CIF State FB Previews & Picks

Toa Faavae of Concord De La Salle will be in his third CIF state final on Saturday. Here, the QB gets tackled by Lincoln’s Chris Fewell during CIF D1-AA title game from 2022. Lincoln will be back in the same game this season. Photo: Scott Kurtz / Cal-Hi Sports.

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OPEN DIVISION
De La Salle of Concord (NCS Open) vs. Mater Dei of Santa Ana (CIFSS D1)
Saturday, 8 p.m., Saddleback College

Records, Rankings & History: Mater Dei is 12-0 and would be No. 1 in the nation by anyone with a brain or anything with an algorithm. De La Salle is 12-0 and is No. 4 in our State TOP 50 overall rankings. These two go back to 1998 of course for a famous matchup when the legendary DLS win streak was in its seventh year. The Spartans won that night before nearly 20,000 at Anaheim Stadium, 28-21, and then topped the Monarchs in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Mater Dei won its first CIF state title in 2017 with a 52-21 win over the Spartans and repeated in 2018 with a 35-21 triumph. DLS hasn’t been back to the Open Division since 2019 when it lost to St. John Bosco. While the Spartans haven’t won a CIF state title since the Open Division in 2015 and fell to 7-9 in state finals with a loss in the D1-AA final last season to Mission Viejo, they have been in every CIF state championship weekend except 2021 since the event was re-started in 2006. This is because DLS hasn’t lost in a section final since 1991 and 2021 was the only year it fell in a regional final. The Monarchs have won four CIF state titles and would move into a tie for third on the all-time state list if they win their fifth this weekend.

Comments: The matchups don’t favor the Spartans at all. The MD defense is perhaps second to none in state history with incredible strength up front and playmakers on the edges. The DLS offense doesn’t have to pass much if at all for the team to be the best in Northern California, but the lack of a passing game will cause the MD defense to stuff the run and should make it hard for the Spartans just to get first downs. It will likely be similar to how hard it was for the Serra of San Mateo offense just to get first downs in last year’s game. That shouldn’t be viewed as a rip on the DLS offense. The MD defense is that insane and would do the same to probably most other top 25 teams in the nation as well. We also would expect the MD players are going to want to do their best to get a first CIF state title for head coach Raul Lara. He had two favored teams at Long Beach Poly in 2008 and in 2011 that were upset by Grant of Sacramento and Granite Bay. Plus, Coach Lara went 0-2 in matchups vs DLS when he was at Poly as well, including a loss in the first-ever No. 1 vs No. 2 in the nation matchup in 2001. One difference for DLS this year is that the Spartans do have some speed on the edges. Jaden Jefferson probably won’t get the chance to return any kickoffs, but he is capable of splitting through the MD secondary similar to the TD pass that Bosco got in the CIFSS championship.

Prediction: Mater Dei 42, De La Salle 7

Retiring head coach Vic Galli of Pittsburg accepts runner-up trophy after loss in D1-A state final to Liberty (Bakersfield). Photo: Mark Tennis.

Records, Rankings & History: Both schools were at the state finals at Saddleback two years ago with the Hornets winning their first-ever CIF state title with a 33-28 win vs De La Salle in D1-AA. Pitt lost to Liberty of Bakersfield in the D1-A championship. Lincoln enters at 11-2 and was No. 9 in this week’s State TOP 50 rankings. Pitt also has two losses (one to St. John Bosco, the other to De La Salle) and is 12-2 with a No. 7 overall state ranking. The Pirates also lost in their only other CIF state finals appearance, which was in 2017 in D1-A to Narbonne of Harbor City, 28-21, in a game they led 21-0. Lincoln is making its second CIF title game appearance. Both schools also have an all-time great NFL alum — John Henry Johnson of Pittsburg and Marcus Allen of Lincoln.

