PCAL week 5
Last week 9-5 (not good) Overall 59-19
Gabilan (Soquel on a bye)
As league play starts this week, I see really no major surprises in the Gabilan. I think Salinas and Soquel are the best 2 teams with Palma being 3rd. Aptos, Monterey and Hollister are all bunched together. I would say after preseason Monterey is trending down and Aptos maybe up a little. The battle for 4-6th (and Playoffs) should be very competitive. Alvarez will bring up the rear and probably will not win a league game.
Fri 09/27 Monterey (CA) at Alvarez (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm- These were the only 2 Gabilan teams to loose last weekend. Monterey was expected vs Carmel. Alvarez should not be losing to MVC. I like Monterey to bounce back. Monterey 38-7
Fri 09/27 Hollister (CA) at Aptos (CA), 7:30pm- Winner of this game will be in the drivers seat for a playoff birth. Neither one have a good win or a bad loss. Taking the home team Mariners. Aptos 28-21
Fri 09/27 Palma (Salinas, CA) at Salinas (CA), 7:30pm- These 2 schools are literally block’s apart, yet they have a very checkered football history, as that they did not play each other every year until they were in the same league. At that point Palma was the dominant team. But recently Salinas has been, and this Palma team may be a year a way form challenging Salinas. Salinas 35-21
Mission North (Alisal on a Bye)
This division is a toss up. Only 1 team has a winning record, St Francis, but their loss was to a mediocre King City team. Scott’s Valley and Seaside seem to be desperately undermanned. Alisal’s only win is vs an 0-4 Sequoia team. MVC and NMC show flashes of greatness followed by some bad football. And Watsonville has beaten 2 Santa Lucia teams, with a loss to Greenfield. Still two teams from this division will make the playoffs. I am guessing MVC and NMC, but who knows.
Sat 09/28 Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA) vs Watsonville (CA) at Cabrillo College (Aptos, CA), 1:00pm- MVC had a good win vs Alavaraz, while Watsonville took care of crosstown rival Pajaro. I think MVC passing game will be a bit too much for Watsonville. MVC 34-24.
Sat 09/28 North Monterey County (Castroville, CA) at Scotts Valley (CA), 2:00pm- No shame in losing to Soquel, but to surrender over 60 points? Scott’s Valley could be in trouble for the rest of the year. NMC did not look much better vs Palma. NMC 24-6
Sat 09/28 Seaside (CA) at St. Francis (Watsonville, CA), 7:30pm- Seaside will finally play a team with an equal size roster. But St. Francis is used to playing with 20 healthy bodies, Seaside is not. St. Francis 27-17
Mission South (Rancho San Juan on a bye)
Carmel is good and is probably the 3rd or 4th best team in the Gabilan. They played a solid non-league schedule and should dominate this division. They should be the top seed in CCS DIII playoffs. Second place looks like a competition between Soledad and North Salinas. Soledad is one play away form being 3-1 as they let Branham score on Hail Mary. North Salinas has a nice win vs Alisal, but thats about it. PG, King City and Greenfield will battle for the next positions, and I could see them all beating each other. Rancho needs the bye, but they are in trouble as they lost badly to Marina last week. This team may need to go down to the Santa Lucia next year.
Fri 09/27 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:30pm -North Salinas should win this game fairly easily, but Greenfield’s Defense is pretty tough, and NS offense is not as good as last year. North Salinas 18-14
Fri 09/27 King City (CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:30pm- Maybe if I pick pacific Grove they will lose. PG looked great in the first half last week then almost choked up a 26 point lead to RLS in the 2nd half. KC had a bad loss vs archrival Gonzales. PG 27-24
Fri 09/27 Carmel (CA) at Soledad (CA), 7:30pm-Hear me out, this could be Carmel’s toughest league game. They had an emotional win vs Monterey last week. They have to travel on a Friday night. Soledad has always given them a tough time in Soledad. Carmel also has way too much talent this year to lose this game. But Soledad could make it interesting for a while. Carmel 34-20
Santa Lucia (San Lorenzo Valley on a Bye)
SLV had a huge win vs Greenfield last week. Gonzales was able to take back the Megaphone from King City. RLS fought back from 26-0 to almost beat PG (33-27 final). And Marina beat a “B” league team. Going 3-4 in crossover games with another one very close, is great for this league. I think we will have a 3 team race with RLS, Gonzales and SLV. Right now, undefeated SLV has to be the favorite. Marina, Pajaro and harbor should finish middle of the pack and Santa Cruz towards the rear, but I would not be surprised if the Cardinals pick up at least 1 league win.
Fri 09/27 Stevenson (Pebble Beach, CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 5:00pm -RLS was down 26-0 to PG in the 3rd qtr, before waking up and almost pulling off the upset. Similar situation with their loss to Greenfield. They need to avoid the slow start vs Harbor. RLS 35-14
Fri 09/27 Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA) at Marina (CA), 7:30pm – Marina had a great win vs Rancho San Juan last week, PV played Watsonville close but could not score offensively. Taking PV in an “upset”. PV 21-18
Sat 09/28 Gonzales (CA) at Santa Cruz (CA), 5:00pm- last year Santa Cruz did not score any points. This year they are at least scoring, not enough, but it’s a start in rebuilding for this once proud team. Gonzales 35-14
Last week 9-5 (not good) Overall 59-19
Gabilan (Soquel on a bye)
As league play starts this week, I see really no major surprises in the Gabilan. I think Salinas and Soquel are the best 2 teams with Palma being 3rd. Aptos, Monterey and Hollister are all bunched together. I would say after preseason Monterey is trending down and Aptos maybe up a little. The battle for 4-6th (and Playoffs) should be very competitive. Alvarez will bring up the rear and probably will not win a league game.
