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WCAL Football 2019-20 - NCP's All NorCal Team + SF Chron All Metro & Merc Teams

Irish Cheers, going back to 1983 ! As well as some Kevin Gogans to man the lines I would fill out the rest of the team with as many Joe Petersons as possible.
Joe Peterson is another one. Domonic Johnson is another. He made some great catches out there.
 
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If we're going back in the day give me some Crusaders like Steve Sewells, Derek Lovilles, Marty Stortis, Mike Seagram/Rodney Glover, Damien Semiens (A's Marcus's dad) and top it off with Donald Stricklands and Eric Wrights with Steve Jordan kicking off! Haha.
 
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SHC's QB Cian Dowling runs for daylight in the Irish big win 26-21 over St. Ignatius in the Bruce-Mahoney game
Oct. 5th, 2018 at Kezar Stadium in SF. [photo courtesy of SF Gate]


WCAL Team Rosters by the Numbers

With just over a week to go before the season opening games for WCAL teams it was time to check in on rosters and get an idea of what the current numbers look like. I was looking at both MaxPreps and checking school web sites. In the case of Bellarmine they simply do not post rosters of their teams so MaxPreps is as good as it gets. With that being said a poster in this thread indicated there were a few more players than submitted on the earlier roster posted.
Likewise St. Ignatius does not have anyone to submit roster info to Maxpreps although there is limited roster info on the S.I. website. So all in all this list is as good as it gets for the WCAL teams football rosters with a week to go.

Valley Christian = 63 Players, 33 seniors, 30 juniors, 3 sophs'
St. Francis = 62 Players, 18 seniors, 29 juniors, 5 sophs'
Mitty = 45 Players, 17 seniors, 27 juniors, 1 soph
Bellarmine = 26 seniors, 23 juniors, 2 sophs' - info thx to HazeG
Serra = 59 Players,
29 seniors, 25 juniors, 4 sophs'
St. Ignaitus = 43 Players, 18 seniors, 25 juniors
SHC = 49 Players, 11 seniors, 19 juniors, 19 soph's
Riordan = 52 Players , 17 seniors, 32 juniors, 3 sophs'

So the juniors who played last season, especially those that started are the most valuable players returning and any senior who was on varsity last year has varsity experience - a big plus! Juniors from the JV squad are untested at the varsity level as are any sophs, so we'll concentrate on the seniors' first. VC looks very balanced with over 1/2 their team being seniors', many from last season. Next up is Serra slightly below VC in overall roster numbers/strength. As it is Serra returns more "core players' than VC though VC dominated Serra last season - the gap narrows this season.
After those 2 teams it becomes a "free for all" with Mitty, S.I. & Riordan all having 17-18 seniors which is a good number, but nowhere close to VC & Serra. SHC rounds out the league with the fewest seniors on the team at 11.
Now for the juniors, a few as sophs' on varsity last season, but mostly players up from JV. This seems to be a more level playing field as most teams have over 1/2 their players being juniors except SHC. As for sophs it is rare for WCAL teams to have sophs playing unless they were exceptional as Frosh players & this is especially true of the better teams - ie: if you're a soph on VC, SF, or Serra' varsity then you were an exceptional player on last years' Frosh [whether this translates to the varsity level is another subject & yet to be determined]. With SHC not having a JV team the last 2 seasons the Irish now have 19 sophs' listed on varsity - which if not would translate into an SHC varsity team with 30 players. Hopefully some of those sophs' for SHC will benefit from their early varsity experience.

WCAL Teams in order of Roster Strength:
1] VC -
looking at thier roster is impressive with veteran players, size & speed.
2] Serra - a large part of last seasons team along with some underclassmen who should contribute.
3] SF - returns some very good players along with help from a good JV team last season.
4] Mitty - returns some important veteran player & big question is how many juniors will contribute.
5] S.I. - returns a few key players and good number of upcoming JV's -
6] Riordan - overall numbers look good and team should be improved with key seniors returning.
7] Bellarmine - numbers uncertain and even on the low end seniors & juniors' will comprise 50% each of team
8] SHC = essentially a mixed varsity/JV team with a large number of sophs' for needed depth/reserve players

Next Up: WHO are the BEST Players in WCAL for 2019-2010?
 
