Despite the fact most analysts agree the West Catholic Athletic League is at or near the top of the heap of leagues in Northern California year in and year out, the wild-and-wacky WCAL has had little success in the CIF Bowl Game picture.
Since 2006 when the CIF re-instituted state championships in football the WCAL has had three teams advance to a CIF State Bowl Game and all three lost.
Bellarmine has made two of the appearances including last year when they beat Folsom in the Northern Regional Division 1-AA and then got blanked 24-0 in the rain at Sacramento State by Mission Viejo. In 2011 under the old format the Bells went to Carson and lost 24-19 in a tough battle with Oceanside. Last year St. Francis-Mountain View easily handled Pleasant Valley-Chico in the NorCal in the 2-A Bowl Game and then got edged 23-20 on the road at Citrus Hills-Perris.
This year the WCAL has two teams vying for a CIF Bowl Game championship with some new faces and coaches as Valley Christian-San Jose is in the 2-AA game and Serra is the NorCal 2-A representative, and both are obviously making their first appearance in a state title game.
In the past rainy weather has been a factor and has usually been to the advantage of the Northern California teams, but not always.
DIVISION 2-AA
Madison-San Diego (12-2) versus Valley Christian-San Jose (13-1), Friday, 4:00 pm at Sacramento State
Going strictly by rankings and not having to make a 500-mile trip up the Interstate 5, Valley Christian would seem to be a slight favorite but it’s still pretty close. Valley Christian has been in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings for several weeks and is now up to No. 18 while Coach Mike Machado and his boys are at No. 19 in the Maxpreps power rankings, two of the criteria used by the CIF when they placed teams in the respective divisions prior to last week’s Regional Bowl Games.
Madison had been on the Bubble in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings but came in this week at No. 23 while the power rankings have the Warhawks at No. 15.
Valley Christian was a co-champion of the WCAL and beat Palma-Salinas 14-10 in the CIF Central Coast Section Open 3 Division, and then last week overwhelmed visiting Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa 31-6 in the NorCal 2-AA title game.
As they have all season the Warriors have used a vise-like powerful, rugged defense and a power running game to control the ball and the game. Even in their lone loss to St. Francis, it was 13-10 and took overtime. Overall Valley Christian is allowing a mere 10.8 points per game against solid competition.
Last week they spotted Cardinal Newman a 6-3 lead but from there it was all dual-threat quarterback Miles Kendrick. The 5-10, 184-pound senior night rushed for 138 yards and two scores on 10 carries while completing 6 of his 9 pass attempts for 58 yards. Trailing 6-3, Kendrick’s two touchdown runs before halftime gave Valley Christian a 17-6 lead at the half and pretty much sealed the deal.
To beat a team like Madison that has speed and athleticism will mean Valley Christian will have to avoid the big plays and use their defense led by senior linebacker Trent Laubach and 6-3, 200-pound junior defensive end RJ Stone to keep the Warhawks offense off the field.
Part of the reason the power ranking of Madison is so high is they play in the same Western League as 1-AA SoCal representative Cathedral Catholic-San Diego, and one of their two losses was 31-7 to Cathedral in league. The other loss was 20-9 in a season-opener to Cal-Hi Sports and Maxpreps No. 22 Vista Murrieta-Murrieta. Another reason is they are riding high is the Warhawks have a 56-42 win in league over highly regarded St. Augustine-San Diego, then came from three TDs down in the CIF San Diego Section Division I playoffs to post a 35-31 victory against that same St. Augustine team, and last week they pulled off the upset when they won the 2-AA SoCal Bowl Game in a 63-50 overtime victory over previously undefeated and at the time Cal-Hi Sports No. 10 Calabasas.
Last week against Calabasas the Warhawks tied the score 53-53 on a 46-yard field goal by David Lantz, then won it on a TD run by Erick Buchanan followed by a dropped fourth down pass in the end zone by Calabasas. Buchanan finished with 19 carries for 162 yards plus nine catches for 98 yards and a combined five scores. Quarterback Terrell Carter also passed for 306 yards and two TDs and had a 19-yard run late in the game that brought the score to 53-50 and set up Lantz field goal that sent it to overtime.
Madison is looking for their second CIF state title in three appearances. In 2012 the Warhawks overcame a 21-0 deficit to beat Marin Catholic-Kentfield in the Division III Bowl Game championship, while in 2010 they lost the D3 Bowl Game 30-14 to Escalon.
DIVISION 2-A
Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth (15-0) versus Serra-San Mateo (10-4), Saturday, 12:00 pm at Sacramento State
This is another example of how hard it is to handicap at state title game by looking at logistics and rankings.
Serra players and coaches can sleep in their own beds Friday night, and although they have a 2-hour bus ride to Sacramento it’s not the 350-mile ride the boys from San Fernando Valley will have to make the day before.
As for rankings Serra has been in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings the last few weeks and is now at No. 24, although the computer likes Sierra Canyon more and has them at No. 21 and the Padres at No. 28, whereas Cal-Hi Sports disagrees with the power rankings assessment of the Trailblazers strength of schedule and has them unranked and on the Bubble.
Almost all the road teams lost last week but Serra was one of the exceptions when they went into a raucous and packed house at Sanger and came home with a 49-36 victory in the NorCal 2-A Bowl game.
Sitaleki “Leki” Nunn led the Padres to the win over the previously undefeated Apaches after going 13-for-21 passing for 285 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 159 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries. With the score tied 28-28 after three quarters he put Serra on his shoulders down the stretch in a performance Padres coach Patrick Walsh calls “unbelievable.”
“We rolled into a hornet’s nest last week but the kids kept their poise, particularly Leki,” Walsh said I’ve been around a lot of football games but I’ve never seen anything like it. The noise level was something else.”
With the win Serra has now won 10 straight after losing their first four games. Three of the four teams they lost to are playing in a higher Bowl Game division, Valley Christian, St. Mary’s and De La Salle.
For Serra everything obviously revolves around Nunn but others are almost assuredly going to have to step up such as 5-11, 170-pound junior running back Isiah Kendrick and 5-11, 175-pound junior wide receiver Shane Villaroman, plus others.
In the fourth quarter against Sanger Nunn scrambled away from pressure and connected with Kendrick on a 55-yard touchdown that gave Serra a 42-28 lead that pretty much sealed the deal.
Sierra Canyon was the CIF Southern Section Division 4 champion but it took a 41-34 overtime victory over Redondo Union-Redondo Beach in the semifinals and a 36-35 double overtime victory over Corona del Mar in the championship game to secure the title. Last week as the home team at Granada Hills they had an easier time with a 21-6 victory over Los Angeles in the SoCal 2-A Bowl Game.
The Trailblazers both pass and run the ball but the workhorse is 5-9, 193-pound senior running back Joshua Cole and his 2,155 yards and 30 touchdowns. Two weeks ago against Corona del Mar he only had 17 carries but finished with 137 yards and one score. At quarterback is 5-11, 160-pound sophomore Johnathan Hawkins. Against Corona del Mar he passed for 282 yards and three TDs with two going to sophomore JJ Hernandez who had 131 yards receiving.
“We’ve seen teams as good as or better than Sierra Canyon but we’ve lost to them,” Walsh remarked. “They have a ton of firepower led by Cole.”
“Winning a state championship is difficult but we’re ready, and in this case I think the state got it right. Two evenly matched teams,” was Walsh’s conclusion.
Serra would seem to be a favorite but like Walsh said winning a CIF Bowl Game is no easy task and this shapes up as an exciting matchup where weather could be a factor.