Comments: We may be the only ones to have seen both teams play in person. We saw the Hornets when they came up to play at Grant of Sacramento on Sept. 27 and knocked off the Pacers, 49-19. We saw the Pirates when they defeated Archbishop Riordan earlier in the season and also were on hand to see them fall short to De La Salle, 10-7, in the CIF North Coast Section Open Division final. Seeing both just underscores how close the matchup looks to be. Both defenses have playmakers and the sense is that there’s going to be some defensive plays made that will prevent it from being a shootout in which both teams score 30 points or more. Pittsburg’s defense has the advantage of having had to go against a big-time dual threat QB last week in Folsom’s Ryder Lyons and now it will go up against a similar player in Lincoln’s Akili Smith Jr. If the Pirates and DE Jewelous “JuJu” Walls (UCLA) can get Smith Jr. on the ground a few times, that is going to be huge. Don’t under-estimate the Lincoln pass rush, either. The Hornets don’t have an individual edge rusher like Walls, but as a group they have 40 sacks this year. While Smith Jr. has passed for 2,302 yards and 21 TDs and had a big outing vs Newbury Park last week, Lincoln can run the ball and probably will try to do what De La Salle did in that NCS game and that’s pound it down the field. Marley Alcancara enters the game for Pitt with 2,825 yards passing an 40 TDs with zero interceptions. If that holds up against Lincoln’s ball-hawking DBs like Cammeron Purnell (we saw him get a pick six vs Grant), then that’s big for Pitt. Smith Jr. also isn’t afraid throwing it into traffic for his guys to make plays on the ball. The Pirates have the DBs to make him pay, such as Jadyn Hudson (seven interceptions). Newbury Park wasn’t able to do that enough in last week’s regionals.

Prediction: Lincoln 23, Pittsburg 21

DIVISION 1–A
Central of Fresno (Central Sec D1-AA) vs. Edison of Huntington Beach (CIFSS D3)
Saturday, 4 p.m. Saddleback College

Records, Rankings & History: While the Chargers have never won a CIF state title, they were State Team of the Year for 1979 after they won the major division title of the CIF Southern Section with a 55-0 blowout of Redlands. It is still the largest margin of victory in any CIFSS top division championship. Those glory years for Edison also saw it go 14-0 in 1980 but it was No. 2 in the final state rankings that year behind 12-0 Banning of Wilmington. Head coach Bill Workman’s squad also was No. 1 in the state for much of 1981 but ended 10-1 and was upset in the playoffs that season. This year’s team comes into this week at 11-4, but has been on a tear in the playoffs, including a 35-14 win in the CIFSS D3 title game vs Simi Valley and a 34-28 win last week vs Granite Hills of El Cajon. Central is looking for its second CIF state title with the first coming in 2019 and what a magical season that was. Head coach Kyle Biggs directed the Grizzlies to a 15-0 record and in their title game, which was in D1-AA, they beat favored Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth. That team also had WR Xavier Worthy, now a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. Central is higher in our State TOP 50 at No. 15 since the young team of mostly juniors and sophomores lost in the regular season to league rivals Clovis North and Clovis East, but in the CIF Central Section D1-AA playoffs the Grizzlies avenged both of those losses. Edison checked in this week at No. 20.

Comments: Edison loves to play a physical brand of football that is not unlike the way that Clovis North has played in the Central Section the past two years. The Grizzlies should be able to draw on that experience in this game. Their young stars, such as junior Brandon Smith Jr. (who has 1,800 yards rushing and 25 TDs) and sophomore Jelani Dippel (who has 3,230 yards passing and 39 TDs plus 378 yards rushing and three scores), should present problems for the Chargers’ defense. The computers are picking Edison to win since its strength of schedule (including a game vs Mission Viejo and a win vs a Los Alamitos team that beat Clovis North) is better. There also is a common opponent since the Chargers lost in their first game, 29-28, to Clovis West while Central beat Clovis West, 45-27. Both teams have really ramped it up over the past few weeks, but the Edison defense may get just one or two more stops than Central’s defense and it also will be playing with more of a home field advantage.

