- East Bay Prep Corner
30Q-2-KICKOFF (No. 30): Who will win it all?
By Jimmy Durkin
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 11:27 am in 30 Questions to Kickoff, East Bay Football.
Well, we’ve finally hit question No. 30 in our 30 Questions to Kickoff feature. Our high school football preview edition hits the newstands and your doorsteps tomorrow, so we will wrap up our countdown today by looking into the crystal ball.
Who will win North Coast Section titles in each division?
Jimmy
Division I: Hmmmmm……..let me think long and hard about this one. OK, I’m done thinking. It’s De La Salle. Moving on.
Division II: This has been pretty well dominated by the Redwood Empire since the regions were merged for postseason play. Defending champion Eureka was pretty dominant on its way to last year’s title and appear to have a fair amount of returners from that team, even if they lost dominant RB Soma Vainuku. But the Loggers are now listed as a Division III school unless they decide to petition up by the Sept. 17 deadline. I think some East Bay teams such as Alameda, Concord and Pinole Valley could work there way into the title mix as well. But I’m going to go with a team that reached the Division I semifinals last year in Washington. The Huskies, who were the No. 11 seed in D-1 and upset No. 6 Cal and then beat No. 14 College Park, have dropped down to Division II. With the dynamic Deandre Carter leading the way, the Huskies have a shot to break through into a title contender and become only the second team from the MVAL to ever win an NCS football title. (Most will be shocked to learn that Mission San Jose is the only school in the league to win an NCS title, doing so in 1977).
Division III: A lot here depends on what Marin Catholic does. As of now, the Wildcats are penciled in as a Division IV school, although they have until Sept. 17 to petition up. Whichever division the Wildcats are in, they will be a contender. If Eureka stays in Division III, they are definitely among the favorites. You certainly can’t count out Encinal, which has been to the past two title games. The Jets will have to answer some questions at QB early on, so for now I will pick Eureka to win Division III (presuming they stay there).
Division IV: Again, this division is tough to predict until we find out what Marin Catholic does. If Marin is Division IV, they are my pick to win it. If not, maybe a team like Salesian or St. Patrick-St. Vincent can contend or another team from the Redwood Empire such as defending champion Fort Bragg or Justin-Siena. Valley Christian is listed as Division V, but could petition up to Division IV where it played last year and also be a contender. Right now, there’s really too many unknows to pick this division but I’ll go with St. Patrick-St. Vincent to ride RB Naji Patrick to a title provided Marin goes up to D-3.
Division V: This is another division that I’ll have to see about petitioning up to decide officially. If Valley Christian stays in Division V, I’d pick them to win. If the Vikings go to Division IV, I’ll go with St. Vincent, which has been to three straight title games and lost last year to St. Elizabeth.
Ben
Division I: I also spent a couple seconds thinking about this one… Uh huh, sure. I’ll take DLS.
Division II: I really like Jimmy’s pick of Washington. Now in Division II, the Huskies might have the best game-changing player in Deandre Carter. But, I’m going to stay with the North Bay theme that we’ve seen the last couple years. I just can’t pick against a team with a blue-chip QB, and that team is Casa Grande. The Gauchos have been knocking on the doorstep the last couple years, and I think this is the year Nick Sherry and Co. take the next step.
Division III: Jimmy’s right that a lot depends on what Marin Catholic does because even with the losses from last year’s team, the Wildcats are going to be contenders no matter what. That said, I also agree that you can’t count out Eureka, and you can’t count out Encinal. Also, Alhambra could be in the mix one year after reaching the semis. And then there’s also Novato, a team that’s always in the conversation at season’s end. I’m going to take a flier though with my pick, and I’m going to say Miramonte wins the whole thing. In the years where the Matadors are good, they almost always put their hat in the ring.
Division IV: I’m with Jimmy all the way here. Marin Catholic is the choice if it stays in Division IV, but if not, why not the Bruins of SPSV? I’m never going to count out Salesian, especially with Aaron Prier back in the fold to run the ball. And don’t forget Ferndale, which is always there. But, I have a good feeling about Marlon Blanton’s crew this year, so I’ll pick the Bruins.
Division V: Common sense says Valley Christian is the pick if it stays in Division V. Other than that, it’s a coin flip I guess. St. Vincent sounds as good as anyone, so I’ll take them.
Alright everyone, we hope you enjoyed our month-long look at local high school football. Like Jimmy said, tomorrow is the day our big preview section comes out. Be sure to grab yourself a copy. Join us this afternoon for our live chat, and we’ll see you on the sidelines!
