WCAL Football 2017: Sports Stars Magazine write up of Serra's State Bowl Win
- Thread starter Rmbr26
- Start date
[B said:
OK SF dominating 2nd 1/2 as Serra's offense has simply disappeared. It seems like once Serra got ahead the coaches got ultra-conservative and went away from their game play altogether[?]
SO game tied and coaches continue to call runs up the middle? Time for pass!
Serra 31-21 over the SF Lancers:
Wow - so some surprises with SHC Irish taking down Mitty and a feisty S.I. team taking down the Bells', Who whadda-thought?
Serra after leading 21-0 turned conservative and was tied into the 4th quarter 21-21. After a field goal and then short pass turned into a long TD by Serra's Park Serra was finally back in control for the win by 10 points 31-21. 2 posters predicted the final score being FootballJunkie & myself at 31-21 Serra.
Serra wins 1rst outright WCAL title since 1969 and is sole WCAL Champ for 1rst time in 48 years.
Wow - so some surprises with SHC Irish taking down Mitty and a feisty S.I. team taking down the Bells', Who whadda-thought?
Serra after leading 21-0 turned conservative and was tied into the 4th quarter 21-21. After a field goal and then short pass turned into a long TD by Serra's Park Serra was finally back in control for the win by 10 points 31-21. 2 posters predicted the final score being FootballJunkie & myself at 31-21 Serra.
Serra wins 1rst outright WCAL title since 1969 and is sole WCAL Champ for 1rst time in 48 years.
Padres beat St. Francis 31-21, leading 21-0 in 2nd quarter with St. Francis tying it in 3rd 21-21.
Serra then scores 10 points in 4th to wrap up WCAL Title
Junipero Serra's Chris Park (23) breaks a tackle by Saint Francis' Evan J Williams (32), scoring on a 69-yard touchdown play, in the first quarter at Saint Francis High School (Jim Gensheimer/Bay Area News Group)
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/11/10/high-school-football-serra-wins-first-outright-wcal-title-in-48-years/
Serra then scores 10 points in 4th to wrap up WCAL Title
Junipero Serra's Chris Park (23) breaks a tackle by Saint Francis' Evan J Williams (32), scoring on a 69-yard touchdown play, in the first quarter at Saint Francis High School (Jim Gensheimer/Bay Area News Group)
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/11/10/high-school-football-serra-wins-first-outright-wcal-title-in-48-years/
Post Season Playoffs:
So Serra, Valley Christian and St. Francis the teams finishing in the top 3 spots of the WCAL have all been placed in Division II of the CCS playoff format, instantly making Div II the toughest bracket by far of any to be in. Now I could be wrong but its already looking like a WCAL semi-final followed by a WCAL championship game for Div II.
So Serra, Valley Christian and St. Francis the teams finishing in the top 3 spots of the WCAL have all been placed in Division II of the CCS playoff format, instantly making Div II the toughest bracket by far of any to be in. Now I could be wrong but its already looking like a WCAL semi-final followed by a WCAL championship game for Div II.
A couple of questions for the Rambling Papal Savant: In its seven WCAL contests in 2017, Serra averaged nearly 47 digits per outing. It allowed 12 points per game on defense. On the 50th anniversary of the league's first season, did Serra set records for most points per WCAL game and biggest differential per test (35 per game)? The WCAL record book does not include such statistics.
As if Serra needed more firepower, quickness and play-making ability, there are several interesting sophomore pass-rushers from the school's championship JV team who are now members of the varsity. The rich just get richer.
[QUOTE="colhenrylives, post: 179922, member: 968"]A couple of questions for the Rambling Papal Savant: In its seven WCAL contests in 2017, Serra averaged nearly 47 digits per outing. It allowed 12 points per game on defense. On the 50th anniversary of the league's first season, did Serra set records for most points per WCAL game and biggest differential per test (35 per game)? The WCAL record book does not include such statistics. [/QUOTE]
Interesting observation colhenrylives regarding the JV players being brought up for the playoffs. I'd forgotten about that, but not sure if any will play [you might know better than me]. I think its more to experience the varsity level in a playoff game and give them a sense of what they can expect next season at the varsity level. I was very much surprised to see Serra win the JV title undefeated in league. As you likely noticed Serra's JV team had been somewhat weak in recent years as the best sophs were brought up to varsity.
Serra vs SF
The ever-observant colhenry posed some very good questions regarding this Serra teams prolific offense and stifling defense throughout league play. For those unaware Serra has without a doubt the best school web site in regards to layout and the amount of information they make available including their athletic records and histories. I'll touch on this further later, but some of the WCAL schools make athletics a mere after-thought with it seems as little information as possible about their teams & players [example: see Bellarmine web site & try to find a team roster - any team].
Back to the questions about Serra's 2017 league champs. Looking at the past teams only a few come close looking at 10-game seasons and then also league game averages on both offense and defense. There are 4 other teams that stand out in scoring as well as defense and one of them colhenry is quite familiar with. The 1968 league champ Padres with Jessie Freitas Jr, Tom Scott and Lynn Swann who would all go on to play at the pro-level [Lynn Swann who would become a SuperBowl MVP for the Pittsburgh Steelers]. That Serra team had a prolific passing game and very good defense. The seasons schedules were of course different with fewer WCAL teams [so will stick to league game averages]. The 1968 Padres in league averaged 34 offense and 10 defense per game - so a differential of 9 points less differential than 2017 team. The other team over 50-years to have similar numbers would be the 2013 team that went 13-2 losing to Del Oro in the NorCal sectional playoffs [also with one of Serra's top QB's ever Matt Faita]. That team averaged 35 points offense and gave up 13 per game in league play for a 10-point differential per game vs 2017.