Prediction: Edison 28, Central 21

DIVISION 2–AA
Grant of Sacramento (SJS D3) vs. Pacifica of Oxnard (CIFSS D4)
Friday, 4 p.m. Saddleback College

Records, Rankings & History: This is the third straight year and fourth overall appearance for the Pacers in the CIF state finals as head coach Carl Reed and staff have successfully rebuilt the program that was initially built by the retired Mike Alberghini. As longtime Sacramento Bee prep editor Joe Davidson told us recently, “prep football in Sacramento just has a different vibe to it when Grant is really good and they are really good again.” The Pacers were in this exact game a year ago and fell to La Serna of Whittier, 21-19, in a game they played poorly and didn’t have starting QB Luke Alexander for most of it after he left with an injury. They won in the 2022 D3-AA game vs San Jacinto. Grant’s only other state final was a doozy in 2008 when it went to the Open Division and upset favored Long Beach Poly, 25-20. The Pacers enter Friday at 11-3 overall and at No. 21 in our State TOP 50. Pacifica won in its only other CIF state final, 34-6, in D2-A over McClymonds of Oakland. That also capped a 15-1 season. The Tritons were realigned into the much tougher Marmonte League for this season, which saw them lose games to Oaks Christian and St. Bonaventure, but their 6-4 regular season was such that it pushed them down to the CIFSS D4 playoffs. Pacifica still had to win some big games to reach the final (including a come-from-behind 45-41 win vs Long Beach Poly) and avenged the earlier loss to St. Bonaventure. Head coach Mike Moon’s team is currently 11-4 and was moved up to No. 24 in the State TOP 50.

Comments: Assuming that QB Luke Alexander doesn’t get hurt again in a state final, we also don’t think that the Pacers are going to come out in the same game as last year and play much lower than their standards. They admittedly did that last year. While we’ve seen the Pacers get rocked by De La Salle and San Diego Lincoln, they do have a lot of younger players who weren’t yet ready for the prime time. The main one that qualifies for that description is 6-foot-6, 210-pound sophomore Zo Edwards. The coaches weren’t quite sure what they had in him early on, but he’s become a nightmare matchup in recent weeks. He’ll catch anything in his direction and putting a linebacker on him will be exposed. Grant doesn’t have the RBs it had last year with Wayshawn Parker and Devin Greene, but Brandon Lambert has 1,410 yards rushing and 15 TDs and he can make catches in multiple formations. Alexander (3,153 yds passing, 38 TDs) also has proven he can deliver when the game is on the line. Pacifica has had the experience of getting rocked higher level teams, too. It its case, it was non-league games vs Newbury Park and Inglewood. Its season turned around with a 28-0 shutout of Simi Valley. The emergence of sophomore Alijah Royster has been a key to the postseason run. He is up to 639 yards rushing and nine TDs plus 45 catches for 837 yards and 10 scores. Dominic Duran is as experienced in big games as Alexander. He has 2,747 yards passing and 30 TDs this season. The leading receiver (coming off of a knee injury that knocked him out of last season) is Savion Taylor with 100 grabs for 1,324 yards (14 TDs). We like the Pacifica defense a lot with LBs Budder Aina and Nick Lavizzo and sophomore Isiah Phelps, who also gets carries on offense. We also liked the St. Francis of Mountain View defense, however, that Grant was able to score 32 points against last week. It should be a similar matchup this week.

Prediction: Grant 34, Pacifica 29

DIVISION 2–A
Twelve Bridges of Lincoln (SJS D4) vs. Palos Verdes of PV Estates (CIFSS D5)
Saturday, 11:30 a.m. Saddleback College

Records, Rankings & History: Both schools are first timers for the CIF state football finals, which for Twelve Bridges is more remarkable since this is just the third varsity season for the new school. The records and rankings show a bigger disparity than most schools in the state finals since the Raging Rhinos are 14-0 and were No. 43 in our State TOP 50. Palos Verdes is on the bubble at 10-5. There also is a huge disparity in strength of schedule since PV has played Edison of Huntington Beach, Inglewood and others in the Bay League. Twelve Bridges hasn’t really played a team close to those two and hadn’t played a team even close to the State TOP 50 bubble until last week vs Wilcox.

