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East Bay Prep Football Super Poll

Posted on by Jimmy Durkin

This should generate quite of bit of discussion. This will be our final football poll of the season as we won’t revote with just De La Salle having one more game to play. Let the comments fly.

Team Record Points Last week
1. De La Salle (10) 12-1 150 1
2. Pittsburg 11-2 140 2
3. San Ramon Valley 9-4 126 6
4. Foothill 9-3 111 4
5. Monte Vista 8-3 107 3
6. Clayton Valley 12-1 94 12
7. Encinal 13-0 93 8
8. California 7-5 91 5
9. Freedom 10-2 78 7
10. Campolindo 10-2 53 11
11. Miramonte 10-3 48 13
12. Deer Valley 8-4 32 14
13. San Leandro 7-4 30 10
14. Las Lomas 9-4 26 15
15. Berkeley 9-2 12 9

Others receiving votes: Castlemont (9-2-1) 7, Bishop O’Dowd (10-2) 2. The East Bay Prep Football poll is compiled from the votes of Bay Area News Group-East Bay staff writers.

Jimmy Durkin

I cover mostly San Jose State football for the San Jose Mercury News/Bay Area News Group, but also fill in from time to time with the 49ers, Warriors, A's and Giants.

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  • junior

    man i would have liked to see Encinal and Clayton Valley 3 and 4 or 4 and 3. otherwise- pretty good.

  • guru-black

    i agree with junior encinal should have been in the top 4.lets just hope they get it right come all-ang time.

  • renegades10

    Ok I will say Encinal is a good football team. Their win over Novato is a good one. Congrats on a great season But top 4? Here is why they shouldn’t be. Encincal beat Novato 35-28 on a touchdown with 26 seconds left. Foothill, who is ranked number 4, spanked Novato 48-13. Quite a difference. Personally Encinal should not be ranked ahead of Cal IMO. Cal lost to DLS by 7, Pitt by 8, MV by 3, Bellevue by 7, and Foothill by 7. I’m not sure Encinal is that close with those teams. But with the records it would probably look odd to have a 7-5 team ahead of a 13-0 team no matter who the losses came against. Regardless Encinal had a great season that ended with a championship and that’s the best way to do it. If they continue to have more success their ranking will go up. They have their shot next year when they play Serra I believe it is or Cal. Can’t remember which one.

  • EBAL Fan

    Normally, my response to people saying encinal should be No. 4 would be laughable. But this year, they had a great season, so why not throw them a bone and give them a high ranking. They should not be ranked above Foothill since Foothill did just destroy Novato and Encinal needed a cinderella finish to pull off the win.

    In the end, people only really care about who is no. 1 and that’s a foregone conclusion.

  • lb050nit

    The D3 state title game is gonna suck. Thats my thoughts. CIF choose a 2 loss team over 2 undefeated teams. St. Mary’s, 2 losses two teams that are scared to step into the bay.Im not saying a team cant lose and get in Im saying its clear, strength of schedule is big but, get a win cool, but all you have to do is lose to a great team and your in. So why not schedule De la Salle, win or lose its all good.

  • lb050nit

    ranked 4 will be outstanding but rank 5 is probably more accurate. I saw Monte Vista play, the Jets would be pretty competitive and probably would get a hard fought win to say the least.

  • Jetflash

    7th are you freaking kidding me?? Again no love for JETPRIDE. Did CIF even watch any game film?? Probably Not. I heard they just hired some witch doctor who consulted the bones. What a farce

  • Kyle Bonagura

    7th is about right.

    Novato and Encinal are about equal (it was that close a game)

    Novato didn’t belong on the same field with Foothill, Monte Vista beat Foothill pretty handily. Freedom and Foothill are about even based on that NCS game.

    4 of Cal’s losses came to Top-5 teams (all close games including by 7 to DLS) its fifth (also close) was to a Bellevue team that went undefeated in Washington. Also beat the No. 3 team.

