WCAL Gearing Up for the Season!
- Thread starter jordan24
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I have Riordan going as high as 2nd place in league. Unlikely Serra drops off anytime soon. They have the league in a chokehold. Flip side Riordan can be as low as 2nd to last. They had a ton of talent last year but couldnt get it to gel during league. With a full year under his belt, all the transfers, and a very large/deep Offensive/Defensive line, there are no excuses this year.
Never count out the deep program at St. Francis. The combination of talent, coaching, tradition and outstanding facilities makes the Lancers an annual title threat, with or without Serra, Bellarmine or anyone else in the WCAL and beyond.
I think this is still Serra's league with St. Francis being somewhere between the 2022 team and the 2021 team. I could see Riordan as high as third with their talent and numerous questions at the other WCAL programs.
Folsom, DLS and Central Catholic will all have a say in that bold statement in the first three weeks of the season. By the end of September, we should know.
I truly believe DLS will be much better than last year with Eidson back. If Serra takes care of business vs Folsom, DLS, and Central Catholic, then that bold statement may indeed be true. But, there is another team in the SJS who has nearly 90% of the starters returning and who has DLS and Central Catholic on their non-league schedule, as well, that may have something to say. 😜
Serra returning lots of players from last year.
Outside of RB Greer, DLS had a very young team last year with many sophomores carrying the ball out of the backfield besides Greer. And remember, DLS avenged their loss to Folsom in the regional game.
Oak Ridge had a very young team last year, as well. Don’t think they will get tested until SFL league time.
It’s going to be a very interesting season with much happening in the first few weeks for some of these NorCal powerhouses, indeed.
Outside of RB Greer, DLS had a very young team last year with many sophomores carrying the ball out of the backfield besides Greer. And remember, DLS avenged their loss to Folsom in the regional game.
Oak Ridge had a very young team last year, as well. Don’t think they will get tested until SFL league time.
It’s going to be a very interesting season with much happening in the first few weeks for some of these NorCal powerhouses, indeed.
WCAL is going to be the most competitive not seen in a long time IMHO. Serra and St. Francis always reload. By the looks on paper, really looking forward to seeing Riordan in Coach Adhir’s 2nd year. Soph QB Mitchell will have 3 P5 D1 receivers and a deep and big line to protect him.
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On paper Riordan has the most offers on their team. If Riordan doesn’t go 8-2/9-1, the cat will be out of the bag. I’m not sure how the QB has 5 Power 5 offers either,
They are still pretty young. I think they will have 5 freshman on Varsity is the rumors are correct. But a great recruiting class for sure.
That's a cop out. "it is what it is". If we care about HS football, we would even the playing field a bit. Some of these "recruiting" tactics are crossing the line.
Depending on the toughness of the rules in a given CIF section, "the line" governing teen player transfers can be quite fluid. Witness what's happening in the Southern Section. It's the wild, wild West down there. It would be helpful if the CIF sections had the same enforcement policies regarding transfers. Apparently, that's not going to happen anytime soon.
I bet this is exactly what the southern section was saying back when DLS got a blind pass to recruit at will. Now the shoes on the other foot.
NorCal football has its own issues so probably shouldn't be worried about what the southern section is doing.
If your team has to rely on freshmen to carry you, you're probably not going to have the season you are hoping for. Your backbone should be the seniors and juniors. Im really expecting a blowout season by Mitchell at QB.
True, but I think these guys are playing football for offers not WCAL or CCS championships. Seems like this head coach is focused on the kids getting into better environments and higher education. Scouts don't seem to be impressed with runner up rings or championship banners these days.
From what I see, the biggest disparity has been among NorCal and SoCal parochial schools. It’s chiefly because Bosco and MD opened their doors to Black and Polynesian players and the regional talent has flooded the school ever since. It also doesn’t hurt that they run the spread, which gives several players the opportunity to showcase their talents.
It appears that Bosco and MD just mastered the Blueprint that was laid out by Bishop Gorman. And it’s worked out great, especially since LA is a football hotbed.
