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2023 WCAL Football

With league play on tap in two weeks, will stick with previous prediction: Four talent tiers:

1. Serra
2. St. Francis, St. Ignatius, Riordan
3. Mitty, Bellarmine, Valley Christian
4. SHC

Time will tell.

Still waiting with rabid anticipation for the analysis of the venerable Dr. Ramble.
 
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My revised WCAL outlook after nonleague and heading into league play starting Sept 23rd.
Hoping @Rmbr26 can chime in on his astute league assessments as there has been signs of him on this board the past few weeks…


  1. Serra - The Padres go 3-0 playing one of the most challenging non-league schedules. Serra’s defense is the strongest defense overall this year. Team speed and athletes everywhere with excellent pursuit and sure bone-jarring tackling. Serra’s offense has shown glimpses, but it gets it done. Most likely good enough for a return to the Open CIF title game, but will be the same story in December vs MD or SJB. They return arguably its best senior class in the program's history. Serra returns the WCAL QB of the year (Smith); OLB of the Year (Alapati), TE of the year (Harrison); DB of the year (Bey); Utility of the year (Green) and Jr of the Year (Mann). A few juniors have also made their mark in the past 3 games and should further bolster the Padres run to State.
  2. Riordan - An OK non-league schedule that saw the Crusaders lose a game on a special teams gaffe to St. Bonaventure. Yesterday’s game was undecided mid 4th quarter. Looking forward to this team to further develop as a team. Still Riordan has the highest ceiling of all the WCAL teams.the strength of this team are with its WRs, Line and QB. Chris Lawson certainly is a legit 4-star player. I have not seen a receiver in the WCAL at this level since VC’s DIckey. The 5 freshman all have played significant minutes and can potentially rival the super 4 freshman that are now seniors at Serra. 3 already have D1 offers! This is Ravipati's 2nd year and this is now his team. Other than Walsh, Ravipati is the only other coach with a State Title. The returning core have dramatically improved. Add the Crusaders highly recruited 3 and 4 star transfers. Depth also appears very much improved as Riordan was decimated from injuries to its top players last year. On paper, Riordan possesses size, speed and talent and should have a break out year. The Crusader Coaching Staff seems up to the task to bring this team together.
  3. St. Francis - Still a tough call to make as I almost took the Lancers @ 2nd ahead of Riordan but I just like the Crusaders' ceiling better. SF appears to reload every year like Serra. Great story with SF's QB Knapp and his recovery. Strong non-league schedule once again. Great story on Knapp's comeback story! He should have a fine year. The Lancers found another power rb in jr Keanaaina last season as he lit it up the second half of the season. Team defense, a power I offense and depth remain hallmarks of the Lancers.
  4. St. Ignatius - SI moves up from my original pick as they seem to have improved after their shellacking againsg SRV. New HC Vandermade replaced longtime coach Regalia and has the 'Cats going in the righ directions. SI brings back its qb (Hummel) who started as a soph last year. He teams up with their leading receiver (St. Gemme) from last year and will be protected by a very good OL led by Mills (several D1 offers) and overall strong junior class that includes hard hitting LB Hunkin.
  5. Mitty - The Monarchs certainly are not a cellar team this year. Though Mitty lost their top weapons in QB and WRs, its starting Rb (Cenzel) had a monster non-league. Can the Monarchs take some of the load off as it enters the WCAL grind? Coach Sullivan has his squad ready to compete and perhaps surprise the league again .
  6. Valley Christian - The only other team in the WCAL that finished with a 3-0 non-league record. The Warriors look to bounce back from last years 0-WCAL record. They bring back a bunch of returners led by its hulk OL (Taulealea) and fireplug RB (Eke). VC lost its Qb to transfer, but gain a promising WR that comes over from Serra and has dubbed himself Megatron. WIll Machado open up his offense to passing game?
  7. Bellarmine - new coach Diaz-Infante takes over for Beauchman. Bells lose their power rb and top DE and LB but return its qb Threatt, WR, TE and leading tackler from last season. The Bells head into the season after finishing 1-2 in non-league barely defeating MA, absoulutely run over by Mack and played an improved game but eventually losing to an upstart Monte Vista team. The Bells D was exposed against Mack - especially its line play. Bellarmine's offense is 2 words - Parker Threatt. He's taken a pounding the last 3 games as the Bells cannot afford to lose him at any time, he's that much of a game changer.
  8. SHC- From non-league, SHC is going to have a long year. The Irish lose a majority of both its offensive firepower and defensive prowess and speed in losing Mixon, Sanders and Miller to graduation. They bring back 4year varsity player McGrath and is protected by a huge OL led by Young and Hatch. Some key returners include Salgado and Irons at WR/DB. SHC falls a bit short in its talent and depth compared to the past few seasons. I heard there are some promising freshman, perhaps Coach Evans brings a few of them up to varsity.
 