    After watching Encinal I was impressed. But not as far to say it would win games in the EBAL. It’s just that big a difference.

    Great season for Encinal. Great team D-3 team.

  • guru-black

    kyle 7th it dont matter foothill,monte vista,freedom,cal they can all be ranked ahead of the jets we got the ring & thats all that matters! they are a great team period! JET PRIDE!

  • Jet4Ever52

    Fair ranking i would see Encinal in my opinion 5 or 6 thats just me. Novato did not let up and Encinal to both teams were at it but man that blocked punt wow and then Pitre for the last second touchdown. Im pretty sure Novato were trying to cover Andre Hutcherson #7 rather than Pitre for the TD.

    But yea great season wow from when we were 9-3 last year now 13-0 and NCS title wow incredible

  • Old Meddling Former Coach

    As far a Novato,They are a good Well coached Football team but Kyle,Encinal Could’ve Buried them in the 1st half if the kids didn’t start letting up and that gave Novato The Jolt it needed to make a fight of it. And while I can’t say it would’ve made a BIG Difference or not,(We’ll never know) How do you think the game would’ve Turned out If X (Milton) Had Played?

  • Kyle Bonagura

    They probably should have buried them. The dropped pick-6 let Novato back in it, then there was another dropped pick later. I’m sure the Novato people have their side as well, a few missed plays by them here and there. That fumble with a minute to go for example….

    Foothill did bury Novato. 48-13 and pulled all its starters in the third quarter and just ran little dive plays pretty much the whole second half.

    And you’re right all that matters is that Encinal will hang a banner.

  • http://ibabuzz.com/prepcorner Jimmy Durkin

    You really can’t compare the two games Novato played against Foothill and Encinal. As coach Brackett said in the NCS meeting and many have said, that game was played on a short week (a Thursday night TV game) when the team was still bumming after a tough loss to Valley Christian. A year after going to the state championship game, there was a lot of pressure to get off to a good start and losing to VC had some risidual effect on Novato when it played Foothill. Had they played later in the year, I still think Foothill wins, but it’s not as lopsided. So does Foothill deserve to be ahead of Encinal? You bet. Is the gap between Encinal and Foothill that large? Maybe, but the two results of those games isn’t as indicative as you might think. They both beat Novato. That’s all you can really gather.

  • Kyle Bonagura

    Well, I was at both games. Novato didn’t look that much different. Foothill crush Novato if they played tomorrow.

    The Hornets aren’t the only team that improves as the year goes on.

    A team was bumming after a tough loss? Pressure to get off to a good start? Come on.

  • http://ibabuzz.com/prepcorner Jimmy Durkin

    Kyle,
    Novato had just gone to the state title game, then set up a really tough early season nonleague schedule. The talk all off-season was win the first couple of games and everything is set up for them to go back to the state title game. If you don’t think there was some pressure coming down on those kids then you’re foolish. Come on.

    I’m not saying Foothill isn’t significantly better than Novato or better than Encinal, but using the whole comparative score stuff is pointless.

  • EBAL Fan

    Jimmy,

    It’s only pointless when it doesn’t benefit your argumnent….we’re all the same way. We use point differential when it helps and denounce it when it doesn’t.

    The only for sure win for Encinal in the EBAL would be Livermore. That’s not saying they wouldn’t win more games than that, but they could very easily play well and go 1-7.

  • Jimmy Durkin

    It’s pointless when the games in question are played 11 weeks apart or whatever these were.

  • Kyle Bonagura

    It’s definitely worth discussing.

    The only thing that is fact is we’ll never know truly how Encinal stacks up against the top competition because in the East Bay because it didn’t play any of the top team in the East Bay.

    Same with Clayton Valley.

    Those schools are the two wildcards. Neither lost to an East Bay team. Encinal didn’t lose at all.

    I think we got it right in regards to the other seven in the top-9 because they all played each other for the most part. You could make a case for Encinal at No. 2 that makes sense. You could make a case for Encinal at No. 9 that makes sense.

