PCAL Week 3

[RLS13]

PCAL Week 3

Week 14-5 Overall 27-11

Gabilan: Salinas had a really nice win over Valley Christian, good sign if the top team in Gabilan can easily defeat a middle of the road WCAL team. Top Gabilan schools are not as strong as Serra, St. Francis and Riordan (maybe?), but they can hold their own vs the rest of the league. Soquel lost to another Norcal elite, SRV, 14-7. But they should be just fine come league. Monterey’s big loss to Menlo Atherton was disappointing as they seemed to kind of give up. Palma walloped King City for no reason other than to avoid DI playoffs (in my opinion). Hollister and Aptos lost by a bigger number than I would of expected. Both teams need to be more consistent. And Alvarez got their first win of the year vs an over matched PG team, I like it when PG loses. 😊

Fri 09/13 Aptos (CA) vs Watsonville (CA) at Cabrillo College (Aptos, CA), 7:30pm- Aptos should be able to rebound after a big loss to Mitty. Aptos 35-14

Fri 09/13 Oak Grove (San Jose, CA) at Hollister (CA), 7:30pm- Lets see what version of the Haybalers shows up. The one that beat a good Branham team or the one that Wilcox blew out. Oak Grove is not as good as they used to be. Hollister 28-14

Fri 09/13 Alvarez (Salinas, CA) at Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm-Rancho San Juan is really struggling, if they don’t turn it around they maybe going down to the Sant Lucia next year. Alvarez 34-10

Fri 09/13 Clovis (CA) at Salinas (CA), 7:30pm -Battle of the Rodeo belt buckle. It’s a cool looking trophy. Great win last week over VC for Salinas. But Clovis just put 57 on a good Frontier program. Clovis 34-24

Fri 09/13 Valley Christian (San Jose, CA) at Soquel (CA), 7:30pm Soquel eases off the schedule just a little as they take on VC. Soquel 21-7

Fri 09/13 Palma (Salinas, CA) at Yuma Catholic (Yuma, AZ), 7:30pm- Don’t know much about Yuma catholic other than its about 10+ hours away and Cal Preps gives them a 15. That’s a long bus ride. Yuma 17-10

Mission North – Coming into the year I thought Scott’s Valley, Alisal and Seaside were 3 of the top 4 teams in this division. All 3 suffered bad losses last week. Scott’s valley could be in big trouble as Branham beat them decisively, not only that I am hearing numbers are way down. Same thing for Seaside as Carmel really put a beating on them. Seaside only dressed 24. Alisal is still looking for its first win after close loss to crosstown rival North Salinas. But this is the type of game Alisal needs to win in order to be of any threat in the playoffs. MVC had a nice bounce back win over Santa Clara. NMC continues to roll, but beating Marina is no big deal. Same can be said for Watsonville and St Francis, as they both beat their Santa Lucia matchups last week.

Thu 09/12 Sequoia (Redwood City, CA) at Alisal (Salinas, CA), 7:00pm – The more “wide open” offense at Alisal is not quite working, they should still be able to get by a struggling Sequoia team. Alisal 27-10

Thu 09/12 St. Francis (Watsonville, CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:30pm – I like this matchup, should be close. But with Greenfield having defeated a truly fantastic team last week, I will go with the Bruins. Greenfield 24-20

Fri 09/13 Carlmont (Belmont, CA) at Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA), 7:00pm- MVC was able to open up the offense vs a mediocre Santa Clara team. Carlmot lost a shoot out with Menlo. Lots of points in this one. Carlmont 48-40

Sat 09/14 Sobrato (Morgan Hill, CA) at North Monterey County (Castroville, CA), 7:00pm- This will be a very good test for NMC who is 2-0 and playing with a lot of confidence. Sobrato is also 2-0 with wins over NS and Live Oak. Sobrato 24-17

Sat 09/14 Scotts Valley (CA) at San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA), 2:00pm -Scott’s Valley was humbled last week and will look to rebound vs their neighbor. But SLV has been playing very good football to start the year. Scott’s Valley 20-18

Mission South -This just in... Carmel likes to score, a lot. They easily dispatched of an outmanned Seaside team (running Clock). The one chink in their armor seems to be they will give up the big play. North Salinas had a very nice win vs Alisal. Greenfield was able to stop a late RLS scoring drive with an interception in the endzone as time expired and then beat RLS in OT. Soledad was able to hold off Gonzales at home, while being the visitor? PG lost to Alvarez so that was good. Rancho San Juan is still looking to score its first offensive points of the season after losing 34-2 to Los Altos. The Trailblazers are struggling. And KC was overwhelmed by Palma.

