East Bay Football Super Poll
By Jimmy Durkin
Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 6:17 pm in East Bay Football, East Bay Super Poll.
| Team | Record | Points | Last week |
| 1. De La Salle (11) | 4-1 | 165 | 1 |
| 2. Monte Vista | 5-0 | 152 | 2 |
| 3. San Ramon Valley | 5-0 | 142 | 3t |
| 4. Pittsburg | 4-1 | 135 | 5 |
| 5. Foothill | 4-1 | 120 | 6 |
| 6. California | 3-2 | 103 | 3t |
| 7. Freedom | 5-0 | 100 | 7t |
| 8. Las Lomas | 4-1 | 94 | 7t |
| 9. Bishop O’Dowd | 5-0 | 72 | 9 |
| 10. Encinal | 5-0 | 65 | 10 |
| 11. Berkeley | 4-1 | 50 | 11 |
| 12. Miramonte | 4-1 | 44 | 12 |
| 13. San Leandro | 2-3 | 30 | 13 |
| 14. Deer Valley | 4-1 | 24 | 14 |
| 15. Castlemont | 3-1-1 | 9 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Concord (4-0-1) 8, Clayton Valley (5-0) 3, Campolindo (4-1) 2, Granada (3-2) 1, Oakland (4-1) 1.
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October 13th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Pittsburg finally getting some respect, I think they should be above SR though.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Finally because they moved up 1 spot?
October 13th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Pittsburg hasn’t put up the gaudy offensive numbers rushing or passing, though that have played one of the tougher schedules. But i mean hey if you can get 5 wins playing a soft schedule you deserve to be ahead of Pittsburg (not talkin MV).
October 13th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
granada would be 10-0 if they played the same teams that encinal and bishop have played. good thing there are playoffs, ncaa postseason sucks.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
BVAL- Which is why I voted for Granada.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
granada win a home game in league that’s not livermore then ask 2 be ranked. bring a blanket cause it’s real cool n the celler of the ebal.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:49 am
I can’t believe I am going to say this, but I actually agree with PHS — they should be ranked ahead of San Ramon Valley. But don’t worry, SRV closes with, in no particular order — Foothill, Cal, DLS and MV — that’s at least three losses if not four.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:10 am
BVAL fan and Kyke,
Granada would struggle against if not lose to Monterey. And El Cerrito is a lot more athletic than Granada I would imagine Granada would have to dig down to beat them.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Granada is a D1 school with 2362 students. Encinal 1068 barely.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:20 am
With all due respect, Encinal does not belong in the top 10 in the Super Poll — but congrats to the Jets on the great first half of the season and good luck the rest of the way out.
Football is the one sport where size of the school really matters. Number of students provides size and depth, which makes a huge difference in football games. Basketball and baseball can get over the numbers issue, but it doesn’t happen in football — just doesn’t happen. Seen it for years and it’s no different now than it was 20 years ago.
October 14th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Encinal will play Granada any day of the week. Tell them to take a trip to the jungle first. Hell, Calling all Granada fans, coaches, players, set it up, its time for you guys to get hit hard. I hear Encinal looking for competitive teams to come to their contact camp this summer.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:32 am
I’VE SEEN ALOT OF THESE TEAMS IN THE POLL,BUT ONLY A FEW ARE MORE EXPLOSIVE THAN OAKLAND HIGH’S GROUND AND AIR ATTACK, THEY SHOULD BE IN THAT TOP 15 FOR SURE
October 14th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Let’s look at common opponents or try to come up with some reasonable arguments rather than just throw out random guesses on how teams would do.
Granada beat Stallworth 36-29.
Stallworth beat Piedmont 61-34
Stallworth beat Monterey 29-12.
Encinal beat Piedmont 39-18.
Encinal beat Monterey 20-14.
Obviously all speculation, but considering this is the best info we have to go on besides having the teams actually play (which is not going to happen).