Conclusion: it is not even close looking at the other 4 highest scoring teams which also had solid D's. The 2017 Serra Padres is easily the highest scoring team in school history over a 10-game regular season. Averaging 47 offense and allowing 12 defense for a differential of 33 PPG in WCAL league play is a Serra record and very possibly the record as well for any WCAL team [unless anyone can prove otherwise]. The top scoring teams as expected all had good QB's and passing games which results in lots of TD's. The 2017 Serra team has an exceptional group of WR's in Villaroman, Nunn, Park, Atkins and Kendricks [RB] - note Villaroman for 2016 season is the all-time single season pass reception leader]. Those 5 WR's are all in the Top 12 WR's of the WCAL. Between them they accounted for 119 receptions for over 1900 yards and 19 TD's. The other X-Factor is in having an "above-average" QB which Serra definitely has in junior Luke Bottari. Bottari the leagues leading QB is the leader in almost every passing category and although had the most passing attempts had a whopping 70% completion percentage [due in part to coach Walsh's highly successful short passing schemes].
The Padres 1rst outright WCAL title in 48-years was not accomplished with just a "very good" team, but rather a unique assortment of the right players and the coaching staffs ability to use them in the best way possible.
Interesting observation colhenrylives regarding the JV players being brought up for the playoffs. I'd forgotten about that, but not sure if any will play [you might know better than me]. I think its more to experience the varsity level in a playoff game and give them a sense of what they can expect next season at the varsity level. I was very much surprised to see Serra win the JV title undefeated in league. As you likely noticed Serra's JV team had been somewhat weak in recent years as the best sophs were brought up to varsity.
Serra vs SF
The ever-observant colhenry posed some very good questions regarding this Serra teams prolific offense and stifling defense throughout league play. For those unaware Serra has without a doubt the best school web site in regards to layout and the amount of information they make available including their athletic records and histories. I'll touch on this further later, but some of the WCAL schools make athletics a mere after-thought with it seems as little information as possible about their teams & players [example: see Bellarmine web site & try to find a team roster - any team].
Back to the questions about Serra's 2017 league champs. Looking at the past teams only a few come close looking at 10-game seasons and then also league game averages on both offense and defense. There are 4 other teams that stand out in scoring as well as defense and one of them colhenry is quite familiar with. The 1968 league champ Padres with Jessie Freitas Jr, Tom Scott and Lynn Swann who would all go on to play at the pro-level [Lynn Swann who would become a SuperBowl MVP for the Pittsburgh Steelers]. That Serra team had a prolific passing game and very good defense. The seasons schedules were of course different with fewer WCAL teams [so will stick to league game averages]. The 1968 Padres in league averaged 34 offense and 10 defense per game - so a differential of 9 points less differential than 2017 team. The other team over 50-years to have similar numbers would be the 2013 team that went 13-2 losing to Del Oro in the NorCal sectional playoffs [also with one of Serra's top QB's ever Matt Faita]. That team averaged 35 points offense and gave up 13 per game in league play for a 10-point differential per game vs 2017.
Conclusion: it is not even close looking at the other 4 highest scoring teams which also had solid D's. The 2017 Serra Padres is easily the highest scoring team in school history over a 10-game regular season. Averaging 47 offense and allowing 12 defense for a differential of 33 PPG in WCAL league play is a Serra record and very possibly the record as well for any WCAL team [unless anyone can prove otherwise]. The top scoring teams as expected all had good QB's and passing games which results in lots of TD's. The 2017 Serra team has an exceptional group of WR's in Villaroman, Nunn, Park, Atkins and Kendricks [RB] - note Villaroman for 2016 season is the all-time single season pass reception leader]. Those 5 WR's are all in the Top 12 WR's of the WCAL. Between them they accounted for 119 receptions for over 1900 yards and 19 TD's. The other X-Factor is in having an "above-average" QB which Serra definitely has in junior Luke Bottari. Bottari the leagues leading QB is the leader in almost every passing category and although had the most passing attempts had a whopping 70% completion percentage [due in part to coach Walsh's highly successful short passing schemes].
The Padres 1rst outright WCAL title in 48-years was not accomplished with just a "very good" team, but rather a unique assortment of the right players and the coaching staffs ability to use them in the best way possible.
Are these stats online somewhere? I'm curious where Woodruff from SI fits in with 42 catches for ~650 yards and 4 TDs (on top of half a dozen sacks and 3 blocked punts). Would also be nice to see Katz's QB numbers...
Interesting observation colhenrylives regarding the JV players being brought up for the playoffs. I'd forgotten about that, but not sure if any will play [you might know better than me]. I think its more to experience the varsity level in a playoff game and give them a sense of what they can expect next season at the varsity level. I was very much surprised to see Serra win the JV title undefeated in league. As you likely noticed Serra's JV team had been somewhat weak in recent years as the best sophs were brought up to varsity.
Serra vs SF
The ever-observant colhenry posed some very good questions regarding this Serra teams prolific offense and stifling defense throughout league play. For those unaware Serra has without a doubt the best school web site in regards to layout and the amount of information they make available including their athletic records and histories. I'll touch on this further later, but some of the WCAL schools make athletics a mere after-thought with it seems as little information as possible about their teams & players [example: see Bellarmine web site & try to find a team roster - any team].
