1. Culver City (7-1, 2-1). See my post on CC & the Ocean League.
2. Arroyo (9-0) of El Monte continues to cruise toward an undefeated regular season after beating Marshall(1-7, 0-4) 55-0 last Thursday. This week Arroyo faces a team somewhat better than the league doormat Marshall, as they travel to play the Mountain View, of El Monte, (4-4, 1-3) Vikings. Yes, they are purple & gold. The Vikings are a run almost exclusively team, throwing about 4 to 5 times a game. They feature senior RB Armando Flores who has run for 1212 yards on 111 carries in 8 games with 16 rushing TD's. When they do throw, they have had some success as senior QB Aaron Borrayo has completed 18 of 31 for 344 yards with 3 TD's and just one interception. The Vikings will have also had 2 weeks to prepare for Arroyo and they will need it. We can be sure that the Viking offense will stay mostly on the ground and try to keep the Arroyo offense off the field. It will be up to the Arroyo D to provide enough stops on the Vikings to allow the Arroyo offense opportunities to score and get out in front. I doubt the Vikings will be able to play catch up when Arroyo gets ahead. The Vikings are probably hoping for a close low scoring game, but calpreps projects it as a 42-7 Arroyo win. With the 2 weeks prep, and the type of offense the Vikings have, I will call it a little closer as a 35-14 Arroyo win. Then Arroyo will have a bye week to prepare for the first round Division 11 opponent. I would not want to be their opening round D-11 opponent.
3. The Arcadia Apaches (5-3, 4-1) hold onto third place in both the CIFss D-11 poll & the calpreps rankings. Arcadia had another easy week beating Pacific league also ran, the Glendale Nitroes (2-6, 0-5), 35-0. The league standings got shuffled a little last week by the upset victory of Burbank(6-2, 5-0) over league favorite, the Crescenta Valley Falcons (7-1, 4-1). The positive spin for Arcadia would be that the Falcons are still on their schedule so a win over the Falcons would allow them to lock up 2cnd place in league and be guaranteed a playoff spot. The negative spin would be that the Falcons are still considered substantial favorites against Arcadia which could bump the Apaches down into third place and hoping that there are not too many eligible 3rd place teams trying to get into the D-11 playoffs. Arcadia will likely still be a preferred choice, even from third place. This week they face the Pasadena Bulldogs (2-6, 2-3). This is a bit of a trap game for Arcadia and they don't want to get caught looking past the Bulldogs to their final league and regular season contest against the Falcons. Pasadena did put up a fight against the heavily favored Falcons a few weeks back, losing 48-33. Needless to say, a loss to Pasadena would be devastating for Arcadia, but not likely. Calpreps projects a 35-14 Apache win.
4. We have a disagreement among the 2 rankings starting at #4. Calpreps has #4 as the Westminster Lions (6-2, 2-1). They took care of business last week with a needed and very important 27-20 win against the Ocean View Seahawks (4-4, 0-3). With their prior weeks upset victory of 35-29 over the Orange Panthers (7-1, 2-1), the Lions have put themselves in the drivers seat for second place in the competitive Golden West League. But hoping to dislodge them from that seat is fellow D-11 participant, the Segerstrom Jaguars (6-2, 2-1). Both teams have a LOT at stake in this game and perhaps the Jaguars a little more as they must face league favorite, Santa Ana (7-1, 3-0) to close out the regular season while the Lions have what should be an easy win against league doormat, Loara (2-6, 0-3). I am not sure if all the fans will understand what is at stake, but all the coaches and players will know. I highly recommend this game if you are in area. The calpreps projection is for a 26-21 Lion victory over the Jaguars, but when the projection is that close, anything can happen. The Jaguars will have to travel to Westminster to try and get the win. Segerstrom is #7 in the calpreps rankings & #8 in the CIFss poll.
