Junior running backs Wyatt Correia, Joe Lara and Andrew Quinn from 8-0 Liberty Ranch of Galt are all on track to rush for 1,000 yards or more this season. Photo: Mark Tennis.
After last year’s CIF state championships, the only two 11-man football teams in the state that finished unbeaten were Open Division winner Mater Dei of Santa Ana (13-0) and D5-AA winner Carmel (15-0). We’re going to start listing each one of the state’s undefeated teams starting this week and on Friday we saw one them, Liberty Ranch of Galt, survive in a 28-21 win against one-loss Bradshaw Christian of Sacramento. State No. 1 St. John Bosco of Bellflower also improved to 8-0 on Friday with a win vs No. 5 Santa Margarita. As of now, the number of undefeated teams in the state stands at 55.
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Since the CIF started its current format of inviting every CIF section champion into its regional/state championships in 2015, it’s been getting very difficult for teams to finish the season with an unbeaten record.
There were only two last season — CIF Open Division state champ Mater Dei (13-0) and D5-AA state champ Carmel (15-0). Two teams that lost in CIF state finals that were unbeaten and the last two to fall off the list last season were De La Salle of Concord in the Open Division and Twelve Bridges of Lincoln in D2-A. The previous week in the regional title games, unbeaten teams to lose were Newbury Park in D1-AA, Hughson in D4-AA and Winters in D6-AA. All of the rest of the CIF section champions had at least one loss during the season entering the CIF regional/state games.
After this weekend of games in the state, there is a total of 55 teams that are unbeaten (counting those still to play on Saturday). Most still have two games left in their regular seasons. Even with the ones that lost for the first time this week, going unbeaten for six or seven games is still an achievement any team can be proud of.
Senior WR Carson Clark is shown scoring a TD for unbeaten state No. 1 St. John Bosco from earlier this season. Photo: Scott Kurtz / Cal-Hi Sports.
Some of the unbeaten teams faced big challenges on Friday and kept going.
In a matchup played at Trabuco Hills High in Mission Viejo, state No. 1 St. John Bosco of Bellflower improved to 8-0 with a 27-14 win against state No. 5 Santa Margarita. This win came just one week after Santa Margarita handed two-time defending CIF Open Division state champion Mater Dei its second loss of the season in a 7-6 contest. Sophomore QB Koa Malau’ulu had TD passes to all three of Bosco’s elite receivers — Carson Clark, Daniel Odom and Madden Williams — and four-year starting defensive end Dutch Horisk had a pair of sacks.
In a matchup of unbeaten teams played on Friday in the East Bay, Acalanes of Lafayette improved to 8-0 with a 45-28 triumph over previous 6-0 Campolindo of Moraga. The Dons had a recent streak in which they lost to Campo in 13 of the last 15 meetings. They’ve now won three straight and are looking to win a third straight CIF North Coast Section title (which depends on not being in the Open/D1 bracket as much as anything they do on the field). We’ve seen both schools win CIF state finals down in SoCal and their meetings often are competitive. Acalanes led in this one 28-7 early in the second half and got a 97-yard kickoff return by junior Finley Rivera after the Cougars cut it to 31-28 in the fourth quarter. Rivera also had a TD catch and an interception on defense. Junior QB Tyler Winkles also had 174 yards and two TDs passing plus 125 yards rushing and two TDs (including an 80-yard TD run in the third quarter).
In another similar matchup in the CIF Central Section, Bakersfield Christian and Bakersfield High played, which we considered both unbeaten although Bakersfield has a loss by forfeit to a game it won on the field to start the season vs. Buchanan of Clovis. The Drillers took a 14-7 lead in the third quarter, but couldn’t score again and lost to the Eagles, 16-14. Bakersfield Christian (8-0) scored on a 2-yard run with 3:04 left by Arnez Lee, but the PAT was blocked. The Eagles were able to get the ball back, however, and won it, 16-14, with 57 seconds left on a 16-yard field goal by Cohen Peters.
Liberty Ranch of Galt Wins In
Unbeaten Team’s Game We Saw on Friday
We looked for a matchup with an unbeaten team playing a top opponent closer to our Stockton home office and found one in nearby Sacramento County with 7-0 Liberty Ranch of Galt playing 6-1 Bradshaw Christian of Sacramento. Bradshaw’s only loss before had been to unbeaten Sutter and it is a team that handed the Hawks a 49-9 loss last season. Our hunch paid off as the two teams battled until the final play with Liberty Ranch moving to 8-0 with a 28-21 triumph.
There was a lot of emotion for some of the Liberty Ranch players after the game since they overcame a 21-20 deficit in the fourth quarter and had to see one of their captains, 6-foot-2, 275-pound junior bulldozing lineman Daniel Swearingen, suffer a serious knee/leg injury in the third quarter that required an ambulance to be called and delayed the game for approximately 30 minutes. The players were planning to sign a game ball for their injured teammate and have it delivered to him later in the evening at a local hospital.
