength of this season's team along with some good speed from two WCAL varsity track finalists who ran as a jr and soph, and 2 qbs that had varsity snaps/td passes and runs last season. Understand word has gone out of the program's rise with at least 2 transfers, several others joining the football program and some positive write-ups based on the summer camps and passing league activities. Is it September yet?

 

[jordan24]

As far as league favorites go - I would have to say Serra and St. Francis as 1a and 1b. Bellarmine and VC fall right behind with, at least on paper, a significant drop off with Riordan Mitty SHC and SI...

 

[jordan24]

Cheers, I've always liked that Irish logo you have for your avatar.

 

[Irish_Cheers]

So do I. I think they retired it too soon. I like the darker green and the earlier font for the numerals.

 

[Scott2138]

About the QB situation, I think they'll go with Will Irons from the JV's. Andres Ruiz has some QB experience but he's very good on defense. If they (I hope) decide to throw more often, look for Jr. A'reon Mitchell as a favorite target. Your Soph of the Year will be Levar Watkins.

http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6612548/5721cfb30c5e681224a88046

He'll be the fastest player on the field. Look for him at running back and cornerback. Jr. Jamal Lavallier will continue to improve at running back.

I'd like to see good players emerge with the kicking game. After that, depth is a factor. Maybe they'll break that 50 mark on the roster this year. Also, I didn't see Josh Miles' name on the MaxPreps roster but he's a good power back. He's a sophomore this year. On the lines, look for Juniors Sami Nazzal (6'3", 300), Uriah Uila, John Franceschini and Matt Dean (6' 0", 285), plus Seniors Dan Nocetti (5' 10", 285) and Conrad King.

Nocetti is at least 6'2....285

 

[colhenrylives]

Again, team speed, depth and special teams are huge factors. The league season is such a grind that all three come into play on a regular basis. By week four of league action, some teams find themselves desperate for decent backups, not to mention a couple of starters. More key guys wind up going both ways and it's a downward spiral from there.

 

[jordan24]

Again, team speed, depth and special teams are huge factors. The league season is such a grind that all three come into play on a regular basis. By week four of league action, some teams find themselves desperate for decent backups, not to mention a couple of starters. More key guys wind up going both ways and it's a downward spiral from there.

Makes the Bells consistent level of championship play all the more impressive as their rosters are smaller than the likes of SF, VC and Mitty, often having players going both ways.

 

[colhenrylives]

Bellarmine's relatively smaller rosters, over time, feature higher talent levels than most WCAL teams. Many of their typical backups would start on some other WCAL teams. That goes for their frosh and JV teams as well. Just better athletes. Same goes for most of their other sports.

 

[colhenrylives]

It's worth noting that, as the prep 2016-17 sports season looms, Bellarmine has dominated WCAL athletics like no other school. Not even close. The Bells are closing in on 255 WCAL titles, roughly twice that of any other school. And that's for boys-only. They don't benefit from being coed. It's male-only.

 

[jordan24]

Bellarmine's relatively smaller rosters, over time, feature higher talent levels than most WCAL teams. Many of their typical backups would start on some other WCAL teams. That goes for their frosh and JV teams as well. Just better athletes. Same goes for most of their other sports.

Interesting that "higher talent level" hasn't equated to further football success at the major college level and beyond. No doubt the Bells have very good HS football athletes.

 

[dcpanda]

Im actually surprised that Bellarmine doesn't win more titles than they do. They have 1600 all-boys, and I believe the number 1 CBED in CCS. The south bay tends to have good athletes, and the school itself has money to burn. I'd expect them to pretty much dominate everything with those advantages.

 

[colhenrylives]

Yes. But it is telling that the No.2 boys title total by coed St. Francis is less than half of Bellarmine's. And all-male Serra's is half of SF's boys. The Bells' enrollment has grown significantly over the decades. But the bulk of their crowns came prior to the present 1,600 figure. It's a credit to them that they have dominated for so long. The WCAL turns 50 in 2017. And Bellarmine shows few signs of slowing down. They remain the league's gold standard, like it or not.