4. The CIFss poll voted for the Covina Colts (6-2, 2-1) as the #4 team while calpreps had them at #5. Covina took care of business against the modestly talented Baldwin Park Braves(3-5, 0-3). Baldwin Park was able to get out to the lead at the end of the first quarter at 14-7. Perhaps the young Colts did not take the Braves seriously enough at first. The Braves senior QB Jacob Robles had 272 yards passing for 2 TD's but also 2 interceptions and the Brave defense could not stop the Colt rushing game as they amassed 366 yards rushing and 6 TD's. Senior RB Ailaoa Tauvao had 3 TD's and 133 yards on 14 carries. Super sophomore Erik Cuellar had the other 3 TD's, carrying the ball 17 times for 150 yards. The Colts should have it even easier this week as they face the Wilson Wildcats (2-6, 1-2) of Hacienda Heights. Wilson did manage to beat Baldwin Park 27-14. Calpreps projects it as a 48-6 win for Covina.
#6 in both the CIFss D-11 poll and calpreps rankings are the Katella Knights (7-1, 3-0). Don't blame the Knights if they fall asleep at the wheel, getting bored playing bad team after bad in this lousy Orange League. Katella snoozed through an easy 34-8 victory over Century (4-4, 0-3) last Thursday. This week Katella faces the bottom of the league barrel in a game against Magnolia (1-7, 1-2). Magnolia may have actually avoided the bottom of the barrel by beating Century a couple of weeks ago 23-13. Calpreps says it will be a 44-3 Katella victory.
#7 in the CIFss poll are the Rancho Mirage Rattlers (5-3, 2-1). They are #8 according to Calpreps.com. Like fellow D-11 De Anza league team the Coachella Valley Arabs (6-2, 3-0), they had a seriously big game against the well respected Yucca Valley Trojans (6-2, 1-2) and the Rattlers were able to come out on top with a 32-28 win. Both sides had their offensive stars. The Rattlers had the combined rushing combo of senior RB Marques Prior going for 177 yards on 27 carries with 2 TD's and Rattler QB David Talley chipped in another 108 rushing yards on 15 carries with 2 TD's. The Trojans had a solid rushing night with junior Caleb Robinson carrying 21 times for 131 yards & 1 TD. Junior QB Elijah Lynch chipped in another 61 yards rushing along with 12 of 16 passing for 145 yards & 2 TD's. The difference might well be a fumble return for as long as 67 yards for a TD by Rattler junior linebacker Jose Rubio. The Rattlers should drop no lower than a tie for 2nd place in the De Anza League in which they hold the edge in the head to head. Their remaining 2 games are super easy starting with the Desert Mirage Rams (2-6, 1-2). Calpreps projects a 48-3 Rattler victory.
#9 is Sultana (4-4, 1-2) according to both, but I don't expect this team to make the playoffs as they project to finish 5th in the tough Mojave River league. Their last two game are against league leader Apple Valley (8-0, 3-0), the #1 ranked team in Division 10, followed by Burroughs (6-2, 2-1) of Ridgecrest, the #2 team in Division 9. Calpreps projects this weeks game against Apple Valley to be a 7-34 loss for Sultana.
#10 in the CIFss poll & #12 in the calpreps rankings is the Heritage Christian Warriors (7-0, 1-0). The Warriors secured a 48-7 win in their Olympic League opener against the struggling Whittier Christian Heralds (3-5, 0-2) on Friday the 13th and will have had 2 weeks to prepare for the significantly tougher Maranatha Minutemen (6-3, 1-1) of Pasadena. The Warriors are a run first most of the time team led by junior RB Nasir Marshall who has 1,070 yards and 7 rushing TD's but lots of other guys have successfully contributed running the ball including Sam McCutcheon who led the team with 159 yards and 2 TD's against the Heralds. The Warriors did attempt to open up their passing game a little against the Heralds and did so successfully with senior QB Jason Parraz going 9 of 14 for 172 yards and a TD. Maranatha beat the Heralds 58-29 last week. The most impressive difference I see between the two games is how the Warriors were able to shut down Whittier Christian's high octane passing game. Maranatha struggled a bit with that. Although if all the Herald's passing yardage came against 2nd stringers after the game was already decided, then those stats don't really hold any significance anyway. Both the Minutemen and the Warriors will attempt to establish their run games and which ever team can slow the other's run game down more, will likely emerge the victor. Turnovers could make the difference in this closely matched contest. This would be another highly recommended contest of lower division football. Calpreps projects a 28-27 win for Maranatha at Granada Hills, so that means anything could happen.
