WCAL Football 2017: Sports Stars Magazine write up of Serra's State Bowl Win
- Thread starter Rmbr26
- Start date
And Serra's kicker, a varsity frosh last season, is back. He could become that rare prep breed, a four-year varsity football player. And, by the way, are you sure Damelio is back playing football? Guess we will know a lot more on Friday at 5:30.
Riordan's roster on Maxpreps shows jr Chimae Ugbaja on the roster for this season. I know the info can be inaccurate - can anyone confirm? His older brother, Jiday, played frosh but dropped football and focused on hoops. Chimae is shorter - height wise - than his bro but has the physical build and speed to be a pretty good rb/db. Adding both Je Lani Clark and lil Ugbaja certainly adds speed and depth to the skill positions. I'll guess we will soon find out on Friday night @ Miramonte
The industrious Rambling Man probably is referring to a one-season winning streak. If so, I do believe he is correct.
Chimay is playing RB only, his long layoff will hurt him initially but he shouid he ready by league. If Riordan stays healthy, we can take a few teams down.
Serra will be very good with 3 players so far with D1/FBS offers/committed and other potential players. St Francis has 5 players so far - got to be one of their more talented years and VC has 3-4 so far and others to be offered and commit. Lots of talent in the WCAL this year.
Once again colhenry is right as rain berdooman.
The Padres 2016 season was the 1rst ever that a Serra football team won 10 games in a row in one season which was a new record.
With so many returning Serra varsity players (I had it at 43) as well as the addition of JV graduates, it might not be necessary, at least early in the season, to bring up significant numbers of sophs in 2017. Who knows, we might actually see a Serra JV team that threatens to be a WCAL title factor in 2017. It's been awhile _ 11 years to be exact.
It would be great to prove them wrong, IC? Ha, Im still waiting for FUBO to pipe in or say something completely off the top, is he MIA where has he been? Riordan got a nice principal maybe they can change the way Riordan is spelled now..
Scott, didn't Rubbit-5 make you a bet about this year's game with Riordan? You'll have to search.
Hey Irish beers.... how has your summer been? I don't remember the bet, but yes Riordan will beat SHCathedral this year
When I have time, I'll look for it. I recall some back & forth about it.
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2017 St. Francis Lancer’s
Will the 2017 Lancer’s continue their winning ways & compete for the WCAL crown?
Many people simply do not realize how strong the 2016 top tier of the WCAL was. Looking back Serra with the 3rd best record overall at 10-5 reached a state bowl game and lost by 2 points and won 10-games in a row for the first time in school history. Both SF & VC were equally impressive in different ways. I think most would agree that either VC or Serra ended the season as the best team from the WCAL. The 3 were actually ranked as Serra, VC & SF in that order, but very little separated the teams with Serra a projected winner over VC by 1 point and VC over SF by 2 points using Freeman's computers. Overall SF with the 2nd best record actually came in 3rd place when all was said and done. In a year when VC & Serra had historically good years SF’s record perhaps did not get the recognition it would have received most other years, possibly because SF is such a winning program [like Bellarmine] that anything but winning all games is a bit of a disappointment to the fans.
St. Francis went 10-2 last season and only lost to 1-team, Serra in both games. The first game was a 41-40 O/T loss at Serra which could have gone either way & the 2nd in post season a more definitive 31-17 seasoning ending loss. Looking at SF’s 10 wins most were by convincing scores such as 42-0 shut-out of Mitty [Mitty’s worst loss of season and likely in a number of years]. SF was the only WCAL team to beat VC and only 1 of 2 losses handed to VC over 15 games. St. Francis had a superb team in 2016 and returns a good portion of players this season.