[You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.]
September 1st, 2010 at 12:01 pm
You both have done a really good job taking us up to the start of the season. Killer D your insight is commendable. Keep us updated through out the season you’re quite good at getting the conversation rolling. Good Luck to all and safe play. Keep your eyes on Concord HS and College Park from the DVAL good days ahead.
September 1st, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Why wouldnt Marin Cathlioc or Eureka bump up after winning it all in a higher division? If they stayed down then that would be weird and personally I think it says something about the team they have coming back. Marin maybe because of the new coach in place wont do it.
September 1st, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Other than DLS the Redwood Empire will take all the remaining Divisions.
Div. I DLS
Div. II Casa Grande
Div. III I Think Marin Catholic stays D III Also news out of Cardinal Newman is that they will be D III. However the Logger are reurning 19 player so Eureka takes D III
Div. IV Justin Seina
Div.V St. Vincents
September 1st, 2010 at 1:20 pm
ManDown it is all about the Bowl games. If teams stay down they would have a better chance to go to Carson. I think MC would have a better chance at returning to Carson at D IV.
September 1st, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Playing against schools with higher enrollments & winning increases your chances why do you think that Cardinal Newman has gone twice.
September 1st, 2010 at 2:16 pm
D1.DLs…. no comment
D2.casa grande.. but i hear washington is for real this year..
d3. i am going to say marin.. but lets not forget about novato, who knows how to stop the option and jumbo packages better then anytime out there.. big test againest bellermine. YOU got cardinal newman whose been down for a couple of years who should make ALOT of noise. the you got the EUREKA who i think can win it as well… this you have the might jets who played in the last two championships winning one and losing one.. can the make it a 3 peat??
D4. i am going with marin as well depending on which divsion they choose but d3 is not a walk over like d4 is… marin can easily loose in the 2ncd round in d3 but will.. walk trough d4..
Dv. st vincents..
OAl.. FREMONT
September 1st, 2010 at 2:20 pm
PERKIN yes that is true but in both of those cases MC and CN play in a leaugue of DIII and higher teams. Also the new CIF rule says teams can only petition up one level for a bowl birth.Also CN could be 2-0 in bowl games if they had played in there own Div.
September 1st, 2010 at 2:27 pm
CN has played Bowl games per their enrollment level that had nothing to do with their division they won. The Division rule is new for this year & I think they made it both times because they won a sections against teams with higher enrollments.
MC for instance walks thru D-IV they will be playing teams with low enrollments & won’t rate them high on anybodies board cause of the teams they play. If they play 4 teams with higher enrollments then it increase their chances. Now can they petition up to D-III then play at D-IV for state I don’t know maybe one of the writers can answer that.
September 1st, 2010 at 2:38 pm
PERKIN the answer is yes
If a Division III Section Champion is within the Division IV enrollment parameters of
1-500, it will be moved to that Division for bowl game consideration. If fewer than
three schools are available for selection in Division IV, the smallest remaining
Division III School will be moved into the Division IV selection pool.
CCS-Central Coast Section
CS-Central Section
LAS-Los Angeles City Section
NCS-North Coast Section
NS-Northern Section
OS-Oakland Section
SDS-San Diego Section
SFS-San Francisco Section
SJS-Sac-Joaquin Section
SS-Southern Section
– CIFer to that is yes right off of the CIF web site
September 1st, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Then you make my point. Win D-II if you’re Eureka & your chances of going to state at D-III are much stronger.
September 1st, 2010 at 3:57 pm
The only schools that can play at a lower division than what they play in their section are those with an enrollment of less than 500. So if Eureka plays D-2 for NCS, they are locked in to D-2 for state. Same goes for Marin Catholic since its enrollment is greater than 500. That’s why it’s a big decision for them. If they go D-3 for NCS, that’s where they are for state. If they state at D-4 for NCS, they become eligible for D-4 at state.
September 1st, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Wow, that does change things.
September 1st, 2010 at 4:08 pm
I guess the MC vs Encinal rivalry is over I don’t see MC playing D-III. Probably same for all schools it benefitted CN to petition up but now it will put them in a higher state brackett.
September 1st, 2010 at 8:23 pm
9-01-10
Jim/Ben….The converted QB at Encinal has good hands and good deception and can run the option…His passing looked pretty good…If he gets the protection, the Jets will roll.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:11 pm
30 great articles fellas! congrats on getting us ready for kick off.