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Footballgrind said:
When talent is comparable Riordan is going to get out coached
Click to expand...
Do you care to cite any backup? So you’re telling me the other league schools who lost in non-league also got out-coached? As @jordan24, states, Ravipati and Walsh are the only 2 WCAL coaches with a State title. And Ravipati did it at a public school.
 
Would tend to agree with 95 percent of that analysis. The other 5 percent would be inconsequential.
 
End of pre-league WCAL games view:
Serra is in the driver's seat as expected. I think the Padres will go undefeated in WCAL league play. But we all know that the WCAL can be a gauntlet run. They performed well with arguably one of the toughest pre-league schedules in NorCal.

The rest the teams are listed in order of surprise factor and not necessarily in order of league placement.

St. Ignatius has performed better than expected. Their best test was a first game loss to SRV which probably marks SI ceiling. Although not as good as previous years, a win over Cathedral was telling. And edging Jesuit bears well.

Bellarmine is surprising on the down side. BCP beat M-A to begin the season but it turns out M-A is not looking good this year. A blank by a good Mack team and allowing an early deficit against MV that led to a defeat does not bode well for league play.

Riordan probably identified their ceiling with the St. Bonny loss yesterday. AR may have the second best level of D1 players in WCAL this year, but time will tell if they can convert that talent into wins within league play.

St. Francis created a great pre-league schedule this year with DLS, Helix and MT. Unfortunately, SF seems down this year. They may still be able to perform reasonably well in league play, but not to any dominant level as the last few years.

Valley Christian finished their pre-league season undefeated. Their season is far better than last year where they may have fielded their worst season since 1996. But it seems VC's entire pre-season list of opponents were significantly down this year as well.

Mitty was expected to be down this year due to a good senior class moving on. But on the whole AM has done well with an undefeated pre-league schedule. They well likely end in the upper middle of the WCAL pack.

Sacred Heat Cathedral created a tough pre-league schedule but they failed to win a single game. This could be a difficult year for SHC in league play.
 
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FBAddict said:
End of pre-league WCAL games view:
Serra is in the driver's seat as expected. I think the Padres will go undefeated in WCAL league play. But we all know that the WCAL can be a gauntlet run. They performed well with arguably one of the toughest pre-league schedules in NorCal.

The rest the teams are listed in order of surprise factor and necessarily in order of league placement.

St. Ignatius has performed better than expected. Their best test was a first game loss to SRV which probably marks SI ceiling. Although not as good as previous years, a win over Cathedral was telling. And edging Jesuit bears well.

Bellarmine is surprising on the down side. BCP beat M-A to begin the season but it turns out M-A is not looking good this year. A blank by a good Mack team and allowing an early deficit against MV that led to a defeat does not bode well for league play.

Riordan probably identified their ceiling with the St. Bonny loss yesterday. AR may have the second best level of D1 players in WCAL this year, but time will tell if they can convert that talent into wins within league play.

St. Francis created a great pre-league schedule this year with DLS, Helix and MT. Unfortunately, SF seems down this year. They may still be able to perform reasonably well in league play, but not to any dominant level as the last few years.