2016 Lancer senior’s not returning this season: WCAL Player of the Year Bennett Williams WR/DB, Cyrus Habibi-Likio League Most Valuable RB, Patrick Calcagno League Most Valuable DB, Dominic Graziani LB/TE WCAL 1rst Team, Mitchell McCabe OL/LB WCAL 1rst Team, Dominic Chang OL/DL WCAL 1rst Team, Matt Keeth Kicker 2nd Team WCAL, Joseph LynamLB 2nd Team WCAL, Brandon Baines RB WCAL Honorable Mention, De’Jon Fort DB WCAL Honorable Mention, De’Maurier Jackson DB WCAL Honorable Mention, Tre’Sean Bishop DB/RB WCAL Honorable Mention, Viliami Sanft FB/DL WCAL Honorable Mention.
So that is 13 players of impact compared to Serra’s loss of 11 league acknowledged players, a LOT of talent to replace esp. the first 3 players: Bennett Williams, Cyrus Habibi-Likio & Pat Calcagno.
So which veteran varsity players will lead the 2017 Lancer team?
Reed Vettel QB 6’5-180, Tyler Manoa OL/DL 6’4-300 WCAL Junior Player of the Year, Junior Fehoko DE 6’4-235. Other than Vettel at QB the Lancer’s will largely need to reload at the rest of the skill positions on offense. The ending season roster for SF shows a staggering 77 players of which they lose 37 senior’s to graduation. Upon 2nd look it appears SF pulled up numerous soph’s from their JV team to add to the varsity roster for post season play [ not uncommon for some schools for added back-up players and to give young players the excitement of post season varsity play]. So if we deduct the 37 senior’s who graduated that leaves still 40 players, however 23 of those were soph’s brought up which leaves 17 junior’s returning for their senior year. SF will largely rely heavily on new incoming players for the 2017 season.
Conclusion and what to expect:
Freeman Rankings/CalPreps has the Lancer’s as the pre-season #1 ranked team for CCS followed by VC then Serra. NorCalPreps Pre-season Top 20 for NorCal has SF #5, VC #8 and Serra #9. SF is only one of 3 WCAL teams to return an experienced QB, the others being Serra with Bottari and SHC with Will Irons which will be the big question mark for the other 5 WCAL teams. The depth in number of players certainly will not hurt the Lancer’s, however the big question will be the offense. SF was solid on D last season and will likely be tough again [as they are most years – their special teams coaching is among the best as well]. SF lost to Serra simply because they could not outscore them, and that was with a much more potent offense than I expect this year without Williams & Habibi-Likio. As Reed Vettel go so goes the Lancer’s of 2017. In his 3rd year on varsity I would expect Vettel to pass more, that is if he has the WR’s who can get free and have the hands. SF has several RB’s with experience and possibly one may emerge as the go-to RB. The big “X” factor would be the Lancer’s JV team for 2016 which went 10-0 undefeated and those players will make up the bulk of this new roster. The OL & DL’s look to be slightly smaller for this season so we’ll have to see how Vettel’s pass protection holds up if the Lancer’s do go to the pass more often. Will the Lancer’s be good in 2017? Yes without question the Lancer’s will be a solid team, however to match last season’s record of 10-2 with a shared WCAL title will be a bit more difficult this season.
Next Up: Valley Christian Warrior’s
Will the 2017 Lancer’s continue their winning ways & compete for the WCAL crown?
Many people simply do not realize how strong the 2016 top tier of the WCAL was. Looking back Serra with the 3rd best record overall at 10-5 reached a state bowl game and lost by 2 points and won 10-games in a row for the first time in school history. Both SF & VC were equally impressive in different ways. I think most would agree that either VC or Serra ended the season as the best team from the WCAL. The 3 were actually ranked as Serra, VC & SF in that order, but very little separated the teams with Serra a projected winner over VC by 1 point and VC over SF by 2 points using Freeman's computers. Overall SF with the 2nd best record actually came in 3rd place when all was said and done. In a year when VC & Serra had historically good years SF’s record perhaps did not get the recognition it would have received most other years, possibly because SF is such a winning program [like Bellarmine] that anything but winning all games is a bit of a disappointment to the fans.
