WCAL Week Five

[colhenrylives]

All games set for Friday evening;

Riordan, 2-2, at Mitty, 0-4, 7 p.m.
SHC, 1-3, at St. Francis, 4-0, 7 p.m.
Serra, 2-2, at Bellarmine, 0-4, 7 p.m. (at SJCC)
Valley Christian, 4-0, at St. Ignatius, 3-1, 5 p.m. (hello, unhappy neighbors)

Notes:

Riordan is probably a slight favorite in a shootout.
St. Francis is heavily favored.
Serra is heavily favored.
VC vs. SI is a tossup.

 

[Streak One]

St. Ignatius has five of their seven league games at home this year including Serra, Riordan, St. Francis and now Valley Christian. Schedule has set up well for them in this regard and St. Ignatius has taken advantage of it

 

[FBAddict]

IMO, there are only two significant games this week. I hope I am not being blatantly dismissive of the coaching and team work on the side of Bellarmine and Sacred Heart Cathedral but St. Francis and Serra should dominantly progress to the winning side. There is alway a chance of a SHC or BCP win, but it is truly a long shot.

SF will likely remain undefeated this weekend and for the rest of the league play, although VC and AR might beg to differ.

Likewise, JS should finish the regular season with no more defeats but, similar to SF, VC and AR will beg to differ.

The game between Riordan and Mitty should be more interesting. Both teams are itching to gain footing and this game is a must-win for both teams. For Mitty, they must win to have any chance to make the playoffs. Even with a win, they may still not make the playoffs. And for Riordan, they must win to avoid a potential tie. If I have calculated correctly and all other games fall as presently assumed, a loss will create a 3-way tie at league 5th place between SHC, AR and AM. AR is favored to win but they must focus on defense and gel on offense to assure a victory.

The Valley Christian @ St. Ignatius game is another interesting one. Surprising, VC is undefeated in league so far. But they have the WCAL top 3 teams ahead of them. On the other hand, this likely will be the last challenging game of SI's league play. These teams always match each other well. There have been only a few blow out years, some by SI and some by VC. In the previous 21 regular season games, VC has won 15 times, SI won 5 times with one tie. However, SI has won the last two regular season games. VC has improved significantly in their offensive play this year. SI, though, is still favored to win this one, IMO.

 

[colhenrylives]

With three weeks left in the regular season, here are the composite (varsity, JV, frosh) league standings for the eight WCAL teams (SHC and Riordan do not field frosh teams this year):

1. Valley Christian, 9-1
2. St. Francis, 9-2
3. Serra, 8-3
4. St. Ignatius, 5-6
5. Riordan, 3-4
6. SHC, 2-6
7. Mitty, 2-8
8. Bellarmine, 1-10

 

[colhenrylives]

It's probably fair to state that, overall, a composite gander at the league records of the eight WCAL schools gives a pretty solid indication (sans transfers) of what's coming down the pike in the near future.

 

[colhenrylives]

IMO, there are only two significant games this week. I hope I am not being blatantly dismissive of the coaching and team work on the side of Bellarmine and Sacred Heart Cathedral but St. Francis and Serra should dominantly progress to the winning side. There is alway a chance of a SHC or BCP win, but it is truly a long shot.

SF will likely remain undefeated this weekend and for the rest of the league play, although VC and AR might beg to differ.

Likewise, JS should finish the regular season with no more defeats but, similar to SF, VC and AR will beg to differ.

The game between Riordan and Mitty should be more interesting. Both teams are itching to gain footing and this game is a must-win for both teams. For Mitty, they must win to have any chance to make the playoffs. Even with a win, they may still not make the playoffs. And for Riordan, they must win to avoid a potential tie. If I have calculated correctly and all other games fall as presently assumed, a loss will create a 3-way tie at league 5th place between SHC, AR and AM. AR is favored to win but they must focus on defense and gel on offense to assure a victory.

The Valley Christian @ St. Ignatius game is another interesting one. Surprising, VC is undefeated in league so far. But they have the WCAL top 3 teams ahead of them. On the other hand, this likely will be the last challenging game of SI's league play. These teams always match each other well. There have been only a few blow out years, some by SI and some by VC. In the previous 21 regular season games, VC has won 15 times, SI won 5 times with one tie. However, SI has won the last two regular season games. VC has improved significantly in their offensive play this year. SI, though, is still favored to win this one, IMO.

Wondering out loud: Does SHC have a reasonable shot at upsetting SI next week? Tough to get a firm handle on that matchup that began during the Jurassic Age. SI clearly is favored. But SHC is not to be taken lightly at this juncture. They have some nice weapons on offense. Their QB is one of the best in the league. Scratching my dome on this one.