Comments: If there was an unbeaten team for the regular season in 2023 that got a raw deal due to competitive equity, then Palos Verdes may have been that team. The Sea Kings not only had to be in the tougher CIFSS D2 playoffs, but drew Mission Viejo in the first round. They lost and Mission Viejo went on to win the CIF D1-AA state title. Competitive equity worked in the other direction for PV this season. They were only 5-5 but played in the tougher Bay League and got a big win vs Leuzinger of Lawndale. They went to the CIFSS playoffs in D5 and wound up beating La Serna of Whittier, 23-7, to win the title. That was followed by a 28-10 win last week vs Bakersfield Christian. Head coach Guy Gardner’s team may have a sophomore QB, but Ryan Rakowski started as a freshman and plays like a wily veteran. He has passed for 2,441 yards and 18 TDs this season and has rushed for 620 yards and 10 scores. The Palos Verdes defense has only given up one TD in each of the last two games and will face an offense that already has qualified for the state record book with 690 points scored on the season. What makes the Rhaging Rhinos so effective on offense is that it can run and pass equally well. RB Braeden Ward gets most of the attention and he has 2,571 yards rushing and 42 TDs scored on the season. But QB Colin Flaherty can run and he can hit open receivers. Flaherty has passed for 2,660 yards on the season with 26 TDs. The main question is how Twelve Bridges is going to respond not just in a state final but in the first long trip to play a game in school history.

Prediction: Twelve Bridges 35, Palos Verdes 28

DIVISION 3-AA
Amador Valley of Pleasanton (NCS D4) vs Frontier of Bakersfield (Central Sec D1-A)
Friday, 8 pm at Veterans Stadium (Long Beach)

Records, Rankings & History: Frontier is making its first-ever CIF state title game appearance. The Titans, 10-4 and No. 70 in the CalPreps/MaxPreps computer state rankings, started the season with a big win vs Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills (runner-up the past two seasons in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 playoffs), but then lost to a Liberty of Brentwood squad that also had a win vs Amador Valley early in the season. Frontier also had a three-game losing streak during the season, but excelled in the Central Section playoffs with a 31-14 win vs one-loss Bakersfield in the D1-A final. The Dons have a forfeit win vs El Cerrito so they are 9-5 on the field. They are No. 93 in the computer rankings. They also are making their first-ever CIF state title game appearance.

Comments: Both teams have been impressive in recent weeks, so it’s just a matter of what you think of the opponents in picking a winner. Murrieta Mesa, which lost 39-7 to Frontier last week, was from the CIFSS D6 playoffs. McClymonds, which lost 44-33 to Amador last week, is a team we thought could have easily been one division higher in D2-A and has been D2-A in previous NorCal games. QB Tristan Tia, who is headed to Oregon State, has been looking like the best QB in the Bay Area for the Dons. He has passed for 3,758 yards and 32 TDs and he has rushed for 871 yards and 18 scores. Frontier may have one of the top junior recruits in the Central Section with WR Kobie Watson. We love the team’s offensive line with senior Grayson Lee and sophomores Carsten Campbell and L.J. Riley. A high-scoring game is expected.

Prediction: Amador Valley 35, Frontier 31

Vanden players celebrate after their 2021 regional title win. They would later win the CIF D3-A state championship. Photo: Prep2Prep.com.

Records, Rankings & History: Vanden 12-2 overall and No. 105 in the CalPreps/MaxPreps computer state rankings. The Vikings won the 2021 state title in D3-AA by one point vs Aquinas of San Bernardino, but that game was played on their home field. Rolling Hills Prep tried to get to its first CIF state final last season in D4-A but came up short in a loss to Mission Oak of Tulare in the SoCal regional matchup. The Kares are 13-1 and are No. 77 in the computer state rankings.

