Early in the season, Riordan's collection of big-play guys were running rampant. Now, teams are limiting special teams chances and long passing plays. However, it's the Riordan ground game that's starting to come to the fore now. It's not flashy but that tough OL and stable of RBs (and solid backup QB) are making things difficult for defenses. SHP probably will get a big dose of that approach.
WCAL FOOTBALL : Omission of WCAL's MVP from NorCal Top 50 list [??]
- Thread starter Rmbr26
- Start date
...avoiding AVH KO or punt returns on special teams whenever possible has also led to the Crusader offense starting at mid-field, making a short field for scores.
OK checking further the Riordan-SHP game is also being televised [so all 3 WCAL Championship games will be available].
I have a suscription already, but if you don't for $15 you can see all 3 of these games as well as any others being broadcast
BTW - the Hillsdale & HMB games are both available as well.
Div. I - #1 ranked Bell's vs #7 Milpitas [Bell's 28-14]
Div. II - #2 ranked SF vs #4 Oak Grove [SF 24-21]
Div. III - #5 ranked Riordan vs #10 SHP [Riordan 42-21]
Div. IV - #17 Hillsdale vs #19 Aptos [Hillsdale 28-21]
Div. V - #24 HMB vs #31 Pacific Grove [HMB 31-21]
I have a suscription already, but if you don't for $15 you can see all 3 of these games as well as any others being broadcast
BTW - the Hillsdale & HMB games are both available as well.
Div. I - #1 ranked Bell's vs #7 Milpitas [Bell's 28-14]
Div. II - #2 ranked SF vs #4 Oak Grove [SF 24-21]
Div. III - #5 ranked Riordan vs #10 SHP [Riordan 42-21]
Div. IV - #17 Hillsdale vs #19 Aptos [Hillsdale 28-21]
Div. V - #24 HMB vs #31 Pacific Grove [HMB 31-21]
Beside the KO return, isn't that what SHCP got from Riordan in Part I?
Jordan,
Can you clarify?
Btw. I have been singing that little tune all day..."do you know the way to San Jose". Is this like my name sake singing in the shpwer(lol)
J2, to clarify - with teams not willing to kick to AVH anymore, this usually has the Crusaders in great field position as they typically get the ball to start a drive midfield. I guess it's pick your poison for the Crusader opponents. Should be a great championship game and atmosphere tomorrow. How many busses are making the trek to Silicon Valley tomorrow night? I heard the band will also be making an appearance. #WeR
The Intel is 4 buses with Band & Parents...truly bringing Riordan to the Mountian...can we all say "Camp Crusader" (lol)
I encourage all other San Francisco HS Prep FB fans to make the trek to Westmont in Campbell and join Crusader Nation. Now it is time to not be political (as I heard this week) and support the SF Football Program going for the "Sectional Marker of Excellence"
btw....
We Are One...We R Riordan...We Are the WCAL!!!!!!!!
I encourage all other San Francisco HS Prep FB fans to make the trek to Westmont in Campbell and join Crusader Nation. Now it is time to not be political (as I heard this week) and support the SF Football Program going for the "Sectional Marker of Excellence"
btw....
We Are One...We R Riordan...We Are the WCAL!!!!!!!!
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Aptos had a much more difficult schedule than Hillsdale and it likely played a part in the 2nd 1/2. Aptos lost its first 4 games of the season to Mitty, Bellarmine, Palma & Capital Christian of Sacto before winning their next 8 games, with last nites game putting Aptos at 9-4 [Aptos coach credited the first 4 difficult games for their win over Hillsdale].
Hillsdale who finishes 11-2 had not faced a team rated as high as Aptos all season. The Hillsdale Knight's biggest win was over HMB 10-2 who plays for the Division V crown tonite vs Pacific Grove. Still a very successful season for the PAL Ocean League Champs.
Hillsdale who finishes 11-2 had not faced a team rated as high as Aptos all season. The Hillsdale Knight's biggest win was over HMB 10-2 who plays for the Division V crown tonite vs Pacific Grove. Still a very successful season for the PAL Ocean League Champs.
