Teams should put stats on maxpreps. Yucaipa High of SoCal is a baseball power and its former coach Jeff Stout always posted stats and made players available for interviews. When I asked him why, he said "We don't hide our players." Stout won like 700 or 800 games. ... Based on the Bell and SI football games I've seen on the Internet I think it's a toss-up, but I pick SI in a close game.
WCAL Football 2017: Sports Stars Magazine write up of Serra's State Bowl Win
- Thread starter Rmbr26
- Start date
Its not even about hiding or whether or not that information is available, its a school dedicating resources to input all that info. What school wants to pay someone to put virtually meaningless stats into a database so what 10 people can look up player "x" accumulated? The only stats that should matter are wins and losses.
iamgearyblvd - why would a school have to pay anyone to post team/player stats? It takes a minimal amount of effort and and whether they're posted on MaxPreps or anywhere else they are recorded in each & every game to forward to the WCAL league office for record keeping purposes. My question is since they're available why are a few schools reluctant or simply refuse to post them on a public site for all to see?
Many people/fans follow the stats including the players, parents and many fans such as myself as a barometer to compare teams & players. Once posted the stats are picked up and shared by other web sites as well. In most cases I can pull up the game stats one way or another as I've done with the Bells for several years [but it is a bit of a pain and simply no need to make fans go through the extra steps]. Its unfortunate when teams/coaches don't want to share information about their players as that's one more way in how the players get noticed by the next level.
The next step would be to eliminate announcers from stating how long a run or pass went for - it would simply become a gain, a completion or a TD since the fans do not need to know the "stats".
Many people/fans follow the stats including the players, parents and many fans such as myself as a barometer to compare teams & players. Once posted the stats are picked up and shared by other web sites as well. In most cases I can pull up the game stats one way or another as I've done with the Bells for several years [but it is a bit of a pain and simply no need to make fans go through the extra steps]. Its unfortunate when teams/coaches don't want to share information about their players as that's one more way in how the players get noticed by the next level.
The next step would be to eliminate announcers from stating how long a run or pass went for - it would simply become a gain, a completion or a TD since the fans do not need to know the "stats".
Thanks. Rmbr26, what source do you use? I have looked for the Bells stats but can't seem to find them. Or are you just referring to team stats W/Ls versus individual player stats?
Shout out to ARHS_STATS for his passion and commitment to providing stats for not only Archbishop Riordan, but also assists at St. Francis and St. Ignatius. He "apprenticed" under the late Dr. Jefferies of St. Ignatius who had the most comprehensive stats I ever saw.
If only Bellarmine and SI had the "resources" to enter stats. Such a shame.
Drdiablo86 - I can usually google & either a local newspaper will have team stats or the announcers at end of live-streamed games will go over the teams stats at end of games.
I was able to do this with Bells several seasons so its hardly "top secret". Not sure if Bells coach Janda wants the opposition to know as little as possible, but fact that other teams film Bells gives teams such as SF, Serra & VC everything they want to know. As for S.I. They quit posting stats during a really bad season 2-years ago (not posting stats doesn't make the season any better as "it us what it is" so to say. Personally I'd love to see S.I.'s QB Katz stats as the guy is a player & fun to watch.
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The Over/Under for this weeks games:
Mitty by 3 over SHC
Bells by 6 over S.I.
Serra by 1 over SF
VC by 49 over ARHS
Teams I like in the Spread:
Mitty -3 [SHC has not shown ability to put up points against tougher competition]
S.I. +6 [common sense says to go with Bells, but S.I. is due and Bells sinking]
Serra -1 [some polls have Lancers rated higher and SF D tough - Serra #1 Offense & D is also good]
ARHS +49 [VC primarily a run team and will not try to run up score by passing - how can I not take 49 points?
League Records:
VC 3-0
Serra 3-0
SF 2-1
Mitty 2-1
SHC 1-2
Bells 1-2
S.I. 0-3
ARHS 0-3
Games this week:
Fri 10/13 Mitty vs Sacred Heart Cathedral at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Fri 10/13 Bellarmine vs St. Ignatius at San Jose City College 7:00pm
Fri 10/13 Serra at St. Francis 7:30pm
Sat 10/14 Riordan at Valley Christian 7:00pm
Mitty by 3 over SHC
Bells by 6 over S.I.