 

[colhenrylives]

Here are the current WCAL boys team title numbers over a half-century: Bellarmine and SF, 368; everyone else, 221.

 

[Irish_Cheers]

Nocetti is at least 6'2....285

I'll fix it. I don't want to be accused of revising history... Go Irish!

 

[Rmbr26]

As ColHenry wrote for many years Bellarmine ruled the WCAL and was THE team to beat. Of the vast number of titles the Bell's have won a good many of those are in swimming in which no other school comes close in CCS. Actually Bellarmine is the DLS of swimming. In 2015 the Bell's had won 31 CCS swim titles in a row and 33 of the last 34 year's. This year Gunn just barely edge out the Bell's to end the longest title win streak in CCS history.

http://www.mercurynews.com/high-sch...wimming-gunn-ends-bellarmine-championship-run

 

[serdaprs]

You can add Cross Country 25 titles, golf 26, soccer 28 and Tennis 35 titles. If you go by the big 3 sports, and I say big 3 because those are the only sports this message board focuses on:,

football, basketball and baseball-

Bells-38
SF-43
Serra-30
SI-16
Riordan-19
Mitty-23
Valley -8
SHCP-5

 

[dcpanda]

Yes. I realize the bells are awesome in most sports. My point was that I'm surprised they don't finish first in football, baseball, basketball every year these days with all their advantages. Not that I don't like Bellarmine, I think it's a good school and have no reason to dislike them. Its impressive to me that other schools can even compete with them or beat them.

 

[2wcats]

Yes. I realize the bells are awesome in most sports. My point was that I'm surprised they don't finish first in football, baseball, basketball every year these days with all their advantages. Not that I don't like Bellarmine, I think it's a good school and have no reason to dislike them. Its impressive to me that other schools can even compete with them or beat them.

I have always hoped they would get it together and be a legitimate rival to De La Salle. NorCal needs a school to make the jump to that level.

 

[iamgearyblvd]

Interesting that "higher talent level" hasn't equated to further football success at the major college level and beyond. No doubt the Bells have very good HS football athletes.

Just my opinion but the dominant HS teams that run that boring and majority of the time, unstoppable wing T/veer offense, usually dont have their skilled players do much in college at those skilled positions. Bellarmine, of recent history, has sent Carta-Samuels, and the Olugbode kids off to major programs. I dont consider SJST a major program. The most noted impact positions of veer option offensive schools like DLS are coming from the linebacker, tight end, db positions.

I think the argument is that you can put anyone at RB and he will run for over 1,000 yards because o-line play is so much better than the other school's d-line. This is true for schools such as Bellarmine, Serra, DLS. This is painful for me to say, but teams like SI that throw the ball are way more exciting to watch nowadays.

 

[colhenrylives]

Back during the old Catholic Athletic League era when Bellarmine was a full member (the Bells were an independent in football for a time), the San Jose Jesuits were a power then too (with a much smaller enrollment and a boarding component). From 1957 through 1965, they were 71-7-4, with a 31-game winning streak. The 1965 team was 9-0 and permitted just 6 points all season. That TD came on an intercepted pass by St. Mary's-Berkeley so the Bells' defense was spotless that year. Dan Pastorini was one of the QB's on that team. Geezer observers of the CAL will tell you that the 1965 Bells were the best team ever produced by that now-defunct league. Opponents were: Montgomery, Watsonville, Lodi, Richmond, San Leandro, St. Francis, St. Mary's, Serra and Riordan. The last four were league games. San Leandro turned out to be Bellarmine's toughest foe. The final score was 17-0 but it wasn't easy.