St. Francis went 10-2 last season and only lost to 1-team, Serra in both games. The first game was a 41-40 O/T loss at Serra which could have gone either way & the 2nd in post season a more definitive 31-17 seasoning ending loss. Looking at SF’s 10 wins most were by convincing scores such as 42-0 shut-out of Mitty [Mitty’s worst loss of season and likely in a number of years]. SF was the only WCAL team to beat VC and only 1 of 2 losses handed to VC over 15 games. St. Francis had a superb team in 2016 and returns a good portion of players this season.
2016 Lancer senior’s not returning this season: WCAL Player of the Year Bennett Williams WR/DB, Cyrus Habibi-Likio League Most Valuable RB, Patrick Calcagno League Most Valuable DB, Dominic Graziani LB/TE WCAL 1rst Team, Mitchell McCabe OL/LB WCAL 1rst Team, Dominic Chang OL/DL WCAL 1rst Team, Matt Keeth Kicker 2nd Team WCAL, Joseph LynamLB 2nd Team WCAL, Brandon Baines RB WCAL Honorable Mention, De’Jon Fort DB WCAL Honorable Mention, De’Maurier Jackson DB WCAL Honorable Mention, Tre’Sean Bishop DB/RB WCAL Honorable Mention, Viliami Sanft FB/DL WCAL Honorable Mention.
So that is 13 players of impact compared to Serra’s loss of 11 league acknowledged players, a LOT of talent to replace esp. the first 3 players: Bennett Williams, Cyrus Habibi-Likio & Pat Calcagno.
So which veteran varsity players will lead the 2017 Lancer team?
Reed Vettel QB 6’5-180, Tyler Manoa OL/DL 6’4-300 WCAL Junior Player of the Year, Junior Fehoko DE 6’4-235. Other than Vettel at QB the Lancer’s will largely need to reload at the rest of the skill positions on offense. The ending season roster for SF shows a staggering 77 players of which they lose 37 senior’s to graduation. Upon 2nd look it appears SF pulled up numerous soph’s from their JV team to add to the varsity roster for post season play [ not uncommon for some schools for added back-up players and to give young players the excitement of post season varsity play]. So if we deduct the 37 senior’s who graduated that leaves still 40 players, however 23 of those were soph’s brought up which leaves 17 junior’s returning for their senior year. SF will largely rely heavily on new incoming players for the 2017 season.
Conclusion and what to expect:
Freeman Rankings/CalPreps has the Lancer’s as the pre-season #1 ranked team for CCS followed by VC then Serra. NorCalPreps Pre-season Top 20 for NorCal has SF #5, VC #8 and Serra #9. SF is only one of 3 WCAL teams to return an experienced QB, the others being Serra with Bottari and SHC with Will Irons which will be the big question mark for the other 5 WCAL teams. The depth in number of players certainly will not hurt the Lancer’s, however the big question will be the offense. SF was solid on D last season and will likely be tough again [as they are most years – their special teams coaching is among the best as well]. SF lost to Serra simply because they could not outscore them, and that was with a much more potent offense than I expect this year without Williams & Habibi-Likio. As Reed Vettel go so goes the Lancer’s of 2017. In his 3rd year on varsity I would expect Vettel to pass more, that is if he has the WR’s who can get free and have the hands. SF has several RB’s with experience and possibly one may emerge as the go-to RB. The big “X” factor would be the Lancer’s JV team for 2016 which went 10-0 undefeated and those players will make up the bulk of this new roster. The OL & DL’s look to be slightly smaller for this season so we’ll have to see how Vettel’s pass protection holds up if the Lancer’s do go to the pass more often. Will the Lancer’s be good in 2017? Yes without question the Lancer’s will be a solid team, however to match last season’s record of 10-2 with a shared WCAL title will be a bit more difficult this season.
Next Up: Valley Christian Warrior’s
[QUOTE="berdooman, post: 168903, member: 464"]OK got your drift now, won 10 straight in one season for the first time in school history ...not even possible in some seasons in the non-playoff era for serra which had only nine scheduled games in some years. Thanks guys.[/QUOTE]
A different era for sure berdooman and a direct result of Coach Walsh and the system now in place at Serra for football.