So who else is still in the D-11 playoff hunt?
Hillcrest(5-3, 1-2) of Riverside, likely OUT after their 13-21 upset loss to La Sierra last week.
St. Genevieve(5-2, 0-1) still likely IN. The easier league games are remaining.
Victor Valley(4-5, 2-1) likely IN from 2cnd place in the Desert Sky League.
Coachella Valley(6-2, 3-0) likely IN from 1st or 2cnd place in the De Anza League.
Irvine(5-3, 2-1) probably IN from third place in the Pacific Coast League.
Nordhoff(5-3, 0-1) of Ojai, OUT
Lakeside(5-3, 0-3) of Lake Elsinore, OUT
Crean Lutheran(5-3, 2-0), IN from 2cnd place in the Academy League
Ontario Christian(5-3, 1-2) OUT
Oak Park(3-4, 0-1) OUT
Torrance(3-5, 2-1) ON THE BUBBLE, more likely out
Highland(2-6, 2-3) likely OUT
Jurupa Hills(4-4, 2-1) IN,from 2cnd place in the San Andreas League.
Rancho Alamitos(5-3, 2-1), ON THE BUBBLE, from third place in the Garden Grove League
Bishop Montgomery(1-7, 1-1), ON THE BUBBLE, will likely need 2cnd place in league to get in.
Pacific(6-2, 1-2)of San Bernardino, ON THE BUBBLE will likely finish 3rd in 6 team Mountain Valley League
2. Arroyo (9-0) of El Monte continues to cruise toward an undefeated regular season after beating Marshall(1-7, 0-4) 55-0 last Thursday. This week Arroyo faces a team somewhat better than the league doormat Marshall, as they travel to play the Mountain View, of El Monte, (4-4, 1-3) Vikings. Yes, they are purple & gold. The Vikings are a run almost exclusively team, throwing about 4 to 5 times a game. They feature senior RB Armando Flores who has run for 1212 yards on 111 carries in 8 games with 16 rushing TD's. When they do throw, they have had some success as senior QB Aaron Borrayo has completed 18 of 31 for 344 yards with 3 TD's and just one interception. The Vikings will have also had 2 weeks to prepare for Arroyo and they will need it. We can be sure that the Viking offense will stay mostly on the ground and try to keep the Arroyo offense off the field. It will be up to the Arroyo D to provide enough stops on the Vikings to allow the Arroyo offense opportunities to score and get out in front. I doubt the Vikings will be able to play catch up when Arroyo gets ahead. The Vikings are probably hoping for a close low scoring game, but calpreps projects it as a 42-7 Arroyo win. With the 2 weeks prep, and the type of offense the Vikings have, I will call it a little closer as a 35-14 Arroyo win. Then Arroyo will have a bye week to prepare for the first round Division 11 opponent. I would not want to be their opening round D-11 opponent.