No destiny for Riordan tonight. That left side of their defense was completely dominated and they looked like they didn't come to play until the end on offense. SHP played a very good game on offense. Was surprised by the going for it on 4th down on their own 40 by SHP in first half. Riordan didn't seem to get anything on track except for a couple big plays.
Hats off to SHCP on their last play to make their TD. They brought out the trick play book and it work...
Great game and good luck at State
We Are One...We R "still" Riorda
Great game and good luck at State
We Are One...We R "still" Riorda
Very impressed with how many SF students not at Riordan attended game.
Enjoyed talking to future Riordan parents and players who want to be in successful program.
It will be interesting to see who will be on the new list/roster next year?
Enjoyed talking to future Riordan parents and players who want to be in successful program.
It will be interesting to see who will be on the new list/roster next year?
The funny part of the quoted post is SHCP won on a big play...
Truly survive and advance...
And then there were two.
In my world, losers(excuse me, runner ups) should not be allowed to advance. But since they are we still have two WCAL teams in play.
DIVISION I–AA
North: Bellarmine (12-1) at Folsom (14-0) – Friday, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m. I am really glad they made this match up and unlike almost everyone else I'm not counting the Bells out in this game.
DIVISION II–A
North: St. Francis, Mountain View (11-2) vs. Pleasant Valley (12-0) at Harrison Stadium, Oroville – Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. I dont know very much about Pleasant Valley but will be checking them out this week.
In my world, losers(excuse me, runner ups) should not be allowed to advance. But since they are we still have two WCAL teams in play.
DIVISION I–AA
North: Bellarmine (12-1) at Folsom (14-0) – Friday, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m. I am really glad they made this match up and unlike almost everyone else I'm not counting the Bells out in this game.
DIVISION II–A
North: St. Francis, Mountain View (11-2) vs. Pleasant Valley (12-0) at Harrison Stadium, Oroville – Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. I dont know very much about Pleasant Valley but will be checking them out this week.
WCAL Football 2015: "And then there were 2" [Bell's & SF]
So for CCS teams advancing from last week's games we have both winner's and "runner's up" advancing to another game & here are the projections:
Folsom over Bell's 31-22 Bell's are 12-1 vs Folsom 14-0
Milpitas over Campolindo 28-22 Milpitas 10-3 vs Campo 13-1
CVC over Oak Grove 24-21 Oak Grove 11-2 vs CVC 12-1
St. Francis over Pleasant Valley 22-21 SF 11-2 vs PV 12-0
SHP over McClymonds 31-24 SHP 10-3 vs Mack 12-0
So how do the different section teams stack up against each other? Here are the current power ratings:
Folsom 65.7 vs Bell's 55.5
Milpitas 38.4 vs Campo 33.1
CVC 33.1 vs OG 51.0
SF 47.7 vs PV 49.7
SHP 37.9 vs Mack 22.9
As for the teams overall records here are the strength of schedule "SOS" numbers:
Folsom 37.5
SF 34.3
Bell's 31.0
OG 26.7
CVC 20.1
SHP 20.1
PV 18.6
Campo 10.5
Mack [-7]
So are there any clear winner's from projections? "SOS" numbers do not always tell an accurate story, but do give us some idea when undefeated teams have very low SOS numbers. The next question is just who have they played and what have been the margins? in a 1-5 rating of games with 5 being the highest this is how I would place my bets:
5] SHP over Mack [most likely winner]
4] Milpitas over Campo
3] SF over PV
2] OG over CVC [going against the odds as OG is hottest team of them all right now]
1] Folsom over Bell's [very tough game to call - in high scoring game its Folsom & a low scoring game the Bell's].
