Rankings
SPIN SoCal Top 10 title card for Week 4.

Graphic: SPIN

Five of the Top Six in Southern California Are Top 14 in the Country

The top of this board barely moved. Everything interesting happened from sixth down

Correction · September 9, 2026: Corrects a venue detail. Orange Lutheran beat Basha at Orange Coast College, which is its own home field, not on a neutral field.

Santa Margarita is second in the country. Sierra Canyon is eighth, Centennial of Corona tenth, Mater Dei 13th and St. John Bosco 14th. Five of the top six teams in Southern California are inside the national top 14, and the sixth, Orange Lutheran, joined the board this week at 33.

No region in America is carrying that. It is also why the top of this board did not move.

#TeamRecMove
1Santa Margarita3-0hold
2Sierra Canyon2-0hold
3Centennial (Corona)1-1hold
4Mater Dei3-0hold
5St. John Bosco2-1hold
6Orange Lutheran2-1UP 1
7Mission Viejo2-1DOWN 1
8San Clemente3-0hold
9Carlsbad3-0NEW
10Bishop Amat3-0NEW

Centennial is 1-1 and third, and that is deliberate

Nobody has beaten Centennial of Corona except Santa Margarita, by a single point, and it beat Servite by 20. A one-point loss to the second-best team in the country is not evidence of much. It stays ahead of a 3-0 Mater Dei on the editor's instruction, and the record is the only argument against it.

Mater Dei beat Valor Christian 38-22, a ranked opponent by 16, and is the only 3-0 team in the top four. St. John Bosco went to Pittsburg and won 26-14 without needing a fourth quarter.

The churn is all at the bottom

Orange Lutheran moves up one and onto the national board at 33 after beating Arizona's No. 1 at home, 23-17. It had already beaten Cathedral Catholic by 14.

Mission Viejo goes the other way. It lost 35-21 at Folsom, dropped out of the national top fifty to 54th, and falls a place here. Nothing beneath it on this board owns a better loss, which is the only reason it is still seventh.

Carlsbad and Bishop Amat both come in at 3-0. Carlsbad won 24-17 at Arbor View of Nevada and 35-0 over Oceanside, and leads the East County Sports San Diego poll. Bishop Amat has won by 19, 19 and 39, including 22-3 at Oak Hills, a team that went on to beat Rancho Cucamonga.

Out go Servite at 1-2 and Cathedral Catholic at 0-2. Servite was the closest call of the week.

Share this story
Share on X
SPIN Roundup

The week out West, in one email.

Scores, the boards and the stories behind them, sent when the week closes. For readers 18 and older.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in any of them.

More coverage
Football · RankingsSoCal POP Rankings 2026: Top 10 at Every Position Through Week 9Oct 15, 2026Football · RankingsNorCal POP Rankings 2026: Top 10 at Every Position Through Week 9Oct 15, 2026Football · RecapsStyle Points Don't Count. Skyridge Owns Region 3.Oct 15, 2026