PCAL Week 7

[RLS13]

PCAL Week 7

Last week 9-2 Overall 67-27

Gabilan

Salinas had a buy last week and somehow, they look like the team to beat. Palma needed a 2-point conversion in overtime to beat a bad Hollister team. The playoff streak could be in trouble. Monterey was punched in the mouth by a rejuvenated Soquel team. Aptos blew out Alvarez, for their first league win. Soquel, who Salinas beat last week 27-0, now is at full strength as their transfers from Santa Cruz are now all eligible to play. Some of these guys are really good. On a side note, it is a shame to see Soquel start to climb in the rankings, while Santa Cruz can’t even field a team. This is not transferring between private and public; these are kids transferring in the same district. I don’t like it. This week we get a great matchup between Aptos and Salinas. Winner will have inside track to the league title, but both still have tough games ahead.



Thu 10/05 Aptos (CA) at Salinas (CA), 7:00pm- Aptos finally had one of its patent “blowouts” last week over Alvarez. Salinas hopefully got healthy with the bye. Salinas D should be able to slow down the Aptos Wing T but will Salinas Offense be consistent enough to score? I think Salinas works out offense issue during the bye. Salinas 24-22



Fri 10/06 Monterey (CA) vs Hollister (CA) at Monterey Peninsula College (Monterey, CA), 7:30pm- Monterey was probably a little over confident after the Palma victory the week before, combined with Soquel transfers back in the fold; they were humbled. Hollister maybe the biggest surprise/disappointment in the PCAL this year. Monterey 35-14



Sat 10/07 Soquel (CA) at Alvarez (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm- Alvarez will not give up 68 to Soquel. Because Soquel plays slow deliberate football, they are not a big play team. But I expect Soquel to be in total control of this game from start to finish. Soquel 35-7



Mission North

The Santa Cruz situation is a shame. Not sure why there was a large exodus of player to Soquel. They are scheduled to play this weekend. Let’s hope they can at least put some points on the board. Scott’s valley and Seaside still seem to be the top 2 teams in the league, but North Monterey County has won 3 in a row and will have a chance to prove themselves vs Seaside. MVC is close to turning a corner behind a talented QB, but they just don’t have the depth to compete this year.



Thu 10/05 North Monterey County (Castroville, CA) at Seaside (CA), 7:30pm- Seaside had extra week to prepare after the Santa Cruz forfeit. They will need it to beat a very hot NMC team. I think seaside starts slow, but comes out ahead at the end. Seaside 24-14



Fri 10/06 Scotts Valley (CA) at Watsonville (CA), 7:30pm- Scott’s Valley only loss this year is 21-7 Soquel. That los and the Willow Glenn win are looking better and better. Scott’s Valley 28-0



Sat 10/07 Santa Cruz (CA) at St. Francis (Watsonville, CA), 12:30pm – I just hope Santa Cruz fields a team, they won’t win, but their roster will probably be about the same as St. Francis number wise. St. Francis 45-7



Mission South

Carmel took the drivers seat for the title with an exciting win over North Salinas. Side note; any coach on Carmel’s remaining schedule reading this: Just do an onside kick every time do not kick deep to them. Ditto for North Salinas. North Salinas was impressive, and they will challenge Alisal for 2nd place and the automatic playoff spot. PG will go to 6-0 after this week, but their schedule gets much, much tougher at the end. North Salinas, Alisal and Carmel are all still on the schedule in addition to long time rival King City.



Fri 10/06 North Salinas (Salinas, CA) at King City (CA), 7:30pm- King City had a nice win over Rancho last week. But North Salinas is playing at a much higher level. North Salinas 38-7



Fri 10/06 Soledad (CA) at Pacific Grove (CA), 7:30pm – PG will probably beat a struggling Soledad team this week, but that could be their last victory for the season (let’s hope so) . PG 28-7



Fri 10/06 Carmel (CA) at Rancho San Juan (Salinas, CA), 7:30pm – Carmel has played 2 emotionally charged, exciting games in a row. Don’t be surprised if this game is close for the first half to ¾. I expect Carmel to pull away, but a small letdown would not be unexpected. Carmel 35-21



Santa Lucia

The top 3 teams; RLS, Greenfield and Gonzales, all cruised to easy victories this past week. And they should not be challenged in this division until they start to play each other. Greenfield maybe the slight favorite, but RLS and Gonzales will be a tough out. A three way tie is a possibility. There is only 1 playoff spot, and I don’t see a second place team having a enough points to get an at large bid. So the winner of this division will get to play Palma in the first round of the DV playoffs. (Just kidding, sort of)



Fri 10/06 Pajaro Valley (Watsonville, CA) at Gonzales (CA), 7:30pm – Pajaro was able to get a win 2 weeks ago vs SLV, then take bye week to celebrate. But the streak will stop at one. Gonzales 35-7



Fri 10/06 San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, CA) at Greenfield (CA), 7:00pm -SLV has a couple of decent wins this season, but that Pajaro loss is baffling. Greenfield should handle business. Greenfield 42-14


Fri 10/06 Marina (CA) at Harbor (Santa Cruz, CA), 5:30pm- These 2 teams match up pretty well. I think a lot of points will be scored as neither has a great defense. Going home team. Harbor 45-44

 

[colhenrylives]

In your view, is there a team, any team, from the Santa Cruz/Monterey/King City coastal region that has a shot at playing in the CCS Open Division? Are any of them worthy of that classification this year?