So for CCS teams advancing from last week's games we have both winner's and "runner's up" advancing to another game & here are the projections:
Folsom over Bell's 31-22 Bell's are 12-1 vs Folsom 14-0
Milpitas over Campolindo 28-22 Milpitas 10-3 vs Campo 13-1
CVC over Oak Grove 24-21 Oak Grove 11-2 vs CVC 12-1
St. Francis over Pleasant Valley 22-21 SF 11-2 vs PV 12-0
SHP over McClymonds 31-24 SHP 10-3 vs Mack 12-0
So how do the different section teams stack up against each other? Here are the current power ratings:
Folsom 65.7 vs Bell's 55.5
Milpitas 38.4 vs Campo 33.1
CVC 33.1 vs OG 51.0
SF 47.7 vs PV 49.7
SHP 37.9 vs Mack 22.9
As for the teams overall records here are the strength of schedule "SOS" numbers:
Folsom 37.5
SF 34.3
Bell's 31.0
OG 26.7
CVC 20.1
SHP 20.1
PV 18.6
Campo 10.5
Mack [-7]
So are there any clear winner's from projections? "SOS" numbers do not always tell an accurate story, but do give us some idea when undefeated teams have very low SOS numbers. The next question is just who have they played and what have been the margins? in a 1-5 rating of games with 5 being the highest this is how I would place my bets:
5] SHP over Mack [most likely winner]
4] Milpitas over Campo
3] SF over PV
2] OG over CVC [going against the odds as OG is hottest team of them all right now]
1] Folsom over Bell's [very tough game to call - in high scoring game its Folsom & a low scoring game the Bell's].
I'm not sure how Ned is using the trend data in his projects or even if he is doing so. But here's a few things we do know about CalPreps projections.
1. It has about an 80% accuracy of picking the game winners. The rating actually takes a slight dip for playoffs probably because of intra-league action and maybe because there is a different intensity level among playoff teams than in regular season.
2. Undefeated teams are not as accurate in their ratings, basically because there is no loss to provide a soft ceiling. The only real ceiling for undefeated teams is the relative SOS which we have all seen as deceiving at times.
3. The basic mathematics of CalPreps calculates a prediction based on the modified average of all games of the season. Its pretty good at predicting a winner but can be hampered by fluctuations in real play action of its teams' season. Calpreps has a few modifications that account for such things as no losses, league strength and probably other factors that have not been made public.
4. The big improvement to the CalPreps service is the trend rating. As I mentioned above, I don't know if Ned has worked this new data into his present rating system. But the trend will give a hint of which of the two teams in a match up have been performing better recently. In general, the trend data seems to compare the more recent games with the total season or something to that nature.
It was that data that gave me a clue (from calpreps data alone) that Oak Grove might beat Valley Christian. Oak Grove was trending "sharply upward" while Valley Christian was trending "sharply downward" even though CalPreps predicted a VC win. We have something similar with Folsom and Bellarmine. Folsom is trending "slight upward" and Bellarmine is trending "slight downward." This suggests that Folsom has a better trend as well as a predicted win. But it could also suggest that Bellarmine's playoff schedule was weaker than its league play while at the same time Folsom's latter playoff schedule was stronger that its league schedule.
All I am doing here is calling attention to additional relevant data on CalPreps.
Very good info for most fans to read FBAddict. I am an avid follower of Freeman's Ranking's over the years [if not obvious] and yes I do watch the "trends" data as well. There is nothing you posted that is not accurate & why your post is worth other fans reading. I saw the Bell's-Folsom trends but don;t believe their entirely accurate as well. The 80% is good, but again goes out the window on playoff games. Bell's-Folsom is a difficult game to predict looking at all the data available. Looking at all the "connected" teams both have played Folsom does not appear as strong as I expected.
The point spread is +9 Folsom, but like you said OG proved that entirely wrong vs VC & SF. Both excellent programs but different mentailites in approach, which if you're a long-time WCAL fan you'll understand in regards to Bellarmine. Coach Janda is one of the best in the CCS year to year and excellent in his game prep strategies. It will be interesting to see how the 2 programs adjust to each others style of play. Of the 5 CCS teams playing I have this game as the toughest pick'em.