  • Hawaii

    You guys got it pretty darn close. You want to reward teams for going unbeaten but at the same time how do you unscramble the top teams who beat eachother up? I am pretty certain IF Encinal played DLS twice, CAL, MV, SR Amador and Granada, like Foothill did, they would not have come out of it with just 3 losses. You could argue Freedom at 9 is wrong, they lost to Pitt and Foothill. Foothill will tell you they gave them a better game than Cal did. And Foothill beat SR yet SR is at 3 and Foothill at 4. on and on. The whole MV turnover debacle kind of throws the teams after DLS and Pitt into a scramble. Encinal had a great year and will be only a handful teams that walked off the field this year with a win and a title. So be happy with that and don’t suddenly think you could have beaten any of the big boys.

  • Old Meddling Former Coach

    We really don’t know that for sure,Do we hawaii?

  • true playoffs

    I would say that this years Encinal team would not beat anybody in the top 10 and would maybe win 1 of every 5 games against teams 11-15.

    Congrats to them for a great season. They beat the teams on their schedule but it was not that difficult of a schedule. They were a one player team.

    The other teams in the top 15 have to deal with a player like that on a week in week out basis. They always have to game plan against 1, 2, or even 3 players of that caliber.

  • renegades10

    But we will next year when Encinal squares up against Serra…

  • Old Meddling Former Coach

    true playoffs ,We both know there is no such thing as a one player team. Even the best of the best has to have help.

  • Hawaii

    old meddling coach, like i said, be happy, Encinal had a great year, just don’t get crazy, we actually do know what would would happen to Encinal in the EBAl, 8th place, because encinal would make 9 teams and they only would beat Livermore. Granada one won game and beat JFK worse then Encinal did.

  • Old Meddling Former Coach

    How do we actually know hawaii? The only way we’d know is if they played and it’s too late for that. The Know it all’s though Novato would win too.

  • LBGC

    that’s a good fan. no matter what always be passionate about your team and plead a case for them…

  • HAAL Fan

    Im sorry coach but Hawaii’s right. An overconfident Novato team isn’t a comparison to, arguably, the toughest league in NorCal.

  • Old Meddling Former Coach

    Fellas,I’m going let this go.

  • http://contracostatimes.com CJF

    Gents,
    Encinal is D3 for a reason. And they should be judged against there D3 peers. Obviously, the Jets were the best D3 team in the Bay Area. Isn’t that enough. Only Cardinal Newman and DLS can make that claim.

  • football truth

    Lets not get to far ahead of ourselfs about ebal, okay first of all miramonte almost beat foothill 14 to 7 which novato beat which the jets had beat, so let the players do the talking and u so called EXPERTS that call it a one man team is all bogus just hush up, ur doing nothing but wacthing, go jets ncs champs and your not lol ;) don’t be mad

  • http://aol.com ebal watcher

    all this cal talk is funny.Cal lost to DLS by 7, Pitt by 8, MV by 3, Bellevue by 7, and Foothill by 7. one more loss makes them 50%

  • NovatoDAD

    Look i was at both the Novato/Foothill and the Novato/Encinal game…Foothill has one of the best coaching staffs around,Encinal has a nice system that is running on all cylinders. I think Encinal’s playmakers would hold there own on any team in this top 15. Does any one know what college #10 John Brown,#2 D.Sashington and #4 X. Milton who didn’t even play in the game are to play for? Will grades be an issue?

  • Jetflash

    Brown is going to Colorado. Shakes and X are not committed. X was talking about Arizona schools

  • Old Meddling Former Coach

    Colorado Had a full ride on the table when he was a Junior but i don’t thinks that he’s commited yet. And NovatoDad, Shakes is #2 Sashington. They all have big schools look at them.

  • THE CAMP

    Each of them have offers. None of them have commited.