Valley Christian finished their pre-league season undefeated. Their season is far better than last year where they may have fielded their worst season since 1996. But it seems their entire pre-season list of opponents were significantly down this year as well.

Mitty was expected to be down this year due to a good senior class moving on. But the whole AM has done well with an undefeated pre-league schedule. They well likely end in the upper middle of the WCAL pack.

Sacred Heat Cathedral created a tough pre-league schedule but they failed to win a single game. This could be a difficult year for SHC in league play.
Click to expand...
I like how you ordered in terms of surprise. Great idea! I've been impressed by SI. Didn't think they looked great against SRV, which is pretty good in its own right, but they have bounced back well against two solid programs
 
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Streak One said:
I like how you ordered in terms of surprise. Great idea! I've been impressed by SI. Didn't think they looked great against SRV, which is pretty good in its own right, but they have bounced back well against two solid programs
Click to expand...
Who is SI's QB, I remember hearing talk that they got the QB kid from Serra (or not) Brandon Mann?
 
FBIQ said:
Who is SI's QB, I remember hearing talk that they got the QB kid from Serra (or not) Brandon Mann?
Click to expand...
I watched SI vs Jesuit and they are solid. They have a great young TE (Tito). I think QB is kid named Hummel but the soph may have gotten reps too. Anyway, I know they didn’t look good against SRV but I thought they were solid and have a really good kicker too. They went on road and beat Jesuit under the lights.
 
jordan24 said:
My revised WCAL outlook after nonleague and heading into league play starting Sept 23rd.
Hoping @Rmbr26 can chime in on his astute league assessments as there has been signs of him on this board the past few weeks…


  1. Serra - The Padres go 3-0 playing one of the most challenging non-league schedules. Serra’s defense is the strongest defense overall this year. Team speed and athletes everywhere with excellent pursuit and sure bone-jarring tackling. Serra’s offense has shown glimpses, but it gets it done. Most likely good enough for a return to the Open CIF title game, but will be the same story in December vs MD or SJB. They return arguably its best senior class in the program's history. Serra returns the WCAL QB of the year (Smith); OLB of the Year (Alapati), TE of the year (Harrison); DB of the year (Bey); Utility of the year (Green) and Jr of the Year (Mann). A few juniors have also made their mark in the past 3 games and should further bolster the Padres run to State.
  2. Riordan - An OK non-league schedule that saw the Crusaders lose a game on a special teams gaffe to St. Bonaventure. Yesterday’s game was undecided mid 4th quarter. Looking forward to this team to further develop as a team. Still Riordan has the highest ceiling of all the WCAL teams.the strength of this team are with its WRs, Line and QB. Chris Lawson certainly is a legit 4-star player. I have not seen a receiver in the WCAL at this level since VC’s DIckey. The 5 freshman all have played significant minutes and can potentially rival the super 4 freshman that are now seniors at Serra. 3 already have D1 offers! This is Ravipati's 2nd year and this is now his team. Other than Walsh, Ravipati is the only other coach with a State Title. The returning core have dramatically improved. Add the Crusaders highly recruited 3 and 4 star transfers. Depth also appears very much improved as Riordan was decimated from injuries to its top players last year. On paper, Riordan possesses size, speed and talent and should have a break out year. The Crusader Coaching Staff seems up to the task to bring this team together.
  3. St. Francis - Still a tough call to make as I almost took the Lancers @ 2nd ahead of Riordan but I just like the Crusaders' ceiling better. SF appears to reload every year like Serra. Great story with SF's QB Knapp and his recovery. Strong non-league schedule once again. Great story on Knapp's comeback story! He should have a fine year. The Lancers found another power rb in jr Keanaaina last season as he lit it up the second half of the season. Team defense, a power I offense and depth remain hallmarks of the Lancers.
  4. St. Ignatius - SI moves up from my original pick as they seem to have improved after their shellacking againsg SRV. New HC Vandermade replaced longtime coach Regalia and has the 'Cats going in the righ directions. SI brings back its qb (Hummel) who started as a soph last year. He teams up with their leading receiver (St. Gemme) from last year and will be protected by a very good OL led by Mills (several D1 offers) and overall strong junior class that includes hard hitting LB Hunkin.
  5. Mitty - The Monarchs certainly are not a cellar team this year. Though Mitty lost their top weapons in QB and WRs, its starting Rb (Cenzel) had a monster non-league. Can the Monarchs take some of the load off as it enters the WCAL grind? Coach Sullivan has his squad ready to compete and perhaps surprise the league again .
  6. Valley Christian - The only other team in the WCAL that finished with a 3-0 non-league record. The Warriors look to bounce back from last years 0-WCAL record. They bring back a bunch of returners led by its hulk OL (Taulealea) and fireplug RB (Eke). VC lost its Qb to transfer, but gain a promising WR that comes over from Serra and has dubbed himself Megatron. WIll Machado open up his offense to passing game?
  7. Bellarmine - new coach Diaz-Infante takes over for Beauchman. Bells lose their power rb and top DE and LB but return its qb Threatt, WR, TE and leading tackler from last season. The Bells head into the season after finishing 1-2 in non-league barely defeating MA, absoulutely run over by Mack and played an improved game but eventually losing to an upstart Monte Vista team. The Bells D was exposed against Mack - especially its line play. Bellarmine's offense is 2 words - Parker Threatt. He's taken a pounding the last 3 games as the Bells cannot afford to lose him at any time, he's that much of a game changer.
  8. SHC- From non-league, SHC is going to have a long year. The Irish lose a majority of both its offensive firepower and defensive prowess and speed in losing Mixon, Sanders and Miller to graduation. They bring back 4year varsity player McGrath and is protected by a huge OL led by Young and Hatch. Some key returners include Salgado and Irons at WR/DB. SHC falls a bit short in its talent and depth compared to the past few seasons. I heard there are some promising freshman, perhaps Coach Evans brings a few of them up to varsity.
Click to expand...
In the foggy recesses of my mind I seem to recall SF and Calcagno defeating Grace Brethren for a state title. Maybe 2017, the same year Serra beat Cajon. I'm sure someone will look it up.
 