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One more time: Serra has plenty of fast, agile skill guys. Big, physical linemen, not so much. Without a considerable supply of talented bruisers, beating the likes of VC, Pitt, SF, etc. will be a big problem.
 
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One more time: Serra has plenty of fast, agile skill guys. Big, physical linemen, not so much. Without a considerable supply of talented bruisers, beating the likes of VC, Pitt, SF, etc. will be a big problem.

I do not disagree whatsoever with the all-knowing colhenry & his uncanny ability to sense the importance of "big physical linemen" . Without the required physical specimens the Padres will be pushed in reverse to both ends of the field by both VC & SF in a replay of last season. Pitt is a physical team as well and will do damage to Serra without the improved "O-Line" some fans were stating would be "the largest ever" and put the Padres once again into WCAL title contention. But not so fast delirious young Padre fans or parents, if you've followed this thread a bit of the hysteria was apparently fueled by a few unknowing fans promoting 2 unproven oversize frosh from last year, who we now know are "one & done" after a few weeks of pre-season practice . Serra indeed has skill players among the best in the league, however most of these same players were on the field last season and were ineffective due to the Padres line play.

So this is the puzzle Serra must solve in how to bolster and improve the O & D-lines from last season which were inadequate vs VC & SF. Pitt will be the first big test in this regard for the Padres.
 
If we're going back in the day give me some Crusaders like Steve Sewells, Derek Lovilles, Marty Stortis, Mike Seagram/Rodney Glover, Damien Semiens (A's Marcus's dad) and top it off with Donald Stricklands and Eric Wrights with Steve Jordan kicking off! Haha.
Well I don't have 106 season's worth of rosters otherwise I'd have more names.
 
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1024x1024.jpg

SHC's QB Cian Dowling runs for daylight in the Irish big win 26-21 over St. Ignatius in the Bruce-Mahoney game
Oct. 5th, 2018 at Kezar Stadium in SF. [photo courtesy of SF Gate]


WCAL Team Rosters by the Numbers

With just over a week to go before the season opening games for WCAL teams it was time to check in on rosters and get an idea of what the current numbers look like. I was looking at both MaxPreps and checking school web sites. In the case of Bellarmine they simply do not post rosters of their teams so MaxPreps is as good as it gets. With that being said a poster in this thread indicated there were a few more players than submitted on the earlier roster posted.
Likewise St. Ignatius does not have anyone to submit roster info to Maxpreps although there is limited roster info on the S.I. website. So all in all this list is as good as it gets for the WCAL teams football rosters with a week to go.

Valley Christian = 63 Players, 33 seniors, 30 juniors, 3 sophs'
St. Francis = 62 Players, 18 seniors, 29 juniors, 5 sophs'
Mitty = 45 Players, 17 seniors, 27 juniors, 1 soph
Bellarmine = 35-50 Players, 3 different sources vary and could be on lower end - split even between Sr's & Jr's.
Serra = 59 Players, 29 seniors, 25 juniors, 4 sophs'
St. Ignaitus = 43 Players, 18 seniors, 25 juniors
SHC = 49 Players, 11 seniors, 19 juniors, 19 soph's
Riordan = 52 Players , 17 seniors, 32 juniors, 3 sophs'