Back to the questions about Serra's 2017 league champs. Looking at the past teams only a few come close looking at 10-game seasons and then also league game averages on both offense and defense. There are 4 other teams that stand out in scoring as well as defense and one of them colhenry is quite familiar with. The 1968 league champ Padres with Jessie Freitas Jr, Tom Scott and Lynn Swann who would all go on to play at the pro-level [Lynn Swann who would become a SuperBowl MVP for the Pittsburgh Steelers]. That Serra team had a prolific passing game and very good defense. The seasons schedules were of course different with fewer WCAL teams [so will stick to league game averages]. The 1968 Padres in league averaged 34 offense and 10 defense per game - so a differential of 9 points less differential than 2017 team. The other team over 50-years to have similar numbers would be the 2013 team that went 13-2 losing to Del Oro in the NorCal sectional playoffs [also with one of Serra's top QB's ever Matt Faita]. That team averaged 35 points offense and gave up 13 per game in league play for a 10-point differential per game vs 2017.
Conclusion: it is not even close looking at the other 4 highest scoring teams which also had solid D's. The 2017 Serra Padres is easily the highest scoring team in school history over a 10-game regular season. Averaging 47 offense and allowing 12 defense for a differential of 33 PPG in WCAL league play is a Serra record and very possibly the record as well for any WCAL team [unless anyone can prove otherwise]. The top scoring teams as expected all had good QB's and passing games which results in lots of TD's. The 2017 Serra team has an exceptional group of WR's in Villaroman, Nunn, Park, Atkins and Kendricks [RB] - note Villaroman for 2016 season is the all-time single season pass reception leader]. Those 5 WR's are all in the Top 12 WR's of the WCAL. Between them they accounted for 119 receptions for over 1900 yards and 19 TD's. The other X-Factor is in having an "above-average" QB which Serra definitely has in junior Luke Bottari. Bottari the leagues leading QB is the leader in almost every passing category and although had the most passing attempts had a whopping 70% completion percentage [due in part to coach Walsh's highly successful short passing schemes].
The Padres 1rst outright WCAL title in 48-years was not accomplished with just a "very good" team, but rather a unique assortment of the right players and the coaching staffs ability to use them in the best way possible.[/QUOTE]
The beloved colonel responds once more: Using MaxPreps' program history and Bellarmine's 2009 sports media guide, all of the Bells' WCAL football games are available from 1915 onward. As far as I can discern, no Bellarmine WCAL team has accomplished what Serra did in WCAL action this year. Since the Bells and St. Francis dominated the league for so long, an analysis of the Lancers' yearly WCAL scores probably would provide even more definitive evidence of Serra's domination. Perhaps the SF media guy has such information. Not sure. But, more and more, it does look as though Serra's WCAL performance may well have been historic.
...and all of this validates the El Ramblo Supremo's season-long conviction that Serra was the definite favorite for the WCAL title...some of us disputed that view...and, as always, we wind up looking like a gaggle of doofuses (doofi?).
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It's also worth noting that Serra chose not to pour on the digits in the final 24 minutes of several WCAL contests in 2017. Plus a running clock was used in the fourth periods of a number of one-sided affairs. So that 35-point average margin might have been quite a bit higher if the Padres had decided to run up scores. Fortunately, they opted to keep scores down. That was wise on many fronts. And, let's be honest here, the WCAL was not a particularly outstanding circuit, top to bottom, in 2017. There was the top trio and then everyone else. Serra was actually tested only once this season in league play: On Friday night in Mountain View. All told, the Padres never trailed in the second half of any league game this season. SF tied them 21-21 in the fourth quarter and lost 31-21. All that said, there's no doubt that this Serra team was (is) one of the best in school history. And it still has work to do.
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[B said:
kshepp - those are quite good numbers which would put Woodruff near the top of the WCAL if accurate. Unfortunately Bellarmine, Mitty & S.I. have elected not to participate the last several years in reporting their team stats to MaxPreps [which in turn filters down to other sites]. Its a simple thing to do and not very time consuming [ie: any coach or student from the school could do it in a few minutes time weekly]. The sad part is the discontinuation of high school sports in most newspapers and the few articles posted no longer contain the game team stats.
So nothing in newspapers and no one posting game stats/results online for those 3 schools teams. Other than watching every game most fans have no idea of who Woodruff from S.I. is or a clue as to his numbers.
Its too bad the coaching staff can't figure out that the players are not getting the recognition they deserve due to not posting their team and players stats and making them public. Its a bit of a disservice to the players IMO & a part of the game of football that many fans like to follow.
Yeah, I might be off by a few yards, but per SI's Hudl footage and Woodruff's highlights, he had 43 catches for 649 yards and 4 TDs. Per Maxpreps that'd put him at #1 in yards ahead of Patrick Nunn at 45 for 625, and tied for 5th in TDs. The sack accounting's a little fuzzier but 5 or 6 puts him in the top 3.
I guess the good news is that even if fans and recruiters don't have visibility into the stats, over the years their peers and the WCAL coaches seem to know who's who: Cade Hall from Bellarmine won WCAL honors as Most Valuable Defensive Lineman last season, Nick Menchero from SI was co-Most Valuable Wide Receiver along with Anthony Flores from Valley Christian, Austin Kause from Mitty was Most Valuable Utility Player, and Jaedon Roberts from SI was Most Valuable Sophomore.
kshepp - SI's Hudl footage is one thing for those who follow it and is a good resource for self promotion. As for "WCAL Honors" that list each year is not recognized as a reliable source of who's who in the WCAL. I do quote it myself looking at pre-season as to who' s returning, but the 1rst, 2nd teams along with MVP's of each position is anything but a reliable indication of any players actual status and performance. Each team depending on finish is allowed a number of selections and seniors are highly favored over juniors in overall selection by the teams own coaches. It is not only my opinion but that of many that is perhaps the worst list of a league's best players in the CCS for one reason - too many selections of players. Here is an example to put the "All-WCAL" list for 2016 in perspective.