Fri 09/27 Monterey (CA) at Alvarez (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm- These were the only 2 Gabilan teams to loose last weekend. Monterey was expected vs Carmel. Alvarez should not be losing to MVC. I like Monterey to bounce back. Monterey 38-7
Fri 09/27 Hollister (CA) at Aptos (CA), 7:30pm- Winner of this game will be in the drivers seat for a playoff birth. Neither one have a good win or a bad loss. Taking the home team Mariners. Aptos 28-21
Fri 09/27 Palma (Salinas, CA) at Salinas (CA), 7:30pm- These 2 schools are literally block’s apart, yet they have a very checkered football history, as that they did not play each other every year until they were in the same league. At that point Palma was the dominant team. But recently Salinas has been, and this Palma team may be a year a way form challenging Salinas. Salinas 35-21
Mission North (Alisal on a Bye)
This division is a toss up. Only 1 team has a winning record, St Francis, but their loss was to a mediocre King City team. Scott’s Valley and Seaside seem to be desperately undermanned. Alisal’s only win is vs an 0-4 Sequoia team. MVC and NMC show flashes of greatness followed by some bad football. And Watsonville has beaten 2 Santa Lucia teams, with a loss to Greenfield. Still two teams from this division will make the playoffs. I am guessing MVC and NMC, but who knows.
Sat 09/28 Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville, CA) vs Watsonville (CA) at Cabrillo College (Aptos, CA), 1:00pm- MVC had a good win vs Alavaraz, while Watsonville took care of crosstown rival Pajaro. I think MVC passing game will be a bit too much for Watsonville. MVC 34-24.
Sat 09/28 North Monterey County (Castroville, CA) at Scotts Valley (CA), 2:00pm- No shame in losing to Soquel, but to surrender over 60 points? Scott’s Valley could be in trouble for the rest of the year. NMC did not look much better vs Palma. NMC 24-6
Sat 09/28 Seaside (CA) at St. Francis (Watsonville, CA), 7:30pm- Seaside will finally play a team with an equal size roster. But St. Francis is used to playing with 20 healthy bodies, Seaside is not. St. Francis 27-17
Mission South (Rancho San Juan on a bye)
Carmel is good and is probably the 3rd or 4th best team in the Gabilan. They played a solid non-league schedule and should dominate this division. They should be the top seed in CCS DIII playoffs. Second place looks like a competition between Soledad and North Salinas. Soledad is one play away form being 3-1 as they let Branham score on Hail Mary. North Salinas has a nice win vs Alisal, but thats about it. PG, King City and Greenfield will battle for the next positions, and I could see them all beating each other. Rancho needs the bye, but they are in trouble as they lost badly to Marina last week. This team may need to go down to the Santa Lucia next year.
Fri 09/27 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:30pm -North Salinas should win this game fairly easily, but Greenfield’s Defense is pretty tough, and NS offense is not as good as last year. North Salinas 18-14
Fri 09/27 King City (CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:30pm- Maybe if I pick pacific Grove they will lose. PG looked great in the first half last week then almost choked up a 26 point lead to RLS in the 2nd half. KC had a bad loss vs archrival Gonzales. PG 27-24
Fri 09/27 Carmel (CA) at Soledad (CA), 7:30pm-Hear me out, this could be Carmel’s toughest league game. They had an emotional win vs Monterey last week. They have to travel on a Friday night. Soledad has always given them a tough time in Soledad. Carmel also has way too much talent this year to lose this game. But Soledad could make it interesting for a while. Carmel 34-20
Santa Lucia (San Lorenzo Valley on a Bye)
SLV had a huge win vs Greenfield last week. Gonzales was able to take back the Megaphone from King City. RLS fought back from 26-0 to almost beat PG (33-27 final). And Marina beat a “B” league team. Going 3-4 in crossover games with another one very close, is great for this league. I think we will have a 3 team race with RLS, Gonzales and SLV. Right now, undefeated SLV has to be the favorite. Marina, Pajaro and harbor should finish middle of the pack and Santa Cruz towards the rear, but I would not be surprised if the Cardinals pick up at least 1 league win.
Fri 09/27 Stevenson (Pebble Beach, CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 5:00pm -RLS was down 26-0 to PG in the 3rd qtr, before waking up and almost pulling off the upset. Similar situation with their loss to Greenfield. They need to avoid the slow start vs Harbor. RLS 35-14
Fri 09/27 Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA) at Marina (CA), 7:30pm – Marina had a great win vs Rancho San Juan last week, PV played Watsonville close but could not score offensively. Taking PV in an “upset”. PV 21-18
Sat 09/28 Gonzales (CA) at Santa Cruz (CA), 5:00pm- last year Santa Cruz did not score any points. This year they are at least scoring, not enough, but it’s a start in rebuilding for this once proud team. Gonzales 35-14