Thu 09/12 Gonzales (CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:30pm- I am taking this as my upset special this week. PG probably has a little more than Gonzales, but you know I hate picking them. Gonzales 21-20

Fri 09/13 Carmel (CA) at Miramonte (Orinda, CA), 7:00pm -I saw Carmel last week in person, and they are as good as advertised. They had no problem in moving the ball at will vs an undermanned Seaside team. But they did give up (even their starters) some big plays to Seaside. They will get burned if they give up too much to a very good Miramonte team. Carmel 48-45

Fri 09/13 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Santa Cruz (CA), 7:30pm- Great win last week for NS, and it is goof to see Santa Cruz scoring some points. North Salians 24-10

Sat 09/14 Branham (San Jose, CA) at Soledad (CA), 12:30pm -I am going to have to start including Branham in my predictions as they take on their 3rd PCAl team this year. They should make 2-1 vs PCAL. Branham 24-7

Santa Lucia- RLS was slow, inconsistent, and out of sorts the first half. Then stormed back in the 2nd half and took a lead. Only to let Greenfield tie it, but RLS went right down the field and promptly threw a interception in the endzone from the 5 yard line with less than a minute left. Greenfield had all the momentum and won in OT. SLV and Harbor were the only 2 winners from the division last week. SLV looks like a legit contender to RLS and Gonzales for the title this year. Pajaro and Santa Cruz put valiant efforts in defeat. Marina looked bad in their loss to North Monterey County.

Fri 09/13 Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA) at Denair (CA), 7:00pm -PV is playing better football this year and that’s a good thing for this program. Denair 35-28

Sat 09/14 Washington (San Francisco, CA) at Stevenson (Pebble Beach, CA), 2:30pm- I think this game is in San Francisco and not in Pebble Beach. Hopefully RLS can get over last weeks heartbreak, put up a W vs a Washington school that played Oakland Tech tough in a loss. RLS 27-24

 

[Cal 14]

Why is it again you have vitriol for PG, but not Carmel?

VC will be a good test for Soquel. The Knight's D has been stout, but their offense hasn't been as steady.



The highest-rated team on Calpreps in the entire STAL super league is...

Sobrato...

Which plays in the Santa Teresa-Valley Division...

Which is a B league.

Let that sink in for a while.

 

[RLS13]

Not to get to deep, but I am a very proud RLS alumni, but I am an even prouder father of 3 Carmel High alumni.

In addition my brother also graduated from Carmel, and furthermore my mothers side of the family all graduated from Carmel or King City. So nobody in my family ever liked PG..

The vitriol runs generations…

 

[FormerD1Backer]

Not to get to deep, but I am a very proud RLS alumni, but I am an even prouder father of 3 Carmel High alumni.

In addition my brother also graduated from Carmel, and furthermore my mothers side of the family all graduated from Carmel or King City. So nobody in my family ever liked PG..

The vitriol runs generations…

While Cal’s dislike for Carmel is obvious after Carmel tuned up his Cowboys a few times 🤣🤣🤣

 

[thehookup55]

While Cal’s dislike for Carmel is obvious after Carmel tuned up his Cowboys a few times 🤣🤣🤣

I think it's split 2-2 since Salinas has become a legit football program. Not sure if they played much before that. Carmel has got all the top programs a time or two. It's what they do.

I think Cal's dislike for Carmel goes beyond that...

 

[Cal 14]

I think it's split 2-2 since Salinas has become a legit football program. Not sure if they played much before that. Carmel has got all the top programs a time or two. It's what they do.