So the juniors who played last season, especially those that started are the most valuable players returning and any senior who was on varsity last year has varsity experience - a big plus! Juniors from the JV squad are untested at the varsity level as are any sophs, so we'll concentrate on the seniors' first. VC looks very balanced with over 1/2 their team being seniors', many from last season. Next up is Serra slightly below VC in overall roster numbers/strength. As it is Serra returns more "core players' than VC though VC dominated Serra last season - the gap narrows this season.
After those 2 teams it becomes a "free for all" with Mitty, S.I. & Riordan all having 17-18 seniors which is a good number, but nowhere close to VC & Serra. SHC rounds out the league with the fewest seniors on the team at 11.
Now for the juniors, a few as sophs' on varsity last season, but mostly players up from JV. This seems to be a more level playing field as most teams have over 1/2 their players being juniors except SHC. As for sophs it is rare for WCAL teams to have sophs playing unless they were exceptional as Frosh players & this is especially true of the better teams - ie: if you're a soph on VC, SF, or Serra' varsity then you were an exceptional player on last years' Frosh [whether this translates to the varsity level is another subject & yet to be determined]. With SHC not having a JV team the last 2 seasons the Irish now have 19 sophs' listed on varsity - which if not would translate into an SHC varsity team with 30 players. Hopefully some of those sophs' for SHC will benefit from their early varsity experience.

WCAL Teams in order of Roster Strength:
1] VC -
looking at thier roster is impressive with veteran players, size & speed.
2] Serra - a large part of last seasons team along with some underclassmen who should contribute.
3] SF - returns some very good players along with help from a good JV team last season.
4] Mitty - returns some important veteran player & big question is how many juniors will contribute.
5] S.I. - returns a few key players and good number of upcoming JV's -
6] Riordan - overall numbers look good and team should be improved with key seniors returning.
7] Bellarmine - numbers uncertain and even on the low end seniors & juniors' will comprise 50% each of team
8] SHC = essentially a mixed varsity/JV team with a large number of sophs' for needed depth/reserve players

Next Up: WHO are the BEST Players in WCAL for 2019-2010?
Bells 51 players
26 seniors
23 juniors
2 sophs
 
Serra linemen as big as SF and VC. Unknown who will be most effective.

The betting here is that VC's lines will be the best in the WCAL this year. They are big, physical, experienced, athletic and deep. VC's 63-man roster includes 30 guys between 190 and 350 pounds. Everyone else appears to be a step down from the Warriors in the behemoth department.
 
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Bells 51 players
26 seniors
23 juniors
2 sophs

HazeG - I was able to find several rosters on Bells and each different & lower numbers, however if you have direct knowledge we'll go by that & THANKS! [I'll adjust post].

Will the Bells ever post an "active" roster or can a Bell student body member possibly update Maxpreps which will "bleed" to other sites?

Sometime upcoming I'll post in order the BEST & the WORST school web sites in regards to athletic info on their teams & players. While some WCAL schools continue to upgrade & update their web sites others are stuck where they were 10-20 years ago. A few do not post rosters, some a roster without any info on players as to their size or position & also absolutely no updates or information on the team itself [?].

FYI if anyone attends a De La Salle game & buys a program - YES some high schools actually have programs like a college you would be amazed. Serra briefly about 7-10 years ago tried this and it was similar to DLS's. Serra discontinued after 2 seasons of making available. It contained pictures and a mini-bio of each player along with the bio of each varsity coach. In the rear of the brochure "program" it also had rosters on the JV and Frosh with some info. LIke DLS"s I believe Serra's was $10 at the time and hopefully the school was making a few duckets. In the stands at the Serra game several Serra parents saw me perusing my new find & politely asked if they could borrow it. I must have loaned it to 3 parents & finally got it back. At one DLS game I attended I attempted to purchase a game program for the $10 & was told they were sold out - you see players parents, siblings, friends, etc. buy these and save them [especially in this day where there is almost zero newspaper coverage of HS sports any more].
Hard to figure why some schools are so resistant to promoting their teams and student-athletes [?].
 
The huge St. Francis football media guide is a treasure trove of information. It's better than those of many colleges.
 
HazeG - I was able to find several rosters on Bells and each different & lower numbers, however if you have direct knowledge we'll go by that & THANKS! [I'll adjust post].

Will the Bells ever post an "active" roster or can a Bell student body member possibly update Maxpreps which will "bleed" to other sites?