Serra by 1 over SF
VC by 49 over ARHS
Teams I like in the Spread:
Mitty -3 [SHC has not shown ability to put up points against tougher competition]
S.I. +6 [common sense says to go with Bells, but S.I. is due and Bells sinking]
Serra -1 [some polls have Lancers rated higher and SF D tough - Serra #1 Offense & D is also good]
ARHS +49 [VC primarily a run team and will not try to run up score by passing - how can I not take 49 points?
League Records:
VC 3-0
Serra 3-0
SF 2-1
Mitty 2-1
SHC 1-2
Bells 1-2
S.I. 0-3
ARHS 0-3
Games this week:
Fri 10/13 Mitty vs Sacred Heart Cathedral at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Fri 10/13 Bellarmine vs St. Ignatius at San Jose City College 7:00pm
Fri 10/13 Serra at St. Francis 7:30pm
Sat 10/14 Riordan at Valley Christian 7:00pm
By VYTAS MAZEIKA || Bay Area News Group
St. Francis Lancer senior Tyler Manoa 6'4-285 defensive tackle named to U.S. Army All-American Team
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/11/high-school-football-u-s-army-all-american-in-wcal/
Youre absolutely right about schools dont have to pay anyone. Most teams have students that take book, handle the video duties for the games, etc, and thats all free labor. The next step is having someone input that. Some schools have those students that are into that and some schools really don't care. We both frequent Maxpreps and you can tell which schools care and which dont year after year. For hoops I usually am the first one to send Maxpreps a basketball roster to update their page which that becomes available on the SH athletics site.
Funny you mention yardage. Back in the day if it was 3 yards or less, I called it "minimal gain" or if a player fell down I called it "tackled by gravity".
Riordan's Pat and the late Joe Schram of St. Francis are the only ones you can really say religiously updated stats for their schools.
Often,
Considering the change in air quality due to smoke, are all WCAL games going to be played as scheduled?
Considering the change in air quality due to smoke, are all WCAL games going to be played as scheduled?
Word is SHC Mittty game may be moved to Monday. Waiting for final confirmation.
iamgearyblvd - Funny you mention yardage. Back in the day if it was 3 yards or less, I called it "minimal gain" or if a player fell down I called it "tackled by gravity".
Very good Gearyblvd, luv it! As for colhenry he may have a point about these upcoming games. All morning I heard tv & radio saying if you can, stay home and keep windows closed. My wife opened bathroom window to shower & I could immediately smell smoke throughout the house. Can't be good for you running up & down the field if the air quality is poor. Guess its wait & see.
Very good Gearyblvd, luv it! As for colhenry he may have a point about these upcoming games. All morning I heard tv & radio saying if you can, stay home and keep windows closed. My wife opened bathroom window to shower & I could immediately smell smoke throughout the house. Can't be good for you running up & down the field if the air quality is poor. Guess its wait & see.
All WCAL FB games this weekend are probably postponed to November 10th or 11th. Maybe the 9th for some Freshman Games.
Riordan, Valley Christian, Serra, & St. Francis have tweeted this information. The other schools should be tweeting this information at some later time.
Bellarmine and Sacred Heart Cathedral have to check with the facility's that they play at. San Jose City College and Kezar Stadium
Riordan, Valley Christian, Serra, & St. Francis have tweeted this information. The other schools should be tweeting this information at some later time.
Bellarmine and Sacred Heart Cathedral have to check with the facility's that they play at. San Jose City College and Kezar Stadium
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Saw the notice posted on Serra's web site confirming ARHS Stats post. So a postponement of 4 weeks for the games to take place. I guess with the rescheduling the powers to be did not want to simply go a week later and "wait & see".
Certainly a month off is unprecedented and could result in many games turning out differently due to such a long layoff. It should benefit the smaller roster teams and those with injuries to their skill players or other top players.
Trying to figure if sections like the CCS will act in unison as other wise teams playing their regular schedules will later have layoffs prior to post season playoffs [in order to align time-wise with schools like WCAL who now have a month off].
Certainly a month off is unprecedented and could result in many games turning out differently due to such a long layoff. It should benefit the smaller roster teams and those with injuries to their skill players or other top players.
Trying to figure if sections like the CCS will act in unison as other wise teams playing their regular schedules will later have layoffs prior to post season playoffs [in order to align time-wise with schools like WCAL who now have a month off].