3. The Arcadia Apaches (5-3, 4-1) hold onto third place in both the CIFss D-11 poll & the calpreps rankings. Arcadia had another easy week beating Pacific league also ran, the Glendale Nitroes (2-6, 0-5), 35-0. The league standings got shuffled a little last week by the upset victory of Burbank(6-2, 5-0) over league favorite, the Crescenta Valley Falcons (7-1, 4-1). The positive spin for Arcadia would be that the Falcons are still on their schedule so a win over the Falcons would allow them to lock up 2cnd place in league and be guaranteed a playoff spot. The negative spin would be that the Falcons are still considered substantial favorites against Arcadia which could bump the Apaches down into third place and hoping that there are not too many eligible 3rd place teams trying to get into the D-11 playoffs. Arcadia will likely still be a preferred choice, even from third place. This week they face the Pasadena Bulldogs (2-6, 2-3). This is a bit of a trap game for Arcadia and they don't want to get caught looking past the Bulldogs to their final league and regular season contest against the Falcons. Pasadena did put up a fight against the heavily favored Falcons a few weeks back, losing 48-33. Needless to say, a loss to Pasadena would be devastating for Arcadia, but not likely. Calpreps projects a 35-14 Apache win.
4. We have a disagreement among the 2 rankings starting at #4. Calpreps has #4 as the Westminster Lions (6-2, 2-1). They took care of business last week with a needed and very important 27-20 win against the Ocean View Seahawks (4-4, 0-3). With their prior weeks upset victory of 35-29 over the Orange Panthers (7-1, 2-1), the Lions have put themselves in the drivers seat for second place in the competitive Golden West League. But hoping to dislodge them from that seat is fellow D-11 participant, the Segerstrom Jaguars (6-2, 2-1). Both teams have a LOT at stake in this game and perhaps the Jaguars a little more as they must face league favorite, Santa Ana (7-1, 3-0) to close out the regular season while the Lions have what should be an easy win against league doormat, Loara (2-6, 0-3). I am not sure if all the fans will understand what is at stake, but all the coaches and players will know. I highly recommend this game if you are in area. The calpreps projection is for a 26-21 Lion victory over the Jaguars, but when the projection is that close, anything can happen. The Jaguars will have to travel to Westminster to try and get the win. Segerstrom is #7 in the calpreps rankings & #8 in the CIFss poll.
4. The CIFss poll voted for the Covina Colts (6-2, 2-1) as the #4 team while calpreps had them at #5. Covina took care of business against the modestly talented Baldwin Park Braves(3-5, 0-3). Baldwin Park was able to get out to the lead at the end of the first quarter at 14-7. Perhaps the young Colts did not take the Braves seriously enough at first. The Braves senior QB Jacob Robles had 272 yards passing for 2 TD's but also 2 interceptions and the Brave defense could not stop the Colt rushing game as they amassed 366 yards rushing and 6 TD's. Senior RB Ailaoa Tauvao had 3 TD's and 133 yards on 14 carries. Super sophomore Erik Cuellar had the other 3 TD's, carrying the ball 17 times for 150 yards. The Colts should have it even easier this week as they face the Wilson Wildcats (2-6, 1-2) of Hacienda Heights. Wilson did manage to beat Baldwin Park 27-14. Calpreps projects it as a 48-6 win for Covina.
#6 in both the CIFss D-11 poll and calpreps rankings are the Katella Knights (7-1, 3-0). Don't blame the Knights if they fall asleep at the wheel, getting bored playing bad team after bad in this lousy Orange League. Katella snoozed through an easy 34-8 victory over Century (4-4, 0-3) last Thursday. This week Katella faces the bottom of the league barrel in a game against Magnolia (1-7, 1-2). Magnolia may have actually avoided the bottom of the barrel by beating Century a couple of weeks ago 23-13. Calpreps says it will be a 44-3 Katella victory.