September 2nd, 2010 at 8:26 am
Hey Jimmy…
I’m NOT suprised MSJ won the NCS title in 1977. I was a sophomore there at the time, and we were consistently one of the top East Bay football teams in the late 70′s. Ah yes…I remember those intense Friday nights at Tak against archrival Washington. Those were the days…….
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:21 am
Very nice Mark. Just so you know, my inference was that most would be surprised that no other MVAL team has won a title, not that MSJ won that title.
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:36 pm
well then stupid for d3 teams to come up to d2…right now grant is frontrunner unless they get the open..so no reason to fight for d2 spot unless that happens…no team has a chance if grant wins d2 sjs
September 6th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
took care of newark next up is hardy & the dragons. i met are new d coordinator he’s got us playing a new exciting style on all levels on defense. island02 i see you running coach l defense on j5 you’ve got to be impressed with what he’s brought to the hornet program. i can’t wait for the jets & berkeley there in for a rude awakening! hornets accal champs 2010!
September 6th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
hornetfan.. i seen the the game of newwark and alameda on tape.. and i dont see what was soo impressing about your team? newark was a better team then you guys…? only the running back micheal cunnginham looks great.. but he was hurt. other than that young man theres no one else…
September 6th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
a very close win over a team that looks to be fourth maybe third best in the MVAL isn’t something I would be using as a reason to why you will beat berkeley or encinal this year.
September 6th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Justin Sienna looked like a JV team this weekend, handled by Bencia, lost by almost 40 pts. Coach Cortuvo has his hands full. Mabey join up with Vintage, they lost by 40 plus to Las Lomas. Napa football is dominated by Napa High this year. Can you beleive that Justin beat St. Mary’s in the playoffs last year after being down by 2 scores? Shows you that SM lost their focus and coaching in that game.
The most focused and best coaching from the Catholic schools except De La Salle is St. Patrick’s. Blanton gets the most out of his players than Cortuvo and Nightingale. He’s a lot more humble.
September 6th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
any truth to the rumor Encinal will close next year? Something about a charter school? what happens to coach T if they close?
September 6th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
you’d think rochlin would do the right thing an stepdown. don’t see him taken a team anywhere come playoff time. coach t got the rings & the resume whats rochlin done? island02 your a hornet be honest who would you hire if you had the call on that one?
September 6th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
blanton & knightingale are good coaches but they dont go out of there way 2 play good teams. they both duck justin siena. st.pats playin berean come on there trash. salesian bsal every other sport but football come on those bfl banners mean nothing! blantons games against encinal havent been 2 competitive given up 48 n 55 pts. it’s not like encinal has guys goin 1 way they have similar numbers if not less players than st.pats
September 6th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
I heard the old OC for Alameda and some assistants coaches that helped bring Alameda back from the grave are at Encinal now. That’s gotta tell you something.
September 6th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Can’t see an East Oakland coach coaching a sac rocklin team?
September 6th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
encinal, if it does close.. will be a charter school… i am guessing.. so island002 you dont have to answer that good queaston..
September 6th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Charter School? Will that be good or bad for Encinal? How will that effect te school? Anyone with info on that?
September 6th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Mission San Jose had a great team in 1977, led by Cal-bound running back Mike Carnell. He was a beast! That was before DLS became a football factory and began winning NCS championships every season.
September 7th, 2010 at 1:57 am
encinal, is open district.. you can live all the ways in richmond and still go to encinal.. i am pretty sure it wouldnt be that much of a change.. just less teachers and i am guessing diffrent curriculums.. but to answer you queaston mandown i dont think it will do anything good or bad.. encinal traditonally suits 22-25 players every year on varsity.. since 2007.. (Thats how long i been following them)
September 7th, 2010 at 8:26 am
I wonder why they can only field 22-25 players a year after so much success. You would think it would pop but I guess in some cases it doesnt.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:34 am
KillerD,
What are your predictions for this week? Who do you like in the Monte Vista vs Serra game? De La Salle vs Gorman?
September 7th, 2010 at 10:43 am
De La Salle over Gorman by 14 at least
Monte Vista over Serra by 10, Serra trouble scoring or moving the ball
I will predict other games later this week and hope to do as well as this past weekend, which was one of my better prognostications in a long time
September 7th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Serra has two good running backs in Erich Wilson and Alex Bravo. It is their thunder and lightning combo if you will. Wilson has good speed while Bravo is a tough physical runner. MV has traditionally struggled against teams that can pound the rock and be physical at the point of attack. Again it is hard to say how good or bad Serra’s O-line is after one game against DLS. Wilson’s stats against DLS are a little misleading as he had 129 yards rushing but 70 of those came on a long TD run against DLS backups in the fourth quarter. But both are good players and am curious to see how MV does trying to stop them.