[QUOTE="dcpanda, post: 176799, member: 1290"]They aren’t taking a month off, just this weekend. They are moving this weekend’s games to November 10. The games next weekend should be played as scheduled.[/QUOTE]
Oh OK dcpanda, I read briefly and took it literally as in "all games postponed 'til 11/10, 11/11" which had me wondering what I'd post about for a month
Thanks for the clarification - much appreciated!
Oh OK dcpanda, I read briefly and took it literally as in "all games postponed 'til 11/10, 11/11" which had me wondering what I'd post about for a month
Thanks for the clarification - much appreciated!
As I understand it, the CCS was in a unique position as there was a week before CIF playoffs would start, thus enabling all the CCS teams to play the weekend of Nov 10th for its makeup games. Prayers and good thought go out to the North Bay. I personally have friends who lost their homes, but luckily all are OK.
Top 15 Ranked Teams in CCS entering Week 7:
1. VC 5-1
2. Serra 4-2
3. Milpitas 6-0
4. SF 4-2
5. Aragon 6-0
6. HMB 6-0
7. Mitty 4-2
8. Salinas 5-2
9. Wilcox 3-3
10. Terra Nova 4-2
11. SHC 4-2
12. Bells 4-2
13. M-A 4-2
14. Aptos 4-2
16. Hillsdale 6-0
Ranked WCAL & Non-WCAL Teams Who've Played To Date:
#1 VC played #9 Wilcox, VC 48-7 over WIlcox
#7 Mitty played #13 M-A, Mitty 30-23 over M-A
#12 Bells played #13 M-A, Bells 21-16 over M-A
Looking at the rankings week to week we now have 6 teams closely ranked at the top of the standings.
The 3 teams that most fans would agree are neck & neck so to speak at this point would be the 3 upper tier WCAL teams of VC, Serra & SF in which a game between any of the 3 would be a toss-up [though as this point VC would be a slight favorite over Serra, SF and Serra a slight favorite over SF, but not by much in either case].
After those 3 teams it becomes a bit of a guessing game due to schedules. Milpitas looks to be very solid at 6-0, but has not been tested to date with its closest game being a 25-point win over Wilcox 42-17 & its other 5 games being bigger blowouts. Interestingly of the 4 undefeated teams in the Top 15 Milpitas, Aragon, HMB & Hillsdale those teams have had by far the weakest schedules of the Top 15 teams listed. Upcoming M-A will play HMB which will give us some indication of how good HMB is & should HMB win then the following week undefeated HMB at 7-0 would play likely still undefeated Aragon in which would be for the PAL Bay title. Milpitas on the other hand has a clear path to the playoffs with the toughest test of its remaining 3 games being a 2-4 Los Gatos team which is rated somewhere between S.I. and Riordan. Unbeaten Hillsdale will play Aragon the following week of the Aragon-HMB game. Of note there are 3 other undefeated teams in the CCS Top 25 which are #16 Gilroy, #17 Leland & #23 Carlmont all at 6-0 of which none of the 3 has played another ranked team to date.
1. VC 5-1
2. Serra 4-2
3. Milpitas 6-0
4. SF 4-2
5. Aragon 6-0
6. HMB 6-0
7. Mitty 4-2
8. Salinas 5-2
9. Wilcox 3-3
10. Terra Nova 4-2
11. SHC 4-2
12. Bells 4-2
13. M-A 4-2
14. Aptos 4-2
16. Hillsdale 6-0
Ranked WCAL & Non-WCAL Teams Who've Played To Date:
#1 VC played #9 Wilcox, VC 48-7 over WIlcox
#7 Mitty played #13 M-A, Mitty 30-23 over M-A
#12 Bells played #13 M-A, Bells 21-16 over M-A
Looking at the rankings week to week we now have 6 teams closely ranked at the top of the standings.
The 3 teams that most fans would agree are neck & neck so to speak at this point would be the 3 upper tier WCAL teams of VC, Serra & SF in which a game between any of the 3 would be a toss-up [though as this point VC would be a slight favorite over Serra, SF and Serra a slight favorite over SF, but not by much in either case].
