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PCAL Week 2

RLS13

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Nov 8, 2016
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PCAL Week 2

Last week had 18 Games originally scheduled, ended up playing 16 between Thursday and Monday night. Look for more of the same this week between COVID, Smoke and a shortage of qualified officials, all teams will have to be ready to move games to different location or different times with in a 24-hour period.

As far as the PCAL goes, no real big surprises. Salinas and Palma had probably the 2 most impressive victories. Not that they won, but by beating up 2 good programs in Half Moon Bay (Salinas 42-22) and Mitty (Palam 47-0). The top of the Gabilan should be fun. Santa Cruz’s domination of Seaside should serve notice they are the team to beat in the Mission.

I also want to address the tragedy at Aptos Tuesday as a student (not with the football program I believe) was stabbed and killed during school. As parents, we expect our kids to be safe at school and Aptos has always had an outstanding reputation as a great, safe school. I cannot imagine the grief this child’s family is facing. The school will not be meeting for the next few days, but I believe the game with Campolindo is still on.

Last week: 14-2 (taking the Hollister game as a win 😉)



This week

Gabilan:

Thu 09/02 Alvarez (Salinas, CA) at Soledad (CA), 7:00pm: Alvarez comes out of COVID quarantine, look for them to out physical Soledad. Alvarez 24-14

Fri 09/03 Sobrato (Morgan Hill, CA) at Alisal (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm: Sobrato got beat up pretty good by Christopher last week, Alisal wont score as much but should take the W. Alisal 31-7

Fri 09/03 Aptos (CA) at Campolindo (Moraga, CA), 7:00pm; One of the better intersectional matchups of the weekend in NorCAl. These are 2 of the most consistent public school team programs. Every year they reload and compete. I am taking home team in a squeaker. Campolindo 24-23

Fri 09/03 Live Oak (Morgan Hill, CA) at Christopher (Gilroy, CA), 7:00pm: Picked against the Acorns last week and they beat Gilroy, but Christopher is better. Christopher 31-28

Fri 09/03 Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco, CA) vs Palma (Salinas, CA) at Kezar Stadium (San Francisco, CA), 7:00pm: Palma embarrassed Mitty last week in a dominating 47-0 victory, SHC should put up a better fight. Palma 28-14

Fri 09/03 Salinas (CA) at Placer (Auburn, CA), 7:00pm: This game has been Cancelled. Salinas Looking to fill its bye week of 10/23. Placer will play Antelope, AQI permitting.

Fri 09/03 Wilcox (Santa Clara, CA) at San Benito (Hollister, CA), 7:30pm: Another great matchup. Hollister only got a half of football in last week; Wilcox probably wishes the 2nd half of their game was not played. Taking the home team Hollister 25-20

Fri 09/03 Monterey (CA) at Seaside (CA), 7:30pm: The all-time series is tied 27-27. Seaside has never led, which is surprising. I see Monterey breaking the tie. Monterey 28-27 (like what I did with the score)

Sat 09/04 Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA) at Carmel (CA), 2:00pm: Both teams took care of business vs “undermanned” squads last week. Carmel had a rough start before pulling away from PG 46-26, while MVC dominated NMC 35-0. Comes down to MVC physicality vs Carmel Speed. I am homer, mild upset Carmel 35-28



Mission


Fri 09/03 Leigh (San Jose, CA) at Gilroy (CA), 7:00pm: Gilroy lost to Live Oak, while Leigh beat a decent Lincoln team. I like the Road team. Leigh 24-10

Fri 09/03 Pacific Grove (CA) at Gonzales (CA), 7:30pm; PG had 8 turnovers last week, Carmel’s defense is not that good. PG must limit the mistakes. Gonzales had a scheduled bye last week, so the program will be making their debut with a new head coach. I still don’t like PG. Gonzales 18-14

Fri 09/03 Hillsdale (San Mateo, CA) at Soquel (CA), 7:00pm – Hillsdale had a close game with Terra Nova last week, Soquel took it on the chin 28-6 from Scott’s Valley. Hillsdale 35-14

Sat 09/04 Santa Cruz (CA) at Scotts Valley (CA), 2:00pm – Glad this game is happening, originally Scott’s Valley was playing South San Francisco. Both teams looked great last weekend, but I think the Cardinals are really good this year. Santa Cruz 38-14

Fri 09/10 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Atascadero (CA), 7:00pm – North Salinas got punched in the mouth by Alisal last week, Atascadero is a historically strong program, Although they seem down these past few years. I see a long drive home for the Vikings. Atascadero 26-10

Cypress


Thu 09/02 San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA) at Los Altos (CA), 7:00pm- SLV’s game last week was cancelled. But the headsets are back and working. Not enough help. Los Altos 24-20

Fri 09/03 King City (CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:00pm; KC played Monday night and ran away from St. Francis with almost 300 yards on the ground. Bruins best hope is that KC is still tired. King City 38-14

Fri 09/03 Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA) at Woodside (CA), 7:00pm Rancho San Juan will be looking for their First Victory, First Points and their First 1st down. They will get 2 of the 3. Woodside 21-6

Sat 09/04 St. Francis (Watsonville, CA) vs Watsonville (CA) at Cabrillo College (Aptos, CA), 7:30pm: Like KC did on Monday, Watsonville depth will allow them to Pull away in the 2nd half. Watsonville 34-24

Sat 09/04 North Monterey County (Castroville, CA) at Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA), 2:00pm: NMC should have a much easier time with Pajaro then with MVC. North Monterey 23-13

Santa Lucia


Fri 09/03 Lick (San Jose, CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 7:30pm: Not sure when the last time Harbor won 2 in row, but safe to say it has been a long time! Harbor28-24
 
The Santa Cruz-Seaside game was another demonstration of how dumb it was to make the Gab division so big. At best, it should be Salinas, Palma, Hollister, Aptos, Christopher, and MVC. The CCS should review its rule against leagues/divisions smaller than 6 teams.
 