The point spread is +9 Folsom, but like you said OG proved that entirely wrong vs VC & SF. Both excellent programs but different mentailites in approach, which if you're a long-time WCAL fan you'll understand in regards to Bellarmine. Coach Janda is one of the best in the CCS year to year and excellent in his game prep strategies. It will be interesting to see how the 2 programs adjust to each others style of play. Of the 5 CCS teams playing I have this game as the toughest pick'em.
San Jose Merc's adjusted "Top 15" for this this week:
1. Bell's 12-1
2. Oak Grove 11-2
3. SF 11-2
4. SHP 10-3
5. Milpitas 10-3
6. Riordan 9-4
7. Serra 6-4
8. VC 8-4
9. Wilcox 9-3
10. Mitty 6-5
11. Los Gatos 7-4
12. Hillsdale 11-2
13. Burlingame 9-2
14. Menlo-Atherton 6-5
15. Live Oak 9-2
Observations: Looks like Oak Grove has everything to gain with this week's game against Clayton Valley Charter [["CVC"]. Should the Bell's lose to Folsom then Oak Grove likely becomes top dog of the CCS with a win. Serra is placed far too low based simply on their overall record which includes the loss to DLS. I believe Serra & Milpitas are in the wrong places & should be reversed based upon: Serra played Bellarmine in a closer game and Serra defeated VC by 21 while Milpitas lost to VC by 1. Wilcox & Mitty also need to be reversed based upon Wilcox losing to Los Gatos by 10 whom Mitty defeated 45-16 and Wilcox lost to SF by 41-21 whom Mitty lost to by 14-13. Wilcox also gets dropped one place additional below Los Gatos due to the 10-point loss as mentioned. Only other obvious mix-up is with Hillsdale being above Burlingame. Other than a weaker schedule for Hillsdale BGame's only 2 losses were a 9-point loss to SHP & a narrow 2-point loss to Riordan in playoffs - both teams considerably higher in rankings than any team Hillsdale had faced. So here is the more accurate IMO rankings:
Rmbr26 Top 15 Rankings:
1. Bell's
2. Oak Grove
3. SF
4. SHP
5. Serra
6. Riordan
7. VC
8. Milpitas
9. Mitty
10. Los Gatos
11. Wilcox
12. Burlingame
13. Hillsdale
14. MA
15. Live Oak
1. Bell's 12-1
2. Oak Grove 11-2
3. SF 11-2
4. SHP 10-3
5. Milpitas 10-3
6. Riordan 9-4
7. Serra 6-4
8. VC 8-4
9. Wilcox 9-3
10. Mitty 6-5
11. Los Gatos 7-4
12. Hillsdale 11-2
13. Burlingame 9-2
14. Menlo-Atherton 6-5
15. Live Oak 9-2
Observations: Looks like Oak Grove has everything to gain with this week's game against Clayton Valley Charter [["CVC"]. Should the Bell's lose to Folsom then Oak Grove likely becomes top dog of the CCS with a win. Serra is placed far too low based simply on their overall record which includes the loss to DLS. I believe Serra & Milpitas are in the wrong places & should be reversed based upon: Serra played Bellarmine in a closer game and Serra defeated VC by 21 while Milpitas lost to VC by 1. Wilcox & Mitty also need to be reversed based upon Wilcox losing to Los Gatos by 10 whom Mitty defeated 45-16 and Wilcox lost to SF by 41-21 whom Mitty lost to by 14-13. Wilcox also gets dropped one place additional below Los Gatos due to the 10-point loss as mentioned. Only other obvious mix-up is with Hillsdale being above Burlingame. Other than a weaker schedule for Hillsdale BGame's only 2 losses were a 9-point loss to SHP & a narrow 2-point loss to Riordan in playoffs - both teams considerably higher in rankings than any team Hillsdale had faced. So here is the more accurate IMO rankings:
Rmbr26 Top 15 Rankings:
1. Bell's
2. Oak Grove
3. SF
4. SHP
5. Serra
6. Riordan
7. VC
8. Milpitas
9. Mitty
10. Los Gatos
11. Wilcox
12. Burlingame
13. Hillsdale
14. MA
15. Live Oak
Rmbr, Serra ahead of Riordan? I'd flip flop VC and Serra's spots based on overall W-L record.