Scheduling the pre-season games, a slightly larger WCAL league than in previous decades and the success of Serra football allowing the Padres to extend the season into the playoffs as Bell’s & St. Francis had been doing for decades.
Serra’s 3 longest season’s in their football history are 2011 with Serra going 11-2 over 13 games ending with a Div. I CCS Championship, then 2013 with a record of 11-3 losing to Del Oro in an inter-sectional playoff of section champs, and then 2016 going 10-5 ending in a loss in Div II state bowl game 42-40.
2016 was the longest season at 15 games in Serra’s history and nearly twice that of early years such as 1971 when a total of 8 games were played during the season.
A different era for sure berdooman and a direct result of Coach Walsh and the system now in place at Serra for football.
Scheduling the pre-season games, a slightly larger WCAL league than in previous decades and the success of Serra football allowing the Padres to extend the season into the playoffs as Bell’s & St. Francis had been doing for decades.
Serra’s 3 longest season’s in their football history are 2011 with Serra going 11-2 over 13 games ending with a Div. I CCS Championship, then 2013 with a record of 11-3 losing to Del Oro in an inter-sectional playoff of section champs, and then 2016 going 10-5 ending in a loss in Div II state bowl game 42-40.
2016 was the longest season at 15 games in Serra’s history and nearly twice that of early years such as 1971 when a total of 8 games were played during the season.
I don't recall now...haha, but no, I feel confident Riordan will not beat SHC barring injuries this year. SHC barring the numbers issue of (having a squad more than 45) is poised to do pretty well. They have an experienced QB, they have speed in all the skill positions, and with the young Monroe moving up, (Soph of the year) they have that extra jet to take off. SHC should beat SI too but you know how I feel about that, SI just usually has our number. The offensive line is more of the question this year I believe and we will see what they have soon enough.
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I haven't heard he is not..? He is a playmaker and to talented not to...Even if he just returned kickoffs would be good enough.
Rmbr26: Perusing Serra records over the years it appears a nine-game sked became the standard until 1968 once the Padre program gained its footing, but you are correct in that Serra mysteriously only played 8 games in 1971...perhaps Freitas had trouble finding non-league foes that year. The 68 team, with 3 skill players becoming NFL draft picks incuding Swann, could have played until the cows came home had there been playoffs.
Berdooman – always curious as to the story behind Tom Scott being drafted by Detroit in ’73 yet choosing to go to the Canadian League, where he BTW had an outstanding career starting with “Rookie of the Year” award. I know Scott was drafted late & perhaps his confidence in making an NFL roster just wasn’t there. Kind of a Julian Edelman type of fast, shifty WR it’s a shame people in the U.S. never got to see him play.
Many factors involved, particularly money. Plus Scott was a perfect fit for the wide-open CFL style. In the 1968 WCAL title game vs. St. Francis, Scott produced about 250 receiving yards. Ironic note: Scott was not an offensive starter right away in 1967 as a junior. Early on, he was a defensive back and a kick returner. That changed after he dazzled a huge crowd at College of San Mateo vs. Bellarmine.
Excellent knowledge colhenry! Just looked it up and Tom Scott still holds the single game receiving yards at Serra - 8 receptions for 257 yards [that's a 32-yard average per catch!].
Also noticed Leki Nunn surpassed both Tom Brady & Jesse Freitas Jr. in career passing yards [both the former being NFL QB's]. In Nunn's favor: he was a 3-year starter on varsity and at first glance had more games due to Serra making the playoffs his junior & seniors years. On 2nd glance though Nunn sat out 3 full games and only played 1/2 game in several others in 2016, was switched to RB for several games in 2014 and also played DB as well his first season & returned kickoffs throughout making the comparison a bit more even between the 3. Looking at stats its not even close among Serra's top players with Nunn the leading passer and 4th highest rusher with 2713 yards rushing as well. Leki Nunn clearly is the most prolific player ever produced at Serra.
