Can the Serra High football team still defend its West Catholic Athletic League co-championship of 2006? It could definitely happen.

A week ago, hopes of a repeat appeared bleak. But suddenly, the Padres find themselves with an outside shot at forging a shared title–provided they finish with home wins against Mitty and Bellarmine. And Serra (5-3) has yet to lose on its turf this year, winning its three home contests by an average score of nearly 43-22.

Prior to the Padres’ game at St. Ignatius last weekend, Serra was mired in fifth place in the WCAL at 1-2, staring up at a pack that included a pair of teams (Bellarmine and Riordan) undefeated in league play. But Serra’s 25-13 victory in addition to Mitty’s win over Riordan gave the Padres’ title hopes renewed life.

The Padres are now fourth in the league at 2-2, and they finish by playing two of the three teams in front of them. One more loss, and the championship aspirations are just about dead. (And a Serra loss to Mitty along with one more Bellarmine victory would slam that door shut.)

But if the Padres beat Mitty … there’s a decent shot they could enter their league finale against Bellarmine with a shot to share the title. Here’s how that could happen:

If Serra beats Mitty (2-1 WCAL) and Bellarmine (3-0), the Padres would end up 4-2 in the league. But Serra would need the Bells to go into Nov. 10 finale with a loss to be able to catch the current league leaders.

Of Bellarmine’s two other remaining games, Saturday’s showdown at Riordan (2-1 WCAL) appears the toughest. (The Bells host cellar-dweller St. Ignatius the following week.)

Let’s say Riordan hands Bellarmine its first loss of 2007 to pull even with the Bells atop the league at 3-1. Then, the Padres would control their own fate as far as tying the Bells is concerned. But they would be left at Riordan’s mercy.

Then again, the Crusaders wrap up with games at St. Francis and Valley Christian–no picnic, to be sure. It’s not a huge stretch to see Riordan losing either of those games.

So it’s definitely not out of the question that four victories would be enough for Serra to win a piece of the title. If Riordan beats Bellarmine. (If the Bells win on Saturday, the Padres’ hopes would then depend on St. Ignatius upsetting Bellarmine.)

Riordan will be hard-pressed to end up 5-1. The Crusaders seem ticketed to a 4-2 finish. Or even 3-3.

And if Serra beats Mitty, the Monarchs would need to win at Valley Christian and then beat St. Francis at Foothill College to finish 4-2.

Obviously, Serra needs a number of things to fall in place, most of all that the Padres themselves have to prevail in their two remaining regular-season games (Serra has its bye week after the Mitty contest). But the scenario that sees the Padres sharing the WCAL title at 4-2 isn’t all that far-fetched.

Saturday will be the telling day. If Serra beats Mitty AND Riordan downs Bellarmine, the Padres have a fair shot. It certainly wouldn’t be how the Padres drew it up in the offseason, but they would take it.