#7 in the CIFss poll are the Rancho Mirage Rattlers (5-3, 2-1). They are #8 according to Calpreps.com. Like fellow D-11 De Anza league team the Coachella Valley Arabs (6-2, 3-0), they had a seriously big game against the well respected Yucca Valley Trojans (6-2, 1-2) and the Rattlers were able to come out on top with a 32-28 win. Both sides had their offensive stars. The Rattlers had the combined rushing combo of senior RB Marques Prior going for 177 yards on 27 carries with 2 TD's and Rattler QB David Talley chipped in another 108 rushing yards on 15 carries with 2 TD's. The Trojans had a solid rushing night with junior Caleb Robinson carrying 21 times for 131 yards & 1 TD. Junior QB Elijah Lynch chipped in another 61 yards rushing along with 12 of 16 passing for 145 yards & 2 TD's. The difference might well be a fumble return for as long as 67 yards for a TD by Rattler junior linebacker Jose Rubio. The Rattlers should drop no lower than a tie for 2nd place in the De Anza League in which they hold the edge in the head to head. Their remaining 2 games are super easy starting with the Desert Mirage Rams (2-6, 1-2). Calpreps projects a 48-3 Rattler victory.
#9 is Sultana (4-4, 1-2) according to both, but I don't expect this team to make the playoffs as they project to finish 5th in the tough Mojave River league. Their last two game are against league leader Apple Valley (8-0, 3-0), the #1 ranked team in Division 10, followed by Burroughs (6-2, 2-1) of Ridgecrest, the #2 team in Division 9. Calpreps projects this weeks game against Apple Valley to be a 7-34 loss for Sultana.
#10 in the CIFss poll & #12 in the calpreps rankings is the Heritage Christian Warriors (7-0, 1-0). The Warriors secured a 48-7 win in their Olympic League opener against the struggling Whittier Christian Heralds (3-5, 0-2) on Friday the 13th and will have had 2 weeks to prepare for the significantly tougher Maranatha Minutemen (6-3, 1-1) of Pasadena. The Warriors are a run first most of the time team led by junior RB Nasir Marshall who has 1,070 yards and 7 rushing TD's but lots of other guys have successfully contributed running the ball including Sam McCutcheon who led the team with 159 yards and 2 TD's against the Heralds. The Warriors did attempt to open up their passing game a little against the Heralds and did so successfully with senior QB Jason Parraz going 9 of 14 for 172 yards and a TD. Maranatha beat the Heralds 58-29 last week. The most impressive difference I see between the two games is how the Warriors were able to shut down Whittier Christian's high octane passing game. Maranatha struggled a bit with that. Although if all the Herald's passing yardage came against 2nd stringers after the game was already decided, then those stats don't really hold any significance anyway. Both the Minutemen and the Warriors will attempt to establish their run games and which ever team can slow the other's run game down more, will likely emerge the victor. Turnovers could make the difference in this closely matched contest. This would be another highly recommended contest of lower division football. Calpreps projects a 28-27 win for Maranatha at Granada Hills, so that means anything could happen.
So who else is still in the D-11 playoff hunt?
Hillcrest(5-3, 1-2) of Riverside, likely OUT after their 13-21 upset loss to La Sierra last week.
St. Genevieve(5-2, 0-1) still likely IN. The easier league games are remaining.
Victor Valley(4-5, 2-1) likely IN from 2cnd place in the Desert Sky League.
Coachella Valley(6-2, 3-0) likely IN from 1st or 2cnd place in the De Anza League.
Irvine(5-3, 2-1) probably IN from third place in the Pacific Coast League.
Nordhoff(5-3, 0-1) of Ojai, OUT
Lakeside(5-3, 0-3) of Lake Elsinore, OUT
Crean Lutheran(5-3, 2-0), IN from 2cnd place in the Academy League
Ontario Christian(5-3, 1-2) OUT
Oak Park(3-4, 0-1) OUT
Torrance(3-5, 2-1) ON THE BUBBLE, more likely out
Highland(2-6, 2-3) likely OUT
Jurupa Hills(4-4, 2-1) IN,from 2cnd place in the San Andreas League.
Rancho Alamitos(5-3, 2-1), ON THE BUBBLE, from third place in the Garden Grove League
Bishop Montgomery(1-7, 1-1), ON THE BUBBLE, will likely need 2cnd place in league to get in.
Pacific(6-2, 1-2)of San Bernardino, ON THE BUBBLE will likely finish 3rd in 6 team Mountain Valley League
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