No argument on that one at all. His numbers, wins, etc. speak for themselves. He is also most definitely in the conversation as one of the top 5 football players in Serra's history, dating back to the varsity's inception in 1946. For the sake of discussion, here is a personal top five going all the way back to the very beginning of the program in no particular order: Lynn Swann, Tom Brady, Leki Nunn, Tom Scott, David Bakhtiari. Four of the five were (are) outstanding pros. There are a lot of talented guys missing from that short list. Maybe it should be a top 10 or 20. You be the judge.
I like that Top 5 Colhenry & off top of my head can't come up with anyone else who could replace any of those 5.
Will have to look at assembling a Top 10 or perhaps Top 20 when time permits.
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I don't recall many if any St Francis teams with as much D1/FBS talent as this years. These include: Reed Vettel, Sr, 6-5, 185, QB, played in loss to Citrus Hill in the CIF D2-A state bowl game and strong armed passer. Offer from Cornell, along with interest from schools such as San Jose State and UC Davis; Tyler Manoa, Sr.,6-5, 294, DT/OL, committed BYU and other offers; Joshua Pakola, Jr, OLB, 6-3, 230, offers from Stanford, Georgia, Oregon, UCLA, Washington and others; Viliami Fehoko, 6-3, 225, TE/OLB, Sr, offers from Arizona, San Jose State, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, and Hawaii. Maurice Wilmer II, Jr, 6-2, 187, WR/DB, offered by SJSU; St Francis also has some other players that will get looks. They are going to be very good on defense as well. SF is going to have one of their better teams in years talent wise.
No doubt about it. Lancers are loaded. Top WCAL tier is going to be very good. No surprise if there's another title tie.
VC is also stacked with D1/FBS talent and lots of speed. They include: Conner Edgar, Sr, 6-0, 225, RB/MLB, 4.6 40; RJ Stone, Sr., 6-3, 205, DE, offers from Oregon State, Washington State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Jose State, Nevada, and Utah, among others.; Daniel Machado, Sr., G/DL, 6-3, 270; D'Angelo McKenzie, Sr., FS/RB,, 6-0, 182, 11.07 100 M, offers by Notre Dame, USC, UCLA, Michigan, Oregon State, Arizona, and Arizona State, and Alton Julian, Sr, DB, 6-2 interest from schools such as Utah State, Boise State, and Wyoming. Charlie Bostic, Sr, 6-1, 170, CB/RB, 10.75 100M one of the fastest sprinters in WCAL. VC will pose problems for many teams. QB is question mark though.
Crusaders represented themselves well @ this evening's 4-team scrimmage with host Miramonte, College Park and Piedmont. Riordan outscored Miramonte 3-2, CP 4-2 and finished defeating Piedmont with their subs. 2 newcomers - soph 6-2 WR Je'Lani Clark and jr 5'10" RB Chimae Ugbaja had impressive debuts. Clark had 2 nice TD catches and Ugbaja with 2 scores and several long gainers showing quickness and cutting ability and breaking tackles along the way. Both Mezie brothers looked good on both sides of the ball. Riordan has added significant talent and speed at all skill positions and it showed against all 3 teams. #7 and #4 also stood out. Don't know who they were by it was highlighted by #7 snatching a 40 yard strike in the end zone. Soph QB looks to have made big strides over the summer and was in command of the offense showing off a strong arm and quick release. Lineman started off a bit slow at first but started opening holes for the Rbs and protected the qb. DL stuffed the run, and provided a good pass rush as the scrimmage went on. LB play was highlighted by Tofi doing some nice work blowing up several plays. Overall - Penalties need to be cleaned up - at least 2 scores called back as well as several long gainers. Roster appears to be around 40-45 players as there were 5 transfers and a few players in street clothes on the sidelines including the 6-5 265+ kid. This team plays with more physicality and speed than last season. If this team keeps improving, limits its penalties, stays healthy and with the added depth of the transfers in a few weeks, the Crusaders may surprise some teams. Now back to reality lol! Still bottom half of league, but a legit team to take "the City" title and perhaps upsetting one other team in league. 3-5 wins with their challenging schedule could be done. Don't think win #1 will start next week at Central Catholic-Modesto, though. Will be interesting to see if the game is competitive rather than the projected blowout win for The Raiders. Program looks to be on the upswing as the JVs fared well too.