Leki Nunn of Serra the All-Time yardage leader in Serra history who guided Serra to a state bowl game was not chosen as MVP [Bennet Williams of SF was chosen whom Serra defeated twice & in which Serra's Nunn excelled in both games]. Nunn was chosen on MaxPreps All NorCal team and as the Peninsula/South Bay POY by the Bay Area News Group. As for Nick Menchero and Anthony Flores being named 2016 CO-MVP Wide Recievers - Serra's Shane Villaroman set the all-time single season receiving & yardage record for Serra last season. Now Flores of VC stats were no where close to Villaroman's and Menchero's are simply unavailable - so another reason for posting them [ie: Villaroman was the "hands-down MVP at WR but also a junior]. Those 3 schools mentioned: Bells, S.I. & Mitty need to promote their players who excel by reporting all their stats as most other schools teams do IMO. Hopefully in the future the WCAL will simplify and have a single 1rst team and 2nd team ALL WCAL with 11-players on each team O & D along with a single kicker and "Athlete" position [having a MVP QB and 3 first-team QB's along with 4-5 first team RB's from 8 teams dilutes whatever recognition this "Honors List" is supposed to represent in the first place.
BTW good knowledge on your part and thanks for sharing Woodruff's stats with the board [where did you see posted & any others on S.I. players?]. You just did what no one else at S.I. was capable of doing, including the coaching staff. Woodruff had a great season on both sides of the ball & deserves to be recognized.
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Upcoming First Round Playoff Games:
Open I Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Bellarmine at Milpitas 7:00pm
Open II Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Wilcox at St. Francis 7:00pm
Fri 11/17 Oak Grove at Valley Christian 7:00pm
Sat 11/18 Mitty at Serra 1:00pm
Open III Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Sacred Heart Cathedral vs Live Oak (Morgan Hill, CA) at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Projected Winners:
Milpitas
St. Francis
Valley Christian
Serra
SHC
Open I Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Bellarmine at Milpitas 7:00pm
Open II Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Wilcox at St. Francis 7:00pm
Fri 11/17 Oak Grove at Valley Christian 7:00pm
Sat 11/18 Mitty at Serra 1:00pm
Open III Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Sacred Heart Cathedral vs Live Oak (Morgan Hill, CA) at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Projected Winners:
Milpitas
St. Francis
Valley Christian
Serra
SHC
Very correct re the all-WCAL exercise. It's AYSO all over again.
Any chance of an upset in first round of playoffs this week?
Above SHC returns a fumble recovery for 80-yard TD against Serra
Upcoming First Round Playoff Games:
Fri 11/17 Sacred Heart Cathedral vs Live Oak (Morgan Hill, CA) at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Open I Playoffs Fri 11/17 Bellarmine at Milpitas 7:00pm
Open II Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Wilcox at St. Francis 7:00pm
Fri 11/17 Oak Grove at Valley Christian 7:00pm
Sat 11/18 Mitty at Serra 1:00pm
Open III Playoffs
The Favorites: SHC, Serra, SF, VC
The Underdogs: Bells & Mitty
The over/under point spreads are quite large in all the above games and in one instance the teams have already met with Serra soundly defeating Mitty.
Here are the projected spreads for the games:
SHC by 18 over Live Oak
Milpitas by 21 over Bells
Serra by 34 over Mitty
VC by 42 over Oak Grove
SF by 24 over Wilcox
So these are BIG point spreads and these are playoff games in which the losing teams season comes to an end.
The coaches will pull out all the stops and the players should be pumped to play their best game and for the underdogs to prove the "experts" wrong and shock the heavily favored teams. So of the 6 games is there any game possible of a shocking upset?
One thing I've learned is that occasionally the playoff games do not resemble games played between teams who've already met in regular season. Also every team's players are different and sometimes a highly rated team just doesn't match up well with a much lower rated team. I can think of 3 examples of past playoff games.
1] In 2014 Valley Christian was rolling and into the Open Division against Bellarmine. In regular season VC dismantled the Bells by 42-17 and no one was remotely giving the Bells any kind of chance. The 2nd game between the 2 teams turned into a hard fought down to the wire 21-18 win by the Bells - a 28 point turn-around by the Bells in the 2 games.
2] The 2014 Bells then advanced to the semi-final against a heavily favored and undefeated Milpitas team that looked unbeatable. The Bells turned the game into a defensive battle and won in O/T 9-6. Subsequently the Bells lost in the championship to SHP who went onto the state playoffs.
3] 10 seasons ago a 6-3 Serra team with a QB injured for several games traveled to SJCC to meet an undefeated & highly regarded Bellarmine team in the last game of the regular season. Serra's QB Cody Jackson recovered from injury and was able to play in the game which Serra won 24-20 shocking fans on both sides. The following week in the first round of playoffs the Bells came back to take game #2 by 20-19. So 2 games 1 week apart and 2 different results by a total of 5-points.
Wilcox who plays SF has already lost badly to both VC & Milpitas.
Oak Grove was shut-out by SF in first game of season and lost badly to Salinas.
Live Oak has had the weakest schedule of any Div III team and lost badly to Oak Grove.
Both Bells and Mitty finished the regular season with losses to S.I. & Mitty, so not much momentum into post season.
If there is a chance of an upset I'm not seeing which team it could be at this point. Does Janda of Bellarmine have any master plan to contend with Milpitas? Could the Bells turn it into a defensive battle and stay close? Will the Mitty Monarchs put together a game similar to the 31-28 down to the wire loss to VC? Could SF be looking past Wilcox to Serra or VC too early? I guess the easier question might be which underdog team will beat the point spread?
