PCAL Week 3

[RLS13]

PCAL Week 3

So COVID has really started to interfere with PCAL football. This past weekend 2 more games were cancelled; Carmel vs MVC and SLV vs Los Altos. SLV has had its first 2 games of the year cancelled, while Carmel has already cancelled is Game with King City this weekend, North Salinas has also canceled its game at Atascadero. Disappointing in a sport where you only get +/-10 games or so that these kids have to miss any time. But it is better than last year.

I have to say what Aptos did Campolindo last week was just nasty, 49-0, wow. Campo has been one of the most consistent programs over the past 10 years and to have the barn doors blown off like that is amazing. The top of the Gabilan is going to be fun, and they start division play this week!!

Last week: 13-3 Overall 27-5

Gabilan

Thu 09/09 Seaside (CA) at Alvarez (Salinas, CA), 7:00pm – Seaside lost a close one to Monterey, their schedule does not get any easier. This maybe their best chance for a division win. But I just don’t see it. Alvarez 24-10

Fri 09/10 Palma (Salinas, CA) at Aptos (CA), 7:30pm: Way to start division play off with a bang! It is one thing to dominate an undermanned Mills team 49-0, but to do it to a team like Campolindo!! Palma, has 2 quality wins, including a blowout of Mitty. But Aptos just seems to be at a different level. I like the Mariners here. Aptos 35-24

Fri 09/10 San Benito (Hollister, CA) at Christopher (Gilroy, CA), 7:30pm: Hollister must maintain momentum and not have let down after their big win vs Wilcox. If they do have a letdown Christopher is good enough to pull the upset. Hollister 28-16

Fri 09/10 Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA) at Salinas (CA), 7:30pm: Two teams coming off unscheduled Byes, Salinas had a nice road win 2 weeks ago vs a good Half Moon Bay team, while MVC dominated an average North Monterey County Team. I think Salinas depth will eventually tire out the Mustangs. Salinas 35-28



Mission

Fri 09/10 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Atascadero (CA), 7:00pm- Game canceled due to NS Covid Cases

Fri 09/10 Greenfield (CA) at Gonzales (CA), 7:30pm- They should play for the Swiss Sausage Sandwich Trophy, as both schools have some of the best. Gonzales lost to PG last week while Greenfield got beat up by King City. Take the Spartans in close one. Gonzales 21-20

Fri 09/10 Soquel (CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 7:30pm; Can Harbor be stopped? 2 in a row!!! I like the way Harbor scheduled 2 very winnable games to start the year. It’s a good way to build confidence, but now they are playing a better team. Soquel gets its first W this season. Soquel 35-7

Fri 09/10 Carmel (CA) at King City (CA), 7:00pm; Game Cancelled due to Covid at both Schools

Fri 09/10 Monterey (CA) at North Monterey County (Castroville, CA), 7:30pm: Monterey is off to a 2-0 start, and had a nice win last week vs their rival Seaside. MVC bounced back form a big loss with a win over an average Pajaro team. Monterey goes to 30. Monterey 30-20

Fri 09/10 Watsonville (CA) at Santa Cruz (CA), 7:30pm; Santa Cruz is the team to beat in the Mission. Santa Cruz 48-7



Cypress

Fri 09/10 Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:00pm- PG had a nice win last week vs Gonzales, Pajaro stayed competitive with NMC. I hate doing it, but; PG 28-20

Fri 09/10 San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA) at Richmond (CA), 7:00pm – I believe this game is still on, as SLV looks to take the field for the first time due to COVID. No truth to the rumors that SLV was just repairing headsets. Richmond 17-10

Sat 09/11 Sobrato (Morgan Hill, CA) at Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA), 1:00pm – Rancho San Juan finally got a first down and scored vs Woodside last week. I think they will get their first win this year, just not this week. Sobrato 28-17

Santa Lucia

Fri 09/10 St. Francis (Watsonville, CA) at Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo, CA), 7:00pm: Mission Prep is small Private school in SLO, some years they are very good and some very bad. Unfortunately for St. Francis, this year they are shaping up to be very good. Mission Prep 45-7

 

[Cal 14]

49-0 only scratches the surface of what Aptos did to Campo.

Do you feel MVC is very strong, or that Salinas isn't nearly as strong as Aptos, Palma, and Hollister?

 

[RLS13]

49-0 only scratches the surface of what Aptos did to Campo.

Do you feel MVC is very strong, or that Salinas isn't nearly as strong as Aptos, Palma, and Hollister?

