Serra in rare air

[colhenrylives]

It's official: Serra's recent domination of Bellarmine is the most sustained and one-sided in the Padres' history, dating back 73 years when the West Bay Catholic rivalry began in 1946 during the Truman Administration. The last four scores, all in Serra's favor have been: 48-13, 48-0, 43-0, 37-0 (tonight). It has not been pretty (well, certainly not for the Bells). The rivalry has become an exercise in a regular running clock to keep the final scores from becoming humiliating. For Serra fans, it's been a tonic (a far cry from the years of being pounded by the San Jose Jesuits); for Bellarmine followers, it's been a depressing dose of grim WCAL reality.

 

[HazeG]

It's official: Serra's recent domination of Bellarmine is the most sustained and one-sided in the Padres' history, dating back 73 years when the West Bay Catholic rivalry began in 1946 during the Truman Administration. The last four scores, all in Serra's favor have been: 48-13, 48-0, 43-0, 37-0 (tonight). It has not been pretty (well, certainly not for the Bells). The rivalry has become an exercise in a regular running clock to keep the final scores from becoming humiliating. For Serra fans, it's been a tonic (a far cry from the years of being pounded by the San Jose Jesuits); for Bellarmine followers, it's been a depressing dose of grim WCAL reality. [

It's official: Serra's recent domination of Bellarmine is the most sustained and one-sided in the Padres' history, dating back 73 years when the West Bay Catholic rivalry began in 1946 during the Truman Administration. The last four scores, all in Serra's favor have been: 48-13, 48-0, 43-0, 37-0 (tonight). It has not been pretty (well, certainly not for the Bells). The rivalry has become an exercise in a regular running clock to keep the final scores from becoming humiliating. For Serra fans, it's been a tonic (a far cry from the years of being pounded by the San Jose Jesuits); for Bellarmine followers, it's been a depressing dose of grim WCAL reality.

Makes the Bells long for the days when Walsh was afraid to play in the “Open” so he could avoid the Bells and win a watered down CCS D1 championship.
Maybe the Bells will be able to compete in a few years. The Frosh are 4-0 and beat the Padres 21-10 on Saturday

 

[FBAddict]

Makes the Bells long for the days when Walsh was afraid to play in the “Open” so he could avoid the Bells and win a watered down CCS D1 championship.
Maybe the Bells will be able to compete in a few years. The Frosh are 4-0 and beat the Padres 21-10 on Saturday

When was Walsh ever afraid to play in Open?

If you mean he didn't opt up to Open when possible - you are wrong. He opted up every year CCS Open existed. He didn't make the playoffs in 2001 & 2005. In 2011, Serra failed to win an Open opt up bid and they did win D1 that year. And that year Bellarmine was very good. In 2013, Serra won CCS Open and beat BCP in the semi-final round 28-17 on that winning trek.

If you mean he thought he would have a hard fight in Open with Bellarmine - essentially you are wrong again because he was knocked out of the playoffs by other teams far more often than by Bellarmine.

 

[FBAddict]

When was Walsh ever afraid to play in Open?

If you mean he didn't opt up to Open when possible - you are wrong. He opted up every year CCS Open existed. He didn't make the playoffs in 2001 & 2005. In 2011, Serra failed to win an Open opt up bid and they did win D1 that year. And that year Bellarmine was very good. In 2013, Serra won CCS Open and beat BCP in the semi-final round 28-17 on that winning trek.

If you mean he thought he would have a hard fight in Open with Bellarmine - essentially you are wrong again because he was knocked out of the playoffs by other teams far more often than by Bellarmine.

Let me correct myself - Serra didn't opt up in 2011. https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/11/14/padres-dont-opt-up-get-no-1-seed-in-div-i/. Even so, you would be hard pressed to demonstrate that Walsh was afraid of Janda in light of the full Walsh-Serra playoff history.

 

[dcpanda]

In the end, it was a good decision, given the upward trajectory of Serra football. It’s on a different level than it was in 2011.

 

[Rmbr26]

Let me correct myself - Serra didn't opt up in 2011. https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/11/14/padres-dont-opt-up-get-no-1-seed-in-div-i/. Even so, you would be hard pressed to demonstrate that Walsh was afraid of Janda in light of the full Walsh-Serra playoff history.

Addict - I remember that season well and why Walsh chose not to opt up as it was in an interview at the time. The Bells were very good that 2011 and lost to DLS 26-23 in 2 O/T's and only other loss was to Santa Marguerite 42-37 in the state bowl game - the Bells went undefeated in WCAL.