 

[colhenrylives]

And one more note regarding the incredible dominance of DLS for at least a full generation: Without taking anything away from the Spartans, the idea of a WCAL school even coming close to duplicating that amazing record, is pretty far-fetched. The WCAL simply has too many strong, committed and well-funded athletic programs that compete with one another in every conceivable way. And they are located close enough to one another that kids don't focus on attending just one or two of them on a regular basis. The talent gets spread out routinely. DLS is the sole Catholic high school east of the Oakland hills so its situation is different and more conducive to creating a dynasty. Put a Bellarmine in Livermore and a Serra in Danville and you might see DLS scrambling at least a bit to maintain its continual top dog status. Just saying.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

Just my opinion but the dominant HS teams that run that boring and majority of the time, unstoppable wing T/veer offense, usually dont have their skilled players do much in college at those skilled positions. Bellarmine, of recent history, has sent Carta-Samuels, and the Olugbode kids off to major programs. I dont consider SJST a major program. The most noted impact positions of veer option offensive schools like DLS are coming from the linebacker, tight end, db positions.

I think the argument is that you can put anyone at RB and he will run for over 1,000 yards because o-line play is so much better than the other school's d-line. This is true for schools such as Bellarmine, Serra, DLS. This is painful for me to say, but teams like SI that throw the ball are way more exciting to watch nowadays.

The 2008/2009 Bells team is among the more talented with Srs. Usua Amanam, RB converted to starting nickle back at Stanford, and Kevin Danser, OL (Stanford line starter , and Austyn Carta-Samuels (Vanderbilt), and Jr Kyle Ougbode (Stanford) all played D1 ball at major programs.

Another conservative WCAL offense the Valley Christian Warriors runs the wing T and has had several D1 impact players in college and later on - Byron Marshall (Oregon / Philadelphia NFL), his brother Cameron Marshall (in the Miami Dolphins NFL), The Johnson brothers should make an impact at Texas. VC is usually stacked with D1 talent in many years. They have some linemen out of this class and possibly their RB...there are many others. Just at top of my head.

 

[dcpanda]

Just my opinion but the dominant HS teams that run that boring and majority of the time, unstoppable wing T/veer offense, usually dont have their skilled players do much in college at those skilled positions. Bellarmine, of recent history, has sent Carta-Samuels, and the Olugbode kids off to major programs. I dont consider SJST a major program. The most noted impact positions of veer option offensive schools like DLS are coming from the linebacker, tight end, db positions.

I think the argument is that you can put anyone at RB and he will run for over 1,000 yards because o-line play is so much better than the other school's d-line. This is true for schools such as Bellarmine, Serra, DLS. This is painful for me to say, but teams like SI that throw the ball are way more exciting to watch nowadays.

I checked out Maxpreps and SI was actually last in passing among WCAL schools that keep stats on Maxpreps. Serra looks like Oregon with their spread offense these days.

Serra: 2224 yards
Riordan: 2189
Mitty: 1697
St. Francis: 1505
Valley Christian: 1264
SI: 773

 

[Rmbr26]

And one more note regarding the incredible dominance of DLS for at least a full generation: Without taking anything away from the Spartans, the idea of a WCAL school even coming close to duplicating that amazing record, is pretty far-fetched. The WCAL simply has too many strong, committed and well-funded athletic programs that compete with one another in every conceivable way. And they are located close enough to one another that kids don't focus on attending just one or two of them on a regular basis. The talent gets spread out routinely. DLS is the sole Catholic high school east of the Oakland hills so its situation is different and more conducive to creating a dynasty. Put a Bellarmine in Livermore and a Serra in Danville and you might see DLS scrambling at least a bit to maintain its continual top dog status. Just saying.

Excellent point Colhenry, I'd brought this up a few times including mapping out the WCAL schools in proximity to each other and also DLS with basically no privates in proximity, but those posts were not well received by Sparta's Faithful. DLS is in a very unique location/situation which lends itself to everything that has made the Spartans what they are and cannot be duplicated by any other private in NorCal or elsewhere for that matter.