My read on this is that Granada is better than a team that in better than Encinal. That being said, I still voted Encinal ahead, even though if you swapped schedules Granada would be 5-0 and Encinal would be 3-2, 2-3 or 1-4.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Kyle,
The game ended with 20 seconds left to play and encinal had the ball on the 5 yard line. Encinal had 2 time outs but decided not to call a time out to score. Instead, Encinal let the time run out while they were on the goaline. Truth is encinal has a lot of respect for the monterey team and the game was already won. Otherwise the score would have been 27-14 encinal. Imagine Encinal with 1000 more students to choose from. I mean I hear the argument, you feel granada and encinal are similar or evenly matched but…
Who did Granada beat other than Stallworth?
October 14th, 2008 at 10:47 am
The main reason Oakland isn’t being seriously considered for the poll right now is because of the strength of their schedule. They’ve definitely been impressive (which is why they have the one vote from me) but their opponents’ record is a combined 6-22 (7-21 when you give St. Mary’s the forfeit win against Oakland). For a team from the OAL to crack the poll, you have to beat some stronger teams. That being said, I have no problem with the teams Oakland scheduled. Coming off an 0-10 season, that’s the kind of schedule it should be making. And certainly kudos to the Wildcats for the great start. I’ll be out there Friday covering the game and also will be there with KDOL as we kick start the weekly Game of the Week feature that I’ll be helping out with.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Encinal’s game with Monterey was your classic trap game. Coming off a bye, having to travel down to Monterey and the Jets still pulled off a win against a very solid Monterey team. Joe Tenorio is doing a fabulous job with that squad. If you were to take a look at the amount of players on the sideline you’d be shocked. Their top players are all going both ways and for a squad with that few of players to be players as well as it is is impressive. It might hurt them come playoff time if they suffer injuries or some guys get worn down, but I’m still liking their chances to go 10-0.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Jimmy,
I agree.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:06 am
LB- All I’m saying is its not as clear cut as you/coach are making it.
Yes, I can imagine Encinal with 1,000 more students, but guess what? They don’t have 1,000 more students so it’s pointless to play that game. Yes, Encinal combined with Alameda High would make for a better team, we all know that.
In reality, Granada does have like 1000 more students and it absolutely affects the strength of the team. They beat Vinatage-Napa, an above average D-I program and Kennedy 54-6. Not too impressive, but neither are Encinal’s. They did hang with DLS for a half and the other loss is to Monte Vista.
Jimmy-Aren’t teams supposed to be better coming off byes? Rested, more time to prepare, etc?
October 14th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Kyle,
To have a bye after only two weeks, I would say isn’t an advantage. You’re not very beat up after only two weeks so I’d argue that this early on in the season that a bye is a disadvantage.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I wouldn’t necessarily argue it’s an advantage that early, but I would definitely argue it’s not a disadvantage. A bye there should be considered a non-issue — it’s an excuse when an excuse wasn’t needed.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I’m not definitively saying it was a disadvantage but it certainly isn’t something I’d think would be that helpful, which is what you were saying.
Would you not agree that for a high school team to just get its season started by routing two of its rivals (Alameda and El Cerrito), then all of a sudden having a rare week off before having to turn it back on to play a road game after a long bus ride against a solid team, that the let down factor could be involved?
October 14th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
And heck, since they won, it really doesn’t even matter. A win is a win is a win.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Exactly, that’s why I said it was an excuse when an excuse wasn’t needed.
Ask Amador about long bus rides … the six 6+ plus hour trip didn’t both them … they went out and routed a Del Norte team that is on par with Monterey.
Yet Amador won’t get considered in the poll because they lost to the teams ranked No. 3, No. 6 and No. 7.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
amador lost 28-3 at home. u can’t get skunked at home an expect to b ranked.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Ah Jimmy, that’s a bad argument, that coming off a bye is a trap week….you should no better than that. It doesn’t matter when during the year, it’s an advantage to have a bye week — let’s you prepare for the team better, get any aches and pains healed up, at least as good as possible. Using that as an excuse for a trap game, does not fly….
To whoever made the insane comment about “imagining Encinal with 1,000 more students”, is like saying can you imagine Monte Vista with as many students as Logan or Berkeley? Give any one 1,000 more students and they will be a much better team… But like Kyle said, none of them have that extra 1,000 students, so it doesn’t make a difference.