Yeah I have been hearing that the Campo Aptos game could of been even a bigger blowout. Tonight will be a good barometer of both Aptos and Palma.

MVC and Salinas have only played 1 game, and the Salinas victory over Half Moon Bay on the road was a much more impressive win. MVC beat up an inferior opponent (North Monterey). So difficult to tell how good either one is. I think MVC will come out strong and keep it close through 3 qtrs., but lose steam in the 4th as they have a lot of kids going both ways. I was unsure of some of he talent Salinas had coming back/up so I picked them 4th this year, as the other 3 teams had a lot coming back The HMB game really opened my eyes that they might be better than I originally thought.


As far as the score I picked, I originally had 35-24 Salinas, then realized that was the same score I had for Palma v Aptos, so I gave MVC 4 more points. You can probably guess I use a very scientific, proprietary algorithm when predicting scores of PCAL games.

 

[remc]

49-0 only scratches the surface of what Aptos did to Campo.

Do you feel MVC is very strong, or that Salinas isn't nearly as strong as Aptos, Palma, and Hollister?

Is Aptos that good, or is Campo that down this year?

 

[Cal 14]

Is Aptos that good, or is Campo that down this year?

The game is on-demand on NFHSNetwork.com, if you have a membership. Too early to tell regarding Campo, but they did look shell shocked in the game. Aptos looked really focused. It might be a bit of both.

In this week's game, I'm reminded of 2018 when Palma came back to win the regular season meeting, but then the Mariners absolutely crushed them in the playoffs. Both Mitty and SHC are very likely to sit at the bottom of the WCAL standings this year, so I can't put a great deal of weight on the Palma wins. I'm guessing even a middle-of-the-road Campo team wouldn't normally have been clobbered like this.

 

[Cal 14]

Yeah I have been hearing that the Campo Aptos game could of been even a bigger blowout. Tonight will be a good barometer of both Aptos and Palma.

MVC and Salinas have only played 1 game, and the Salinas victory over Half Moon Bay on the road was a much more impressive win. MVC beat up an inferior opponent (North Monterey). So difficult to tell how good either one is. I think MVC will come out strong and keep it close through 3 qtrs., but lose steam in the 4th as they have a lot of kids going both ways. I was unsure of some of he talent Salinas had coming back/up so I picked them 4th this year, as the other 3 teams had a lot coming back The HMB game really opened my eyes that they might be better than I originally thought.


As far as the score I picked, I originally had 35-24 Salinas, then realized that was the same score I had for Palma v Aptos, so I gave MVC 4 more points. You can probably guess I use a very scientific, proprietary algorithm when predicting scores of PCAL games.

I think the HMB announcers on NFHSNetwork.com said that Salinas had only allowed 3 first downs in the first half of their game, while the Cowboys had something like 16.

 

[Streak One]

Is Aptos that good, or is Campo that down this year?

A little bit of both IMO. Aptos has good speed, executes really well and defense is active. Campolindo switched QBs at one point I think, but just couldn't get out of their own way.

 

[Prepwisdom]

Saw Salinas tonight against MVC. They(salinas) looked pretty good.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

Was at Aptos. Refs gave the game to Aptos. Never seen such poor one sided refs. Aptos couldn’t stop Palma offense and they took two tds away a game clinching interception and called penalties on almost every big play. It is as a disgrace. Aptos offense is really good and QB very good. Last two minutes of the game was unbelievable. Palma should have won by 7-14 points. Salinas and Hollister may have a shot at beating Aptos unless they play at their home field and have the same refs. The refs were just terrible.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

Was at Aptos. Refs gave the game to Aptos. Never seen such poor one sided refs. Aptos couldn’t stop Palma offense and they took two tds away a game clinching interception and called penalties on almost every big play. It is as a disgrace. Aptos offense is really good and QB very good. Last two minutes of the game was unbelievable. Palma should have won by 7-14 points. Salinas an Hollister may have a shot at beats by Aptos unless they play at their home field and have the same refs. The refs were just terrible.

 

[FBAddict]

Was at Aptos. Refs gave the game to Aptos. Never seen such poor one sided refs. Aptos couldn’t stop Palma offense and they took two tds away a game clinching interception and called penalties on almost every big play. It is as a disgrace. Aptos offense is really good and QB very good. Last two minutes of the game was unbelievable. Palma should have won by 7-14 points. Salinas an Hollister may have a shot at beats by Aptos unless they play at their home field and have the same refs. The refs were just terrible.