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FBIQ said:
Who is SI's QB, I remember hearing talk that they got the QB kid from Serra (or not) Brandon Mann?
Click to expand...
Jr. Sorel Hummel. He was the starter for most of the season last year as a sophomore. I believe the SI freshman qb last year is better than Mann. He’s now at Marin Catholic and playing well.
 
On the whole, WCAL non-league schedules were solid. Only Mitty's could be considered less than stringent. On a purely non-professional basis, here's a rating setup (based on 10 being absolutely murderous _ Gorman, Mater Dei, Bosco, etc.) for the eight WCAL units so far:

Serra and St. Francis, 8.5; St. Ignatius, 7.5; Bellarmine and SHC, 7; Riordan and VC, 6.5; Mitty, 5.5.

No one's schedule was a total walk in the park. But Mitty's clearly was the least challenging when compared to the other seven.

And, by the way, special kudos to SHC. Having never even threatened to win a WCAL varsity football title ever, the Irish nonetheless continue to put their program on the line during the pre-season. No pathetic cupcakes for them. Nice.
 
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Since there are roughly 431 CIF bowl games and the AAA in SF appears to be one of the dominant leagues in NorCal due to the equity system, let's edit those crowns thusly: "CIF Equity Bowl Champions."
 
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colhenrylives said:
Since there are roughly 431 CIF bowl games and the AAA in SF appears to be one of the dominant leagues in NorCal due to the equity system, let's edit those crowns thusly: "CIF Equity Bowl Champions."
Click to expand...
Easy. Lincoln did beat the LA Section Champion, Crenshaw, last year. 4.76M to 876K population.
 
FBAddict said:
Very important distinction!
Click to expand...
The lower down the rung you go, the more it seems to become an equity thing. If you have a league champ playing in one of the top divisions beating a highly touted team from SoCal, I give it credence. But when it's a fourth-place team with a barely .500 record beating a ho-hum SoCal team then I roll my eyes.
 
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