Comments: Much has been made of Rio Hondo’s very small enrollment going up against schools like Warren of Downey (3,600) and Poway (2,200) in the last two weeks. Vanden isn’t like that, but is around 1,500. A win would cement Rio Hondo as the No. 1 small school team in the state, but it won’t be Vanden’s enrollment that figures to give the Kares a lot of trouble. It will be its quarterback. Kalani McLeod passed for 484 yards and six TDs for the Vikings in their section title game vs Oakdale and had had 462 yards passing and four TDs last week vs Pleasant Valley. Rio Hondo loves the ball control run game and obviously will need to use it in this game to keep Vanden’s quarterback on the sidelines. Noah Penunuri has rushed for 1,733 yards and 26 TDs for the Kares, who also get a lot of production on offense from Nathaniel Curtis. While Vanden has league losses to Rodriguez of Fairfield and Vacaville, its playoff wins vs West Park of Roseville and Oakdale before it went on the road to beat Pleasant Valley show it has jumped up its game to a higher level in recent weeks (perhaps a higher level than the teams that Rio Hondo has been playing).

Predicted Score: Vanden 24, Rio Hondo Prep 21

DIVISION 4-AA
St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma (NCS D5) vs Highland of Palmdale (CIFSS D9)
Friday, 4 p.m., Veterans Stadium (Long Beach)

Records, Rankings & History: St. Vincent joins Mater Dei, De La Salle and Grant (Sacramento) as the only schools returning to this year’s CIF state finals. The Mustangs won their first state title last season in D6-AA with a 27-6 win vs Wasco. They only have one loss at 13-1 overall and are No. 92 in computer state rankings. Highland lost to a NorCal small school (Ripon) in its first CIF state title game in D4-AA in 2019. The Bulldogs are 11-4 overall and 140 in the computer, but have won 11 of 12 since their 0-3 start against Liberty of Bakersfield, Oak Hills of Hesperia and Mission Viejo. They were routed by Oaks and Mission, but frankly so would St. Vincent.

Comments: Both teams took out unbeaten opponents to reach this state final. We saw the Mustangs look too strong up front and use its speed on the edges to get past Hughson, 42-14. Highland needed to block a field goal in the closing seconds to defeat Coalinga, 33-31. The Bulldogs have some speed of their own on the perimeter so some of what the Mustangs did against Hughson might not work. They do have a very active defensive line, though, and some of that should work just fine. Justin Wyatt Jr., the son of head coach Justin Wyatt Sr. and heading to Nevada to play defense, has 1,975 yards passing and 31 TDs plus almost 400 yards rushing. He isn’t going to UCLA like Hughson’s Robert McDaniel, but will present challenges. Head coach Trent Herzog’s team features QB Gabe Casanovas, who has passed for 2,674 yards and 36 TDs, and RB Mason Caturegli, who has 1,359 yards and 27 scores. No one in the south will make a big deal of the enrollment differences of the two schools like they will for Rio Hondo Prep, but Highland has more than 2,700 students compared to around 200 for St. Vincent. We do think Hughson is better than Coalinga and since the Bulldogs barely got by Coalinga we’re going with the Mustangs to win this game.

Predicted Score: St. Vincent de Paul 33, Highland 27

DIVISION 4-A
Sonora (SJS D6) vs St. Pius X-St. Matthias of Downey (CIFSS D10)
Saturday, 3 p.m., Veterans Stadium (Long Beach)

Records, Rankings & History: Both schools are going for their first CIF state titles. Looking at the MaxPreps/CalPreps computer rankings, Sonora (12-2) is a big favorite at 86 in the state whereas St. Pius X (6-9) is at 186. St. Pius X famously made it into the CIFSS D10 playoffs at 1-9 and won in last week’s regionals, 28-7, over a St. Augustine of San Diego squad that was 0-10 in the regular season. Part of the reason for the Warriors only being 1-9 is that they were in a much tougher league this season and dropped games to Paraclete, St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs, Cathedral of Los Angeles and St. Francis of La Canada. One of Sonora’s losses was 52-51 to Hughson and UCLA-bound QB Robert McDaniel.