You know, if my aunt had nuts, she’d be my uncle — same theory.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I didn’t vote Amador (no one did) and I’m not lobbying for them to get in the poll.
I’m just making the point that if an unranked team (one that got skunked at home twice, 28-3 and 41-13) can go 6 hours and dominate a team comparable to Monterey, why should a team ranked in the top-10 get praised for a closer win for a 2 and a half hour trip?
October 14th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
The bye week was just one of the several things I threw out there as possible reasons for a letdown (I’d actually argue more about that they were coming off high-intensity games against two rivals — Alameda and El Cerrito). I don’t know why every one is harping on that. The fact is they recovered from a sluggish first half to rally to beat a decent team. Period. End of sentence. No real reason for any more discussion.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
you can’t dethrone the former EBAL champ until they lose a game, come on…Is pitt better than SRV, maybe…But they still have yet to lose a game this year and were arguably the 2nd best team in the Bay Area last year. Obviously, each year is new but they haven’t lost, whether they are as good as last year is yet to be seen but they have done everything asked of them so far. Same can not be said for Pitt and others. Just luck DLS should never be ranked below anyone until someone in the east bay beats them…I do not care how many games they lose out of state, until they lose in the east bay they are still king.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Kyle,
Nobody’s praising that Encinal win, just discussing. You’re the one who brought that game up as a point of comparison between Encinal and Granada and so that’s how that game became a topic. The fact is, Encinal is undefeated and has routed every other team it has played. We all know one game doesn’t make a team — you’ve argued that as much as any — so you shouldn’t be trying to compare Granada to Encinal just based on that game (although I know you said — and I agree — that we don’t have anything else to go by).
October 14th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
I thought there was no reason for more discussion? haha
But since you want to keep going …
I was not the one who brought it up. Refer to Comment #8 by LB. That is how the game became a topic. …
I’ve also never said Granada would beat Encinal or be ranked ahead of them. But I will say that would be a very evenly matched game.
Encinal is good, we all get it. Yes, they are undefeated, but if they had Granada’s schedule, they’d have two losses minimum and wouldn’t be in the poll.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
We were writing our two comments at the same time, so I was just responding to your comment that I hadn’t see while writing mine since you brought up the idea of praising Encinal’s win — which nobody was doing.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Comment #16 “Coming off a bye, having to travel down to Monterey and the Jets still pulled off a win against a very solid Monterey team.”
This comes off as praise to me.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Not really. It’s just saying that they beat a solid team. Saying a team won a game isn’t praise, it’s just stating what happened. It’s nothing I would’ve mentioned if the game hadn’t already been brought up.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
“bval fan Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
granada would be 10-0 if they played the same teams that encinal and bishop have played. good thing there are playoffs, ncaa postseason sucks.”
Kyle Bonagura Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
BVAL- Which is why I voted for Granada.
My question is who did they lose to?
And who did they play?
October 14th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Why is Granada playing the same teams Encinal is playing?
October 14th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
excuse me, i mean same type of teams
October 14th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Simply stating a team won a game isn’t praise, but by prefacing it with “Coming off a bye, having to travel, and still beating very solid team” is praise.
The discussion is getting way off track by the way and we’re rapidly approaching the borderline pointless zone.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Let’s say then that all I was intending to do what state they won. The preface was just adding more info, not really praise.
But anyways, yeah, it’s hitting the pointless zone.
Like Jim Rome, I’m OUT!!
October 14th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
They lost to De La Salle and Monte Vista.
Wins over Stallworth, Kennedy and Vintage.
The Vintage game is fine, Vintage is normally pretty good and the same size.
The other schools (Kennedy + Stallworth, although Stallworht is really good) are obviously smaller, so I’d explain scheduling them because the Granada schedule already features Monte Vista, De La Salle, Foothill, San Ramon Valley, California and Amador + the rivalry game vs Livermore.
Why not schedule some winnable games early when you already have to play in the toughest league in Northern California?
