Northern California went eight for nine on Friday. The exception was total.
Archbishop Riordan, seventh on our board, was shut out 31-0 at Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa. Cardinal Newman is not on our board. It was on the wrong end of a 42-3 De La Salle result three weeks ago and it has just shut out a ranked team.
Riordan came into the week 1-1 with a 21-13 loss at West of Salt Lake and a 47-7 win over an 0-2 opponent. We wrote a week ago that it stays seventh on the strength of thin evidence. Friday was not thin and it was not good.
De La Salle and Folsom kept the top clean
De La Salle beat Saint Francis of Mountain View 54-10 in Concord. Folsom went to Kezar Stadium in San Francisco and beat Sacred Heart Cathedral 49-24.
Those are the two teams carrying this region on the national board, at 22nd and 27th, and Northern California has two inside the national top 30 for the first time this season. Neither did anything on Friday to complicate that.
Folsom gave up 24, which is more than it has been giving up. Brody Rudnicki threw and ran for scores, EJ Coleman returned a fumble 30 yards, and Osias Bolton ran in two from three yards out.
Serra settled a December argument
Serra of San Mateo won 21-7 at St. Mary's of Stockton.
The two played in a state bowl last December and St. Mary's won it. Serra is third on this board, St. Mary's came off it a week ago, and Friday was the reordering neither of them had asked for out loud.
Central East of Fresno won 56-7 at Turlock. Oak Ridge beat Crean Lutheran 28-21 down in Irvine.
The new three all held
The three teams that came onto this board a week ago all won.
Central Catholic of Modesto beat St. Bonaventure of Ventura 28-19. Clovis won 24-7 at Los Gatos. Del Oro of Loomis won 44-6 at Foothill of Palo Cedro.
Three new entries, three wins, and none of them needed a fourth quarter to settle it. The bottom of this board looks sturdier than it did in August.
One we were chasing, now closed
Pittsburg, fifth, won 49-21 at James Logan of Union City.
Two numbers were circulating on Friday, 49-21 and 42-14. The 49-21 holds on both schools' records and on a game page carrying the Final label; no publisher anywhere prints 42-14 for this game, and the sub-varsity results, a 34-18 junior varsity win and a 49-0 freshman win a day earlier, do not account for it either.
Worth naming: no newsroom has covered this game. Both confirmations are databases. Pittsburg is 2-1.