Actually went back & forth on that one Jordan and yes Riordan could be 1 slot in front of Serra depending on perspective, however the "trending" end of season stats & scores heavily favored Serra over Riordan in a return rematch of the 2 teams. I believe Riordan played its best game of the year in the meeting between Riordan & Serra. Now let's look at the remainder of the season & 3 common league opponents: Mitty, SF & VC.
Riordan beat Mitty by +16, lost to SF by -9 and lost to VC by -18. Serra beat Mitty by +26, lost to SF by -1 and beat VC by +21. So in the 3 games the record is 2-1 Serra with +46 points vs Riordan at 1-2 with -11 points. From a score & stat standpoint it isn;t even close, so yes Freeman agrees with my line of thinking and Serra remains the #4-5 team in CCS depending on your perspective. One of the reasons Riordan dropped in final standing so much was the loss to SHP, similar to SF & VC both losing to Oak Grove. That trend shows the 3 teams were not quite as good at the end of the season losing to teams they beat by comfortable margins early in the season. Serra after the Riordan loss went 4 of 5 winning 4 decisively and losing the one game by 43-42 to SF. On the other hand Riordan's first game of season was the shocking 48-21 win over SHP and last game of season was the disappointing loss by 35-28 to SHP, a swing of 34 points between the 2 games.
if oak grove wins and bells lose, somehow i feel that bellarmine should be ranked 1st still. now i realize it depends on the results of how tomorrows' games in terms of margin of victory. bellarmine has the road game while OG has the home i believe.(please correct me) but if oak grove goes to state and wins, then i would put the eagles ccs #1
Good to hear from you ds1968 as believe its been awhile [at least on this thread]. Anyway yes you are in line with most fans on this one. The Bell's hold the edge either way in terms of #1 in CCS, but Oak Grove is circling in terms of having everyone else around them knocked off. Both games involving the 2 teams will be good ones and will tell just how good & dominating CVC & Folsom are as both teams from the Sac-San Joaquin section are heavy favorites and supposed to be "miles" above our lowly CCS regional representatives.. [LOL! luv bein' the underdog!!]. Go get em' CCS!!
CVC is from Clayton which is next to Concord. They are in NCS. Clayton Valley Charter is missing the starting QB and backup may be back from injury. In general Oak Grove is probably the favorite. CVC didn't look tht great against Concord High in the playoffs. Oak Grove will have success on offense and will be interesting to see CVC double wing against OG defense. CVC will have ad two games against VC which runs Wing T and a little double Wing, an VC also has big line. I think Oak Grove matches up well in this one.
I agree that CVC is hardly a heavy favorite with all their injuries this year. They are an NCS D2 team, but did narrowly lose to Folsom and beat Monte Vista in the preseason when they seemed to be at their peak. CalPreps has CVC a slight favorite at 24-21, but with OG playing at home it is pretty much a toss up. If they play like they did against Concord last week in squeaking out a 23-22 victory, OG may win big.
Hmmm, so if Oak Grove rolls vs CVC then that bodes very well for the Bell's vs Folsom based upon the Folsom 37-36 win over CVC early in season when CVC was at full strength. It seems no team has been able to stop OG's Rashaan Fontenette so will be interesting to see how CVC handles that task tonite.