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The Santa Cruz-Seaside game was another demonstration of how dumb it was to make the Gab division so big. At best, it should be Salinas, Palma, Hollister, Aptos, Christopher, and MVC. The CCS should review its rule against leagues/divisions smaller than 6 teams.
Agree. Gab should have 2 or optimally 3 less teams. Some of these games will be over in the first quarter whe the top teams play the bottom half.
 
IMO,
CCS should consider, for football only, regional equity leagues.
Examples:

A south CCS "A" Dixson of: Aptos, Salinas, Hollister. Palma, Los Gatos, Valley Christian, Live Oak, Oak Grove

North CCS "A" Division of: St. Francis, Serra, St. Ignatius, Menlo-Atherton, Palo Alto, SHP, Burlingame

Etc...

Right now there are 38 "A" league teams, an argument can be made that there are only +/- 20 or so real A teams. Put those teams in 3- 4 Divisions, everyone else in B or C leagues again based on geography. Keep the playoff format/formual the same.

CAL14, I think you may be right about Seaside. They should not be up there this year, I am afraid kids might start getting hurt. Not good.
 
IMO,
CCS should consider, for football only, regional equity leagues.
Examples:

A south CCS "A" Dixson of: Aptos, Salinas, Hollister. Palma, Los Gatos, Valley Christian, Live Oak, Oak Grove

North CCS "A" Division of: St. Francis, Serra, St. Ignatius, Menlo-Atherton, Palo Alto, SHP, Burlingame

Etc...

Right now there are 38 "A" league teams, an argument can be made that there are only +/- 20 or so real A teams. Put those teams in 3- 4 Divisions, everyone else in B or C leagues again based on geography. Keep the playoff format/formual the same.

CAL14, I think you may be right about Seaside. They should not be up there this year, I am afraid kids might start getting hurt. Not good.
I would like to see something like you have configured, but on Fridays the traffic even today it takes a couple hours in traffic to get from San Jose to Salinas. 101 is a mess especially once you get past Gilroy driving down. took me almost 3 hours to get from Pleasanton to Salinas last Friday when I left around 3pm. Probably not practical. However I do think if the Gab went down to 7 teams you would see more competition among the teams in your brackets.
 
Chieftains v the Irish (will be on video stream)
Tonight's Palma versus SHC should be a decent benchmark for both teams. I watched SHC last week on video and they seem to have a couple good impact players and a larger line than Palma's. Sacred Heart Prep wasn't very big but they were disciplined, and SHC made a couple big mistakes that could have impacted the result of that game. This game should be more competitive than Mitty last week (which made a lot of early mistakes that buried them early. Mitty may be better than the score indicated since they also had a couple good impact players but I also don't think their lines were as good as the Irish). Irish will be bigger than the Chieftains especially their RB, but Chieftains are pretty quick especially on defense and have a balanced threat. Palma 35-SHC 21

Aptos v Campo
(on video stream)

Supposedly this is one of Coach Blankenship's better Mariners teams if not the best experience and talent. Very good 3-year talented QB and quick and strong RBs and quick line on offense. Return a lot on defense although pass defense could be a weakness. This team could be pretty specially on offense with threat of pass and the its always tough to stop Wing T attack. Campo has almost a complete reload year and have less experienced core, but will be bigger than the Mariners and may give Mariner defense some problems. Still think Mariners offense is going to be tough to stop and they will control the ball most and out score Campo. Aptos 42- Campo 28

Hollister v Wilcox


This Baler team should be very sound on defense and more open on offense with spread, but also a tad less strong as last season and not as strong as Aptos, Palma or Salinas. Both Baler juniors and senior classes on the team defeated Wilcox classes as freshmen classes. Wilcox looks to be a tad less strong as last couple seasons. This looks to be a battle and is a pickem - Will take Wilcox Chargers 28 Balers 21

Carmel v Monte Vista Christian


Tough game to call. If Carmel starts out like they did last week with the turnovers and bad play, it could be a tough night for the Pads. However, Carmel always seems to be a team than can score some points, probably ironed out the issues, and I believe they are a better team than North Monterey County who MVC played last week. MVC has a decent running attack and defense strong against run but question mark if they will against pass. Also take Carmel in this one. Pads 28- MVC 21


Christopher v Live Oak

Christopher youth from last season will have more experience and should be similar to last seasons game. Christopher 21 Live Oak 14
 
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I actually have a little fear for Seaside. Those guys are going to get pummeled almost every week.
I am also surprised how down they are even with new football stadium. Although Seaside usually lacks numbers, they typically have some huge physical kids on the line and at least a couple athletic playmakers. Santa Cruz probably would be a second tier Pac Gab team if they were in the league and seem to have some pretty good seniors and RB especially. Seaside may be competitive with two of the bottom dwellers in the Gab but rest won't be too competitive as also for the other 2 to three bottom dwellers. I don't know why the league doesn't make exception in football and have less teams in the Gab division It doesn't help either the top teams or lower teams in the division and may hurt them in some ways.
 
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Monte Vista @ Carmel has been postponed from Saturday until Sunday due to COVID cases on Carmel's Roster. Padres were tested on Thursday and are waiting results. if everyone clears they will play Sunday. If more positives pop up, game will no be played.
 
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