October 15th, 2008 at 2:00 am
What’s exactly wrong with where Encinal is ranked. Let’s use college for an example, is anyone out there going to use the common opponent argument and say Stanford is better than USC? No, so why not praise the small school for winning the games on the field. They have about 22 players on the team and a couple never touch the field. I would take Encinal’s 22 against some bigger schools top 22 players. What big school with borderline playoff hopes would play them anyways? Would Granada play them? Yeah, maybe they would, but it wouldn’t benefit them because they are expected to beat them and would kill their playoff hopes if they lost. Against Piedmont, they were without Sashington, they still won. John Brown is the glue, as long as he stays healthy they can win NCS. Can’t knock Jimmy for trying to find a reason, people are making excuses for Granada having 2 loses. Tough conference, sure whatever, enrollment should be the same so maybe they just have weaker players.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:43 am
i agree with vee tee. granada is as big as any team in the league. they ran a story in the frisco papers about the atkinson twins so they have players step up and beat a d-1 school.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:51 am
granada won’t win a league game at least till halloween against amador. but don’t worry granada u guys got livermore nov. 14 if it doesnt workout at amador.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Some of us think encinal doesn’t belong, others do…that’s what makes this board great. everything will play out in the end….but jimmy and kyle, you sound like a couple of teenage girls going back and forth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
neiner, neiner, neiner………….
hey will try and call in tonight…..
October 15th, 2008 at 10:25 am
It’s a learned behavior from sports writers’ past.
October 15th, 2008 at 11:09 am
hahaha — must be talking about Silman and the X-Tower.
October 15th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Kyle,
how do you feel about BOD strenth of schedule compared to Miramonte and Novato and Encinal
October 15th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Encinal and Bishop O’Dowd have easily played the softest schedules out of the teams you mention. At least Miramonte has played Foothill and an OK Antioch squad. Novato by far has played the toughest squads out of the four teams with Foothill and Valley Christian-San Jose. In order of strength of schedule, I would have to go from hardest to softest: 1. Novato; 2. Miramonte; Bishop O’Dowd and Encinal are about the same.
October 15th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Let’s compare the league schedule’s first, then non-league.
O’Dowd — HAAL. Normally, the HAAL is one of the better leagues. This year, it’s down. Even then, O’Dowd has a full schedule against DI and DII schools when it gets to league play.
Miramonte — DFAL. Aside from Las Lomas and Campolindo, Miramonte probably won’t get challenged in league. But LaLo and Campo are better than anyone Encinal will see in the BSAL.
Novato — Marin County. I think the Marin County league is probably the strongest of the four — this year. Basing that on how those teams have done against East Bay teams…
Encinal — Bay Shore. SPSV is the one team that is consistently strong for BSAL standards, but still a very small school and wouldn’t match up against bigger schools. Overall its the weakest of the four leagues. Kennedy, Piedmont, SPSV have all lost to Marin County teams this year.
In order of hardest schedule in league:
1. Novato - 2 tough games (Marin Catholic, Redwood — some may argue Drake and Justin Siena as well)
2. Miramonte - 2 tough games (Las Lomas, Campo)
3. O’Dowd - 1 tough game (San Leandro) but most years this league would be the best of the four.
4. Encinal - 1 tough game (SPSV)
In order of hardest non-league:
1. Novato - Valley Christian-SJ (WCAL), Foothill (WCAL), St. Ignacious (WCAL). That’s an ambitious schedule for anyone.
2. Miramonte - 3 D-I teams (Foothill, Stagg, Antioch) + San Marin and Skyline.
3. Encinal - Alameda (rivalry), El Cerrito is OK, Monterey is the best of the three. Still doesn’t compare to either of the first two.
4. O’Dowd - Everyone has hammered O’Dowd enough for its schedule. It’s a joke and everyone knows it.
This is a cool link to check out some computer-based breakdowns…
http://calpreps.com/2008/ratings/North_Coast_leagues.htm
October 15th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I miss going back and forth with Silman. Nothing like telling each other you’re an idiot and then having a beer together 5 mins later. That’s “legit.”