From a long ago post for which I was nearly tarred & feathered: "Bellarmine, Valley Christian, MItty and St. Francis are all within 20 miles of each other combined - so they all draw off each other as all are excellent schools. So could this dilute talent in any way you ask? Um, yes, period, end of discusion. Imagine these 4 schools being consolidated into one and only accepting the best of the best and what you have is a "Super DLS".

No mystery here. I posted not long ago that for 2015 DLS had the #1 NorCal rated Football, Basketball & Baseball Teams & that does not happen by accident, nor because of the "Brotherhood" or other claimed reasons by its faithful fans. It is simply because of the athletes, logistics of the school, its affinity to attracting top athletes as an affluent school with excellent coaching & facilities, etc. This 2016 season once again the DLS Spartans will field a roster larger than any WCAL school and deeper as such at likely every position. Now before the DLS fans attack there is a unique system at DLS for FB as they face other national programs with huge rosters and win most of the time. This year looks to be a challenge and DLS is usually up to the challenge. Over time the "rolling start" the Spartans decisively use on offense to the disadvantage of the opposing defense seems to be less of an advantage as perhaps more teams study it and how to make adjustments & opposing teams point it out to officials in advance. It does appear a mystery why no one else employs this advantageous technique other than DLS[?]. I must say though at end of day I always enjoy the DLS Spartans taking down a SoCal power in the state title game if nothing else. Go Sparta!

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

There are less questions this year than many for DLS. The year the streak ended there was much concern about the dedication of the seniors and also talent. This season while they will reload, will be very strong on the lines and have lots of athletes. Their schedule also at least is a step down from a national caliber schedule with exception of if they compete in the Open Division finals. They will have a tough time if they face socals best this season, but by the time a game like that would occur they will have had plenty of time to build experience. No question they have to play the games, but there is no reason they shouldn't run the table again this season at least up to state. They could have a blip, but this won't be a weak Spartan's team.They may not be elite at least at start of season but they should be very good and elite as far as in the northern part of the state.

 

[Streak One]

The 2008/2009 Bells team is among the more talented with Srs. Usua Amanam, RB converted to starting nickle back at Stanford, and Kevin Danser, OL (Stanford line starter , and Austyn Carta-Samuels (Vanderbilt), and Jr Kyle Ougbode (Stanford) all played D1 ball at major programs.

Another conservative WCAL offense the Valley Christian Warriors runs the wing T and has had several D1 impact players in college and later on - Byron Marshall (Oregon / Philadelphia NFL), his brother Cameron Marshall (in the Miami Dolphins NFL), The Johnson brothers should make an impact at Texas. VC is usually stacked with D1 talent in many years. They have some linemen out of this class and possibly their RB...there are many others. Just at top of my head.

I think Michael Clay was on that team too. Went to Oregon and is now a coach for the 49ers. That team was the odd man out the year Grant went Open and DLS went Division I. Best team from the CCS in the last decade?

Great writeups Rmbr26. Always enjoy reading your posts.

 

[Mr. Direct]

Im actually surprised that Bellarmine doesn't win more titles than they do. They have 1600 all-boys, and I believe the number 1 CBED in CCS. The south bay tends to have good athletes, and the school itself has money to burn. I'd expect them to pretty much dominate everything with those advantages.

For 25 straight years, from 1975-1999, Bellarmine and/or St. Francis won the WCAL football title. Riordan snapped that streak in 2000.

Since then, other schools with lower enrollment have made football a priority, plus Valley Christian joined the league. SF and Bellarmine were no longer the only two "football schools". In the 15 seasons since SF/Bells have taken home the title in just 7 of those seasons. In fact since then, every school has won a football title except for SHC who rejoined the league in 2008 after an 18 year hiatus. Although they have never won a WCAL football title in their entire history in the league.

The parity has made the league much more enjoyable to watch and last year was filled with very exciting football. Looking forward to this season even though there is a bit of a talent deficit as compared to last year.