 

[thehookup55]

In your view, is there a team, any team, from the Santa Cruz/Monterey/King City coastal region that has a shot at playing in the CCS Open Division? Are any of them worthy of that classification this year?

Whoever wins the PCAL Gab will have a good shot at being placed in DI. None of the them are worthy of that classification but the points will more than likely put them there due to the A league point scale. I think that team will be Salinas. Whoever it is will be one and done.

 

[Cal 14]

Whoever wins the PCAL Gab will have a good shot at being placed in DI. None of the them are worthy of that classification but the points will more than likely put them there due to the A league point scale. I think that team will be Salinas. Whoever it is will be one and done.

It's going to be tight, but the 3 non-league losses may end up being beneficial for Salinas. I don't suspect any of Clayton Valley Charter, Clovis, nor Valley Christian will win their respective leagues. Although I respect Ed Avila and Seaside, I would prefer they didn't win league, either.

 

[Prepwisdom]

Honestly Col Henry- I don't see any team from the PCAL Gabilan being "worthy " of that classification this year. They are all flawed to some degree ( as is true with almost all H.S. teams) and the league really is down a notch. As has been noted on numerous occasions, there is Serra - followed by St. Francis, Riordan and a couple other West Catholics- with maybe Wilcox and Los Gatos next in line- and then maybe Salinas.

 

[RLS13]

In your view, is there a team, any team, from the Santa Cruz/Monterey/King City coastal region that has a shot at playing in the CCS Open Division? Are any of them worthy of that classification this year?

Col Henry, there is no strong Gabilan team this year. The Champion (looking like Salinas) will probably get the #7/8 seed in division 1 and thrown to the Lions (or Padres). But look for a team like Monterey or Soquel to pop up and be competitive in DIII. Or if say Palma got in at DIV or DV.

I agree with Prepwisdom's overall CCS rankings, Salinas maybe cracks the top 8-10 this year.

 

[Cortezraiders831]

Honestly Col Henry- I don't see any team from the PCAL Gabilan being "worthy " of that classification this year. They are all flawed to some degree ( as is true with almost all H.S. teams) and the league really is down a notch. As has been noted on numerous occasions, there is Serra - followed by St. Francis, Riordan and a couple other West Catholics- with maybe Wilcox and Los Gatos next in line- and then maybe Salinas.

League may be down a tad but can you remember the last time there was real intrigue with each game? Talented teams like Soquel and Monterey have made things a lot more interesting

 

[thehookup55]

We haven't seen a team from the Monterey County/Santa Cruz County be competitive in a true open division in 15+ years. 2005 and 2006 Palma come to mind. 2007 Gilroy made it to the open championship game. 2017 SHS won DI Open but they avoided the WCAL powers with the CCS format back then. Maybe I am missing a team.

 

[RLS13]

We haven't seen a team from the Monterey County/Santa Cruz County be competitive in a true open division in 15+ years. 2005 and 2006 Palma come to mind. 2007 Gilroy made it to the open championship game. 2017 SHS won DI Open but they avoided the WCAL powers with the CCS format back then. Maybe I am missing a team.

You are right, the current version has only been around 3 years (not including 2020), and prior some of the WCAL powers were in DII/III. I would say last years Salinas team was as competitive with anybody else in CCS not named Serra. They would of held their own with St. Francis and Mitty. And really outside of maybe the new Riordon and St. Francis, I don't see any other school being able to consistently compete with Serra for the next few years.

 

[Cal 14]

You are right, the current version has only been around 3 years (not including 2020), and prior some of the WCAL powers were in DII/III. I would say last years Salinas team was as competitive with anybody else in CCS not named Serra. They would of held their own with St. Francis and Mitty. And really outside of maybe the new Riordon and St. Francis, I don't see any other school being able to consistently compete with Serra for the next few years.

I agree about last year. Serra was clearly head and shoulders better than everyone else, but the next 5 teams were all pretty evenly matched:

Mitty
Salinas
St. Francis
Los Gatos
Sacred Heart Prep

I feel on any given night, any of these teams could beat any of the others.

But as far as contention for the overall CCS championship, I'm not sure if or when we'll ever see it again. Oddly, I think it would take a resurgent public school program in the San Jose area to draw some talent away from the WCAL in order to bring them back (and that's not looking good). Right now, that league has a stranglehold on the section's top division.