Comments: We thought Sonora should have been in a higher division and that would have happened for sure if Oakdale had won the SJS D3 title instead of Vanden since the Wildcats have a win over Oakdale. Them beating Kerman last week, 63-28, also is another indication of them being favored this week. Jassi Williams had 444 yards passing in the CIFSS D10 final and has really picked up his game for the Warriors in recent weeks, however, and he has the targets to give Sonora some big trouble. The Wildcats have shown in recent weeks they can pass if they have to, but their first choice is to run it with Tommy Sutton, Cash Byington and Brody Speer.

Prediction: Sonora 28, St. Pius X 21

DIVISION 5-AA
Carmel (CCS D3) vs El Capitan of Lakeside (CIFSD D4)
Friday, 8 p.m. at Fullerton UHSD Stadium

Records, Rankings & History: We’ve thought of Carmel having one of the top small school teams in the state from the start and the Padres have looked the part. They’ve gone 14-0 so far (one of the only unbeaten teams still left in the state along with Mater Dei and Twelve Bridges) but their computer ranking of 143 is lower than others as they’ve given up a lot of points on defense. Carmel has never been to the CIF state finals before. El Cap enters at 11-3 and with a 263 computer ranking so it’s another instance of the NorCal team on paper at least being favored. The Vaqueros lost in their only previous CIF state final in D3 in 2014 to Campolindo of Moraga in a game they were poised to win at the end, but the tie score was broken on a heart-breaking 89-yard fumble return TD by the Cougars. Head coach Ron Burner was there then and he’ll be there on the El Cap sidelines for this game.

Comments: Head coach Golden Anderson of Carmel has taken down the team’s MaxPreps’ stats for the playoffs, but we know that some of his players already are going down in school history. The list begins with offensive tackle Jackson Lloyd, who may be the top OL in California this season. He’ll leave for Alabama by the end of the month. QB Hudson Rutherford, RB/WR Ashton Rees and DB/WR Simeon Brown are all multi-year starters as well. Brown is the one who made the run-stuffing play last week that stopped a game-winning two-point conversion by Acalanes of Lafayette in the NorCal final. The Vaqueros have the experience of taking on a prolific offense from Grossmont of El Cajon in the section playoffs and won that game, 35-14. They feature QB Brandt Barker, who has passed for 2,560 yards and 26 TDs, and WR Ayden Banegas, who have 61 catches for 817 yards and nine scores.

Prediction: Carmel 40, El Capitan 32

DIVISION 5-A
American Canyon (NCS D4) vs Palmdale (CIFSS D12)
Saturday, 11 a.m. at Veterans Stadium (Long Beach)

Records, Rankings & History: Palmdale, which is from the same league as Highland (D4-AA above), has a 10-5 record and 321 state computer ranking. American Canyon comes in at 12-2 overall and has a 187 computer ranking. Neither school has won a CIF state title previously.

Comments: We always like teams that have avenged an earlier loss and for American Canyon that would be its win vs Redwood of Larkspur in the NCS playoffs after losing to the Giants in the regular season. The Wolves have become a two-headed monster running the ball with Andre Lopez (1,711 yards and 22 TDs) and dual threat QB Mason Harris (1,557 yards and 24 scores). Harris also has more than 1,000 yards passing. It’s too hard to pick against such a big difference in computer rankings, but Palmdale had a 45-43 win in the CIFSS playoffs over a Carter of Rialto team that was favored and was on a run of high scoring wins. QB Joshua Suarez has passed for 40 TDs for the Falcons and more than 2,200 yards. Receivers Paul Turner, a sophomore, and Christian Conley have both been hard to stop.

Predicted Score: American Canyon 42, Palmdale 35

Portola of Irvine players gather around the 2024 CIF Southern Regional title plaque after overtime win vs King/Drew. Photo: Mark Bausman / For OC Sports Zone.

DIVISION 6-AA
Arcata (NCS D6) vs Portola of Irvine (CIFSS D11)
Saturday, 7 p.m. at Fullerton UHSD Stadium

Records, Rankings & History: Portola has only been open for eight years and is still a young varsity program. This will be the Bulldogs’ first-ever CIF state title game appearance. They are 9-6 overall and have a 344 computer ranking. Arcata is coming from the far upper coastal area of the state and the big question is how will the Tigers play being so far from home. They are 13-1 overall and like most of the CIF state finals below D3 they are a NorCal team heavily favored by the computer with a 208 ranking.