After those 3 teams it becomes a bit of a guessing game due to schedules. Milpitas looks to be very solid at 6-0, but has not been tested to date with its closest game being a 25-point win over Wilcox 42-17 & its other 5 games being bigger blowouts. Interestingly of the 4 undefeated teams in the Top 15 Milpitas, Aragon, HMB & Hillsdale those teams have had by far the weakest schedules of the Top 15 teams listed. Upcoming M-A will play HMB which will give us some indication of how good HMB is & should HMB win then the following week undefeated HMB at 7-0 would play likely still undefeated Aragon in which would be for the PAL Bay title. Milpitas on the other hand has a clear path to the playoffs with the toughest test of its remaining 3 games being a 2-4 Los Gatos team which is rated somewhere between S.I. and Riordan. Unbeaten Hillsdale will play Aragon the following week of the Aragon-HMB game. Of note there are 3 other undefeated teams in the CCS Top 25 which are #16 Gilroy, #17 Leland & #23 Carlmont all at 6-0 of which none of the 3 has played another ranked team to date.
NorCal is down, CCS is down and WCAL is down this year. Its not gong to be be a very good year for CCS in the RGB games.
That being said, I think the top 5 teams in CCS are just as listed but maybe in a different order. At this point, Milpitas and Aragon are dark horses. We don't know where their top is right now. Aragon, HMB and M-A still need to play each other. Only Aragon and M-A have met with a resounding victory going to Aragon. Milpitas doesn't have any significant challenges in league play and may not be challenged in playoffs. WCAL will offer only BCP and a remote possibility of SF in Open DI.
Serra is looking very good like it did this time last year. It seems only VC and SF have a possible chance of upending Serra's march. VC will certainly offer the best defensive play for Serra (within WCAL) but I don't think VC's secondary has the ability to hold off Bottari's air assault if Serra's o-line can resist VC's defense. Serra also has to get through SF who can compete with Serra's air battle.
As mentioned above, CCS Open DII will be a gauntlet battle. Not only will there be a rematch of top teams from WCAL, but also Aragon will be in the mix. Wilcox and Oak Grove might provide improve their play by that time as well.
That being said, I think the top 5 teams in CCS are just as listed but maybe in a different order. At this point, Milpitas and Aragon are dark horses. We don't know where their top is right now. Aragon, HMB and M-A still need to play each other. Only Aragon and M-A have met with a resounding victory going to Aragon. Milpitas doesn't have any significant challenges in league play and may not be challenged in playoffs. WCAL will offer only BCP and a remote possibility of SF in Open DI.
Serra is looking very good like it did this time last year. It seems only VC and SF have a possible chance of upending Serra's march. VC will certainly offer the best defensive play for Serra (within WCAL) but I don't think VC's secondary has the ability to hold off Bottari's air assault if Serra's o-line can resist VC's defense. Serra also has to get through SF who can compete with Serra's air battle.
As mentioned above, CCS Open DII will be a gauntlet battle. Not only will there be a rematch of top teams from WCAL, but also Aragon will be in the mix. Wilcox and Oak Grove might provide improve their play by that time as well.
FBAddict "Only Aragon and M-A have met with a resounding victory going to Aragon".
Addict: you must have crossed up your schedules as Aragon & M-A have yet to meet [scheduled 11/10].
Aragon's top win to date is 31-21 over Terra Nova and M-A's top win is 14-10 over Burlingame.
I have some other info to share in response to your post and will share later today.
Addict: you must have crossed up your schedules as Aragon & M-A have yet to meet [scheduled 11/10].
Aragon's top win to date is 31-21 over Terra Nova and M-A's top win is 14-10 over Burlingame.
I have some other info to share in response to your post and will share later today.
Wow - I added the Aragon/M-A game as an afterthought. Apparently I was looking at the schedule cross-eyed! Thanks for the correction...
That fact adds more to the PAL-B league mystique this year.
FBAddict posted "NorCal is down, CCS is down and WCAL is down this year. Its not gong to be be a very good year for CCS in the RGB games."
This post is In response to FBAddict's comment above which has been shared by others in regards to the "WCAL being down this year". Some fans outside of the WCAL inparticularly outside the CCS have seemingly embraced this notion that the WCAL is notably down this season and possibly this trend will continue. SO the question becomes "Is the WCAL really down, is it too early to tell or possibly its equal to other recent seasons?"
Before I look at prior season's I'll add a few of my own opinions if I may. The WCAL is a "different animal" than most leagues in CA and historically their style of play has been different, being more of a physical defense oriented type of play rather than a wide open passing offense. Now over the last several years this appears to be changing with some teams, most notably Serra under coach Walsh - I'll be the first to admit as well that having Serra's Leki Nunn the last 3 seasons' did nothing to hurt the Padres offensively as Nunn eclipsed all the greatest Padres as the greatest career yardage leader in Serra history. The WCAL for a number of reasons has lower ratings than teams in other leagues in sections outside the CCS, which in part can be attributed to higher scoring totals or simply playing one or 2 teams with very high ratings even if the game results in a loss. Looking season to season the WCAL seems to come up in ratings towards the end of the season's as that is when they play the other higher rated teams within the CCS [other than other WCAL again in post season] and advance to sectional play.
