THE BAY AREA NEWS GROUP TOP 25 PREP FOOTBALL RANKINGS ARE ON
The top programs include usual suspects and a few surprises
No one is sure how this shortened and unprecedented spring high school football season will unfold.
There will be no section playoffs. There will be no state championships. Many teams won’t even play all of their league rivals.
Some have scheduled six games, others five. Some less than that.
But after more than a year on the sidelines because of the pandemic, waiting for the green light to have any kind of season this academic year, no one is fretting the details.
The players want to play. The coaches want to coach.
We here at the Bay Area News Group want to tell their story the best we can, which will include our Top 25 rankings.
Here’s our preseason Top 25:
NO. 1 DE LA SALLE >> Went 12-2 in 2019 and reached another state championship game. Hasn’t lost to a California team North of Fresno since 1991.
NO. 2 PITTSBURG >> Runnerup to De La Salle in NCS in 2019. A slew of transfers added to an already solid roster.
NO. 3 SERRA >> Coach Patrick Walsh moved mountains to get a season for kids across the state. His players will remember that on the field.
NO. 4 VALLEY CHRISTIAN >> Finished as the runnerup to Serra in CCS in 2019. With a number of players back, Mike Machado should have another strong team.
NO. 5 CARDINAL NEWMAN >> Won a state championship in 2019 to complete a 14-1 season. The rock-solid Santa Rosa program rarely has a letdown.
NO. 6 CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER >> Captured a state championship in 2019. QB Jake Kern, RB Omari Taylor & others return for coach Tim Murphy.
NO. 7 MONTE VISTA >> Went 8-4 in 2019, including a regular-season win over Clayton Valley Charter and a playoff victory over San Ramon Valley.
NO. 8 SAN RAMON VALLEY >> TE JP Murphy, DL Kyle Ecker will lead a team that went 7-3 in the regular season in 2019, highlighted by a two-OT win over Monte Vista.
NO. 9 MARIN CATHOLIC >> San Jose State-bound Kai Peterson-Davison and Matteo Perez, bound for UC Davis, lead a team that went 11-2 in 2019.
NO. 10 MCCLYMONDS >> The class of the Oakland Athletic League is coming off another Northern California championship.
NO. 11 CAMPOLINDO >> WR/ ATH Maxwell Weaver, a Davidson commit, and Army-bound DT Matai Bell lead the traditionally strong Moraga school.
NO. 12 ST. FRANCIS >> Down year for Mountain View power in 2019 but should bounce back behind RB Camilo Arquette, WCAL’s sophomore of the year in ‘19.
NO. 13 HALF MOON BAY >> Small-school power had an undefeated regular season in 2019. Standout LB Tristan Hofmann returns from that squad.
NO. 14 LIBERTY >> Since Lions last played, coach Ryan Partridge has gone from Liberty to Ferris State to Arizona. Will his old high school take a dip?
NO. 15 LOS GATOS >> Went 12-2 and won a CCS championship in 2019. RB Adam Garwood returns. OSLB Will Schweitzer left this winter to enroll at Notre Dame.
NO. 16 WILCOX >> One of the South Bay’s top programs, the Chargers will have to replace star Paul M. Rosa from last season’s CCS D1 semifinalist.
NO. 17 PALMA >> UCLAbound OL Noah Pulealii, along with OL/DL Nathaniel Gonzalez, should provide lots of muscle in the trenches.
NO. 18 LAS LOMAS >> The Knights won 11 games in 2019 but no longer have Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division offensive POY Isaiah Newell.
NO. 19 THE KING’S ACADEMY >> Pete Lavorato’s team won 10 games last season and returns its top player, LB Noah Short, a first-team all-Bay Area News Group pick.
NO. 20 MENLO-ATHERTON >> New coach Chris Saunders inherits a team that won a league title in 2019, but star WR Troy Franklin left early for Oregon.
NO. 21 RANCHO COTATE >> Won 11 games and claimed a Northern California championship in 2019. Graduated many of its key contributors.
NO. 22 ENCINAL >> Jets were an 11-game winner last season and bring back standout DB/WR Keirr Stewart.
NO. 23 MILPITAS >> After a 1-6 start, Trojans won their final eight games in 2019 and claimed a second state title in three years.
NO. 24 OAK GROVE >> Traditional South Bay powerhouse won 10 games and reached a CCS final in 2019.
NO. 25 BELLARMINE >> Nearly a year after his hiring, Jalal Beauchman will finally coach his first game as Mike Janda’s successor. But will Bells return to old form?