Looking at the Bell's-Folsom game Folsom averages 25-pass attempts per game and over the season completes 71% of them which is very high.Looking at the stats though the completions average 15-yards +/-, so Folsom uses a lot of short pass patterns, bubble screen's etc. and their longest pass play for the year is 37-yards - which tells me Folsom does not appear to have deep threat WR's [other than possibly Eric Davis breaking one]& likes to stick to the shorter pass routes. Folsom appears to be consistent with their game plan week to week averaging around 18 completions per game and rushing on average 25 times per game. On defense Bell's secondary will not be able to give Folsom's WR's much of a cushion & will need to contain their QB Jeffrey who is their leading rusher with almost 900 yards. When Jeffrey is not taking off, the main RB is Greene [683 yards] whom they back-up with Neal [381 yards]. What this game will come down to is offense and the 2 key players Martig for Bell's & Jeffrey for Folsom. Both teams are consistent on offense and are successful in what they do game to game. Other than the QB's coming up with big pass plays or long QB runs the key will be which defense can best handle the other offense. Of the 2 teams Folsom would appear to have the better passing game yet Bell's complete about the same percentage of passes when they do pass. While Bell's pass much less their average completion is also higher. Offense vs offense the Bell's appear to have better big play capability. Folsom is bigger physically but not bigger than Valley Christian and Bell's on offense are faster at QB, RB & WR's than Folsom. Bell's Macauley is usually good for 1-2 big plays per game & will be interesting to see if Folsom kicks/punts to him or kicks short like they did against St. Mary's to prevent long run-backs [but which still gave SM good field position]. Both these teams will be able to run against the other and average in the 4-5 YPC range. Bell's rely more on run and therefore less chance of Int's or incompletions. If the Bell's ssecondary which is a good one can handle the Folsom WR's and the LB's can contain Jeffrey & Greene then Bell's will have a very good chance against Folsom tonite.
Looking at the Bell's-Folsom game Folsom averages 25-pass attempts per game and over the season completes 71% of them which is very high.Looking at the stats though the completions average 15-yards +/-, so Folsom uses a lot of short pass patterns, bubble screen's etc. and their longest pass play for the year is 37-yards - which tells me Folsom does not appear to have deep threat WR's [other than possibly Eric Davis breaking one]& likes to stick to the shorter pass routes. Folsom appears to be consistent with their game plan week to week averaging around 18 completions per game and rushing on average 25 times per game. On defense Bell's secondary will not be able to give Folsom's WR's much of a cushion & will need to contain their QB Jeffrey who is their leading rusher with almost 900 yards. When Jeffrey is not taking off, the main RB is Greene [683 yards] whom they back-up with Neal [381 yards]. What this game will come down to is offense and the 2 key players Martig for Bell's & Jeffrey for Folsom. Both teams are consistent on offense and are successful in what they do game to game. Other than the QB's coming up with big pass plays or long QB runs the key will be which defense can best handle the other offense. Of the 2 teams Folsom would appear to have the better passing game yet Bell's complete about the same percentage of passes when they do pass. While Bell's pass much less their average completion is also higher. Offense vs offense the Bell's appear to have better big play capability. Folsom is bigger physically but not bigger than Valley Christian and Bell's on offense are faster at QB, RB & WR's than Folsom. Bell's Macauley is usually good for 1-2 big plays per game & will be interesting to see if Folsom kicks/punts to him or kicks short like they did against St. Mary's to prevent long run-backs [but which still gave SM good field position]. Both these teams will be able to run against the other and average in the 4-5 YPC range. Bell's rely more on run and therefore less chance of Int's or incompletions. If the Bell's ssecondary which is a good one can handle the Folsom WR's and the LB's can contain Jeffrey & Greene then Bell's will have a very good chance against Folsom tonite.
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NorCalSportsFan
5] SHP over Mack [agree with this. Mack will have tough time against SHP offense and SHP defense is disciplined).
4) OG over CVC
3] Campo - Milpitas will have a good shot at this one but will need to slow Campo offense. This is closer to a pickem.
2)SF over PV
1) Bells over Folsom (Folsom is the favorite but have an inkling Bells win cover)
Picking 4-1 CCS teams (but most likely will be 3-2 with CCS teams moving up)
5] SHP over Mack [agree with this. Mack will have tough time against SHP offense and SHP defense is disciplined).
4) OG over CVC
3] Campo - Milpitas will have a good shot at this one but will need to slow Campo offense. This is closer to a pickem.
2)SF over PV
1) Bells over Folsom (Folsom is the favorite but have an inkling Bells win cover)
Picking 4-1 CCS teams (but most likely will be 3-2 with CCS teams moving up)
Rmbr26 - I have only seen Bells play twice this year.
How would you rate their open field tackling?