One comment caught my eye just recently ina thread about the SFL or Sierra Foothill League which is one if not the toughest league in NorCal. Now Folsom is a top program and one of the only hurdles they've been unable to conquer is to beat DLS in recent years when the 2 powerhouse teams have met. OK so back to the post comment. An ardent Folsom poster stated that "the WCAL this year is a joke and if any of the top WCAL teams played Folsom the game would likely end up like the Folsom-Jesuit game" [which Folsom won by 55-9]. I found this comment interesting as the last WCAL team to play Folsom beat Folsom. 2 seasons ago Bellarmine ranked well below undefeated Folsom traveled to Folsom to shock Folsom 42-35 and break Folsom's 42-game home win streak - something no other SFL team had been unable to do. That same Bellarmine team earlier in the season took down Del Oro also rated higher than the Bells at Del Oro. So again different leagues/teams and different styles of play.
How does the 2017 WCAL stack up against other recent years?
We'll look at 3 prior seasons with which to compare this 2017 seasons teams and see if we can draw any conclusion to whether the league is indeed weaker than prior years or possibly measures up as being similar.
I'll note each teams season ending rating and then any notable games with which to get a perspective on just how good those teams may have been in regards to representing the WCAL league.
2014 WCAL Team Ratings:
Bells 42.6
VC 41.6
Serra 37.4
SF 36.9
Mitty 34.6
S.I. 32.3
SHC 18.8
ARHS 15.2
* Top team Bellarmine loses CCS Open to SHP 14-0 who then advanced to a state bowl game.
2015 WCAL Team Ratings:
Bells 58.8
SF 48.5
Serra 48.0
VC 44.2
ARHS 42.0
Mitty 35.3
S.I. 19.9
SHC 14.3
* Bells defeat unbeaten Folson at Folsom in sectional playoff and then lose in state bowl game.
* SF advances to state Div. II bowl game to lose to Citrus Hill 23-20.
* Serra loses to DLS by 37-21 in one of DLS's closest games of the season in which DLS won state Div I. In comparison DLS beat higher ranked teams than Serra such as Del Oro 41-3, Granite Bay 37-0, Foothill 35-0 and Pittsburg by 70-14.
2016 WCAL Team Ratings:
VC 53.8
Serra 51.3
SF 47.3
Bells 38.4
Mitty 36.4
S.I. 26.2
SHC 13.2
ARHS 8.0
* VC rolls over Card Newman in intersectional post season before losing to highly rated Madison in state bowl game.
* Serra rolls off 10 wins in a row beating Sanger in NorCal intersectional play before falling in 2-A state bowl game
to Sierra Canyon by 42-40.
Current 2017 WCAL Team Ratings:
VC 46.6
Serra 45.9
SF 41.8
Mitty 29.0
Bells 23.3
SHC 23.2
S.I. 14.8
ARHS 5.9
Conclusion: The WCAL is Alive & Well. Its difficult at this point of time in the season to draw any conclusions as of yet. Both Serra and VC lost to quality opponents outside the CCS in St. Mary's and Manteca in 2 season opening games and then Serra by a single score to a very good Pitt team who just beat a then undefeated and highly rated Freedom team by 47-33.
Until post season play is underway there is no way for the top tier WCAL teams to rise dramatically in ratings or polls until they play teams outside the CCS. VC has looked solid after the first game stumble while Serra also stumbled out of the gate and then with adjustments is following last years' pattern while SF lost by a single score to VC and can't be counted out yet by any means.
Of the last 4 seasons 2014 appears to be the weakest showing by the WCAL as a league. Season's 2015 and 2016 were very similar with the Bells high season ending rating jumping up due to the Folsom win which was considered a huge upset. Here's some food for thought: Bells rating was in line with VC & SF during the 2015 season. The Bells in WCAL league play had wins over VC by 3 points, by SF by 2 points & by Serra by 8 points,
it was only after the Bells beat Folsom by 7 points did their season rating increase substantially [though Folsom beat 3 other SFL teams during season all which had higher ratings/rankings than any of the WCAL teams].
