The preseason is over and It’s finally here! League! Where we finally get to see what the wins and losses mean from the first three weeks, and where the quest for a banner begins! Here’s a quick projection from my end! We’ll start with the problem children and end with the big boys!
West Valley
Champ: Gunderson
Hill
Mt. Pleasant
Evergreen Valley
Yerba Buena
Del Mar
San Jose
James Lick
One thing that’s a for sure takeaway from the first three games and that who will be on the bottom half of this league. Let’s just hope they can establish a culture to move forward and be more competitive in years to come, teams like these are who we need to grow in order to save our game of HS football and make the BVAL more equitable/competitive. With that being said the Automatic qualifier here or league champion is going to be a four-man race but at the end of the day, it is going to be between Andrew Hill and Gunderson. The league championship could easily be their week 7 matchup. I really believe that Gundersons’ grueling preseason schedule will pay off for them. No team in this league is even close to those three contests and barring injury they will be ready for the sub-par opponents. The Grizzlies take the West Valley.
Santa Teresa
Champ: Leigh
Branham
Westmont
Sobrato
Pioneer
Prospect
Willow Glen
Independence
The battle for Santa Teresa Is going to be a little more interesting and it starts right out of the gate! Games with huge implications are being played this opening week. First off unbeaten Westmont will play unbeaten Leigh for what will be control of Santa Teresa the winner of this game will be the clear front runner. The second game to keep an eye on would be the potential “battle for an at-large bid” Branham is taking on Sobrato with the winner being in position to get a hard-to-come-by at large bid into the CCS playoffs. Between those two teams, Branham can also flip the table here with the ability to challenge Leigh and Westmont, so the top part of this league is as close as any. After watching pioneer this weekend I’m having doubts and the last three teams will be competitive amongst each other. This is definitely going to be the league to watch in terms of having impactful playoff implications.
Mt. Hamilton
Champ: Live Oak
Leland
Silver Creek
Piedmont Hills
Overfelt
Santa Teresa
Oak Grove
Lincoln
This is going to come down to three teams and the battle of attrition. Silver Creek, Leland, and Live Oak all are solid contenders. Leland and Silver Creek kick things off week one and Leland will be Creek’s first big test after losing to a down Milpitas team. The winner of this game will play Live Oak for the league title. The only other team that can possibly blindside LO is an athletic Piedmont Hills team or a late peaking Santa Teresa however that seems like it will be a longshot. The Mount Hamilton is the Acorns to lose but I don’t see them slipping up.
What an exciting time in the South Bay, I’m excited to see how things shake out this weekend!
West Valley
Champ: Gunderson
Hill
Mt. Pleasant
Evergreen Valley
Yerba Buena
Del Mar
San Jose
James Lick
One thing that’s a for sure takeaway from the first three games and that who will be on the bottom half of this league. Let’s just hope they can establish a culture to move forward and be more competitive in years to come, teams like these are who we need to grow in order to save our game of HS football and make the BVAL more equitable/competitive. With that being said the Automatic qualifier here or league champion is going to be a four-man race but at the end of the day, it is going to be between Andrew Hill and Gunderson. The league championship could easily be their week 7 matchup. I really believe that Gundersons’ grueling preseason schedule will pay off for them. No team in this league is even close to those three contests and barring injury they will be ready for the sub-par opponents. The Grizzlies take the West Valley.
Santa Teresa
Champ: Leigh
Branham
Westmont
Sobrato
Pioneer
Prospect
Willow Glen
Independence
The battle for Santa Teresa Is going to be a little more interesting and it starts right out of the gate! Games with huge implications are being played this opening week. First off unbeaten Westmont will play unbeaten Leigh for what will be control of Santa Teresa the winner of this game will be the clear front runner. The second game to keep an eye on would be the potential “battle for an at-large bid” Branham is taking on Sobrato with the winner being in position to get a hard-to-come-by at large bid into the CCS playoffs. Between those two teams, Branham can also flip the table here with the ability to challenge Leigh and Westmont, so the top part of this league is as close as any. After watching pioneer this weekend I’m having doubts and the last three teams will be competitive amongst each other. This is definitely going to be the league to watch in terms of having impactful playoff implications.
Mt. Hamilton
Champ: Live Oak
Leland
Silver Creek
Piedmont Hills
Overfelt
Santa Teresa
Oak Grove
Lincoln
This is going to come down to three teams and the battle of attrition. Silver Creek, Leland, and Live Oak all are solid contenders. Leland and Silver Creek kick things off week one and Leland will be Creek’s first big test after losing to a down Milpitas team. The winner of this game will play Live Oak for the league title. The only other team that can possibly blindside LO is an athletic Piedmont Hills team or a late peaking Santa Teresa however that seems like it will be a longshot. The Mount Hamilton is the Acorns to lose but I don’t see them slipping up.
What an exciting time in the South Bay, I’m excited to see how things shake out this weekend!