Looks like Serra continues their quest for another run to State. Any reviews of the other WCAL team's scrimmages?
Looks like Serra continues their quest for another run to State. Any reviews of the other WCAL team's scrimmages?
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2017 Valley Christian Warrior’s
Can Valley Christian duplicate its outstanding 2016 Season?
Valley Christian finished the 2016 season winning 13 games and losing only 2 games by a combined 7 points [13-10 to SF in O/T and 21-17 to Madison-San Diego in state bowl game]. So a mere 7 points was the difference in VC not having a perfect 15-0 season – think about it. I’m not sure how long it will be before we see another WCAL team win 13 games in one season. But could be awhile. The 2016 VC team was special and solid on both sides of the ball and much credit needs to go to the QB Miles Kendrick who was one of the best in the toughest games. VC like the other top programs seems to be able to reload under their system and football unlike some of the other schools remains the top sport at Valley Christian. With VC’s JV team coming in 2nd place and the Frosh team going undefeated I have no reason to doubt that VC again will be loaded with talent and have a deep roster similar to last season.
2016 Warrior’s senior’s not returning this season:
Miles Kendrick QB Co-MVP QB of WCAL, Dylan McCreery MVP O-Lineman, Anthony Flores MVP WR, Bailey Schroeder MVP Kicker, Trent Lauback LB 1rst Team WCAL, Angel Virelas DL 1rst Team WCAL, Brad Murphy OL 1rst Team WCAL, Javon Sturns RB 1rst Team WCAL -WCAL’s leading rusher at nearly 1600 yards], Cole Sanders DE 2nd Team WCAL, Isaiah Rodriguez RB 2nd Team WCAL, Dave Beltramo OL 2nd Team WCAL.
So a total of 11 players of impact who will not be on this season’s roster or same as Serra and 2 less than SF. VC had the 2nd largest roster of WCAL teams, however Valley Christian’s team was primarily Jr’s and Senior’s and did not add a lot of soph’s to the roster for post season as with SF. Even so VC’s deep roster of 68 shows 36 senior’s having graduated. This would still leave 32 varsity players from 2016 with help coming from a very good JV team and undefeated Frosh team.
So Who returns among 32 varsity players from the outstanding 2016 team?
R.J. Stone DE/Athlete 6’3-210 1rst Team WCAL, D’Angelo McKenzie DB 6’0 – 180 WCAL Honorable Mention, Charlie Bostic DB 6’1 – 170 WCAL Honorable Mention, Alton Julian DB 6’1 – 185 WCAL Honorable Mention [Yes – 3 projected 1rst Team WCAL DB’s], Daniel Machado OL/DL 6’3 – 285 WCAL Honorable Mention, Connor Edgar RB/LB 6’0 – 220 WCAL Honorable Mention.
Conclusion and what to expect:
VC will once again have the leagues deepest roster and likely be the largest physically on the O/D-lines. The biggest question mark will be at the QB position. Likely from the success of the JV & Frosh teams VC will come up with at least several good prospects. The VC Frosh which went undefeated with only a tie with Serra had easily the league’s best offense in scoring last season, so look for several talented soph’s to possibly contribute this season. At RB VC returns Connor Edgar as their short yard RB, but must look to replace Javon Sturns who led the WCAL in rushing last season. Again VC is not short on talent, but will they have a RB with the break-away ability of Sturns? My guess is again “likely” as VC almost always has talented athletes at that position. On paper VC looks formidable and will have the league’s best secondary as well. Could this VC team be even better than 2016?
Next Up: Projected order of finish from bottom to top starting with #8
Can Valley Christian duplicate its outstanding 2016 Season?