Above SHC returns a fumble recovery for 80-yard TD against Serra
Upcoming First Round Playoff Games:
Fri 11/17 Sacred Heart Cathedral vs Live Oak (Morgan Hill, CA) at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Open I Playoffs Fri 11/17 Bellarmine at Milpitas 7:00pm
Open II Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Wilcox at St. Francis 7:00pm
Fri 11/17 Oak Grove at Valley Christian 7:00pm
Sat 11/18 Mitty at Serra 1:00pm
Open III Playoffs
The Favorites: SHC, Serra, SF, VC
The Underdogs: Bells & Mitty
The over/under point spreads are quite large in all the above games and in one instance the teams have already met with Serra soundly defeating Mitty.
Here are the projected spreads for the games:
SHC by 18 over Live Oak
Milpitas by 21 over Bells
Serra by 34 over Mitty
VC by 42 over Oak Grove
SF by 24 over Wilcox
So these are BIG point spreads and these are playoff games in which the losing teams season comes to an end.
The coaches will pull out all the stops and the players should be pumped to play their best game and for the underdogs to prove the "experts" wrong and shock the heavily favored teams. So of the 6 games is there any game possible of a shocking upset?
One thing I've learned is that occasionally the playoff games do not resemble games played between teams who've already met in regular season. Also every team's players are different and sometimes a highly rated team just doesn't match up well with a much lower rated team. I can think of 3 examples of past playoff games.
1] In 2014 Valley Christian was rolling and into the Open Division against Bellarmine. In regular season VC dismantled the Bells by 42-17 and no one was remotely giving the Bells any kind of chance. The 2nd game between the 2 teams turned into a hard fought down to the wire 21-18 win by the Bells - a 28 point turn-around by the Bells in the 2 games.
2] The 2014 Bells then advanced to the semi-final against a heavily favored and undefeated Milpitas team that looked unbeatable. The Bells turned the game into a defensive battle and won in O/T 9-6. Subsequently the Bells lost in the championship to SHP who went onto the state playoffs.
3] 10 seasons ago a 6-3 Serra team with a QB injured for several games traveled to SJCC to meet an undefeated & highly regarded Bellarmine team in the last game of the regular season. Serra's QB Cody Jackson recovered from injury and was able to play in the game which Serra won 24-20 shocking fans on both sides. The following week in the first round of playoffs the Bells came back to take game #2 by 20-19. So 2 games 1 week apart and 2 different results by a total of 5-points.
Wilcox who plays SF has already lost badly to both VC & Milpitas.
Oak Grove was shut-out by SF in first game of season and lost badly to Salinas.
Live Oak has had the weakest schedule of any Div III team and lost badly to Oak Grove.
Both Bells and Mitty finished the regular season with losses to S.I. & Mitty, so not much momentum into post season.
If there is a chance of an upset I'm not seeing which team it could be at this point. Does Janda of Bellarmine have any master plan to contend with Milpitas? Could the Bells turn it into a defensive battle and stay close? Will the Mitty Monarchs put together a game similar to the 31-28 down to the wire loss to VC? Could SF be looking past Wilcox to Serra or VC too early? I guess the easier question might be which underdog team will beat the point spread?
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Any chance of an upset in first round of playoffs this week?
Above SHC returns a fumble recovery for 80-yard TD against Serra
Upcoming First Round Playoff Games:
Fri 11/17 Sacred Heart Cathedral vs Live Oak (Morgan Hill, CA) at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Open I Playoffs Fri 11/17 Bellarmine at Milpitas 7:00pm
Open II Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Wilcox at St. Francis 7:00pm
Fri 11/17 Oak Grove at Valley Christian 7:00pm
Sat 11/18 Mitty at Serra 1:00pm
Open III Playoffs
The Favorites: SHC, Serra, SF, VC
The Underdogs: Bells & Mitty
The over/under point spreads are quite large in all the above games and in one instance the teams have already met with Serra soundly defeating Mitty.
Here are the projected spreads for the games:
SHC by 18 over Live Oak
Milpitas by 21 over Bells
Serra by 34 over Mitty
VC by 42 over Oak Grove
SF by 24 over Wilcox
So these are BIG point spreads and these are playoff games in which the losing teams season comes to an end.
The coaches will pull out all the stops and the players should be pumped to play their best game and for the underdogs to prove the "experts" wrong and shock the heavily favored teams. So of the 6 games is there any game possible of a shocking upset?
One thing I've learned is that occasionally the playoff games do not resemble games played between teams who've already met in regular season. Also every team's players are different and sometimes a highly rated team just doesn't match up well with a much lower rated team. I can think of 3 examples of past playoff games.
1] In 2014 Valley Christian was rolling and into the Open Division against Bellarmine. IN regular season VC dismantled the bells by 42-17 and no one was remotely giving the Bells any kind of chance. The 2nd game between the 2 teams turned into a hard fought down to the wire 21-18 win by the Bells.
2] The 2014 Bells then advanced to the semi-final against a heavily favored and undefeated Milpitas team that looked unbeatable. The Bells turned the game into a defensive battle and won in O/T 9-6. Subsequently the Bells lost in the championship to SHP who went onto the state playoffs.
3] 10 seasons ago a 6-3 Serra team with a QB injured for several games traveled to SJCC to meet an undefeated & highly regarded Bellarmine team in the last game of the regular season. Serra's QB Cody Jackson recovered from injury and was able to play in the game which Serra won 24-20 shocking fans on both sides. The following week in the first round of playoffs the Bells came back to take game #2 by 20-19. So 2 games 1 week apart and 2 different results by a total of 5-points.
