With all the action from Week 4 across the Central Coast Section in the books, it’s time to take a look back at the weekend that was.
- With so many of the ‘A’ leagues on bye this week, there were few opportunities for results to surprise us. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any. One such game was Salinas picking up its first win of the season, in dominant fashion, over Milpitas.
Salinas had lost to a pair of stellar opponents in the first two games, but Milpitas had shut out two straight opponents since losing to Dublin in its opener. The end result, however, is another feather in the cap of the PCAL-Gabilan over the SCVAL-De Anza, especially combined with San Benito’s win over Los Gatos the previous week.
- There will always be a couple programs who struggle due to competitive equity divisions. Two such programs in the PCAL appear to be Seaside and Alvarez, who are both in the Gabilan Division this season. Seaside fell to 0-3 this week, losing for the second time to a PCAL opponent from a lower division, this time to Alisal. Alvarez, meanwhile, has lost to three ‘B’ league teams.
- Overfelt certainly appears to be for real, after another convincing win, this time against Menlo. The Royals may have finished behind Sobrato in the West Valley last season, but the alignment decisions were on point this time with the decision to move Overfelt up to the Santa Teresa and leave the Bulldogs in the West Valley. Sobrato is still seeking its first win after losing to San Lorenzo Valley on Saturday.
- Say hello to the win column: Pajaro Valley, Santa Cruz, and Salinas all picked up their first wins of the season. Pajaro Valley routed Lynbrook, while Santa Cruz cruised past Fremont.
- Undefeated no more: Monterey, Watsonville, and Woodside all suffered their first defeats of the season. The most surprising among those had to have been Monterey’s 20-18 loss to North Salinas, which has won three straight since a season-opening loss to North Monterey County.
- What a difference a division makes: It may be tough this year to decide divisional strength between the Mount Hamilton and the Santa Teresa Divisions of the Blossom Valley. But the West Valley is certainly residing below the other two. Consider the non-league records – the Santa Teresa sports a combined record of 20-4, with all eight teams above .500, but one division below, the West Valley has a combined mark of 2-22, with none of the eight teams above .500.
- Not the same as last year: A handful of programs have already matched or exceeded their win totals from the 2017 season, through just three or four games.
Of course, Woodside might be the most drastic turnaround so far, starting 2-1 right now after going 0-10 last season, with forfeits in the last couple weeks. But a number of others are right there along with the Wildcats in terms of improvement.
Palo Alto and Sacred Heart Prep are both off to 4-0 starts, after each winning three games last fall, while North Salinas and Pacific Grove have also each exceeded last year’s win total. North Monterey County and Los Altos have matched last year’s win total, and so has Pioneer, though this year’s 3-0 start for the Mustangs sounds a lot better than last year’s 3-7 mark.
- Performance of the weekend: Going with Terra Nova’s Jarmar Julian. Julian ran for four touchdowns and threw for three more as the Tigers outscored Piedmont Hills, 59-35.
- Random, emerging names to keep an eye on: Julian Moran (Carlmont), Michael Graham III (Del Mar), Ronan Donnelly (Sacred Heart Prep), Adam Garwood (Los Gatos), Anthony DaSilva (Pacific Grove), Matt Morales (North Salinas)