  • Jet4Ever52

    They not even listed on Rivals.com

    Mr.Williams When could we start meeting? My Email is Kamakanani.o.keanuenue@gmail.com so yea you can email me thanks

  • easy b

    can we get a all east bay sneak peak

  • Jetflash

    Old Medling Former Coach thanks for the correction. Hey Jimmy what’s the word on an all BSAL league and the all East Bay league

  • http://ibabuzz.com/prepcorner Jimmy Durkin

    Nope folks, no sneak peak of the All-East Bay team. It will be released next Friday, Dec. 26. The player of the year had his photo taken and was interviewed today, so he and those on the first team for the most part know that they made it, but no sneak peaks from the BANG-EB staff. We’re getting it out pretty quick this year, so you won’t have to wait long.

    Also, I need to check in with the BSAL commissioner. We haven’t received a copy of the BSAL all-league football team yet.

  • famfirst1

    Wha paper does the all-eastbay team come out in?

  • http://ibabuzz.com/prepcorner Jimmy Durkin

    The All-East Bay team comes out in all of our East Bay publications (Oakland Tribune, Daily Review, Argus, Tri-Valley Herald, Contra Costa Times, Valley Times, San Ramon Valley Times, West County Times, East County Times).

  • http://www.ibabuzz.com/prepcorner/2008/12/15/east-bay-prep-football-super-poll/ Monarch76

    Foothill should be #3 over SRV due to its head-to-head victory over SRV and the fact that it went just as far in the playoffs (semi’s).

  • Jetflash

    Thanks for the updates Jimmy. And to all the football fans Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas.And GO JETS

  • Hawaii

    Monarch76,
    I agree, i know FHS lost to MV and SR beat them twice but MV didn’t turn it over 7 times or even 4 in their matchup. Also, besides the head to head win over SR. FHS beat Cal who SR lost to so that mitigates the MV situation.

  • Sports Med

    Should the Kennedy of Fremont Football coach retire or be asked to retire?

    I have seen a couple articles about Coach Mike from Fremont how he has been there for almost 50 or 60 years, but I was amazed to see that this year, 08, was their first NCS playoff win. C’mon 50-60 years before a win and they have only gone 4 times. I hear about talent that comes out of this school but I never see it. They had two backers with speed this year, with good speed and never once showed a spread. Throw the ball. Almost everyone in California does it why don’t they?
    The people that have met him say he is a really nice guy. But they do not comment on his football prowess. He was quoted as saying he will be here for the 50th homecoming, isn’t that up to the administration (principle, athletic director) or is that school so used to losing that it doesn’t care about the program. Kennedy doesn’t do well in sports period, maybe because they don’t know how to move on and get good coaching. Maybe Coach Mike is a good guy, probably the best man I will have the honor of meeting, I am not saying he is a bad person. What I am asking, is it time to move forward the school has not had another football coach, ever. They’ve run the same plays well… forever and the only thing they can really hang their hat on is that their football coach knows everyone. I hear they bring back former players to come in and help out and coach, but if those former players can only coach what he has been coaching for years isn’t it time to change things. I have heard new coaches do want to come in but the administration and the AD won’t allow it. I heard they are good friends of Coach Mike’s. I am sorry but I do not who the AD is but whoever they are really needs to set precedence and stop putting you and your friends first. I have never gone to Kennedy nor do my kids, but I have friends who have kids in junior high that will be going there and they do not want to play sports at Kennedy. Not a lot of their sports teams have winning seasons, and no its not only about winning, but it seems when they do win the school doesn’t care because its not football or they get rid of the coaches. Sports aren’t the only thing in high school but it does help in the development of the young. If Coach Mike is there for 6 more years and continues with his losing tradition the kids will learn one thing for sure, how to lose with dignity and grace. Although I heard they couldn’t even do that against Encinal (former players rise up). The school needs new blood, but I guess if they are considered the worst school in Fremont to go to, they won’t try. Well, if Kennedy continues with its own ways at least my kids will beat them in sports just like I did. The Administration needs to change this, if they do not make a change at least let my friends’ kids transfer somewhere else. You know, where the athletic director doesn’t put friendship before the kids.