Wilcox who plays SF has already lost badly to both VC & Milpitas.
Oak Grove was shut-out by SF in first game of season and lost badly to Salinas.
Live Oak has had the weakest schedule of any Div III team and lost badly to Oak Grove.
Both Bells and Mitty finished the regular season with losses to S.I. & Mitty, so not much momentum into post season.
If there is a chance of an upset I'm not seeing which team it could be at this point. Does Janda of Bellarmine have any master plan to contend with Milpitas? COuld the Bells turn it into a defensive battle and stay close? Will the Mitty Monarchs put together a game similar to the 31-28 down to the wire loss to VC? Could SF be looking past Wilcox to Serra or VC too early? I guess the easier question might be which underdog team will beat the point spread?
Do you know if VC is back to full strength. They were not the same team when Alton Jones went down to injury. That affected the pass game, which in turn affected the run game. Bostic? He also seems to have gone MIA.
Defense_Rules: not sure about VC and why the sudden slump other than possibly the bad loss to Serra "taking the wind out of their sails" so to speak. VC had a bit of trouble with the Bell's in the 2nd 1/2 of their game, then stumbled against Serra [Padres best game of year IMO] and then VC barely got by Mitty 31-28, before shutting down Riordan 39-0 last week.
Alton Julian returned from his missed couple games and was a factor scoring 2 -TD's against Mitty, the Warrior's best passing game of the season with Juan Turner going 9/14 for 208 yards including the long 68-yarder to Alton Julian.
I am puzzled as to VC's run game and why it has nose-dived against Bells, Serra & Mitty with the YPC ["yards per carry"] dropping to less than 1/2 of what it had been the previous 6 games[?]. There is nothing reported on the VC-ARHS game in regards to individual stats/big plays, however VC's Bostic was not a factor in either the Serra or Mitty games from what I can see [other than a TD pass reception vs Serra -please correct if wrong]. In the last 3 games Bostic's APC had dropped several yards as VC's vaunted run game seems to have disappeared.
I have stated previously that besides Serra the VC team can be scary-good at times. Their QB is a talented athlete, they have an excellent O-line and a good stable of RB's with Bostic, Edgar, Trofort, Mcelvane & Mckennzie and an excellent WR in Alton Julian who catches on average less than 2 passes per game [VC averages less than 10 pass attempts per game]. The most attempts VC has had were in the Serra & MItty games at 14 attempts each. Not sure if O-line injuries, possibly? Even if Bostic were not 100% VC has 4 other good RB's and Juan Turner is certainly capable of getting the ball to Alton Julian more than 1-2 times per game [through the first 9 games VC had completed only 33 passes or less than 4 completions per game]. If a team can slow down and key on VC's run game then it appears their offense is dependent on completing an occasional pass of which they average 50% PCP. I do expect VC to have a convincing win against Oak Grove, but likely no clear answers until the following week against a much tougher opponent.
Excellent breakdown Rmbr26. One minor historical point of correction. Bells beat Milpitas in 1st round of CCS playoffs in 2014 and then beat VC in semifinals. They were huge dogs in both games but more so against Milpitas in first round. I believe similar seeds too. However, I think the 2014 Bells were better and 2014 Trojans weaker than this year’s teams respectively.Any chance of an upset in first round of playoffs this week?
Above SHC returns a fumble recovery for 80-yard TD against Serra
Upcoming First Round Playoff Games:
Fri 11/17 Sacred Heart Cathedral vs Live Oak (Morgan Hill, CA) at Kezar Stadium 7:00pm
Open I Playoffs Fri 11/17 Bellarmine at Milpitas 7:00pm
Open II Playoffs
Fri 11/17 Wilcox at St. Francis 7:00pm
Fri 11/17 Oak Grove at Valley Christian 7:00pm
Sat 11/18 Mitty at Serra 1:00pm
Open III Playoffs
The Favorites: SHC, Serra, SF, VC
The Underdogs: Bells & Mitty
The over/under point spreads are quite large in all the above games and in one instance the teams have already met with Serra soundly defeating Mitty.
Here are the projected spreads for the games:
SHC by 18 over Live Oak
Milpitas by 21 over Bells
Serra by 34 over Mitty
VC by 42 over Oak Grove
SF by 24 over Wilcox
So these are BIG point spreads and these are playoff games in which the losing teams season comes to an end.
The coaches will pull out all the stops and the players should be pumped to play their best game and for the underdogs to prove the "experts" wrong and shock the heavily favored teams. So of the 6 games is there any game possible of a shocking upset?
One thing I've learned is that occasionally the playoff games do not resemble games played between teams who've already met in regular season. Also every team's players are different and sometimes a highly rated team just doesn't match up well with a much lower rated team. I can think of 3 examples of past playoff games.
1] In 2014 Valley Christian was rolling and into the Open Division against Bellarmine. In regular season VC dismantled the Bells by 42-17 and no one was remotely giving the Bells any kind of chance. The 2nd game between the 2 teams turned into a hard fought down to the wire 21-18 win by the Bells - a 28 point turn-around by the Bells in the 2 games.
2] The 2014 Bells then advanced to the semi-final against a heavily favored and undefeated Milpitas team that looked unbeatable. The Bells turned the game into a defensive battle and won in O/T 9-6. Subsequently the Bells lost in the championship to SHP who went onto the state playoffs.
3] 10 seasons ago a 6-3 Serra team with a QB injured for several games traveled to SJCC to meet an undefeated & highly regarded Bellarmine team in the last game of the regular season. Serra's QB Cody Jackson recovered from injury and was able to play in the game which Serra won 24-20 shocking fans on both sides. The following week in the first round of playoffs the Bells came back to take game #2 by 20-19. So 2 games 1 week apart and 2 different results by a total of 5-points.