I think Cal's dislike for Carmel goes beyond that...

I don’t dislike Carmel in particular. Devine had them #1 in his rankings towards the end of one season when it was clear to everyone who wasn’t a Padre fan that they weren’t the best team in the area.

I questioned that to another poster and got a response that ended that. But then a couple people not involved in that conversation had an aneurism.

What I don’t like is when programs that play at a certain level stay in lower divisions so that they can pound weaker teams. I’ve made similar statements regarding certain private schools in the NCS, who have traditionally been able to hide in D4 when they’re clearly D3 or even D2 level teams.

 

[FBAddict]

What I don’t like is when programs that play at a certain level stay in lower divisions so that they can pound weaker teams. I’ve made similar statements regarding certain private schools in the NCS, who have traditionally been able to hide in D4 when they’re clearly D3 or even D2 level teams.

And before that, questioned why the 1990s-early 2000s Los Gatos failed to opt up to CCS D1 when so many times they plowed through the lower level teams.

There was no apparent reason Carmel should have avoided a system-encouraged move to Gabilan this year.

 

[Cal 14]

And before that, questioned why the 1990s-early 2000s Los Gatos failed to opt up to CCS D1 when so many times they plowed through the lower level teams.

There was no apparent reason Carmel should have avoided a system-encouraged move to Gabilan this year.

If memory serves, Salinas may have been the only public school ever to opt to D-I when they did it in 2002.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

I think you are referring to the year Salinas played Bells in semis. I went to that game at SJ City. I believe Belzer was RB on the Bells - a really good RB. Was Salinas which won the TCAL a D2 enrollment then? I know you could opt up if in smaller division. Other public schools in D1 that year were Independence, Milpitas and Watsonville with VC, Bells, Serra and Palma. VC beat Bells in the finals. Both Salinas (semis) and Palma (round 1) lost to the Bells. Mariucci was QB at VC that year. It might have been another year the Cowboys opted up but maybe they were D2 at the time if the enrollment was smaller. Not sure what school in D2 would have been larger in enrollment that year (Silver Creek, Piedmont Hills, Oak Grove). Maybe Oak Grove was bigger than Salinas at the time. I know Los Gatos had to be forced up one year. Could it have been another year the Cowboys opted up?

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

This coming Friday Monterey and Carmel play. Should be a decent game.

 

[Prepwisdom]

This coming Friday Monterey and Carmel play. Should be a decent game.

Saturday at Carmel

 

[thehookup55]

If memory serves, Salinas may have been the only public school ever to opt to D-I when they did it in 2002.

That 2002 team was a fun team to watch. Ruthless defense. Neligh, Dozier, Taylor, etc. were animals.

I can't recall but was DI treated like the open back then? or was it all enrollment based? I know the open was created a couple years later that had multiple publics opt in nearly ever year.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

That 2002 team was a fun team to watch. Ruthless defense. Neligh, Dozier, Taylor, etc. were animals.

I can't recall but was DI treated like the open back then? or was it all enrollment based? I know the open was created a couple years later that had multiple publics opt in nearly ever year.

League champs in and at large and top 32 teams. Then put in divisions by enrollment but lower divisions can opt up at the time

 

[MOlST AND PLUMP]

carmel has been super impressive so far they are the clear favorite to win a lower level ccs division

 

[thehookup55]

carmel has been super impressive so far they are the clear favorite to win a lower level ccs division

They will be heavy favorites for DIII.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

They play Monterey this week which should be a good game. Monterey returns most key players from last season

 

[Cal 14]

That 2002 team was a fun team to watch. Ruthless defense. Neligh, Dozier, Taylor, etc. were animals.

I can't recall but was DI treated like the open back then? or was it all enrollment based? I know the open was created a couple years later that had multiple publics opt in nearly ever year.

The divisions were enrollment based at that point. Salinas had won D-II over Hollister the prior year, so Coach Ironside felt the next logical step was D-I.

In order to be able to opt up, you had to finish among the top 8 in the CCS in terms of playoff points.

2002 was also the year the they finally beat Palma. First time the Chieftains had lost to a Monterey County team in some 20 years.