With all action for Week 2 in the books, it’s time for a quick look at the weekend that was around the Central Coast Section. Due to the Labor Day holiday, we took an extra day to examine the happenings and trends surrounding this past weekend’s games.
- If you are a fan of the new PCAL, and especially the Gabilan Division, then circle October 26 on your calendar. That is when Aptos and Palma are set to meet, and Aptos laid down the challenge to the rest of the league with its resounding 56-21 win over Aragon, a PAL-Bay team with plenty of its own returning talent.
- After a year in which Menlo-Atherton had to repeatedly explain losses to teams with supposedly inferior talent on the roster, the Bears are living up to billing in 2018. They are now 2-0 against the WCAL, with wins over Bellarmine and Mitty. And the win over Bellarmine looks a bit better now as well, after the Bells defeated Clovis North.
- Pioneer is also 2-0, but the team which might have placed a bulls-eye on its chest in the Mt. Hamilton is Live Oak, after the Acorns defeated a Christopher team which returns plenty of talent from last year’s CCS Division IV championship squad. Then again, Oak Grove got off to a slow start last year – like this year – and then ended up winning the league.
- There has always been a drop-off in the SCVAL, but it seems especially drastic this season in the De Anza, where Los Gatos, Wilcox, and Palo Alto are all 2-0 with signature victories, and Milpitas just blanked a previously unbeaten Ganesha-Pomona team to move to 1-1. After that, reside Cupertino, Fremont, and Homestead, the latter two of which are off to 0-2 starts and were not competitive last week.
- By leading Palma after three quarters, Sacred Heart Cathedral staked its claim as the best team from San Francisco this season, though St. Ignatius could be better than its record, with a seven-point loss to Palo Alto and a late rally to close the gap against Campolindo. Still, the duo of Saint Francis and Serra will be difficult for anyone to overcome in the WCAL, and despite Luke Bottari at the helm of the Padres’ offense, losing David Coker at running back could make Saint Francis now the team to beat.
- As with any competitive equity division split, there are always a few teams who upset that order during non-league play. The first year of the PCAL is no exception. Mission Division favorite Carmel knocked off Salinas in the first week of play, and now Alisal took down Gabilan member Alvarez in a cross-town rivalry game. Alisal also has a close loss to Live Oak, so the Spartans will be looking to challenge Carmel for division supremacy.
The biggest upset, however, has to be Monterey’s three-point win over Seaside, on Saturday at Monterey Peninsula College. The Toreadors reside in the Cypress Division, two leagues beneath the Gabilan, which is where the Spartans are members.
- Last note about the PCAL – in the Santa Lucia, there is currently a very clean split. Marina, Gonzales, and Soquel are each 2-0, while the other four teams all have yet to earn a win. Gonzales’ 34-23 win over Pacific Grove is yet another example of a lower division team earning the victory.
- Playing according to script – so far, this describes the teams from the BVAL-West Valley, the third-tier division in the league. Only James Lick and Yerba Buena have won a game so far this season, and both those wins came against comparable opponents from lower-tier leagues. Lick knocked off Gunn (SCVAL-El Camino) this week, while Yerba Buena previously beat Harbor (PCAL-Santa Lucia). The rest of the division is a combined 0-9.
- PAL notes – After not even finishing the 2017 season, due to a lack of healthy bodies, Woodside is 2-0 to open the 2018 campaign. The Wildcats were moved down to the PAL-Lake, but have opened the year with two straight wins over PAL-Ocean teams, South San Francisco and Sequoia. Meanwhile, the Ocean could be shaping up as a fun battle between Burlingame and The King’s Academy.
- Random, emerging names to keep an eye on: Jared Julian (Terra Nova), Cameron Rynhard (Branham), Nick Lomanto (Live Oak), Jamir Shepard (Palo Alto), Paul Matavao-Poialii (Jefferson), Andrew Seymour (St. Francis-Watsonville)
