WCAL Week #3

[jordan24]

Great matchups last night to kick off the WCAL season!

Serra 29 @ St. Francis 7
Serra gets the W going away. Padres top team in NorCal and controls its destiny. St. Francis still a contender although it is reloading.

St. Ignatius 14 @ Bellarmine 34
Bells throttle its Jesuit rival from the City. A good contender this season.

Mitty 32 @ Sacred Heart Cathedral 21
A nice road win to start off the WCAL. Monarchs 1 of 2 teams that did not qualify for postseason last year looking to make amends

Riordan 16 @ Valley Christian 10
Crusaders capture its first win ever on the hill @ VC! Coach Adhir’s first WCAL win for Riordan that also missed the playoffs last year.

 

[colhenrylives]

Truth to be told, the WCAL is down a tick from prior campaigns. Serra is the clear choice for the 2022 title as has been noted before. After that, it's a moshpit of uncertainty. We could see a gaggle of units tie in the final standings with 3-4 or 4-3 league marks. No one else appears to be particularly dominant, although Bellarmine can score. Mitty? We will know more Friday night when the Monarchs visit Serra. There is one state-calibre team in the league this year. That's a departure from prior campaigns. Lower level Deember bowl games are not a bonafide yardstick. Sorry.

 

[colhenrylives]

A small bit of solace for WCAL foes: Serra is in the process of re-structuring its offensive line. Injuries have decimated that unit. That's one reason its rushing attack has been less than special lately. The Padres have become a pass-first outfit without question. At least so far. The good news for the Padres: Their defense was stellar Friday in Mountain View, 120 net yards for the Lancers on their home field. Serra's linebackers and DB's are top shelf. The DL isn't chopped liver either. Overall team speed and proper technique are hallmarks.

 

[jordan24]

It appears teams throughout the area have been hit hard with a rash of injuries . Even teams that are deep (I.e. Serra and DLS). VC and Riordan had their share of key players on the sidelines last night.

 

[jordan24]

Another round of great matchups are coming up this weekend. Notably, Mitty and Riordan, who did not qualify for the postseason and finished at the bottom of the league last year face 2 WCAL bona fide contenders.

• Mitty visits Norcal #1 Serra for its annual on-campus night game this Friday
• Riordan hosts Bellarmine in a Saturday afternoon tilt in the City.

The rest of the weekend rounds out with:

• SI hosts St. Francis on Friday night
• SHC travels to Valley Christian on Saturday night

Really looking forward to how both Mitty and Riordan will fare. Hoping at least they are both competitive games. Both programs have bought in with their respective coaches in Mitty's Sullivan and Riordan's Ravipati.
Serra is dialed in as it controls its path to be the NorCal Open representative if it wins out. The Padres started started slow as their D held tight. Serra took over in the 2nd half to win a surprisingly business like fashion. Bellarmine has aspirations to contend and ultimately challenge Serra as well. The Bells toppled the visiting Wildcats last Friday with huge games from its qb Threatt and bruising running back Pfaff. Mitty and Riordan appear to have good scoring offenses both in the air and on the ground. They will both need to be good at both to have any chance.
St. Francis is licking its wounds from the Padre defeat but will be in tough in foggy SF against the Wildcats as both teams do not want to start league 0-2.
SHC comes into San Jose next Saturday as the rare favorite against VC and both look to get into the WCAL win column. Who do you got?

Mitty at Serra - Serra in a barnburner, but Padres depth wins out.
St. Francis at SI - SF in a Niner-like 10-3 win. Lots of great D from both teams that will limit each team's offenses.
SHC @ VC - SHC's skill players too much for the wounded Warriors. Irish Jerry Mixon should have a huge game on both sides of the ball!
Bellarmine @ Riordan - Riordan finally gets a home game after 3 consecutive weeks on the road. Last Friday, the Crusaders notched their first win ever in San Jose. The Crusader JVs also handed the Warriors their first defeat of the season entering 3-0. I have to take the senior laden Bells over the Crusaders but really intrigued by the skill position matchups of each team. Defense and avoiding penalties/turnovers will be the key factors. If the Crusader skill players show up this could be interesting.

 

[iamgearyblvd]

Another round of great matchups are coming up this weekend. Notably, Mitty and Riordan, who did not qualify for the postseason and finished at the bottom of the league last year face 2 WCAL bona fide contenders.

• Mitty visits Norcal #1 Serra for its annual on-campus night game this Friday
• Riordan hosts Bellarmine in a Saturday afternoon tilt in the City.

The rest of the weekend rounds out with:

• SI hosts St. Francis on Friday night
• SHC travels to Valley Christian on Saturday night

Really looking forward to how both Mitty and Riordan will fare. Hoping at least they are both competitive games. Both programs have bought in with their respective coaches in Mitty's Sullivan and Riordan's Ravipati.
Serra is dialed in as it controls its path to be the NorCal Open representative if it wins out. The Padres started started slow as their D held tight. Serra took over in the 2nd half to win a surprisingly business like fashion. Bellarmine has aspirations to contend and ultimately challenge Serra as well. The Bells toppled the visiting Wildcats last Friday with huge games from its qb Threatt and bruising running back Pfaff. Mitty and Riordan appear to have good scoring offenses both in the air and on the ground. They will both need to be good at both to have any chance.
St. Francis is licking its wounds from the Padre defeat but will be in tough in foggy SF against the Wildcats as both teams do not want to start league 0-2.
SHC comes into San Jose next Saturday as the rare favorite against VC and both look to get into the WCAL win column. Who do you got?