Wilcox who plays SF has already lost badly to both VC & Milpitas.
Oak Grove was shut-out by SF in first game of season and lost badly to Salinas.
Live Oak has had the weakest schedule of any Div III team and lost badly to Oak Grove.
Both Bells and Mitty finished the regular season with losses to S.I. & Mitty, so not much momentum into post season.
If there is a chance of an upset I'm not seeing which team it could be at this point. Does Janda of Bellarmine have any master plan to contend with Milpitas? Could the Bells turn it into a defensive battle and stay close? Will the Mitty Monarchs put together a game similar to the 31-28 down to the wire loss to VC? Could SF be looking past Wilcox to Serra or VC too early? I guess the easier question might be which underdog team will beat the point spread?
Thanks drdiablo - upon reading your post my brain corrected itself as to the Milpitas-VC discrepancy.
I would also agree Bell's much weaker this season whereas I'm not quite sure Milpitas this season ranks above 2014 with that excellent RB they had with the strange name ["Squally-Canada or sumthin' like that, but damn good!].
Against Riordan this year, Walsh once again called for a flea-flicker and it went for 6. 2nd season in a row he has called that against the Crusaders. Definite payback for the 2015 66-45 fireworks show when the Crusaders went twice to the flea flicker for scores. Lol!
Serra had 4 league games that were for all intents and purposes over at 1/2 time this season. In those games the starting skill players played little in the 2nd 1/2 of those game. For the 4 games Serra scored 191 points of which only 16 points were scored in the 2nd 1/2 for all 4 games. In such instances Serra's coach Walsh used good restraint in limiting his starters as well as the scoring. The one game that got away from Serra was the Mitty game in which Serra led 43-14 at the 1/2. In the 3rd quarter Serra then scored 3 TD's in a 6 minute span to ratchet the score to 64 before the starters were pulled.
WCAL League Leaders end of regular season:
Passing: Luke Bottari/Serra by a wide margin
Rushing: Darrel Page/St. Francis by a wide margin
Receiving: Patrick Nunn/Serra
Scoring: Isaiah Kendricks/Serra by a wide margin - 21 TD's
Tackles: Tofi/Riordan
Sacks: RJ Stone/VC
INT'S: D'von Lang/VC-CB, Evan Williams/SF-SS - 3@
* S.I., Mitty & Bells do not enter stats so unknown if any of their players have verified stats above those above.
** Not all teams enter all stats for all categories so those above are the most basic.
Who is the top player so far for the WCAL? Statistics are one thing, however who has played consistently and done well in the big games that counted? I would have to say based on the 7 WCAL league games you're looking at Bottari & Kendrick from Serra along with Darrel Page of SF as the Top 3. Others at top of the list would be Bostic/VC, Vettel/SF, Irons/SHC, Katz/S.I. Since I have not seen every game I would like to hear from others who they think are the contenders for top players at their position as well as the league MVP for this season.
The above is for the conclusion of the WCAL league season and the post season results will likely outweigh the league results. IMO the Div II CCS Champ if Serra, VC or SF [dark horse Mitty] will be remembered at the best team of the WCAL for 2017.
Passing: Luke Bottari/Serra by a wide margin
Rushing: Darrel Page/St. Francis by a wide margin
Receiving: Patrick Nunn/Serra
Scoring: Isaiah Kendricks/Serra by a wide margin - 21 TD's
Tackles: Tofi/Riordan
Sacks: RJ Stone/VC
INT'S: D'von Lang/VC-CB, Evan Williams/SF-SS - 3@
* S.I., Mitty & Bells do not enter stats so unknown if any of their players have verified stats above those above.
** Not all teams enter all stats for all categories so those above are the most basic.
Who is the top player so far for the WCAL? Statistics are one thing, however who has played consistently and done well in the big games that counted? I would have to say based on the 7 WCAL league games you're looking at Bottari & Kendrick from Serra along with Darrel Page of SF as the Top 3. Others at top of the list would be Bostic/VC, Vettel/SF, Irons/SHC, Katz/S.I. Since I have not seen every game I would like to hear from others who they think are the contenders for top players at their position as well as the league MVP for this season.
The above is for the conclusion of the WCAL league season and the post season results will likely outweigh the league results. IMO the Div II CCS Champ if Serra, VC or SF [dark horse Mitty] will be remembered at the best team of the WCAL for 2017.
Based on the MaxPreps Scoretracker, the flea flicker was in the first quarter. Perhaps, ARHS_Stats can confirm.
I've got a stat for you: 37.5% That's the fraction of the WCAL that doesn't collect and report stats like this. It's not like one school out of the entire CCS is a holdout... it's over a third of the league. I think it really does a disservice to the players to focus on lists like this. But I know we can't avoid quantifying everything, so...
As I posted earlier Woodruff from SI had 43 catches for 649 yards and 4 TDs on a team that scored 171 points this season. Nunn had 45 for 625 and 7 TDs on a team that scored 404.
Woodruff might also be the sack leader in the 6-7 range. That's a little hard to determine since the whole half-sack thing is a little less clear on tape than where the play started and ended.
This is not a "WCAL League Leaders" list, by definition, since it only includes data from 5 of 8 teams. There's probably a reason the league doesn't publish a list like this.
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In the WCAL, "MVP" loses a lot of its meaning when there are so many categories of MVP. If there's an overall MVP, a kid who goes both ways, plays on special teams and is a member of a title team ought to get very strong consideration, especially if college scouts are enthused about him. A guy like Kendrick comes to mind.