Valley Christian finished the 2016 season winning 13 games and losing only 2 games by a combined 7 points [13-10 to SF in O/T and 21-17 to Madison-San Diego in state bowl game]. So a mere 7 points was the difference in VC not having a perfect 15-0 season – think about it. I’m not sure how long it will be before we see another WCAL team win 13 games in one season. But could be awhile. The 2016 VC team was special and solid on both sides of the ball and much credit needs to go to the QB Miles Kendrick who was one of the best in the toughest games. VC like the other top programs seems to be able to reload under their system and football unlike some of the other schools remains the top sport at Valley Christian. With VC’s JV team coming in 2nd place and the Frosh team going undefeated I have no reason to doubt that VC again will be loaded with talent and have a deep roster similar to last season.
2016 Warrior’s senior’s not returning this season:
Miles Kendrick QB Co-MVP QB of WCAL, Dylan McCreery MVP O-Lineman, Anthony Flores MVP WR, Bailey Schroeder MVP Kicker, Trent Lauback LB 1rst Team WCAL, Angel Virelas DL 1rst Team WCAL, Brad Murphy OL 1rst Team WCAL, Javon Sturns RB 1rst Team WCAL -WCAL’s leading rusher at nearly 1600 yards], Cole Sanders DE 2nd Team WCAL, Isaiah Rodriguez RB 2nd Team WCAL, Dave Beltramo OL 2nd Team WCAL.
So a total of 11 players of impact who will not be on this season’s roster or same as Serra and 2 less than SF. VC had the 2nd largest roster of WCAL teams, however Valley Christian’s team was primarily Jr’s and Senior’s and did not add a lot of soph’s to the roster for post season as with SF. Even so VC’s deep roster of 68 shows 36 senior’s having graduated. This would still leave 32 varsity players from 2016 with help coming from a very good JV team and undefeated Frosh team.
So Who returns among 32 varsity players from the outstanding 2016 team?
R.J. Stone DE/Athlete 6’3-210 1rst Team WCAL, D’Angelo McKenzie DB 6’0 – 180 WCAL Honorable Mention, Charlie Bostic DB 6’1 – 170 WCAL Honorable Mention, Alton Julian DB 6’1 – 185 WCAL Honorable Mention [Yes – 3 projected 1rst Team WCAL DB’s], Daniel Machado OL/DL 6’3 – 285 WCAL Honorable Mention, Connor Edgar RB/LB 6’0 – 220 WCAL Honorable Mention.
Conclusion and what to expect:
VC will once again have the leagues deepest roster and likely be the largest physically on the O/D-lines. The biggest question mark will be at the QB position. Likely from the success of the JV & Frosh teams VC will come up with at least several good prospects. The VC Frosh which went undefeated with only a tie with Serra had easily the league’s best offense in scoring last season, so look for several talented soph’s to possibly contribute this season. At RB VC returns Connor Edgar as their short yard RB, but must look to replace Javon Sturns who led the WCAL in rushing last season. Again VC is not short on talent, but will they have a RB with the break-away ability of Sturns? My guess is again “likely” as VC almost always has talented athletes at that position. On paper VC looks formidable and will have the league’s best secondary as well. Could this VC team be even better than 2016?
Next Up: Projected order of finish from bottom to top starting with #8
We will mention this one more time: The entrance into the WCAL of VC and Coach Walsh at Serra just after the turn of the century changed the calculus of the league dramatically. The WCAL is no longer a football fiefdom ruled almost exclusively by Bellarmine and St. Francis. Since 2001-02, it's been a much different ballgame, with VC and Serra winning or sharing the league crown nine times in 16 seasons.
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Review of WCAL Teams 2016 Season:
The Riordan Crusader’s come in at the 8th & final spot in the 8-team WCAL league for 2016 finishing 0-7 in league play and 2-8 overall. 2016 was a sobering season for Riordan fans after an upstart season in 2015 when Riordan had some of the most exciting players in the league and went 9-4 all the way to the Open Div III Championship. 2016 was more a step back to resuming play from 2013-14 it seemed.
