Take the top six of this board on its own and this is close to the best week Northern California could have asked for.
The top four all won. The teams at four and five played each other and produced a genuine game. And the team at six went to the fourth quarter with a program ranked 13th in the country.
The results
| # | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | De La Salle | Beat Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa, CA) 42-3 |
| 2 | Folsom | Beat Mission Viejo (CA) 35-21 |
| 3 | Serra (San Mateo) | Beat Kahuku (HI) 28-21 |
| 4 | Central East (Fresno) | Beat Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills, CA) 20-14 |
| 5 | Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) | Lost 20-14 to Central East (Fresno) |
| 6 | Pittsburg | Lost 26-14 to St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA) |
| 7 | Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) | Beat Clayton Valley Charter (Concord, CA) 47-7 |
| 8 | St. Mary's (Stockton) | Lost 27-14 at Central Catholic (Modesto, CA) |
| 9 | Clovis West | Lost 28-7 at Bakersfield Christian (CA) |
| 10 | Clovis North | Lost 21-7 to Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, CA) |
The top four did exactly what you would want
De La Salle beat Cardinal Newman 42-3. Folsom beat Mission Viejo 35-21, which is the best result on this board because Mission Viejo is sixth in Southern California and 30th in the country. Serra of San Mateo flew to Oahu and beat Kahuku 28-21 on Kahuku's field, in a game Hawaii expected to win.
Then Central East of Fresno went to El Dorado Hills and beat Oak Ridge 20-14. Four against five, on the road, decided by six. Neither team came out of it looking worse and the region came out of it looking deeper, which is what you want from a game between two of your own.
Pittsburg took Bosco into the fourth
Pittsburg lost 26-14 to St. John Bosco and stayed within two scores of the 13th-ranked team in the country.
That is the sixth-ranked team in NorCal handling itself against a program from the best league in California. Put it next to Folsom beating Mission Viejo and Northern California went toe to toe with the Southern California top ten twice in one night and won one of them.
The bottom of the board had a hard Friday
Clovis West lost 28-7 at Bakersfield Christian. Clovis North lost 21-7 at home to Archbishop Mitty of San Jose. Both scored seven, six days after we put them on this board.
Central Catholic of Modesto, which we took off this board last week, beat St. Mary's of Stockton 27-14 in the 209 Holy Bowl, coming from behind to do it. St. Mary's is the team we left at No. 8.
We are not undoing either decision on one result. A board that adds and removes on a single Friday is not measuring anything. But both calls get looked at again on Monday and they should be.