Ahhh, the good ol’ days. You guys should post an online version of the Monday morning poll file on here. That’d be good for a laugh. Oh wait, we don’t want to offend anyone in Ukiah or wherever that schmuck was from!
October 15th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
come playoffs i’ll take the east bay teams in d-3 over marin county except novato. those other schools will lose if they match up with a school like el cerrito, bshop o’dowd, encinal to many athletes!
October 15th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Kyle,
ACCAL is down this year how do they compare to previous teams? I think B-High isn’t as strong this year. Would it even matter if Encinal was in ACCAL. Although they are battle tested I think B-High would lose to Encinal.
October 15th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I think Durkin would be better equipped to gauge how an Encinal/Berkeley game would go since he has seen both teams.
No doubt the ACCAL is down, though.
October 15th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I’ll chime in here. I agree that the ACCAL is down this year, but I wouldn’t necessarily say Berkeley is down. A year ago, I don’t think they would’ve beat Logan (this year’s Logan, not last year’s Logan — neither Berkeley team would’ve beat last year’s Logan). And I think last year’s team would’ve lost by an even larger margin to Pittsburg than the 35-12 score of this year. They seem to be getting more disciplined the longer they spend with Zo and to me, that’s the biggest difference this year.
The reason I’ll say the league is down though is because of a) the loss of Encinal. The Jets finished second in the league last year and would probably be contending for the title this year if they were still in the league, and b) Pinole Valley is down. I figured Pinole was down when it lost to Mack, then when Mack was shutout by Salesian that proved it. The fact that Richmond stayed within 13 of Pinole (yes, I know the Spartans had a big early lead and the Oilers points were probably scored against backups) is more proof as well, and c) Alameda is also down. The Hornets have been a perennial playoff team and obviously the loss of a lot of experience off last year’s squad has hurt them. Any league that has perennial powers drop off a bit is going to see some drop off in its league (see HAAL and Castro Valley and Hayward).
As for a potential Berkeley-Encinal matchup, I think it’d be a great game. I saw those teams play last year and Encinal gave a fairly good challenge (19-7 final), though Berkeley was obviously the better team. As for this year, Berkeley is susceptible to giving up the big play and Encinal is capable of making big plays. The ‘Jackets certainly have depth and numbers on their side, but Encinal makes plays and might get enough big plays to pull it out. It’s too bad they won’t play. It would be one of the best games (if not the best) in the Oakland area this year.
October 15th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
thoughts on concord being ranked lower than castlemont; they tied and concord is undefeated?
October 15th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
I have to agree with Kyle Bonagura, HAAL and DFAL are hands down way tougher leagues the bay shore. This year, last year, year before last they bay shore league is a proven weak league. Sure Encinal is good for their league, but they’re overrated at #10
October 16th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Since Concord and Castlemont tied, that shows they’re evenly matched so you look at the rest of the resume. Concord destroyed two absolute cupcakes (Jefferson and De Anza), have one solid home win against Rio Linda and then squeaked by a bad Dublin team on the road. Castlemont has a comfortable road win against a Windsor team that probably compares to Dublin, an easy win over a decent Salesian team (not a win to praise, but it’s not a win over a cupcake), a blowout win (49-7) over a previously unbeaten team in Tamalpais and then a very close loss (26-18, but was 20-18 until a late pick six and could’ve been a tie if a penalty hadn’t called back the kick return TD after the pick six) to a ranked Berkeley squad that’s three times its size. To me, that loss to Berkeley is the biggest difference maker since it shows how Castlemont did head-to-head with another ranked team. While Concord doesn’t have a loss yet, they really only have one quality win and not that I blame them for scheduling some cupcakes (it is coming off a 3-7 season), but the schedule you play is always going to affect you in the rankings. Now if Concord wins its next two against College Park and Clayton Valley, I think we might find some space for them.
October 18th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
has anyone noticrd junior rb ricky galvin on berkeley highs squad he might be one of if not in the top 5 rb in the bay area.fast fast faster and benches over 300lbs
October 19th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Unless that guy is a pass block specialist, Im not to sure that his bench press is going to play much of a factor