Serra lost to both Bells and Mitty and the consensus everywhere was Serra was not going to take down the Bells in the Open playoffs and so did not opt up. Walsh as much said so as Div I provided a path of little resistance to a good Serra team who was simply not as good as the 2011 Bells. Coach Walsh said something to the effect that it was his job to do what was best for his team and the players and coaches were all in agreement and that they would be very grateful if they were to win the Div I championship [at least that's how I remember it ]. In Div I CCS playoffs Serra won first round 38-6 over Wilcox, then 49-28 over Milpitas before taking down M-A 42-21 in the championship. In the last game I believe the Serra RB at that time set a Serra record for carries or single season rushing yards [would have to look up].

 

[Santa Ball]

Addict - I remember that season well and why Walsh chose not to opt up as it was in an interview at the time. The Bells were very good that 2011 and lost to DLS 26-23 in 2 O/T's and only other loss was to Santa Marguerite 42-37 in the state bowl game - the Bells went undefeated in WCAL.

Serra lost to both Bells and Mitty and the consensus everywhere was Serra was not going to take down the Bells in the Open playoffs and so did not opt up. Walsh as much said so as Div I provided a path of little resistance to a good Serra team who was simply not as good as the 2011 Bells. Coach Walsh said something to the effect that it was his job to do what was best for his team and the players and coaches were all in agreement and that they would be very grateful if they were to win the Div I championship [at least that's how I remember it ]. In Div I CCS playoffs Serra won first round 38-6 over Wilcox, then 49-28 over Milpitas before taking down M-A 42-21 in the championship. In the last game I believe the Serra RB at that time set a Serra record for carries or single season rushing yards [would have to look up].

Rmbr26 you are correct, my kid was on that D1 CCS champion team and if I remember correctly the decision was a major catalyst for changing how teams were rated. Full transparency, Serra could have opted up that year but did not. From the Padres perspective and I don’t recall the specifics but basically It went like this; according to the Playoff scoring system you (CCS) , say we aren’t good enough for the open so we (Serra) will play your D1 and clear out your bracket.

 

[WCAL75]

I seem to remember something about Serra and other WCAL teams not liking the fact that when they lost in league to a team, that they would have to play that same team in the open division the following week in the first round of the open playoffs. So Serra or some other teams did not opt up. But then again I have halfheimers now, so don’t hold me to.

 

[PALbooster]

Ah, nostalgia for the good old days were coaches and schools could frequently did manipulate their play-off placement and the board would be filled with endless speculation on who would or should opt up in a given year.

If memory serves, back in 2011 the open division consisted of the 5 A team champions. The final three spots went to teams that opted in (I don't think more than three ever tried to opt up) and then the remaining spots were filled by whoever had the most CCS points. There were clearly deficiencies in the point system back them, especially in recognizing the quality of out of section opponents. In 2011 there was still a provision that teams from the same league did not play each other in the first round so playing a league mate again in the first round was not a motivating factor in decisions.

Serra was argueably the second best team in the CCS in 2011 and finished second in WCAL, but opted not to move up. The third and fourth place teams in the WCAL did opt up (Mitty and St. Francis). This left the last spot to the team with the most CCS points which was 9-1 Leland that edged out 8-2 Serra, 8-1-1 Palma and 8-1-1 Los Gatos. Palma (DIV) and Los Gatos (DII) were arguably among the top 5 or 6 teams in the CCS in 2011 and like Serra opted to stay in their division and had a fairly easy time navigating their bracket for a section championship. Los Gatos beat two open division teams Palo Alto (Deanza champ and open finalist) and Oak Grove (Mt. Hamilton champ and open semi-finalist) during the regular season. Likewise Palma had beaten St. Francis and tied a very good Cardinal Newman team in pre-season but stubbed their toe in the regular season final game losing 13-12 to San Benito and losing the league championship in the process.

I think the current system is much better and will produce much more competitive section play-offs. I will grant the obvious point that a number of less qualified teams will move on to regional and state level bowl games (in my opinion it is a mistake to call them championships outside of the open division). I like the fact that more teams will have opportunities to participate at the regional and state levels. The historical notion that the size of the school population creates an even playing field has clearly been dispelled. Today (at least in the CCS) it is much more about an individual schools attitude and commitment to football than it is about the schools CBED population.