Sometime upcoming I'll post in order the BEST & the WORST school web sites in regards to athletic info on their teams & players. While some WCAL schools continue to upgrade & update their web sites others are stuck where they were 10-20 years ago. A few do not post rosters, some a roster without any info on players as to their size or position & also absolutely no updates or information on the team itself [?].

FYI if anyone attends a De La Salle game & buys a program - YES some high schools actually have programs like a college you would be amazed. Serra briefly about 7-10 years ago tried this and it was similar to DLS's. Serra discontinued after 2 seasons of making available. It contained pictures and a mini-bio of each player along with the bio of each varsity coach. In the rear of the brochure "program" it also had rosters on the JV and Frosh with some info. LIke DLS"s I believe Serra's was $10 at the time and hopefully the school was making a few duckets. In the stands at the Serra game several Serra parents saw me perusing my new find & politely asked if they could borrow it. I must have loaned it to 3 parents & finally got it back. At one DLS game I attended I attempted to purchase a game program for the $10 & was told they were sold out - you see players parents, siblings, friends, etc. buy these and save them [especially in this day where there is almost zero newspaper coverage of HS sports any more].
Hard to figure why some schools are so resistant to promoting their teams and student-athletes [?].

Serra's athletic website features a Records section which is rich in data, history and prominent names for all sports, including football.
 
The betting here is that VC's lines will be the best in the WCAL this year. They are big, physical, experienced, athletic and deep. Everyone else appears to be a step down from the Warriors in the behemoth department.
Agree VC is all of that but don't discount the Lancers. With two of the top returning lineman in the league (Vavao/Sanft), a couple of OL who got significant playing time last year as well as the Taliauli brothers. The Lancers lines are deep,big,strong, fast and experienced. This bodes well for their returning QB who lost all his receivers to graduation. Rough first two games but I think they will come on strong at the end of the year. Looking forward to another great WCAL year.
 
Riordan's Athletic site is going over a makeover and includes a mobile app for the Crusader Nation to download news/updates, online prep shop, schedules, rosters, pictures, etc.
I hope to see an online downloadable version of a Media Guide available as well. No need to cut down more trees.
 
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The nearby crystal ball is showing Riordan as a WCAL factor no later than 2021. As Serra was in 2000 before Coach Walsh arrived on the suburban scene, Riordan under Coach Modeste is also a sleeping giant soon to be roused from its deep football slumber.
 
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The huge St. Francis football media guide is a treasure trove of information. It's better than those of many colleges.

Not sure colhenry which media guide you're referring to. If on the SF website I am somehow missing and related searches show only limited media info incl individual videos [?] SF football media guide search comes up empty as well. Are you referring to this:

https://sfhsathletics.com/
 
Riordan's Athletic site is going over a makeover and includes a mobile app for the Crusader Nation to download news/updates, online prep shop, schedules, rosters, pictures, etc.
I hope to see an online downloadable version of a Media Guide available as well. No need to cut down more trees.

Need to add a mobile ordering app to get food delivered from Forum snack bar.
 
[B said:
"Irish_Cheers[/B], post: 239701, member: 788"]Irish used to have a program. Now everything's online except for rosters. Varsity has 49 and Frosh has 37.

Irish - knowing the varsity number is for a combined varsity/JV team with over 1/3 sophs that frosh number is low as well. Question: were the 37 Frosh the players they kept after cuts or was the 37 the number who turned out?
I know some of the bigger programs such as Serra at times had over 100 frosh turning out with several staggered cuts to bring the roster down to 50. Knowing that a high percentage of frosh don't advance past year one in contact football the numbers game is a big obstacle for SHC to overcome.
 
Irish - knowing the varsity number is for a combined varsity/JV team with over 1/3 sophs that frosh number is low as well. Question: were the 37 Frosh the players they kept after cuts or was the 37 the number who turned out?
I know some of the bigger programs such as Serra at times had over 100 frosh turning out with several staggered cuts to bring the roster down to 50. Knowing that a high percentage of frosh don't advance past year one in contact football the numbers game is a big obstacle for SHC to overcome.