Then of course we look at MV’s offense vs. Serra’s defense. To be honest I don’t think Serra’s players have faced an offense like Monte Vista’s in quite some time if ever. From what I understand DLS pretty much just used Shapiro’s height advantage all day in the passing game on slant routes. MV doesn’t have anyone as tall as Shapiro, but they love the little catch and go routes. So it’s going to come down to how Serra’s linebackers do in covering the middle of the field. I am curious to see who Bergman starts at qb as well. Finnegan would have a familiarity with Serra’s defense, but Lockie may be the better overall qb. If Lockie does start, it would also be his first varsity start so that could play a role as well, whereas Finnegan has been there before.
Regardless the game really comes down to who controls the tempo. If the game becomes a high scoring shootout it’s advantage MV. If it’s a low scoring game advantage Serra. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Serra just pound the ball down the middle taking four and five yard chunks at a time. Their qb, McAlindon can throw the ball though and MV will have to respect that, at least at the beginning. The Padres have a solid receiver in Vincent who would expect their top cb to be on him. I’m going to take Serra in this game though as I have yet to see MV beat a team that is physical as well as disciplined and until more games are played I’m not convinced that Serra is bad as much as DLS is that good this year, but wouldn’t surprise me to see the Mustangs win. I’ll go with a 23-17 win for the Padres.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:27 am
I believe if Serra will beat MV they have to run that double wing attack and pound the ball the whole game. Ball control is what Serra has to have to beat Monte Vista. I don’t see Serra hanging in with any kind of shootout with this team. De La Salle pounded Serra but I don’t know if Serra is that bad compared to all the other teams in the area. I like Serra’s chances but I also like MV and what they bring to the table.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Exactly mandown this will be a fun matchup to watch as neither team really knows much about the other except what they see on film. Wonder if Walsh has talked to Lad or Eidson at all about MV. If I was in the area since DLS has no game this week, I definitely would be checking that one out as well as SRV-Mitty. Two best games in the section this week. Too bad they are at the same time. Maybe next year they could get a small WCAL-EBAL event going. MV and SRV both have to travel next year so put the games at SJCC which is where Bellarmine plays it’s home games and you could have MV-Serra, SRV-Mitty, and DLS-Bellarmine or St. Francis. Would be very well attended on both sides that’s for sure.
September 7th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Good breakdown guys I think MV can score at will on Serra but the D will need to step up especially the new linebackers.I am going with a 35-17 MV win…
September 7th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
The only problem I have with Monte Vista is that they have no ground attack. They can throw the hell out the ball but when its time to close a game out and run some clock they have no running attack. So they just pass the ball 85-90% of the time and with passing come inclompleations, interceptions, and a clock that always stops. I think last year they played De La Salle tough and could’ve came up with a win but they would’ve had a better chance if they were able to establish some type of ground attack. All the best teams know how to run the ball and do it very well.
September 7th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
ManDown I would normally agree with you that MV has no running attack. But, after what I witnessed at last weeks scrimmage. MV has it’s own version of SMASH n DASH. Sullas looks great and they have Bruce also running the ball that kid can run. They returned an experienced line led by Jacob Welter. So it’s going to depend on if Serra can control the line of scrimmage. If not it’ll be a repeat of DLS.
September 7th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
ManDown in the first game between MV and DLS, MV’s ground attack is what made the game tough. Greg Johnson played outstanding that night and his injury is a big reason why they lost to Foothill later on. Granted DLS defense was pretty poor especially in that first half in terms of tackling technique, but Johnson got them a lot of tough yards after contact. I have had some convos with MV guys on this board about the new rb Sullas who played a lot at the end of last year when Johnson went down. They are pretty high on him, but myself not so much. He had some good games, including Berkeley in the playoffs, but he showed me nothing against DLS in the playoffs to make me think he will get them yards against a good physical and DISCIPLINED defense. Serra’s defense will need to keep their composure when they have a bunch of MV receivers coming at them. Again they haven’t seen this before. If they stay disciplined, I really believe they are the more physical team. As you said, Serra needs to keep that ball out of MV’s hands. Long drives will do that. And a few of the MV stars go both ways, so keeping them gassed would be ideal.
Another question mark is the Serra passing D. Like I said most passes went to Shapiro to take advantage of size advantage. Don’t believe MV has a receiver who is 6′ 4″ so they won’t have that. But DLS only threw the ball nine times unlike the 25 or 30 MV probably will. Serra LB’s must stay disciplined on those little crossing routes that MV uses.