Comments: Portola’s game plan will be simple and that’s to slow down Arcata QB Luke Lemke. He has 2,409 yards and 33 TDs passing with 1,563 yards and 19 TDs rushing. The Tigers also have two WR/DBs who make plays all over the place in Dayquan Dunn and Cal Tucker. For Portola, Timothy Grettenberg had a big outing at RB in the SoCal title game win vs King/Drew and junior LB Maxwell Mapstone has 193 tackles. Portola to us looks very similar to the Miramonte of Orinda team that Arcata got past to win its section title.

Prediction: Portola 22, Arcata 21

DIVISION 6-A
Summerville of Tuolumne (SJS D7) vs Monte Vista of Spring Valley (SD Sec D5)
Saturday, 3 pm at Fullerton UHSD Stadium

Records, Rankings & History: The big story around Summerville is that it is the second of the two football playing high schools in the Gold Country county of Tuolumne that will be in this week’s CIF state finals. Sonora High up in D4-A is the other. The Bears, who are 13-1 with just a one-point loss to Calaveras of San Andreas, also have a huge computer ranking advantage vs Monte Vista with a 239 ranking compared to 497 for the Monarchs. Veteran head coach Ron Hammamoto has directed MV to a 10-5 record so far this season, including a 42-21 win last week vs Pasadena.

Comments: Alex Villanueva is shown with just 2,709 yards rushing on MaxPreps, but his section final and his regional final totals are not included. He’s way further above 3,000 yards and makes plays on defense. Alex’s biggest play vs Pasadena was a 97-yard interception return TD. Others at Monte Vista are going to have to step up to pull off a win vs Summerville. The Bears won on the road last week at Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton behind junior QB/RB Bryce Leveroos, son of head coach Sean Laveroos.

Prediction: Summerville 38, Monte Vista 27

DIVISION 7-AA
Moreau Catholic of Hayward (NCS D7) vs Lindsay (Central Sec D5)
Friday, 4 p.m. at Fullerton UHSD Stadium

Records, Rankings & History: Neither of these schools has won a CIF state title before. Moreau’s big win was 21-19 in the NCS final vs a Ferndale squad that had split with Arcata. The Mariners (10-4) won last week 42-11 vs Leland of San Jose and they have a 254 computer ranking. Lindsay improved to 10-5 with its win last week vs Chatsworth but its most impressive accomplishment is shutting out Mira Monte of Bakersfield for its section crown. Mira Monte RB Nathan Gonzalez has been one of the state’s leading rushers this season. The Cardinals only have a 527 computer ranking, which makes them a solid underdog in this matchup.

Comments: Jeremiah Charles had passed for 2,761 yards and 30 TDs for the Mariners. They also have Jaylen Arnold with 64 catches for 1,473 yards and 19 TDs. Arnold also is someone Lindsay shouldn’t let touch the ball on any kick returns. Jose Cortes leads Lindsay on both sides of the ball at RB and LB and will have to have a big game for the Cardinals to have a chance.

Prediction: Moreau Catholic 34, Lindsay 21

DIVISION 7-A
Balboa of San Francisco (SF Sec) vs. Pioneer of Whittier (CIFSS D14)
Saturday, 11 a.m. at Fullerton UHSD Stadium

Records, Rankings & History: Balboa won its first and only CIF state title in 2021 in this same division with a blowout win of 43-0 vs Taft of Woodland Hills. That was a game played in San Francisco, however, and this time the Bucs will very much be on the road against a Titans’ squad playing not far from home. The Bucs improved to 8-5 with their win last week vs Los Molinos. Pioneer improved to 9-5 (not counting forfeit) with its win vs Panorama. Bal’s computer ranking is 534. Pioneer’s is at 669. That’s a big gap but when teams get down into the 500s the differences when they play can be small.

Comments: We’re going with the Titans playing close to home compared to a team very far from home.

Prediction: Pioneer 20, Balboa 18

Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle.