Prep Sports

Here we are heading into the final week of the prep football regular season and the fields a for three major divisons in the East Bay 4-A, 3-A and 2-A are getting close to being set. What’s going shake down over the final week and what games will have the biggest influence on how the field is finally filled out.

In 4-A there are a three games which are huge this week. Hayward-San Leandro, Foothill-Amador Valley and San ramon Valley-Monte Vista are three big games.

Both San Leandro and Monte Vista need to win to stay unbeaten and possible earn the No. 1 seed in the tournament. What’s this, someone else other than De La Salle as the No. 1 seed?

Indeed and here’s why. The Spartans most impressive performance this year came in a loss to Mission Viejo. Their wins have been no more impressive that Monte Vista’s or San Leandro’s. And at the end of the day, the Pirates and the Mustangs are both undefeated.

Even with the HAAL being one of the weaker leagues in the area this year - seriously, how many legit teams are there, three - San Leandro deserves all the credit in the world for what they have done. The Pirates may have the best defensive unit in Northern California this year and they are worthy of the top seed in the playoffs.

Monte Vista, by virtue of running through the EBAL - the top league in the section this year - without a loss and thanks to impressive wins over Berkeley and West in the non-league portion of the season, is also worthy of the top seed.

But NCS is in the back pocket of De La Salle, so fully expect the Spartans to get the top seed and home games throughout the playoffs. De La Salle could very well go on and win the NCS playoffs for the 10,000 straight year, but it does getting old seeing the “impartial” selection committee bow down to De La Salle every year.

Let’s give someone else the top seed and let De La Salle go on the road to earn a spot in the NCS title game. Give Monte Vista and San Leandro the top two seeds and let De La Salle come in third.

Amador-Foothill is always a good one, but this time, it’s got a possible NCS berth hanging in the balance. Foothill’s offense has been the best in the league over the last two weeks, but can the Falcons keep it going one more week.

As for the 3-A playoffs, it appears Pinole Valley could end up as the top seed, but I will guarantee you, Pinole does not win the NCS title. Not a chance as the Spartans ranking is inflated by playing in the worst 3-A league in the section.

You’re NCS 3-A champ will be either Hayward or San Ramon Valley. Mark that down right now.

NCS 2-A is an interesting field which I feel will come down to Bishop O’Dowd or Ygnacio Valley. The two seem to be well ahead of the rest of the teams who figure to round out this field.

That’s it for now, but I’ll be back next week after the pairings are drawn to give predictions on all the 2-A, 3-A and 4-A games.

Hello and welcome to the prep blog here at ANG. I will give you an honest look at prep sports throughout the season. Hope you enjoy it!

Four weeks into the season, the East Bay Athletic League is looking even stronger than we originally thought. The teams went through the non-league season with only a pair of losses and one of those came from Granada against McClymonds.

But, as usual, there’s a complete lack of respect for the EBAL teams outside of the local people. If you take at rankings such as Cal High Sports, the best the EBAL can do is get the No. 8 and No. 9 spots. Foothill is now No. 8, with Monte Vista at No. 9, but both teams had to jump four spots in the last week to get there.

It’s certainly hard to argue with the two Clovis schools sitting at No. 1 and No. 2 right now, although Clovis East did barely beat Midland, Texas, a team which is now 1-3 or 1-4 on the season.

As for De La Salle, this could very honestly be the year a team from Northern California beats the Spartans. Then again, they could run the table again as well and I don’t think any of us would be shocked.

But I feel Monte Vista has the type of team which should be able to play with De La Salle. The Mustangs have a big and fast offensive line - one of the best I have ever seen in the East Bay. The also have a talented running back and a quarterback who can throw and run.

If he gets in trouble Drew McAllister can flat out get out of the way of the defense, always an important option to have when facing a team/program like De La Salle. The Monte Vista defense is also pretty solid, something which I haven’t always been able to say about the Mustangs over the course of the last few years.

Foothill also appeared to have a very solid defense, but 511 yards allowed to San Ramon leaves you scratching your head somewhat. Maybe San Ramon is better than we all thought or maybe the Foothill defense is not as good as the original feelings were.

What about the rest of the legues in the East Bay? Good question.

The Mission Valley Athletic League is going to business as usual. There’s James Logan and six other teams. This league is over before it starts - again. Logan looks solid and will only get better as the season goes on. After that……………….

The Hayward Area Athletic League looks to have two real solid teams in San Leandro and Hayward. You’ve got to like both of these teams for two reasons. 1) You know they’ve got some serious players and 2) You know they have good coaching. As for the disaster which has become Bishop O’Dowd, at least this year it won’t be an embarrasment for the Dragons to play in the 2-A playoffs, as it looks like they belong down there this year.

We knew early when Monte Vista just crushed O’Dowd in their scrimmage that O’Dowd was down and Monte Vista was loaded.

The Oakland Athletic League seems to be McClymonds to lose this year. Not sure what is going on Skyline this year, but figure this to be a one-year thing for the Titans. Expect much, much better next year .

The ACCAL is a lot like the MVAL - one team league. If anyone comes within 10 of Berkeley this year, I will be shocked. I saw the Jackets against Foothill and Monte Vista and came away thinking that team has a lot of potential. This is not the “kiss of death” usage of potential, but the good potential. Look for something out of this team in NCS.

The Diablo Foothill Athletic League is confusing. One week it’s one team looking great, the next week, that team loses. For what it’s worth, my money is on Las Lomas to win it all here and make another run to the NCS 3-A title game, probably against San Ramon for the second straight year.

The Bay Valley Athletic League is not as strong this year as it has been in the past.
Pitt is down, as is Clayton Valley. We’ll see what happens in a couple weeks when Freedom plays Monte Vista, but I don’t think it will be pretty.

That’s it for now, but don’t hesitate to let me know what your thoughts are on prep football, or other prep sports for that matter.

Dennis

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