September 7th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
went 7-6 last week not 2 good. week2:mv 21 serra 24 mitty 34 srv 20 pitt 27 mack 6 sl 28 logan 24 bod 27 ahs 14 foothill 24 novato 20 las lomas 24 marin cath. 21 dv 27 wash.fre 13 encinal 28 ec 6 b-high 24 freedom 6 arroyo 20 irv. 6 acalanes 17 hayward 12 concord 31 amador v. 14
September 7th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
coach trot check my blog bout a month ago u know i called it! i asked u if it was gonna b competitive u lied to me but we all knew wat time it is. pirates will be 1 n done come november have fun in the haal with all those 1 dimensional offenses.
September 7th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Renegade and Mandown:
1. MV can run the ball they ran for over 1700 yrds last season as a team Johnson 728 on 123carries, Sullas 705 on 95carries, rest from team.
2. You cannot compare the 1st game against Dela to the playoffs I talked to the line coach for MV and he told me it was problably the worst run blocking all season for the line even Wilkerson couldn’t gain a yd, Nottingham lead them on the ground because he scrammbled so much.
3. They threw the ball about 75% of the time last yr who wouldn’t with Nottingham you can bet it will probably be more balanced this yr.
4. I was at the srimmage and MV can run Like Lakeview said Sullas looked real good and they have backs that can get out there(Bruce, Anderson) when he needs a break. Also last season Sullas played the last 5 games with a bad knee.
5. They didn’t lose to Foothill because GJ went out Sullas ran for 90yds plus had another 60 catching the ball, they lost because the D played soft and let Mannion pick them apart at the end of the game.
Point is they will run the ball against Serra and should win the game. For them it is the D they still have 7 starters returning but losing ur whole linbacking core is difficult.
September 7th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
So you are going to tell me that Johnson wouldn’t have done better last year against that soft Foothill defense? Johnson is an all around better running back then Sullas. If you are going to claim that Sullas was injured last year, then he better have a pretty good season this year. MV O-line in the second game couldn’t get anything going because the D-line of DLS was that good at the end of the year. They were actually pretty good in the first matchup too, but Johnson was running hard and getting yards after contact. I haven’t seen that ability from Sullas. Maybe he is different this year, we will find out early.
September 7th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Renegade I am not saying one way or the other what I am saying is with Nottingham the run was always going to be 2nd fiddle and it didn’t matter, was Johnson a good back yes of course he was but as far as tougher and a harder runner no way Sullas is one of the toughest kids on that team ask anyone and he runs harder than most I watched every game last yr and can tell u he broke plenty of tackles and ran thru plenty of people. As far as the hurt thing I am certainly not making any excuses just saying he played hurt for the last several games and did a great job excluding the DLS game and personally I don’t think anyone including Johnson was running that game you don’t think that Lad and Terry knew they were playing MV and had their D set to stop any running attempt plus like I said before the O line was horrible that game NO one was going to run thru them.
September 7th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Fair points. You are around the MV program much more then I am of course so I am curious to see what they produce this year.
September 7th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Renegade me too… I think they will do well but the league is good and anything can happen. I liked Cals win I think they have something to prove and SRV looks better than they were last year (from what I saw in Scrimmage) Granada, AV, and Foothill win obviously DLS does not want to start slow and they proved it against Serra it is gonna be a good year of football.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
I think the more intresting game this weekend will be the srv mitty game. Mitty is spouse to be the cream of the crop in the WCAL and Srv is in a rebound year. Mitty is definatly the favorite to win but SRV definatly has a shot to pull of the upset. The preperation for this unknow opponent and their strong defense are going to be the keys for SRV.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
I thought Sullas did a great job last year, and is a tough runner for sure. He gives them a viable running option this season, assuming they have more blocking than just Welter. Unfortunately, he was the one that coughed up that controversial fumble at the (or over depending on who you ask) goal line against Amador. Ouch!
September 7th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Not a lot of talk about the SR/MV scrimmage. How did the MV QB’s do? Who will start this week? How did SR QB do?
September 14th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
15-11 after 2 weeks. alhambra 24 yv 13 campo 31 ec 20 laslomas 33 coll.p 17 logan 27 foothill 24 pitt 26 mv 24 slz 19 alameda 14 washfre. 21 av 10 bells 38 novato 13 st.i 27 bod 17 valley christian 24 card.new 17 dls 34 st.marysstock 17 encinal 27 serra 14 marin cath 31 bhigh 6