I do not think there is a great variance in the WCAL year to year over these 4 seasons, at least among the top tier teams. The top 3 returned a large portion of last season's team members and were not expected to be down much if at all. Serra as an example returned almost all their skill players along with an experienced #2 QB and are 3 deep at that position. I look for a similar post season for the WCAL in 2017 in which several teams will advance deep into CCS & among those 1-2 teams will advance to sectional playoffs. & from there its anyone's guess.
This post is In response to FBAddict's comment above which has been shared by others in regards to the "WCAL being down this year". Some fans outside of the WCAL inparticularly outside the CCS have seemingly embraced this notion that the WCAL is notably down this season and possibly this trend will continue. SO the question becomes "Is the WCAL really down, is it too early to tell or possibly its equal to other recent seasons?"
Before I look at prior season's I'll add a few of my own opinions if I may. The WCAL is a "different animal" than most leagues in CA and historically their style of play has been different, being more of a physical defense oriented type of play rather than a wide open passing offense. Now over the last several years this appears to be changing with some teams, most notably Serra under coach Walsh - I'll be the first to admit as well that having Serra's Leki Nunn the last 3 seasons' did nothing to hurt the Padres offensively as Nunn eclipsed all the greatest Padres as the greatest career yardage leader in Serra history. The WCAL for a number of reasons has lower ratings than teams in other leagues in sections outside the CCS, which in part can be attributed to higher scoring totals or simply playing one or 2 teams with very high ratings even if the game results in a loss. Looking season to season the WCAL seems to come up in ratings towards the end of the season's as that is when they play the other higher rated teams within the CCS [other than other WCAL again in post season] and advance to sectional play.
One comment caught my eye just recently ina thread about the SFL or Sierra Foothill League which is one if not the toughest league in NorCal. Now Folsom is a top program and one of the only hurdles they've been unable to conquer is to beat DLS in recent years when the 2 powerhouse teams have met. OK so back to the post comment. An ardent Folsom poster stated that "the WCAL this year is a joke and if any of the top WCAL teams played Folsom the game would likely end up like the Folsom-Jesuit game" [which Folsom won by 55-9]. I found this comment interesting as the last WCAL team to play Folsom beat Folsom. 2 seasons ago Bellarmine ranked well below undefeated Folsom traveled to Folsom to shock Folsom 42-35 and break Folsom's 42-game home win streak - something no other SFL team had been unable to do. That same Bellarmine team earlier in the season took down Del Oro also rated higher than the Bells at Del Oro. So again different leagues/teams and different styles of play.
How does the 2017 WCAL stack up against other recent years?
We'll look at 3 prior seasons with which to compare this 2017 seasons teams and see if we can draw any conclusion to whether the league is indeed weaker than prior years or possibly measures up as being similar.
I'll note each teams season ending rating and then any notable games with which to get a perspective on just how good those teams may have been in regards to representing the WCAL league.
2014 WCAL Team Ratings:
Bells 42.6
VC 41.6
Serra 37.4
SF 36.9
Mitty 34.6
S.I. 32.3
SHC 18.8
ARHS 15.2
* Top team Bellarmine loses CCS Open to SHP 14-0 who then advanced to a state bowl game.
2015 WCAL Team Ratings:
Bells 58.8
SF 48.5
Serra 48.0
VC 44.2
ARHS 42.0
Mitty 35.3
S.I. 19.9
SHC 14.3
* Bells defeat unbeaten Folson at Folsom in sectional playoff and then lose in state bowl game.
* SF advances to state Div. II bowl game to lose to Citrus Hill 23-20.
* Serra loses to DLS by 37-21 in one of DLS's closest games of the season in which DLS won state Div I. In comparison DLS beat higher ranked teams than Serra such as Del Oro 41-3, Granite Bay 37-0, Foothill 35-0 and Pittsburg by 70-14.
2016 WCAL Team Ratings:
VC 53.8
Serra 51.3
SF 47.3
Bells 38.4
Mitty 36.4
S.I. 26.2
SHC 13.2
ARHS 8.0
* VC rolls over Card Newman in intersectional post season before losing to highly rated Madison in state bowl game.
* Serra rolls off 10 wins in a row beating Sanger in NorCal intersectional play before falling in 2-A state bowl game
to Sierra Canyon by 42-40.