Maybe...but if just 20 of those freshman come up to play football as sophomores, they have a good turnout for the varsity, anything 50 and up is good for the program. I do not believe Coach Mac wants to run a JV program currently, he wants to concentrate on getting the most out of everyone who plays football at the school. This will be the third year doing this. If you want to play football and be tested early, this is the place to be..feast or famine, go out there and earn it! What do you have to lose at the very least you can play special teams for the varsity while growing into your position if you are not ready. Having a JV program with 27-33 guys playing in the past didn't help the football program. In this way, you get to maximize and have more players for the varsity where it counts. So we will see.
 
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Maybe...but if just 20 of those freshman come up to play football as sophomores, they have a good turnout for the varsity, anything 50 and up is good for the program. I do not believe Coach Mac wants to run a JV program currently, he wants to concentrate on getting the most out of everyone who plays football at the school. This will be the third year doing this. If you want to play football and be tested early, this is the place to be..feast or famine, go out there and earn it! What do you have to lose at the very least you can play special teams for the varsity while growing into your position if you are not ready. Having a JV program with 27-33 guys playing in the past didn't help the football program. In this way, you get to maximize and have more players for the varsity where it counts. So we will see.

A problem: All the other WCAL teams have three teams, not two. That's a big advantage when it comes to giving kids playing time.
 
A problem: All the other WCAL teams have three teams, not two. That's a big advantage when it comes to giving kids playing time.
With one less league game, it deprives the other WCAL JV teams of playing a game. Perhaps the other schools can schedule one more additional non-league game?
 
A problem: All the other WCAL teams have three teams, not two. That's a big advantage when it comes to giving kids playing time.

Yeah, maybe too, but this is how SHC are going to get them the most bodies up on the varsity..we will see, but as said before this is not a novel idea, it has been done in other schools but time will tell. No matter what, it gets the Varsity healthier numbers for that year and I think it could work or not work results wise judging year by year.
 
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[B]Scott2138 [/B]post: 239721 said:
Yeah, maybe too, but this is how SHC are going to get them the most bodies up on the varsity..we will see, but as said before this is not a novel idea, it has been done in other schools but time will tell. No matter what, it gets the Varsity healthier numbers for that year and I think it could work or not work results wise judging year by year.

Re: SHC's heavily laden soph varsity - lets not forget we're talking about 15-16 yr old sophs' taking on 17-18 yr old juniors and seniors. A 15-yr old vs an 18 yr old is not a fair fight so to speak.
 
Re: SHC's heavily laden soph varsity - lets not forget we're talking about 15-16 yr old sophs' taking on 17-18 yr old juniors and seniors. A 15-yr old vs an 18 yr old is not a fair fight so to speak.

Rmbr26- what do you recommend the Irish should do to make it fair then? A varsity of 30 and Jv of 25+ is not fair as well. At the end of the day, the Irish have a full squad with 50 kids to be able to have a a complete practice squad to go against each other every day to get better.
 
Rmbr26- what do you recommend the Irish should do to make it fair then? A varsity of 30 and Jv of 25+ is not fair as well. At the end of the day, the Irish have a full squad with 50 kids to be able to have a a complete practice squad to go against each other every day to get better.

Simply put CityMann I was simply stating the facts on SHC's dilemma. There literally is no recommendation from myself or anyone else that can make a 15-16 year old soph up to the task of taking on a 17-18 year old senior. Once again under SHC's required circumstances to field a team of enough players to finish a game against superior numbered rosters the Irish are at a distinct disadvantage sorry to say. If only SHC had its own field it would only help to recruit some athletes interested in playing the sport of football.
 
[QUOTE="Rmbr26, post: 239727, member: 404"

You could certainly look at it that way...but this system brings more people to the start of the fight. Having a field does help but that is like saying in San Francisco your house is worth more with a front yard or backyard for most folks.
 