 

[CAPTAIN MORGAN]

St. Ignatius has five of their seven league games at home this year including Serra, Riordan, St. Francis and now Valley Christian. Schedule has set up well for them in this regard and St. Ignatius has taken advantage of it

That's 4 home games with away games Bellarmine, Mitty and Sacred Heart (Kezar, SH home team). With 7 league games all teams are either 4 & 3 or 3 & 4 home and away. Yes, their biggest games have been at home this year but that's just the way the WCAL schedule has worked out. Two of their 3 non-league games were away. Next year it will be the opposite.

 

[Streak One]

That's 4 home games with away games Bellarmine, Mitty and Sacred Heart (Kezar, SH home team). With 7 league games all teams are either 4 & 3 or 3 & 4 home and away. Yes, their biggest games have been at home this year but that's just the way the WCAL schedule has worked out. Two of their 3 non-league games were away. Next year it will be the opposite.

I'm not saying it is a bad thing and I understand schedules have an ebb and flow each year. I just think it is notable with getting the top teams all at home.

 

[iamgearyblvd]

Wondering out loud: Does SHC have a reasonable shot at upsetting SI next week? Tough to get a firm handle on that matchup that began during the Jurassic Age. SI clearly is favored. But SHC is not to be taken lightly at this juncture. They have some nice weapons on offense. Their QB is one of the best in the league. Scratching my dome on this one.

Honestly last year SH has zero shot at beating SI mainly because their defense last season was porous. Early on in non-league for this season it appeared the players were not going to repeat the the lack of physicality on defense with a good win vs run heavy SH Prep. However, the following week vs Wilcox showed severe regression as Wilcox ran all day and all night.

SH turned it around with COMPETITIVE showings vs Serra, Mitty, and VC. I would handicap the matchup vs SI for SH as +14.5 underdogs. They will lose if they dont contain Hogan and Malone. Defensively SH is very solid in the secondary as far as covering WR but stopping the run is their achilles heal.

Also a huge factor is whether or not the come out of this week's game vs St. Francis with no injuries. Lancers have a lot of big players and they are super physical and SH has no depth and cannot afford to lose anymore players. They are already without 2 of their best linemen (#99 Bellamy and #54 Forks).

 

[SFcityfan]

Honestly last year SH has zero shot at beating SI mainly because their defense last season was porous. Early on in non-league for this season it appeared the players were not going to repeat the the lack of physicality on defense with a good win vs run heavy SH Prep. However, the following week vs Wilcox showed severe regression as Wilcox ran all day and all night.

SH turned it around with COMPETITIVE showings vs Serra, Mitty, and VC. I would handicap the matchup vs SI for SH as +14.5 underdogs. They will lose if they dont contain Hogan and Malone. Defensively SH is very solid in the secondary as far as covering WR but stopping the run is their achilles heal.

Also a huge factor is whether or not the come out of this week's game vs St. Francis with no injuries. Lancers have a lot of big players and they are super physical and SH has no depth and cannot afford to lose anymore players. They are already without 2 of their best linemen (#99 Bellamy and #54 Forks).

Hold On,…Let me get this right?

Because of a strong showing & one gives +14.5 point spread to SI and to the #KingsOfKezar crown?

WTF,… has the board actually sunk to in a posting of improvement bc a posters team isn’t shi// this year. Hoping of a positive sign of programs identity this year.

I am shocked that the guru’s are NOT screaming at this post

Just win the #WCAL-Toilet Bowl Gam: anything in btwn is blah, blah, blah….”Don’t shame the City

 

[Niklas227]

Honestly last year SH has zero shot at beating SI mainly because their defense last season was porous. Early on in non-league for this season it appeared the players were not going to repeat the the lack of physicality on defense with a good win vs run heavy SH Prep. However, the following week vs Wilcox showed severe regression as Wilcox ran all day and all night.

SH turned it around with COMPETITIVE showings vs Serra, Mitty, and VC. I would handicap the matchup vs SI for SH as +14.5 underdogs. They will lose if they dont contain Hogan and Malone. Defensively SH is very solid in the secondary as far as covering WR but stopping the run is their achilles heal.

Also a huge factor is whether or not the come out of this week's game vs St. Francis with no injuries. Lancers have a lot of big players and they are super physical and SH has no depth and cannot afford to lose anymore players. They are already without 2 of their best linemen (#99 Bellamy and #54 Forks).

Yeah, I don’t think the Bruce-Mahoney game will be close. SI takes it 45-14

 

[SFcityfan]

Yeah, I don’t think the Bruce-Mahoney game will be close. SI takes it 45-14

You have been humble, but yet very prideful this season (it appears rightfully So).

But there is nothing wrong with letting your SlimShady out for the Bruce. Some talk about the #KingsOfKezar which is only a decade old. The Bruce is over 10x that.

#SIpleaseStandUp🎼🤣🤣🤣🤣