PCAL Week 11
I was excited for a moment when I heard that St. Francis Vs the Padres was a pick ‘em game for the week. Then I looked at the schedule and the Sharks were playing Pajaro Valley and Carmel was playing Monterey. After a little investigating, I realized 2 small private schools up in the Bay Area are playing each other this weekend. Apparently, it has some playoff/state ramifications. I would rather watch Carmel play St. Francis CC. 😊
Last week of the regular season and some playoff spots are still up in the air. The Gabilan top 5 are in, the big question is if Palma can upset Salinas and force a 3 way tie for 1st with Aptos and Hollister. Does the winner of Alverez v Alisal get in the playoffs? With a losing record? In the Mission; Santa Cruz plays Soquel for the title, but both those teams are in the playoffs. North Salinas plays Gilroy winner advances loser turns in their gear. Carmel plays Monterey in the “best team on the Monterey Peninsula” bowl. Very down year for the peninsula teams. In the Cypress; Scott’s Valley is the league champ, while King City should make the playoffs with a win over long time rival PG. St. Francis CC won the Santa Lucia division some time back in August I believe.
Last Week- 9-3 Overall 103-33
Gabilan
Thu 11/04 Seaside (CA) at San Benito (Hollister, CA), 7:30pm- Seaside has been playing inspired football the 2nd half of the season, not good enough to beat Hollister but closer than most think. Hollister 35-20
Fri 11/05 Alvarez (Salinas, CA) at Alisal (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm- Winner of this game may get in to the playoffs depending what else happen around the CCS. Alisal has really faded due to injuries the past few weeks. Alvarez 21-7
Fri 11/05 Aptos (CA) at Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA), 7:30pm- Aptos is really good, MVC is not. MVC has been one of the bigger disappointments this year. Aptos 49-7
Fri 11/05 Salinas (CA) vs Palma (Salinas, CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm -Took me a few weeks to jump on that Salinas Bandwagon, but I am all in. This is a complete football team, and they will compete well and maybe turn some heads in the DI playoffs. A win gives them a chance at a home game. Palma will be a tough out, their offense is really good. Their Defense is not quite as fgood as the Cowboys. Salinas 35-24
Mission
Thu 11/04 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) vs Gilroy (CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:00pm- Winner goes to CCS loser turns in their gear. These 2 teams are pretty evenly matched. Neither one is going to blow you out, both need to limit mistakes. Gilroy QB is very dynamic and gives them some really good RPO opportunities. NS has a great ground game with 2 backs that can really wear down a defense. Taking Gilroy in a squeaker. Gilroy 28-27
Fri 11/05 Soquel (CA) at Santa Cruz (CA), 7:30pm -Santa Cruz has just dominated everyone on the schedule. Soquel just wins, not by a lot, but they just win. If Soquel can limit Santa Cruz big plays and control the tempo, they have a real shot here. But Controlling Santa Cruz will be to tough this year. Santa Cruz 35-7
Fri 11/05 Gonzales (CA) at Soledad (CA), 7:30pm- Two teams struggling with new coaching staffs and not playing last spring. Soledad is not really disciplined, they had an outstanding amount of pnalrties v Carmel last week, and a coach get kicked out of the game. Gonzales has had a lot of trouble scoring points this year. Soledad is probably the better team, but I ma taking the upset. Gonzales 24-22
Sat 11/06 Carmel (CA) at Monterey (CA), 2:00pm -This game is tough to predict because not sure who will be available for Monterey. After 2weeks of Covid I would think a lot of their Varsity players will be back. Carmel’s offense looked much better last week but they still need a better ground game, and their defense looked awful at times. Carmel is a bit mor disciplined than Monterey. Carmel 35-28
Cypress
Thu 11/04 King City (CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:00pm – Two long time rivals face off with a playoff spot on the line for KC. PG has had some injuries and is down. KC is looking for a trip to the playoff for the first time in 15(?) years. King City 35-14
Fri 11/05 Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:30pm- Rancho San Juan has been a nice story this year getting it’s first 2 victories in its history. Look for this school to get better as it starts to build a foundation in N east Salinas. Rancho 24-20
Fri 11/05 Watsonville (CA) at North Monterey County (Castroville, CA), 7:30pm- Watsonville has been playing better of late, NMC is still trying to unify under new coach. Watsonville 28-14
Sat 11/06 San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA) at Scotts Valley (CA), 2:00pm – Scott’s Valley will probably be moving up to the Mission next year. SLV will probably be trying out new headsets. Scott’s Valley 35-0
Santa Lucia
at 11/06 St. Francis (Watsonville, CA) vs Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA) at Cabrillo College (Aptos, CA), 7:30pm – In what will be a tune up for their run in the D5 playoffs, St. Francis should have no problem stopping Pajaro’s win streak at 1. St.Francis 28-7
Sat 11/06 Stevenson (Pebble Beach, CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 6:00pm -Well RLS can at least finish with a winning record by beating harbor again. What I though was going to be a great season and a trip to the playoffs, has turned sour. I am hoping WR1 recovers well for basketball and Track. You all just wait till next year. Pirateball will be back!