Current 2017 WCAL Team Ratings:
VC 46.6
Serra 45.9
SF 41.8
Mitty 29.0
Bells 23.3
SHC 23.2
S.I. 14.8
ARHS 5.9
Conclusion: The WCAL is Alive & Well. Its difficult at this point of time in the season to draw any conclusions as of yet. Both Serra and VC lost to quality opponents outside the CCS in St. Mary's and Manteca in 2 season opening games and then Serra by a single score to a very good Pitt team who just beat a then undefeated and highly rated Freedom team by 47-33.
Until post season play is underway there is no way for the top tier WCAL teams to rise dramatically in ratings or polls until they play teams outside the CCS. VC has looked solid after the first game stumble while Serra also stumbled out of the gate and then with adjustments is following last years' pattern while SF lost by a single score to VC and can't be counted out yet by any means.
Of the last 4 seasons 2014 appears to be the weakest showing by the WCAL as a league. Season's 2015 and 2016 were very similar with the Bells high season ending rating jumping up due to the Folsom win which was considered a huge upset. Here's some food for thought: Bells rating was in line with VC & SF during the 2015 season. The Bells in WCAL league play had wins over VC by 3 points, by SF by 2 points & by Serra by 8 points,
it was only after the Bells beat Folsom by 7 points did their season rating increase substantially [though Folsom beat 3 other SFL teams during season all which had higher ratings/rankings than any of the WCAL teams].
I do not think there is a great variance in the WCAL year to year over these 4 seasons, at least among the top tier teams. The top 3 returned a large portion of last season's team members and were not expected to be down much if at all. Serra as an example returned almost all their skill players along with an experienced #2 QB and are 3 deep at that position. I look for a similar post season for the WCAL in 2017 in which several teams will advance deep into CCS & among those 1-2 teams will advance to sectional playoffs. & from there its anyone's guess.
Just a thought: The WCAL does not possess a wealth of QB talent this year. It's OK but not special overall. Is there a Division I college prospect among the eight starters? Doesn't appear so. That can have a big impact in big games when the QB is asked to go out and win a ballgame. Seems unlikely that any of the current eight starters could do that. Thoughts?
There is not a wealth of QB's in WCAL this season, but there is clearly one who is worth a look at the next level.This should be no surprise to anyone who follows stats. Luke Bottari of Serra is clearly the pick of the league as the QB you'd choose in a WCAL draft and Bottari is still a junior.
For those not knowing Bottari practiced with varsity coming off frosh year, He then took over for Leki Nunn in starting & finishing 4 games as a soph of which he won all 4. As a side note Bottari must be good to beat out a very capable Jack Damelio who would be starting at QB for just about any other school [so hope coach Walsh is correct in his choice].
For those not knowing Bottari practiced with varsity coming off frosh year, He then took over for Leki Nunn in starting & finishing 4 games as a soph of which he won all 4. As a side note Bottari must be good to beat out a very capable Jack Damelio who would be starting at QB for just about any other school [so hope coach Walsh is correct in his choice].
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Upcoming Games & Projections:
Fri 10/20 St. Ignatius vs Riordan at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Fri 10/20 St. Francis at Mitty 7:00pm
Fri 10/20 Valley Christian vs Bellarmine at San Jose City College 7:00pm
Sat 10/21 Sacred Heart Cathedral at Serra 1:00pm
The Over/Under:
S.I. by 14 over Riordan
SF by 17 over Mitty
VC by 32 over Bells
Serra by 27 over SHC
My PIcks:
S.I. -14
SF -17
Bells +32
Serra -27
* Wide spreads this week and any upsets unlikely.
Fri 10/20 St. Ignatius vs Riordan at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Fri 10/20 St. Francis at Mitty 7:00pm
Fri 10/20 Valley Christian vs Bellarmine at San Jose City College 7:00pm
Sat 10/21 Sacred Heart Cathedral at Serra 1:00pm
The Over/Under:
S.I. by 14 over Riordan
SF by 17 over Mitty
VC by 32 over Bells
Serra by 27 over SHC
My PIcks:
S.I. -14
SF -17
Bells +32
Serra -27
* Wide spreads this week and any upsets unlikely.
Great breakdown on the WCAL's standing compared to other seasons @Rmbr26. Excellent reading.
