Three of the top five teams played in the state bowls this past week with Grant bringing home the 2-AA title. In the final rankings of the season, what are the takeaways after a full season of football?
De La Salle is back as the top team in Northern California and showed its fight in getting into a one possession game with Mater Dei in the second before falling 37-15. The Spartans beat five of the Top 8 teams this season using excellent team speed and strong line play as their backbone.
The SFL and WCAL maintained their presence among the best in NorCal with seven Top 20 teams. While Folsom won another SFL title by winning each game by at least 28 points, St. Ignatius was a surprise winner in the WCAL (shared honors with St. Francis) and won the CCS Open Division.
Two areas of Northern California that can get overlooked are the Salinas/Santa Cruz region and the North Bay area. This season, those areas put four teams into the final Top 20. Cardinal Newman and Marin Catholic split games as new league mates, but Cardinal Newman won the playoff meeting. Soquel won the league title with a 35-14 over Salinas. However, both teams fell in the first round of the CCS Open/Division I playoffs.
There aren’t many unanswered questions left to answer from the 2024 season, but one that will have to be left open is the Folsom-Grant matchup. Folsom won the SJS Division I title and Grant took the Division II championship. In the regionals, Folsom fell to Pittsburg 28-27 after a late missed two point conversion and Grant kicked a last second field goal to beat St. Francis 32-30.
The season ended with a 55-19 loss to Palos Verdes in the 2-A State Bowl game, but it was a historic season for Twelve Bridges. The Raging Rhinos made their first appearance in the NCP Top 20 and won the school’s first football section title despite having to replace 18 starters from the 2023 team.
1. De La Salle (12-1)
2. Pittsburg (12-3)
3. Folsom (12-2)
4. San Ramon Valley (11-2)
5. Grant (12-3)
6. St. Ignatius (10-3)
7. St. Francis-Mountain View (10-4)
8. St. Mary’s-Stockton (9-3)
9. Oak Ridge (8-5)
10. Rocklin (10-3)
11. Los Gatos (10-3)
12. Riordan (7-5)
13. Cardinal Newman (10-2)
14. Marin Catholic (8-3)
15. Manteca (10-2)
16. Soquel (8-3)
17. Serra (5-6)
18. Turlock (9-4)
19. Salinas (8-3)
20. Twelve Bridges (14-1)
De La Salle is back as the top team in Northern California and showed its fight in getting into a one possession game with Mater Dei in the second before falling 37-15. The Spartans beat five of the Top 8 teams this season using excellent team speed and strong line play as their backbone.
The SFL and WCAL maintained their presence among the best in NorCal with seven Top 20 teams. While Folsom won another SFL title by winning each game by at least 28 points, St. Ignatius was a surprise winner in the WCAL (shared honors with St. Francis) and won the CCS Open Division.
Two areas of Northern California that can get overlooked are the Salinas/Santa Cruz region and the North Bay area. This season, those areas put four teams into the final Top 20. Cardinal Newman and Marin Catholic split games as new league mates, but Cardinal Newman won the playoff meeting. Soquel won the league title with a 35-14 over Salinas. However, both teams fell in the first round of the CCS Open/Division I playoffs.
There aren’t many unanswered questions left to answer from the 2024 season, but one that will have to be left open is the Folsom-Grant matchup. Folsom won the SJS Division I title and Grant took the Division II championship. In the regionals, Folsom fell to Pittsburg 28-27 after a late missed two point conversion and Grant kicked a last second field goal to beat St. Francis 32-30.
The season ended with a 55-19 loss to Palos Verdes in the 2-A State Bowl game, but it was a historic season for Twelve Bridges. The Raging Rhinos made their first appearance in the NCP Top 20 and won the school’s first football section title despite having to replace 18 starters from the 2023 team.
1. De La Salle (12-1)
2. Pittsburg (12-3)
3. Folsom (12-2)
4. San Ramon Valley (11-2)
5. Grant (12-3)
6. St. Ignatius (10-3)
7. St. Francis-Mountain View (10-4)
8. St. Mary’s-Stockton (9-3)
9. Oak Ridge (8-5)
10. Rocklin (10-3)
11. Los Gatos (10-3)
12. Riordan (7-5)
13. Cardinal Newman (10-2)
14. Marin Catholic (8-3)
15. Manteca (10-2)
16. Soquel (8-3)
17. Serra (5-6)
18. Turlock (9-4)
19. Salinas (8-3)
20. Twelve Bridges (14-1)