 

[Rmbr26]

WCAL 2016 Football Pre-Season Preview

Sacred Heart Cathedral "Fighting Irish" 2016 Team Preview:


SHC 2015 Varsity Record = Overall 1-9 and WCAL League 0-7

Junior Varsity 2015 Record = Overall 3-7 and WCAL League 1-6

Frosh 2015 Record = Overall 6-3 and WCAL League 4-3


Best Game of 2015 Season: This is an easy pick in that SHC started out well in their season opening game by defeating a decent Terra Nova team by 28-13 before 2 lopsided & sobering losses to St. Joseph & Monte Vista in the other 2 pre-season games. Terra Nova wound up 5-6 including a win over HMB [11-2].


Worst Loss of 2015: Another easy one being the 55-0 thrashing at the hands of the Valley Christian Warrior’s. While SHC played several WCAL upper tier teams well [lost to St. Francis 28-21 in a close game], the VC 55-0 blowout was a “perfect storm” of a power run team with a huge O-line simply over-powering SHC from the very start of the game. This one was over early with VC up 41-0 at the ½ before sending in the back-ups for the 2nd ½ of game.


Most Important Game: 14-13 loss to St. Ignatius. This usually comes down to either Riordan or St. Ignatius and for last season the opportunity was against their rival St. Ignatius. This game was between 2 WCAL teams who were both winless in league play and neither SHC nor SI would have a realistic chance of beating the other SF WCAL school Riordan. The game was played somewhat even although SHC was the more consistent team on offense. The outcome was determined simply by a missed PAT giving SI the 1-point victory over the Irish. The Irish defense played well throughout the game and held the SI offense to just 3 first downs while the Irish had 8. In the end the Irish gave up just enough big plays to SI to keep them in the game and the missed PAT became the difference maker. Once again especially at the HS level it shows just how important the kicking game can be.

The quest for the 2016 Irish will once again be IF they can snap their WCAL losing streak and win at least one league game this season. The WCAL loss streak now dates back to 2012 and the win came against Riordan – November 2012 when the Irish won over the Crusader’s by 35-14.

The challenges SHC faces are the same as in preceding years and not easy obstacles to overcome, which include roster size and returning players with varsity experience esp. at the skill positions. Last year’s roster had approx.46 total players at beginning of season while the JV had a relatively small squad of about 30 and the frosh around 45 [frosh turn-outs are usually large and many frosh players drop out after their initial year of FB]. So let’s first take a look at what the Irish have to work with.


The Irish graduated 23 seniors of ½ of last year’s roster. Incl. standout RB/LB Jamar Williams-Sheppard. Players of impact also departing: Keith Ismael – OL, Ronan Murphy – LB, Nick Downes – OL, Jay Na – DB, Kai Martin – DB, Emiliano Guerrero-Salazar – LB, Tommy Franceschini – LB = star RB Williams-Sheppard, 4 players who could play LB, 2 –O-lineman & 2 – DB’s.

SHC did not report any game stats after game 3 last season which leaves fans in the dark as to what back-up players may have contributed [perhaps SHC has 1 knowledgeable sports fan who can step up & contribute stats after each game to MaxPreps this season?

With 23 seniors graduating and a JV squad of 30 last season the Irish will likely depend on soph’s from last year’s Frosh to fill in the gaps. The Frosh at 4-3 in league last season with a small roster apparently have some kids who can play and will move up a year early to varsity. So who of note returns for the Irish? Irish_Cheers has helped me out with some great info from his perspective as to who will be this year’s best players for the Irish. The likely signal caller will be Will Irons up from JV’s or Andres Ruiz who also plays D. Soph RB Levar Watkins takes over for Williams-Sheppard as the featured RB on Offense along with RB Jamal Lavallier. WR spots will include A’reon Mitchell as a featured target. Notable linemen are: Sami Nazzal [6’3-300], Matt Dean 6’0-285], Dan Nocetti [6’2 – 285].