Liberty Ranch head coach Warren Schneider got a Gatorade bucket dump a few seconds after completing an interview with Sacramento TV stations. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Bradshaw Christian took its 21-20 lead in the third quarter on a 38-yard run by senior Devin Hatcher, which was followed by a big play on special teams from senior Carson Fitzpatrick. He picked up the ball after a fumbled snap on the PAT attempt and found some room to his right and banged it into the end zone for a two-point conversion. Hatcher also had a 68-yard touchdown run on his final touch in the first half and in between his scores he was named the Homecoming King at halftime.
Following Swearingen’s injury, the Pride had a drive stopped on a an interception by junior Andrew Quinn, but the play came at the 18-yard line so it still required a long drive for points. The Hawks had three other long drives during the game and went on another one. Quinn, who was a menace on defense all night, scored his second TD of the night on offense with 8:14 left on a 5-yard run. He then added a two-point conversion for a 28-21 lead.
Bradshaw Christian had a fumble on a fourth down play that stopped its next possession, and then Liberty Ranch looked to kill off the final 5:09 of the game. The Pride defense then made a stop of its own on a fourth-down play that gave its offense a chance with 2:47 left.
Junior QB Sam Amezcua connected on two pass completions that did give Bradshaw Christian a chance for a score at the end of the game. The second one to senior Samuel Danilyuk moved the ball to the 16-yard line. The problem is that by the time Amezcua could spike the ball to stop the clock there was just 10 seconds left. With the defense knowing that the Pride had to throw it into the end zone from there and able to apply some pressure on the QB, Amezcua had three incomplete passes to end the game. The third of those passes was broken up with no time on the clock.
Liberty Ranch head coach Warren Schroeder told the players that it was “one of the best wins in program history.”
We wanted to get a photo of Quinn and two of his teammates, junior Wyatt Corriea and junior Joe Lara, who are all on track to rush for 1,000 yards this season and asked Quinn what it meant to be 8-0 at this point of the season and to get a win like he and his teammates just achieved.
“Last year it was just a horrible loss to them and this year we wanted to come out there and run it down their throat,” he said. “We came out with a great win and we came out an executed.”
CALIFORNIA UNDEFEATED 11-MAN FOOTBALL TEAMS
2025 SEASON
(After games of Saturday, Oct. 18)
Teams indicated playing game on Saturday.
(List will be updated later on Saturday)
(*Forfeit loss not included)
(All teams listed in alpa order)
Grant Ricker is one of the top players for undefeated Acalanes. Photo: Acalanes HS / MaxPreps.com.
Acalanes (Lafayette) 7-0
Alameda 7-0
Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 8-0
Bakersfield Christian 8-0
California (San Ramon) 7-0
Calvary Chapel (Santa Ana) 8-0
Campolindo (Moraga) 6-1
Lost on Friday Oct. 17 to Acalanes (Lafayette).
Carlsbad 7-0*
Chavez (Stockton) 8-0
Chico 6-1
Lost on Friday Oct. 17 to Pleasant Valley (Chico).
Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 8-0
Crean Lutheran (Irvine) 8-0
Crespi (Encino) 8-0
Dana Hills (Dana Point) 8-0
De La Salle (Concord) 7-0
Ferndale 7-0
Fillmore 7-1
Lost on Friday, Oct. 17 to Agoura (Agoura Hills).
Gridley 7-0
Immanuel (Reedley) 8-0
Imperial 8-0
Laguna Beach 8-0
Liberty (Madera Ranchos) 8-0
Liberty Ranch (Galt) 8-0
Lincoln (San Jose) 6-1
Lost on Friday, Oct. 17 to Live Oak (Morgan Hill).
Los Alamitos 8-0
Los Altos (Hacienda Heights) 8-0
Manteca 8-0
Mariposa County (Mariposa) 7-1
Lost on Friday, Oct. 17 to Stone Ridge Christian (Merced).
McLane (Fresno) 8-0
Menlo School (Atherton) 7-0
Merced 8-0
Mission Bay (San Diego) 8-0
Norwalk 8-0
Pacifica (Oxnard) 8-0
Palisades (Pacific Palisades) 8-0
Palma (Salinas) 7-0
Palm Springs 8-0
Pierce (Arbuckle) 7-0
Point Loma (San Diego) 8-0
Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) 7-1
Lost on Friday, Oct. 17 to Oceanside.
Redding Christian 7-0
Rim of the World (Lake Arrowhead) 8-0
Rio Hondo Prep (Arcadia) 8-0
Rowland (Rowland Heights) 8-0
Salesian (Richmond) 6-1
Lost on Friday, Oct. 17 to El Cerrito.
Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach) 9-0
Santa Teresa (San Jose) 8-0
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 8-0
Soquel 7-0
Sonora 9-0
Stevenson (Pebble Beach) 7-0
St. Bernard’s (Eureka) 7-0
St. Helena 7-0
St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 8-0
St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma) 7-0
Sutter 9-0
Templeton 8-0
Torrance 8-0
Twelve Bridges (Lincoln) 8-0
Vintage (Napa) 6-1
Lost on Friday, Oct. 17 to Marin Catholic (Kentfield).
Western Christian (Upland) 8-0
Westlake (Westlake Village) 8-0
Woodcreek (Roseville) 7-1
Lost on Oct. 17 to Inderkum (Sacramento).
Woodside 7-0
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.