Mitty at Serra - Serra in a barnburner, but Padres depth wins out.
St. Francis at SI - SF in a Niner-like 10-3 win. Lots of great D from both teams that will limit each team's offenses.
SHC @ VC - SHC's skill players too much for the wounded Warriors. Irish Jerry Mixon should have a huge game on both sides of the ball!
Bellarmine @ Riordan - Riordan finally gets a home game after 3 consecutive weeks on the road. Last Friday, the Crusaders notched their first win ever in San Jose. The Crusader JVs also handed the Warriors their first defeat of the season entering 3-0. I have to take the senior laden Bells over the Crusaders but really intrigued by the skill position matchups of each team. Defense and avoiding penalties/turnovers will be the key factors. If the Crusader skill players show up this could be interesting.

When all is said and done, if he doesnt transfer somewhere else, Mitchell I believe will hold all the WCAL passing records. Helps to accumulate stats for 4 varsity years vs the 2-3 that the majority varsity players play. I got to say my two favorite things to watch are 1) Mitchell dropping back and slinging the ball 30-40 yards downfield on a line. This is not typical arm talent from a "freshman" and 2) Jerry Mixon on defense at the snap of the ball. The chase downs, the coverage in the middle of the field, the blitzing. SH has never had a player like this. Pretty darn exciting.

 

[ArmchairGOAT]

Mixon is certainly showing out this season. He is being used an awful lot on both sides of the ball, though. Will need to have other players step up. I like the McGrath kid at qb rather than the raw but athletic Patton. Someone posted in another thread that Mitchell was on the DLS varsity roster this summer. I understand Mitchell's dad is a Crusader alum. Ravipati was the qb coach at CSM last year and has close ties to the KT Prep program, so makes sense in terms of level of competition in the WCAL and development as a qb.
Haven't seen SI this season, but their 3 losses are against awfully good programs in Jesuit, St. Marys-Stockton and Bellarmine.

 

[jordan24]

Friday Night Results:
Mitty 7 @ Serra 35
St. Francis 42 @ St.Ignatius 20

Saturday Games
Bellarmine @ Riordan 2pm
Sacred Heart Cathedral @ Valley Christian 6pm

 

[jordan24]

 

[jordan24]

WCAL Week #2 Results
Friday Night:
Mitty 7 @ Serra 35
St. Francis 42 @ St.Ignatius 20

Saturday
Bellarmine 3 @ Riordan 0
Sacred Heart Cathedral 36 @ Valley Christian 20

Fri Oct 7th Schedule - 7pm
Valley Christian @ St. Ignatius
Serra @ Bellarmine (SJCC)
Riordan @ Mitty (Foothill College)
Sacred Heart Cathedral @ St. Francis

 

[jordan24]

WCAL Week #3 Results Friday Night:
Valley Christian 0 @ St. Ignatius 24
Serra 28 @ Bellarmine 7
Riordan 13 @ Mitty 34
Sacred Heart Cathedral 17 @ St. Francis 24

Fri /Sat Oct 14t15th Schedule
St. Ignatius @ SHC (Kezar - Bruce Mahoney Game)
St. Francis @ Valley Christian
Mitty @ Bellarmine
Serra @ Riordan (Sat)

WCAL Standings

1. Serra 3-0
2. Bellarmine 2-1
3. Mitty 2-1
4. St. Francis 2-1
5. Riordan 1-2
6. SHC 1-2
7. Si 1-2
8. VC 0-3

 

[ArmchairGOAT]

Serra appears to be in the drivers seat after beating its most likely challengers in St. Francis, Mitty and Bellarmine.
Bells, Mitty and St. Francis look to be fighting it out for the 2-4 top spots in league. If projections go right - it will be the survivor of the SF School matchups (Riordan-SHC-SI) that will qualify for post season.

 

[colhenrylives]

Two biggest WCAL surprises: Mitty (on the plus side), Valley Christian (heading in the opposite direction). One more note: Serra had been pointing to 2023 as an anticipated dominant season since the Padres lost more than 30 players from the outstanding 2021 unit. Lo and behold, 2022 has turned out to be better than predicted even while relying primarily on sophs and juniors. So far. They can go 10-0 for the first time in school history if they can get past the league's bottom four. But SHC is not chopped liver. The Irish travel to San Mateo on the final day of the regular season.

 

[jordan24]

Riordan expects to get many of their starters back in the upcoming week(s)...This will be critical if they have any hope for a post season spot as they host St. Francis and SHC and go to SI after next Saturday's home game with Serra. Unfortunately QB2 and safety, jr Tobey Weydemuller is out for the season.