PCAL Week2
Salinas and Aptos carried the torch for the PCAL last weekend, with both registering very impressive cross-sectional road wins. Hollister looked very good vs a once proud Oak Grove program. To me Monterey beating Gunn 45-0 was maybe the most impressive score. The reason being, Monterey was up 38-0 midway through the 2nd qtr. Monterey may finally have found the discipline they had been lacking under the old coaching regime.
Some teams were not so fortunate last week. Maybe Mitty is going to be better than people are saying and make some noise in the WCAL, but Palma should be able to compete with these teams and they couldn’t. Let’s see if they regroup this week. Santa Cruz and MVC losing to cross town rivals (and lower divisions) Scott’s Valley and St Francis CC should be a concern for those programs as well.
Due to a shortage of officials, there will be at lest 2 PCAL games every Thursday night for the remainder of the season.
Last week 12-8 Overall 12-8
Gabilan
Thu 09/01 King City (CA) at Alisal (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm – Mustangs look to rebound after a tough (surprise) loss to South County rival Greenfield, while Alisal looks to run the ball some more. Alisal 24-7
Fri 09/02 Independence (San Jose, CA) at Alvarez (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm – Independence got beat up a lot last week, while Alvarez had a closer loss. I am taking the home team Eagles. Alvarez 21-17
Fri 09/02 Campolindo (Moraga, CA) at Aptos (CA), 7:30pm – Can Campolindo get revenge from last year embarrassing home loss? This Mariner team maybe even better than last year. Aptos 34-30
Fri 09/02 Palma (Salinas, CA) vs Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco, CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:00pm – Palma needs to get at of this offensive “funk” dating back to last year. Still time to figure things out, but probably not against the Irish. SHC 17-7
Fri 09/02 Salinas (CA) at Valley Christian (San Jose, CA), 7:00pm – Salinas did not disappoint last week, after a slow start they took control over a very good Clayton Valley Charter program. VC had a tough time with a talented Wilcox team. Salinas 35-14
Fri 09/02 Santa Cruz (CA) at Watsonville (CA), 7:30pm – A disappointing loss for Santa Cruz last week and a really uninspired (close) win for Watsonville over crosstown rival Pajaro Valley. Santa Cruz 24-14
Fri 09/02 Hollister (CA) at Wilcox (Santa Clara, CA), 7:00pm – This will be a good litmus test for both teams. They both registered big wins last week vs “overmatched?” opponents. Picking the home team in a close one. Wilcox 28-25
Mission
Fri 09/02 Soquel (CA) at Hillsdale (San Mateo, CA), 7:00pm – Soquel knows how to win close football games. They won’t score a lot of points but they always seem to score just enough. Soquel 24-21
Fri 09/02 Santa Teresa (San Jose, CA) at Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA), 7:30pm – Might be a long year for MVC, if you cant beat St. Francis CC, you are probably going to have issue with a MT Hamilton team. Santa Teresa 28-14
Fri 09/02 Aragon (San Mateo, CA) at Monterey (CA), 7:00pm- Aragon is a much better team than Gunn. Let’s see if Monterey can still keep up the juice. Monterey 35-21
Fri 09/02 Pacheco (Los Banos, CA) at Seaside (CA), 7:30pm – If I was Pacheco I would schedule this game for Sunday, but show up on Friday to practice on the coast for 2 days just to get out of the heat. Seaside 27-20
Sat 09/03 Carmel (CA) at Gilroy (CA), 7:00pm- From the Shoe game we learned Carmel’s best players maybe all Sophomore’s, they will make mistakes, but they are good now and maybe really good in 2 years. Carmel 35-27
Sat 09/03 Jefferson (Daly City, CA) vs North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm – Good news for North Salinas, nobody will confuse Jefferson for last week’s opponent Menlo. North Salinas 24-23
Sat 09/03 Scotts Valley (CA) at San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA), 2:00pm – I don’t even think headsets can help this SLV team. Scotts Valley 35-7
Cypress
Fri 09/02 Soledad (CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:30pm -Greenfield had one of their best victories in the last 10 years or so by knocking off rival King City last week. Soledad played Soquel tough. Soledad 17-14
Fri 09/02 Gonzales (CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:30pm -These 2 long time rivals meet in the pre-season. PG had a chance at the end in the Shoe game, while Gonzales had a close game with Rancho. Was going to go with the home team, but I don’t like PG.. Gonzales 35-34
Fri 09/02 Woodside (CA) at Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA), 7:00pm- It will take a few years , but Rancho San Juan is building something special here. This is the way you build a program. (Marina and MPUSD should take some notes). Rancho San Juan 28-20
Sat 09/03 Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA) at North Monterey County (Castroville, CA), 2:00pm – Going to go out on a limb and take Pajaro Valley in a mild upset here. Played a good game v Watsonville last week. PV 24-22
Sat 09/03 Stevenson (Pebble Beach, CA) at St. Francis (Watsonville, CA), 2:00pm- RLS has its first game of the year. They need to replace, arguably, the best athlete in the CCS. St Francis is coming off a surprising victory vs their crosstown private school rival MVC. Last I checked Vegas had the Sharks as 21 point favorites. Does not matter. RLS got the kids in 2 weeks earlier for practice. They are ready for this! RLS 21-20 upset special!!
Santa Lucia
Fri 09/02 Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA) at Lick (San Jose, CA), 7:00pm – I like the preseason schedule Harbor has set up, this should install some confidence. Harbor 35-14
Fri 09/02 Marina (CA) at Lynbrook (San Jose, CA), 7:00pm- Marina had a great win last week after a 2 year break form Varsity football. Lynbrook will be a tougher test than San Jose. Lynbrook 18-17
Salinas and Aptos carried the torch for the PCAL last weekend, with both registering very impressive cross-sectional road wins. Hollister looked very good vs a once proud Oak Grove program. To me Monterey beating Gunn 45-0 was maybe the most impressive score. The reason being, Monterey was up 38-0 midway through the 2nd qtr. Monterey may finally have found the discipline they had been lacking under the old coaching regime.