That is a big key when playing Folsom.
How would you rate their open field tackling?
That is a big key when playing Folsom.
Hi paul_johnson - with Bell's & Folsom we're looking at teams with 2 different approaches to the game. As you already know the WCAL has always been more defense oriented although that is changing with teams like Serra and this year Riordan.
Back to your question. You will see a number of Bell players playing both ways tonite and that is not unusual for Bellarmine. Coach Janda is excellent at making the best use of the players he has to work with. They will also appear to be much smaller than Folsom & that is the case with most teams they face. Bellarmine has a reputation of clean execution & few mistakes/penalties. As for defense & open field tackling their D is solid and they should be ready for Folsom - both the ground game & the short passing routes they luv to run. Bell's have a decent line. good LB's and very active secondary and should be among the better defenses that Folsom has seen. You've got some good athletic LB's and 2 very fast sprinters in the secondary who can close fast and limit short passes from becoming long ones. Like I said Bell's are known for consistent clean play and I don;t expect to see much sloppy tackling in the open field tonite. Reading the Folsom posts has been fun, but Folsom fans are expecting to roll the Bell's by up to 3 scores & I just don't expect to see that tonite.
Back to your question. You will see a number of Bell players playing both ways tonite and that is not unusual for Bellarmine. Coach Janda is excellent at making the best use of the players he has to work with. They will also appear to be much smaller than Folsom & that is the case with most teams they face. Bellarmine has a reputation of clean execution & few mistakes/penalties. As for defense & open field tackling their D is solid and they should be ready for Folsom - both the ground game & the short passing routes they luv to run. Bell's have a decent line. good LB's and very active secondary and should be among the better defenses that Folsom has seen. You've got some good athletic LB's and 2 very fast sprinters in the secondary who can close fast and limit short passes from becoming long ones. Like I said Bell's are known for consistent clean play and I don;t expect to see much sloppy tackling in the open field tonite. Reading the Folsom posts has been fun, but Folsom fans are expecting to roll the Bell's by up to 3 scores & I just don't expect to see that tonite.
I agree about Bells LBs...they are athletic and for size good football/shuttle speed. Bells defense is pretty good at staying with their assignments. The secondary is very good at not letting anyone get behind them and they close well. Bells are pretty disciplined on defense and they tackle well. The two teams offenses are such a sharp contrast that it will be interesting on how their defenses approach each others offenses. As far as comparison of offenses with Clayton Valley - CVC has a pretty large and physical line and power game. Bells o-line is quick and precision and they are good at staying low with leverage and getting blockers out and the RBs really follow their blocks well and stay low. One of their FBs is pretty big 6-3, 220 and he is a very good blocker and TE is also a very good blocker - both play linebackers. The concern about Folsom wearing out the Bells is real because they do play a lot of two-way players. I will be surprised if Folsom rolls the Bells as well.
Great game last nite between Bell's & Folsom & anyone who missed should look up and watch - best game I've seen all year. The majority of fans thought Folsom would take this game as projected and some Folsom fans thought Folsom would "roll the Bell's". I was close on the prediction & felt all along this would be a 1-score difference game. The Bell's were relentless and played well as a team with key players stepping up as they have in every game: Martig, Macauley, Fernandez, Bergstrom, Garcia, Bringuel & others all stepped up to make key plays when needed. A lot of discussion over whether the WCAL or SFL [Sierra Foothill League] was the toughest league in NorCal and that question remains as they are both strong and contain a number of very good teams in both leagues. What we do know for 2015 is that the Bell's went 2-0 against the SFL including beating their best team. BTW Del Oro also advanced to state which I was happy to see. So many of their own fans wrote Del Oro off especially after their narrow loss to the Bell's early in the season. Del Oro is finishing strong & that's all that counts. Now we wait to see how St. Francis does against undefeated Pleasant Valley tonite at 7:30 in Oroville.
Congrats to all the Bell's players - Northern CA Div. I-AA Champs!
I have said, and will say again, best game I have ever attended.
Congrats Bells!
God bless.