I was excited for a moment when I heard that St. Francis Vs the Padres was a pick ‘em game for the week. Then I looked at the schedule and the Sharks were playing Pajaro Valley and Carmel was playing Monterey. After a little investigating, I realized 2 small private schools up in the Bay Area are playing each other this weekend. Apparently, it has some playoff/state ramifications. I would rather watch Carmel play St. Francis CC. 😊
Last week of the regular season and some playoff spots are still up in the air. The Gabilan top 5 are in, the big question is if Palma can upset Salinas and force a 3 way tie for 1st with Aptos and Hollister. Does the winner of Alverez v Alisal get in the playoffs? With a losing record? In the Mission; Santa Cruz plays Soquel for the title, but both those teams are in the playoffs. North Salinas plays Gilroy winner advances loser turns in their gear. Carmel plays Monterey in the “best team on the Monterey Peninsula” bowl. Very down year for the peninsula teams. In the Cypress; Scott’s Valley is the league champ, while King City should make the playoffs with a win over long time rival PG. St. Francis CC won the Santa Lucia division some time back in August I believe.
Last Week- 9-3 Overall 103-33
Gabilan
Thu 11/04 Seaside (CA) at San Benito (Hollister, CA), 7:30pm- Seaside has been playing inspired football the 2nd half of the season, not good enough to beat Hollister but closer than most think. Hollister 35-20
Fri 11/05 Alvarez (Salinas, CA) at Alisal (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm- Winner of this game may get in to the playoffs depending what else happen around the CCS. Alisal has really faded due to injuries the past few weeks. Alvarez 21-7
Fri 11/05 Aptos (CA) at Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA), 7:30pm- Aptos is really good, MVC is not. MVC has been one of the bigger disappointments this year. Aptos 49-7
Fri 11/05 Salinas (CA) vs Palma (Salinas, CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm -Took me a few weeks to jump on that Salinas Bandwagon, but I am all in. This is a complete football team, and they will compete well and maybe turn some heads in the DI playoffs. A win gives them a chance at a home game. Palma will be a tough out, their offense is really good. Their Defense is not quite as fgood as the Cowboys. Salinas 35-24
Mission
Thu 11/04 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) vs Gilroy (CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:00pm- Winner goes to CCS loser turns in their gear. These 2 teams are pretty evenly matched. Neither one is going to blow you out, both need to limit mistakes. Gilroy QB is very dynamic and gives them some really good RPO opportunities. NS has a great ground game with 2 backs that can really wear down a defense. Taking Gilroy in a squeaker. Gilroy 28-27
Fri 11/05 Soquel (CA) at Santa Cruz (CA), 7:30pm -Santa Cruz has just dominated everyone on the schedule. Soquel just wins, not by a lot, but they just win. If Soquel can limit Santa Cruz big plays and control the tempo, they have a real shot here. But Controlling Santa Cruz will be to tough this year. Santa Cruz 35-7
Fri 11/05 Gonzales (CA) at Soledad (CA), 7:30pm- Two teams struggling with new coaching staffs and not playing last spring. Soledad is not really disciplined, they had an outstanding amount of pnalrties v Carmel last week, and a coach get kicked out of the game. Gonzales has had a lot of trouble scoring points this year. Soledad is probably the better team, but I ma taking the upset. Gonzales 24-22
Sat 11/06 Carmel (CA) at Monterey (CA), 2:00pm -This game is tough to predict because not sure who will be available for Monterey. After 2weeks of Covid I would think a lot of their Varsity players will be back. Carmel’s offense looked much better last week but they still need a better ground game, and their defense looked awful at times. Carmel is a bit mor disciplined than Monterey. Carmel 35-28
Cypress
Thu 11/04 King City (CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:00pm – Two long time rivals face off with a playoff spot on the line for KC. PG has had some injuries and is down. KC is looking for a trip to the playoff for the first time in 15(?) years. King City 35-14
Fri 11/05 Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:30pm- Rancho San Juan has been a nice story this year getting it’s first 2 victories in its history. Look for this school to get better as it starts to build a foundation in N east Salinas. Rancho 24-20
Fri 11/05 Watsonville (CA) at North Monterey County (Castroville, CA), 7:30pm- Watsonville has been playing better of late, NMC is still trying to unify under new coach. Watsonville 28-14
Sat 11/06 San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA) at Scotts Valley (CA), 2:00pm – Scott’s Valley will probably be moving up to the Mission next year. SLV will probably be trying out new headsets. Scott’s Valley 35-0
Santa Lucia
at 11/06 St. Francis (Watsonville, CA) vs Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA) at Cabrillo College (Aptos, CA), 7:30pm – In what will be a tune up for their run in the D5 playoffs, St. Francis should have no problem stopping Pajaro’s win streak at 1. St.Francis 28-7
Sat 11/06 Stevenson (Pebble Beach, CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 6:00pm -Well RLS can at least finish with a winning record by beating harbor again. What I though was going to be a great season and a trip to the playoffs, has turned sour. I am hoping WR1 recovers well for basketball and Track. You all just wait till next year. Pirateball will be back!
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