Some teams were not so fortunate last week. Maybe Mitty is going to be better than people are saying and make some noise in the WCAL, but Palma should be able to compete with these teams and they couldn’t. Let’s see if they regroup this week. Santa Cruz and MVC losing to cross town rivals (and lower divisions) Scott’s Valley and St Francis CC should be a concern for those programs as well.
Due to a shortage of officials, there will be at lest 2 PCAL games every Thursday night for the remainder of the season.
Last week 12-8 Overall 12-8
Gabilan
Thu 09/01 King City (CA) at Alisal (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm – Mustangs look to rebound after a tough (surprise) loss to South County rival Greenfield, while Alisal looks to run the ball some more. Alisal 24-7
Fri 09/02 Independence (San Jose, CA) at Alvarez (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm – Independence got beat up a lot last week, while Alvarez had a closer loss. I am taking the home team Eagles. Alvarez 21-17
Fri 09/02 Campolindo (Moraga, CA) at Aptos (CA), 7:30pm – Can Campolindo get revenge from last year embarrassing home loss? This Mariner team maybe even better than last year. Aptos 34-30
Fri 09/02 Palma (Salinas, CA) vs Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco, CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:00pm – Palma needs to get at of this offensive “funk” dating back to last year. Still time to figure things out, but probably not against the Irish. SHC 17-7
Fri 09/02 Salinas (CA) at Valley Christian (San Jose, CA), 7:00pm – Salinas did not disappoint last week, after a slow start they took control over a very good Clayton Valley Charter program. VC had a tough time with a talented Wilcox team. Salinas 35-14
Fri 09/02 Santa Cruz (CA) at Watsonville (CA), 7:30pm – A disappointing loss for Santa Cruz last week and a really uninspired (close) win for Watsonville over crosstown rival Pajaro Valley. Santa Cruz 24-14
Fri 09/02 Hollister (CA) at Wilcox (Santa Clara, CA), 7:00pm – This will be a good litmus test for both teams. They both registered big wins last week vs “overmatched?” opponents. Picking the home team in a close one. Wilcox 28-25
Mission
Fri 09/02 Soquel (CA) at Hillsdale (San Mateo, CA), 7:00pm – Soquel knows how to win close football games. They won’t score a lot of points but they always seem to score just enough. Soquel 24-21
Fri 09/02 Santa Teresa (San Jose, CA) at Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA), 7:30pm – Might be a long year for MVC, if you cant beat St. Francis CC, you are probably going to have issue with a MT Hamilton team. Santa Teresa 28-14
Fri 09/02 Aragon (San Mateo, CA) at Monterey (CA), 7:00pm- Aragon is a much better team than Gunn. Let’s see if Monterey can still keep up the juice. Monterey 35-21
Fri 09/02 Pacheco (Los Banos, CA) at Seaside (CA), 7:30pm – If I was Pacheco I would schedule this game for Sunday, but show up on Friday to practice on the coast for 2 days just to get out of the heat. Seaside 27-20
Sat 09/03 Carmel (CA) at Gilroy (CA), 7:00pm- From the Shoe game we learned Carmel’s best players maybe all Sophomore’s, they will make mistakes, but they are good now and maybe really good in 2 years. Carmel 35-27
Sat 09/03 Jefferson (Daly City, CA) vs North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm – Good news for North Salinas, nobody will confuse Jefferson for last week’s opponent Menlo. North Salinas 24-23
Sat 09/03 Scotts Valley (CA) at San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA), 2:00pm – I don’t even think headsets can help this SLV team. Scotts Valley 35-7
Cypress
Fri 09/02 Soledad (CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:30pm -Greenfield had one of their best victories in the last 10 years or so by knocking off rival King City last week. Soledad played Soquel tough. Soledad 17-14
Fri 09/02 Gonzales (CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:30pm -These 2 long time rivals meet in the pre-season. PG had a chance at the end in the Shoe game, while Gonzales had a close game with Rancho. Was going to go with the home team, but I don’t like PG.. Gonzales 35-34
Fri 09/02 Woodside (CA) at Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA), 7:00pm- It will take a few years , but Rancho San Juan is building something special here. This is the way you build a program. (Marina and MPUSD should take some notes). Rancho San Juan 28-20
Sat 09/03 Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA) at North Monterey County (Castroville, CA), 2:00pm – Going to go out on a limb and take Pajaro Valley in a mild upset here. Played a good game v Watsonville last week. PV 24-22
Sat 09/03 Stevenson (Pebble Beach, CA) at St. Francis (Watsonville, CA), 2:00pm- RLS has its first game of the year. They need to replace, arguably, the best athlete in the CCS. St Francis is coming off a surprising victory vs their crosstown private school rival MVC. Last I checked Vegas had the Sharks as 21 point favorites. Does not matter. RLS got the kids in 2 weeks earlier for practice. They are ready for this! RLS 21-20 upset special!!
Santa Lucia
Fri 09/02 Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA) at Lick (San Jose, CA), 7:00pm – I like the preseason schedule Harbor has set up, this should install some confidence. Harbor 35-14
Fri 09/02 Marina (CA) at Lynbrook (San Jose, CA), 7:00pm- Marina had a great win last week after a 2 year break form Varsity football. Lynbrook will be a tougher test than San Jose. Lynbrook 18-17
