Culver City pulled off a big upset last week in beating league favorite El Segundo 24-19. Turnovers and the loss of El Segundo's 6'2" 220 pound fullback Ashton Saltz late in the game to a shoulder injury made it possible for the win as CC was dominated along the line of scrimmage by their opponent for the second week in a row.
That should be Culver's toughest league game, however. CC had been chewing on their loss to El Segundo since last year, in which their starting QB got lost for the season, and came in very focused. Now they face the next most formidable opponent in league in the Lawndale Cardinals.
Lawndale may now have the focus and motivation edge. Lawndale beat CC in a wild shootout last year but ended up losing the league title due to having to forfeit games due to illegal transfers. They should be motivated to make a statement on the field again. This could be the trap game for Culver. If they do not come in as focused and motivated as they should, they could fall to Lawndale (#9 in D-6) even though they are slight favorites. Culver will have to win AT Lawndale too.
Biggest blowout of the week will be El Segundo (5-1) facing a horrible Beverly Hills (0-6). And El Segundo comes in angry about their loss to Culver City.
The other Ocean League game features the battle for fourth place between Hawthorne (2-4, 1-0) and Santa Monica (3-3, 0-1). It would be a big upset for either of these teams to move any higher than 4th.
In Division 11, Katella (6-0) remains atop the CIF poll and might very well stay there the rest of the regular season because they face no formidable opponents in league. They are listed #3 in the calpreps.com power ratings for D-11.
Culver City (4-2) jumped to #1 in the calpreps power ratings for D-11 after their upset victory this week. They are #5 in the CIF poll, partly because the voters tend to look at win/loss more because they might not have any additional info on many of the teams they are voting on.
Romona (5-0-1) is #2 in the CIF poll, but #17 in the D-11 power ratings. They should stay high in the CIF poll this coming week as they are expected to win but have a couple of league games still to come that they should lose and push them down to third place, but still a likely playoff entry.
Crean Lutheran (6-1) is #3 in CIF but also drops significantly in the power ratings to #13. They are freelance with tough projected losses remaining. I don't know enough to figure out how the CIF will judge this team for the playoffs.
Oak Park (5-1) is #4 in CIF and 9th in power ratings. Oak Park is the favorite in the small 4 team Canyon league, but Simi Valley and Agoura look good enough to upset. Losing to one of them should still get them into the playoffs, but to both would probably knock them out of playoff position. They face their toughest non-league opponent this week in Grace Brethren but a win will not be essential until they see Simi Valley (3-4) on 10/21.
Arcadia (6-0) is #7 in the CIF poll, but #2 in power ratings. They took care of business this week in beating Burroughs of Burbank 37-27. That win means likely no worse than a third place finish and should lock up a playoff spot out of the 8 team Pacific league, and they look good enough to pull off the other two upsets against Crescenta Valley (5-1, 3-0) and Burbank (4-2, 3-0) and just win league outright, but third should be good enough if they don't beat those two.
Valley View (3-3, 0-1) is #4 in the power ratings but only a mention of one of the "others" schools in consideration for placement in the CIF poll. Valley View lost their first league game last week to powerful Rancho Verde but is projected to run the table the rest of the way in league. They should start to climb in the CIF poll when other pretenders start to fall by the wayside.
The CIF poll and power ratings are almost in agreement on Montebello (5-1), #5 in power ratings and #6 in CIF poll. They should rise in the CIF poll in coming weeks as they are projected to go undefeated in league. Only Schurr High seems to present any capable opposition to them in the Almont league.
That covers most of the best in D-11.
That should be Culver's toughest league game, however. CC had been chewing on their loss to El Segundo since last year, in which their starting QB got lost for the season, and came in very focused. Now they face the next most formidable opponent in league in the Lawndale Cardinals.
Lawndale may now have the focus and motivation edge. Lawndale beat CC in a wild shootout last year but ended up losing the league title due to having to forfeit games due to illegal transfers. They should be motivated to make a statement on the field again. This could be the trap game for Culver. If they do not come in as focused and motivated as they should, they could fall to Lawndale (#9 in D-6) even though they are slight favorites. Culver will have to win AT Lawndale too.
Biggest blowout of the week will be El Segundo (5-1) facing a horrible Beverly Hills (0-6). And El Segundo comes in angry about their loss to Culver City.
The other Ocean League game features the battle for fourth place between Hawthorne (2-4, 1-0) and Santa Monica (3-3, 0-1). It would be a big upset for either of these teams to move any higher than 4th.
In Division 11, Katella (6-0) remains atop the CIF poll and might very well stay there the rest of the regular season because they face no formidable opponents in league. They are listed #3 in the calpreps.com power ratings for D-11.
Culver City (4-2) jumped to #1 in the calpreps power ratings for D-11 after their upset victory this week. They are #5 in the CIF poll, partly because the voters tend to look at win/loss more because they might not have any additional info on many of the teams they are voting on.
Romona (5-0-1) is #2 in the CIF poll, but #17 in the D-11 power ratings. They should stay high in the CIF poll this coming week as they are expected to win but have a couple of league games still to come that they should lose and push them down to third place, but still a likely playoff entry.
Crean Lutheran (6-1) is #3 in CIF but also drops significantly in the power ratings to #13. They are freelance with tough projected losses remaining. I don't know enough to figure out how the CIF will judge this team for the playoffs.
Oak Park (5-1) is #4 in CIF and 9th in power ratings. Oak Park is the favorite in the small 4 team Canyon league, but Simi Valley and Agoura look good enough to upset. Losing to one of them should still get them into the playoffs, but to both would probably knock them out of playoff position. They face their toughest non-league opponent this week in Grace Brethren but a win will not be essential until they see Simi Valley (3-4) on 10/21.
Arcadia (6-0) is #7 in the CIF poll, but #2 in power ratings. They took care of business this week in beating Burroughs of Burbank 37-27. That win means likely no worse than a third place finish and should lock up a playoff spot out of the 8 team Pacific league, and they look good enough to pull off the other two upsets against Crescenta Valley (5-1, 3-0) and Burbank (4-2, 3-0) and just win league outright, but third should be good enough if they don't beat those two.
Valley View (3-3, 0-1) is #4 in the power ratings but only a mention of one of the "others" schools in consideration for placement in the CIF poll. Valley View lost their first league game last week to powerful Rancho Verde but is projected to run the table the rest of the way in league. They should start to climb in the CIF poll when other pretenders start to fall by the wayside.
The CIF poll and power ratings are almost in agreement on Montebello (5-1), #5 in power ratings and #6 in CIF poll. They should rise in the CIF poll in coming weeks as they are projected to go undefeated in league. Only Schurr High seems to present any capable opposition to them in the Almont league.
That covers most of the best in D-11.
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