I’m glad that Riordan has opened up their doors, as well. It remains to be seen the level of success that they have. As the kids still have to produce, which takes quality coaching and training.
I’ve said it on other posts, but parochial schools in cities like Sacramento, Fresno, Stockton, and East Bay could all produce teams that could compete with Bosco and MD.
But to do so means that you change your identity as a school…. I’d say that this model has worked out well for Bosco and MD.
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I would think that Sac High (a charter school) could adopt this model and be extremely successful based on the wealth of talent in the Sac area. Jesuit also comes to mind.
I agree on Jesuit! I’m not so sure about Sac High though.
Bradshaw Christian could possibly pull it off….
I believe the point is that Riordan appears to be also attracting promising freshmen in order to keep the program at a high level. This is what Serra and St. Francis do year in and year out.
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From what I gather it isn’t quite Riordan’s time. I agree, they can be as high as 2nd in the WCAL and as low as last (I think that I reserved for SHC) but from what I have gathered they will not graduate a single offensive starter following this season and if that is true a finish in the top half bodes well for the Crusaders.
Thanks. SI is quietly building something interesting out there in the foggy Sunset.
You got 12 Kids on your roster with D1 offers. 7 With power 5 offers and you say low as last? If you have that much talent and come in last, everyone should be fired.
Maybe. But you’re missing the bigger picture. Riordan is young! A Senior with Group of 5 or FCS offers should be able to handle a Freshman or Sophomore with Power 5 offers. Who cares if they don’t come in first? They’ll be in the playoffs, they’ll make noise, possibly win big and be right back next season a year older and more physically mature.
I really hope they do well, i love the WCAL especially when its competitive top to bottom i expect riordan to do well this year. Just saying if they come in LAST that would be bad. Too much talent for that.
Way too much talent for expectations to be a top half finish in 2024 as was previously mentioned
Shouldn't coaches be fired if they can win everything but only send most of their players to CSM?
Your view/expectations need to be reset.
in 2020, NCAA released statistic for football:
1,006,013 - HIGH SCHOOL PARTICIPANTS
73,712 - NCAA PARTICIPANTS
7.3% - OVERALL % HS TO NCAA
2.9% - % HS TO NCAA DIVISION I
1.9% - % HS TO NCAA DIVISION II
2.5% - % HS TO NCAA DIVISION III
Conclusion: Not every high school athlete is destined to play in college. They generally just are students and they play sports as extra curricular activities.
Winning doesn’t matter, building a school wide culture, with pride, doesn’t matter. Teaching young people the value of teamwork, sportsmanship, friendship, doesn’t matter. As long as the 12 johnnys I recruited keep their offers I succeed.
This sound like a good mission for a high school athletic dept. or even school wide?
Here's a poser: How many WCAL varsity football players already have NIL deals? Sounds like Riordan may have a passel of them.
Kids getting offers from D1 schools including P5 programs not usually seen in the area thus promoting exposure for all NorCal programs. How is that insane and why would it implode?
With exception of Serra, the league as a whole looks like it is going to be a down year. Still will be strong in CCS but even the section overall looks down. Will be interesting what teams emerge as #2 in the WCAL.
The CCS feels like it has a few teams on the edge of tiers (besides Serra). Wide range of outcomes depending where those teams fall
Serra does as well. Those frosh will loom very large as sophs in 2024 after the Padres lose a glut of talent from one of the best senior classes in school history.
For some perspective, the Serra football program has become a goliath along the Peninsula and beyond. Last year, 220 Serra students played football. That's well over one-quarter of the entire student body. The 2023 varsity edition is the consensus pre-season No.1 team in Northern California for the first time in school history (1946 was the first year Serra fielded a varsity). It's also the first time since the early 1960s that a San Mateo County prep football team has been so designated to begin a season. Sequoia's great single-wing teams tutored by the legendary Joe Marvin were the last county units (heralded for their stonewall defenses led by future pros Bob Svihus and Rich Koeper) to attain No.1 pre-season status as their 33-game win streak remains tops for a county team.
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St. Francis also reloading through its freshman class.