Conclusion: Almost identical scenario to last season’s review of SHC with all the same challenges for both players & coaches and starting a new QB. The biggest question is can SHC score points in a manner to limit their D’s time on the field? SHC was last in both scoring and defense of the 8 WCAL teams for the season scoring around 11-points per game while giving up around 35 per game [a 24-point defecit avg]. SHC starts the season against a Terra Nova team that appears to be slightly better than last season, then heads over to face a Justin Siena team that went 9-3 last season. Justin Siena plays in a much weaker league, but returns a very talented QB whom the Irish will have to contain. The first 2 games listed are both “winnable” games for SHC. Game 3 is versus a very good Menlo-Atherton team who is big & physical and is improved from last season and will likely make a run in the PAL Bay Division. M-A returns 14 starters incl. their QB & top RB. If SHC could win 2 of the 3 games that would be a very positive start and is certainly do-able if everything falls into place. Now if SHC could win all 3 pre-season games OR win 2 incl vs Menlo-Atherton which would be HUGE then the Irish will truly be battle tested for WCAL league play.

 

[colhenrylives]

As usual, simply outstanding piece of work. Better than the established media.

 

[WCAL75]

Thank you Rmbr26 for giving us another year of WCAL analysis. I know how much time and effort you put into this.

 

[jordan24]

Rmbr, MaxPreps, SJ Merc and SFChronicle should hire you for your WCAL football analysis! Keep up the excellent work!

 

[Rmbr26]

Thanks so much colhenrylives, WCAL75, jordan24 & StreakOne for your kind comments.
I am glad you enjoy my posts & appreciate all your feedback as well.

Next Up: St. Ignatius WIldcats

 

[ds1968]

Excellent point Colhenry, I'd brought this up a few times including mapping out the WCAL schools in proximity to each other and also DLS with basically no privates in proximity, but those posts were not well received by Sparta's Faithful. DLS is in a very unique location/situation which lends itself to everything that has made the Spartans what they are and cannot be duplicated by any other private in NorCal or elsewhere for that matter.

From a long ago post for which I was nearly tarred & feathered: "Bellarmine, Valley Christian, MItty and St. Francis are all within 20 miles of each other combined - so they all draw off each other as all are excellent schools. So could this dilute talent in any way you ask? Um, yes, period, end of discusion. Imagine these 4 schools being consolidated into one and only accepting the best of the best and what you have is a "Super DLS".

No mystery here. I posted not long ago that for 2015 DLS had the #1 NorCal rated Football, Basketball & Baseball Teams & that does not happen by accident, nor because of the "Brotherhood" or other claimed reasons by its faithful fans. It is simply because of the athletes, logistics of the school, its affinity to attracting top athletes as an affluent school with excellent coaching & facilities, etc. This 2016 season once again the DLS Spartans will field a roster larger than any WCAL school and deeper as such at likely every position. Now before the DLS fans attack there is a unique system at DLS for FB as they face other national programs with huge rosters and win most of the time. This year looks to be a challenge and DLS is usually up to the challenge. Over time the "rolling start" the Spartans decisively use on offense to the disadvantage of the opposing defense seems to be less of an advantage as perhaps more teams study it and how to make adjustments & opposing teams point it out to officials in advance. It does appear a mystery why no one else employs this advantageous technique other than DLS[?]. I must say though at end of day I always enjoy the DLS Spartans taking down a SoCal power in the state title game if nothing else. Go Sparta!

i actually remember your post about how the 4 wcal schools compete with each other for players where dls does not. i always thought the was a big advantage for dls. i don't know if its true, but i heard info that dls at one time long ago considered joining wcal, but football only. i think that would have gave the league more publicity, but figured that dls would still have the advantage just because of their unique and lonely location. as it was said before, if any of the wcal schools were located around the concord area, it would be a different story.