You can say that again

 

[Cal 14]

Salinas an Hollister may have a shot at beats by Aptos unless they play at their home field and have the same refs. The refs were just terrible.

I've seen games from Salinas, Aptos, and now Hollister. Haven't seen Palma, but I can infer their level from the Aptos game.

I don't see the 'Balers staying with any of the top 3 for more than a half. They look like a team that still feels a bit insecure in the spread. QB holds onto the ball on options a bunch! Good defense, but defenses can get tired if the offense can't move the ball consistently.

I do think Salinas has a really good shot at beating Aptos. I understand why the Mariners and Chieftains are ranked while the Cowboys aren't... Campo and Mitty are bigger names than HMB. Will reserve further comments on rankings until after they play Aptos.

Patiently waiting for this week's game.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

Based on what I saw, Aptos may have trouble with Salinas o-line and passing attack. I think Salinas d-line might be a little more disruptive to Aptos run especially their dive with their very string and run stuffer NG who is disruptive and experienced D-line, but Salinas will also have to stop Aptos pass. Their QB is really good at hiding the ball and he is very accurate passer and can hit receivers everywhere. He's very good. Aptos has three really good RBs and a couple are down hill runners and very shifty. Salinas WR has speed and he could have a big game. In general it looks like high scoring game. Palma should have won the game by 7-10 points at least. Palma would have scored 5 out of first five series if not for a penalty in first half and injury that stopped game for half hour of Palma player really changed momentum on the Aptos score to end the half. Palma was completely dominating Aptos. Palma offense still was unstoppable in second half and line continued to dominate but phantom penalties on Palma offense and defense (that resulted in changes in position) really stopped any momentum. Even a PI call against Aptos wasn't called until the fans recognized and vocalized the PI which was right in front of the Ref. Playing at the Pit will be to Cowboys advantage. I am impressed with the Aptos Football field Very nice although little wireless connectivity. Aptos runs the Wing T as good as any I have seen- I've seen some good Wing T teams and Mariners are at the top and they have QB who can throw. It really looks like it will take 30+ points to beat this Aptos team. Very quick and they don't need big holes and very tough to see where the ball is. Salinas defense will need to play physical and very disciplined but I anticipate a good game either way. I think Hollister defense is pretty good but may have trouble defending pass against the top three. Hollister isn't as good as last season. Palma offense is better than last season. Many more play playmakers.

 

[Cal 14]

I watched about half of the Hollister-Christopher game. Afterward, I wondered "how did these guys beat Wilcox?" In turn, VC didn't really blow them out, either, which may sort of help explain the game against Pitt. It really seems now like the Pirates will clobber the Chargers pretty comfortably.

PCAL-GB winner better than VC? It's entirely possible.

As for the wing-t, I agree that Aptos runs it extremely well. I think the key against any of these types of offenses (wing-t, flexbone triple-option, or double-wing) is to get out in front of them. The associated passing games tend to rely heavily on play action. If you're down late, you don't have that same element of surprise.

I am anticipating Salinas being able to score against the Mariners and am hoping they can force a few mistakes to stake out a lead.

I agree that Hollister doesn't appear to be as good as some anticipated early.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

I watched about half of the Hollister-Christopher game. Afterward, I wondered "how did these guys beat Wilcox?" In turn, VC didn't really blow them out, either, which may sort of help explain the game against Pitt. It really seems now like the Pirates will clobber the Chargers pretty comfortably.

PCAL-GB winner better than VC? It's entirely possible.

As for the wing-t, I agree that Aptos runs it extremely well. I think the key against any of these types of offenses (wing-t, flexbone triple-option, or double-wing) is to get out in front of them. The associated passing games tend to rely heavily on play action. If you're down late, you don't have that same element of surprise.

I am anticipating Salinas being able to score against the Mariners and am hoping they can force a few mistakes to stake out a lead.

I agree that Hollister doesn't appear to be as good as some anticipated early.

There seems to be much parity in CCS after top two or three ranked teams through top 7 or 8. And CCS also seems weightings by Calpreps should be higher on these teams. CCS isn't as down if at all from what Calpreps has them.

 

[Cal 14]

There seems to be much parity in CCS after top two or three ranked teams through top 7 or 8. And CCS also seems weightings by Calpreps should be higher on these teams. CCS isn't as down if at all from what Calpreps has them.

Yes, I think calpreps has a lot CCS teams too low, too.