I would say the WCAL mirrors NorCal football as a whole. Still some good to very good teams at the top but lacking an elite team. SF, VC and Serra are all good this year but none of the three are as good as their 2016 versions
I would say the WCAL mirrors NorCal football as a whole. Still some good to very good teams at the top but lacking an elite team. SF, VC and Serra are all good this year but none of the three are as good as their 2016 versions
I agree with assessment of quarterback position. However, I do disagree that the Sarah quarterback does not need the tale of the tape. Playing at the next level will require a bigger frame. He is not big enough. Although I do not think he is a great quarterback, committee quarterback is a great athlete and has the opportunity to develop . He does fit the size requirements. She is only a sophomore.
Good write up but I would disagree on a point, the WCAL depth seems to be much lower in 2017 than previous years. Even when comparing to 2014, you had 6 teams in WCAL greater than 30 rating, with 2015/6 having 6 & 5 over 30. This year there are only 3! What I think is more striking is how far the CCS as a whole has dropped. taking a look at 2014, there was SHP at 47.2, LG at 43.3, Aptos at 40.6, Milpitas at 40.4. That's 4 Publics over 40, and another 3 over 30. In 2017 we have Milpitas at 45.7 and Aragon at 32.4. That is it for publics over 30. Aragon is currently ranked 5th in CCS where in 2014 they would be 13th. Drop off in CCS is HUGE and that includes most of the WCAL as well.
Great analysis! I see your point and your conclusion that there is no discernable difference between the 2014-2017 teams may be right. I do still maintain that the WCAL is down but maybe part of my perception comes from the strong showing of SoCal this year and the weak showing NorCal has had with other states and SoCal this year. For me, DLS is the bellwether for NorCal strength. This year, DLS had a poor performance with BG while most other competitors have performed much better. Yet, DLS dominated SF and SF is performing well within the top 3 of WCAL. I strongly agree that much of the apparent disparity reported by CalPreps ratings is related to the differing styles of play among high schools. Secretly, I hope you are right but publicly I continue to maintain that NorCal, CCS and WCAL are down this year.
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joebl - if you read the entire post you'll see that season to season the ratings come up at the end of the season due to the teams playing other top teams, specifically outside the CCS. Right now the top tier WCAL is lower than 2016 which I expect to increase the 2nd 1/2 of the season. Hard to tell if they're down until the end of the season after they encounter their toughest tests. In my early posts prior to season I stated I expected the WCAL to be down slightly, specifically among VC, SF & Serra, but that how much remained to be seen. We'll have a better idea after the Serra-VC game and then Serra-SF game.
drdiablo86 - you're correct in that Serra's QB Luke Bottari is not a huge player at 5'11-185, but is likely the ideal size for the HS position. As for the next level yes I'd agree that he would be considered on the small size for division I, however he is a junior and likely only 16-17 yrs old, so still time to grow a bit and plenty of opportunities at lower division schools as well.
drdiablo86 - you're correct in that Serra's QB Luke Bottari is not a huge player at 5'11-185, but is likely the ideal size for the HS position. As for the next level yes I'd agree that he would be considered on the small size for division I, however he is a junior and likely only 16-17 yrs old, so still time to grow a bit and plenty of opportunities at lower division schools as well.
I understand your point, but dont agree. I think we will likely see the top 2-3 WCAL teams be consistent from those previous years, but the depth of the WCAL is down and wont be made up outside of the CCS since they likely wont play anymore games outside of CCS. Also the CCS depth is way down, so victories against non-WCAL teams will not move up the rating points very much during the CCS playoffs. The WCAL is 0-8 vs top 1000 teams outside of CCS (1-7 if you count forfeit win by Mitty this week) this season. Even in the down 2014 year, WCAL was 4-9 vs top 1000.
I'm more curious if this year is an anomaly or has the concerns around concussions and changing demographics made this the normal level?
When it comes to CCS overall, one thing seems pretty clear: The entire Santa Cruz/Monterey coastal area is very weak in 2017. It appears that there isn't one really outstanding team in the whole region. And that includes Salinas, Palma, Carmel and Aptos.
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So if I understand you & I agree that the top 3 teams or the upper tier of the WCAL league has been fairly consistent, correct? The middle tier of Mitty & Bells is a bit in question this year as Bells seem to be dramatically down - which appears more from a talent standpoint than anything else [and so happens to even good teams occasionally].
Granted the lower tier of SF teams has been weak for a number of years now and specifically hurt due to smaller roster sizes. Whether than continues or not is anyone's guess.