[QUOTE="kshepp, post: 180338, member: 7439"]
This is not a "WCAL League Leaders" list, by definition, since it only includes data from 5 of 8 teams. There's probably a reason the league doesn't publish a list like this.[/QUOTE]
Which is the exact reason for my comment in the post which you echoed.
"* S.I., Mitty & Bells do not enter stats so unknown if any of their players have verified stats above those above.
** Not all teams enter all stats for all categories so those above are the most basic."
IMO you can't be upset at teams who do post their stats simply because some teams choose not to. There seems to be however a direct correlation between winning teams and losing teams and who posts and doesn't. In prior years when S.I. had good teams with winning records they participated in posting stats. I do not see any "disservice" to recognize players who have outstanding seasons or games.
colhenry is right in that the WCAL needs to do away with the "MVP" award for every position and as I suggested a simple 1rst & 2nd team of 11-players with a kicker, "athlete" and a single league MVP.
This is not a "WCAL League Leaders" list, by definition, since it only includes data from 5 of 8 teams. There's probably a reason the league doesn't publish a list like this.[/QUOTE]
Which is the exact reason for my comment in the post which you echoed.
"* S.I., Mitty & Bells do not enter stats so unknown if any of their players have verified stats above those above.
** Not all teams enter all stats for all categories so those above are the most basic."
IMO you can't be upset at teams who do post their stats simply because some teams choose not to. There seems to be however a direct correlation between winning teams and losing teams and who posts and doesn't. In prior years when S.I. had good teams with winning records they participated in posting stats. I do not see any "disservice" to recognize players who have outstanding seasons or games.
colhenry is right in that the WCAL needs to do away with the "MVP" award for every position and as I suggested a simple 1rst & 2nd team of 11-players with a kicker, "athlete" and a single league MVP.
I'm not upset with the teams or league at all. They're not the ones compiling/publishing "leaders" lists based on partial information.
MVP Will Irons because it has taken over a century for the school to finally get a QB that can throw the ball over 25 yards with zip.
geary - I'd agree that SHC's Will Irons is one of the players at the top of the list based on the Irish league record. With their size roster [excl JV players recently brought up] and the amount of talent on this SHC team it would seem they exceeded everyone's expectations. S.I.'s QB Katz was another player I liked and provided a lot of excitement for the Wildcats along with their WR/DE Woodruff whom poster kshepp has posted his very good stats on both sides of the ball. S.I. finishing the season with 2 wins in their last 3 games with upsets over both Mitty & the Bells is remarkable, especially considering the Bells handled SHC 34-14 just 2 weeks earlier.
A note for the Rambler: The 2017 Serra team has established records for most points in a season, 432 (and the season isn't over), and most points per game in WCAL play (46).
Yes the ever-observant colhenry as I rely on you to filter my endless info through. As I posted previously this IS the highest scoring team in Serra's history in regards to points scored in a 10-game season and PPG average in WCAL league play & highest point differential in its wins of 34 points. In your point total though you may have added a game scoring total twice as the Padres are currently at 404 points scored for 2017. This 2017 team though is not guaranteed of the overall season record just yet. The 2011 team had a season total of 505 points including 3 playoff games, Last years 2016 squad will likely continue to hold the overall season record since Leki Nunn and company had 5 playoff games last year including state to score 574 points. So 2017 Padres need 101 points to score the record over 13 games or less and 170 points to overtake last season's state bowl team.
Games this evening & tomorrow on live-feed:
Bellarmine vs Milpitas: http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/milpitas-high-school-milpitas-ca/4b89c4273b
St. Francis vs Wilcox:
http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/s...ool-mountain-view-mountain-view-ca/f5d2533c85
SHC vs Live Oak: http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/cifccs/aadb27a0ff
Saturday:
Serra vs Mitty: http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/cifccs/741c989a92
Bellarmine vs Milpitas: http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/milpitas-high-school-milpitas-ca/4b89c4273b
St. Francis vs Wilcox:
http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/s...ool-mountain-view-mountain-view-ca/f5d2533c85
SHC vs Live Oak: http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/cifccs/aadb27a0ff
Saturday:
Serra vs Mitty: http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/cifccs/741c989a92
I've seen horrible officiating since Nixon, but to save my life, I've never seen such a bunch of incompetent fools so bent on cheating Sacred Heart. It's bad enough anytime, but a playoff? I won't even bother with examples. Just diabolical.
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Best game of the nite is SHC vs Live Oak with the SHC Irish being a prohibitive favorite and after leading letting the game slip away from them in the 2nd 1/2. SHC looked to have the better athletes IMO, but to a point undisciplined and an unsportsmanlike penalty late in the game might have cost SHC the game - Irish had just dropped Live OAK QB for a big loss and then a 15-yarder for someone mouthing off from SHC.
OK back to game with a minute left and another 15-yard unsportsmanlike against SHC for player mouthing off at Live Oak player & then official according to announcers [?], costing the Irish another 15-yards and putting the final "nail in the coffin" so to speak. The only thing worse than the SHC loss was listening to the Live Oak announcer who gave new meaning to the term "Homer".
Tough loss for SHC/Will Irons and the Irish fans.
OK back to game with a minute left and another 15-yard unsportsmanlike against SHC for player mouthing off at Live Oak player & then official according to announcers [?], costing the Irish another 15-yards and putting the final "nail in the coffin" so to speak. The only thing worse than the SHC loss was listening to the Live Oak announcer who gave new meaning to the term "Homer".
Tough loss for SHC/Will Irons and the Irish fans.
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