What is troublesome for the future is that the JV and Frosh also went 0-7 in league play in 2016 giving the school an 0-21 record for the 2016 football season. It almost seems like this would be difficult to do at most of the schools if you think about it – there are 11 players on each team on the field at any given time and Frosh, JV & varsity represent 3 different spectrums/team levels in age and athletes, yet Riordan tried 21 times and failed 21times, a conundrum to put it mildly. Simple logic would appear to point to a complete overhaul rather than trying to improve upon what was attempted and failed last season at all 3 levels.
There was very little that separated the bottom 2 teams SHC & Riordan. I looked at their offense production and points allowed by defense and they are very close: SHC scored 97 points for the season and Riordan scored 125. On defense SHC allowed 355 points while Riordan allowed 352. Of the 2 teams Riordan had the slightly better offense against common opponents yet still lost to the Irish by 33-7. Other than against each other Riordan’s closest WCAL game was a 21-7 loss to S.I. while SHC lost to S.I. by 42-21. So there is little gap between the 2 teams and they could easily swap places in 2017 unless one can overtake S.I.
Game 1 season opener looked good at the start with Riordan scoring immediately and looking good. That lasted through most of the 1rst quarter before the Crusader’s started shooting themselves in the foot with mistakes on both sides of the ball, allowing a mediocre Hillsdale team to overtake them 21-12.
Game 2 Riordan is able to pile it on against a depleted SHP team that is a shadow of its former season team. A victory no less for Riordan at 19-3.
Game 3 is an entertaining shoot-out ending Riordan 45-39 over St. Mary’s Berkeley.
Game 4 is a sobering wake-up call that league play has started with St. Francis rolling over Riordan in a 37-0 shut-out.
Game 5 Has Riordan giving a good effort, but simply outplayed by S.I. 21-7 who does just enough to win
Game 6 is a lackluster 38- loss to Valley Christian.
Game 7 was the game against SHC that was a MUST-WIN for Riordan and they fell [badly] 33-7 to SHC, which was the Crusader’s worst effort of the season.
Game 8 seems as if all the air is out of the balloon as Riordan succumbs to Bells 55-14.
Game 9 Another WCAL power Serra nearly hit 50 points rolling 49-14.
Game 10 and Riordan’s season ends with a blow-out loss by 56-0 to Mitty, the same Mitty that lost by 42-0 to St. Francis.
Conclusion: Riordan football cannot continue in the same fashion as 2016 at all 3 levels and attract any kind of talent for the sport. If the varsity cannot compete at a competitive level then the coaches should revamp the JV & Frosh systems being used. When I saw Riordan last season it appeared they had some talented athletes, however in the games the players seemed disoriented and completely out of sync. How much of this was players and how much was coaches is impossible to say, however it is the coaches who ultimately are responsible for the overall team play, which at the very least must be consistent in some manner [and being consistently bad is not acceptable]. When you’re dead last there are only 2 roads to take, one up and one back to where you were.
Next Up: Team Rosters & What to Expect from bottom to top.
Frosh team beat SI and have talent across the board, JV team beat Hillsdale, then injuries decimated their season. Already you will see major contributions from both these teams on this years varsity. Sophomore at QB, tackle, WR, and junior starters at inside linebacker, safety, offensive line and WR. So although the team did not perform well, talent is present.
Rabbit5, I was surprised to see how well soph Je'Lani Clark played. He created separation so many times downfield and ran well after the catch. Ugbaja looked to be the quickest rb on the field last night. Definitely not just place fillers on the sideline. Soph qb impressive too. Good to see them get a significant amount of reps. Understand the transfers become eligible after week 5 - Bellarmine
Remember starting RB Garrison Howe, sat out last nights scrimmage. With him, Lasa, Chime and Mezie, the Crusader can run the ball. I give major credit to the guys up front, on both sides of the ball. The two inside linebackers and the secondary did their job as well. I was surely impressed
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Couldn't find it. But the Irish will prevail.
About the Scrimmage, I saw the SHC scrimmage with South City at their place. I didn't stay too long, just enough to see a handful of possessions. SHC will have a lot of speed with some two-way players on defense. Will Irons definitely has a good arm. Still no roster. I'll pick one up at Kezar on Friday if one is available.
