Bay Area teams chasing De La Salle again

The big question in the Bay Area every year is: “Who’s No. 2?”

De La Salle-Concord hasn’t lost to an area football team since the 1991 North Coast Section 3A championship game. This year looks no different, with the Spartans 7-0 and seemingly en route to their 27th consecutive NCS title.

Which team would face De La Salle if there was an all-Bay Area playoff ? Liberty-Brentwood has earned the second spot in The Chronicle’s Top 25 — an 8-0 record, including a 52-0 demolition of then-No. 8 Antioch last weekend. The Lions are good and have done everything asked of them.

How about St. Francis? The West Catholic Athletic League has been one of the Bay Area’s top leagues year after year. The Lancers are 5-1, with the only loss coming to De La Salle. St. Francis also defeated Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks to open the season, has lost just one game since then, and is undefeated in league play.

For several years, Pittsburg made its case to be No. 2. The Pirates, who won that 1991 NCS game against De La Salle, sit at 5-2 and will host Liberty on Oct. 19. A double-overtime loss to Clayton Valley-Concord to open the season and a loss in Riverside County to Southern California power Centennial-Corona are the only blemishes. Plus, the Pirates hammered St. Mary’s-Stockton 48-7. St. Mary’s has a deceptive 3-4 record — the Rams also lost to Central Catholic-Modesto, undefeated Damonte Ranch-Reno and the nation’s No. 1 team, Orange County’s Mater Dei-Santa Ana.

How about the Eagles? Clayton Valley has one loss, a onepoint decision to Antioch.

With multiple divisions and sections in the Metro area, we won’t have a true playoff to determine who is second-best. But it’s fun to speculate. Speaking of the Lancers: St. Francis defensive end Joshua Pakola has committed to Stanford. Pakola (6-foot-4, 255 pounds) joins Bishop O’DowdOakland running back Austin Jones and San Ramon ValleyDanville linebacker Tristan Sinclair in having committed to the Cardinal. Meantime, in SoCal: MaxPreps’ top two teams in the country — No. 1 Mater Dei and No. 2 St. John Bosco-Bellflower (Los Angeles County)— will meet Friday at the Santa Ana Bowl. This is a regular-season matchup, and many expect the same two to meet for the Southern Section championship, with the winner facing De La Salle in the CIF Open Division state-championship game.

St. John Bosco (2016) and Mater Dei (2017) have defeated De La Salle in the past two CIF title games.

This is the eighth time the top two teams in the MaxPreps poll have met. The first meeting was in 2001 between De La Salle and Long Beach Poly, with the Spartans winning 29-15. Cross country: BellarmineSan Jose and Granada-Livermore were the big winners at Serra’s Crystal Springs Invitational on Saturday. Bellarmine sophomore Colin Peattie continued a strong season with a win in 15 minutes, 11.4 seconds. It was his first try at the course, which will be the site of the WCAL championships, and his time was good for eighth all-time at Crystal Springs for a sophomore. The course opened in 1971.

Senior Ross D’Orfani finished third, helping the Bells to the team championship. Bellarmine swept the boys’ races, winning the second varsity race, junior varsity, sophomore and freshman.

Senior Colleen McCandless led a pack of Granada runners in the championship girls varsity race. McCandless finished in 17:54.4. Teammate Savannah Maselli was second, with Matadors Gracie Dupuis (fifth), Paula Leigh (seventh) and Amaiah McIntosh (ninth) close behind for an easy team banner.