Simply put CityMann I was simply stating the facts on SHC's dilemma. There literally is no recommendation from myself or anyone else that can make a 15-16 year old soph up to the task of taking on a 17-18 year old senior. Once again under SHC's required circumstances to field a team of enough players to finish a game against superior numbered rosters the Irish are at a distinct disadvantage sorry to say. If only SHC had its own field it would only help to recruit some athletes interested in playing the sport of football.
The field solution is in the future. They will be using the revamped Hayward Playground nearby by 2020. Also, they plan on building a rooftop practice field where the current field is located, effectively doubling its size. I don't know the timeline for construction so unless they plan to use other locations along with the future set-up, it should solve the practice field issue.
 
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[B said:
"Irish_Cheers[/B], post: 239730, member: 788"]The field solution is in the future. They will be using the revamped Hayward Playground nearby by 2020. Also, they plan on building a rooftop practice field where the current field is located, effectively doubling its size. I don't know the timeline for construction so unless they plan to use other locations along with the future set-up, it should solve the practice field issue.

Irish - I along with others whom I'm sure would agree believe the "home field" for SHC is the "cure" for their distinct disadvantage in recruiting athletes who want to play football at the HS level. As it is you have S.I. with a beautiful FB field and now Riordan upgrading its facilities along with a new football field - of the 3 schools which would you choose to play FB? if that were a consideration? S.I. has one type of reputation and has not been a big football draw for awhile now, while Riordan has been quietly making strides in improving. SHC is primarily known as a basketball school and only progress towards a "home field" will change that perception.
 
Irish - I along with others whom I'm sure would agree believe the "home field" for SHC is the "cure" for their distinct disadvantage in recruiting athletes who want to play football at the HS level. As it is you have S.I. with a beautiful FB field and now Riordan upgrading its facilities along with a new football field - of the 3 schools which would you choose to play FB? if that were a consideration? S.I. has one type of reputation and has not been a big football draw for awhile now, while Riordan has been quietly making strides in improving. SHC is primarily known as a basketball school and only progress towards a "home field" will change that perception.
I would never consider SI, and SHC has had better teams than Riordan lately, so I'd rather be an Irish. The school posted a 165 page overview on all the improvements they intend to do campus-wide.
 
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Any scrimmage reports?
Irish have a good passing game. Cian Dowling threw at least 5 TD passes. Lincoln was late getting to Kezar for some reason. The defense looked good. They played better as the game progressed.
 
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Riordan JVs and Varsity scrimmaged at Sacred Heart Prep yesterday afternoon. What a beautiful campus!
The difference was immediate on how the Crusader teams played. Well drilled and its new scheme and approach to the game was evident.
First part of the Varsity scrimmage was a simulated game with the latter part 7on7 passing.
Both Crusader teams ran its base 2 back fly offense for the most part. The offensive play appeared very deliberate as you can tell the players are still adopting this scheme. The difference was telling when SHP went on offense and ran the same scheme - it's just second nature to them. Defense appeared tentative at first, but became more comfortable going to ball in their following series. Their angles to the ball and tackling is very solid. You can tell there's been a focus and work put on this.
JVs have some good size and speed, but roster size is a bit thin as i counted approximately 25 players.
First impression of the Varsity is they are a lot bigger physically (offseason strength/conditioning), fundamentally sound and didn't make glaring or repeated mistakes. I like the overall approach to the game the program is implementing.
Coach Modeste and his staff have done good work and the players seem to be adopting to the new scheme. Nice to see a mix of returning coaches as position coaches mixed in with new coaches including Coach Modeste.
Does this equate to more wins? Hard to say at this point as this team is a work in progress. I am in agreement with my fellow posters that the overall football program is trending up and the future is bright as long as the coaches and players continue to keep learning and improving every week.
I'll leave their play and results on the field speak for itself this season. It starts with the first kickoff next Friday night at Terra Nova!
 
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