Players from state No. 26 Pittsburg pose with the Big Little Game trophy that is going to be staying at their school for another year after 32-13 win on Friday at Antioch. The two Contra Costa County schools have been playing each other since 1924. Antioch last won in 2015 when it had future NFL running back Najee Harris. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Mater Dei and St. John Bosco were not 1-2 in the state like they have been in recent years, but their battle on Friday wasn’t decided until there were seven seconds left. Mater Dei’s win with its freshman QB could be a preview of upcoming CIFSS D1 playoffs. On the other hand, No. 1 Santa Margarita and No. 2 Sierra Canyon both dominated state top 15 opponents also on Friday. Mission Viejo was the only other big winner on Friday in a matchup top 25 ranked teams.
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(Rankings based on State Top 50 posted on Oct. 26)
(Through reported results of Friday, Oct. 30)
*Forfeit wins or losses not included.
1. Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 10-0
Defeated No. 10 Lutheran (Orange) 43-21. The Eagles led 40-7 in the fourth quarter after a blocked punt return TD by Kaleb Mendez and Kingston Jimmerson earlier blocked a punt and field goal attempt. Grant Mosley scored three times for the offense. Look for Santa Margarita to collect the No. 1 seed for the CIF Southern Section D1 playoffs on Sunday.
2. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 10-0
Defeated No. 14 Bishop Amat (La Puente) 56-7. Head coach Jon Ellinghouse also now up to 198 reported career wins after team won its fifth straight Mission League title. Trailblazers led 35-0 in first quarter after McCoy Browner had a 25-yard fumble return TD. Also looks solid that Sierra Canyon will be the No. 2 seed in CIFSS D1 playoffs.
3. St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 7-3
LOST to No. 5 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 36-35. What a gut punch loss for the Braves on Friday night at the Santa Ana Bowl. They lost to the Monarchs on a touchdown and two-point conversion with seven seconds left and just couldn’t do anything to answer. Koa Malau’ulu passed for 344 yards and three TDs and led the team to a 35-21 lead with only four minutes remaining in the game.
4. De La Salle (Concord) 9-0
Defeated Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 56-7. As expected, the Spartans didn’t have any issues in this game. They led 35-0 early in the second quarter. Unilike most of the other top 10 teams in the state, DLS still has one game left in its regular season, which will be next Friday vs Granite Bay in a non-league matchup.
5. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 8-2
Defeated No. 3 St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 36-35. According to Steve Fryer of the Orange County Register, some Monarch fans headed to the exits after the team fell behind 35-21 with four minutes left. The offense then struck quickly on a 55-yard TD pass from freshman Paytyn Guess to senior Gavin Honore, got the ball back with 55 seconds left and then scored with seven seconds left on a 12-yard TD pass from Guess to freshman Tristan Brown. Mater Dei then went for two and the win and got in a pass from Guess to tight end Tyler Fritz, who hadn’t caught a pass all season until that play. Now that the Monarchs have a win over Bosco plus Centennial (both by one point) with losses to No. 1 Santa Margarita and national powerhouse Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), they will have to jump De La Salle for the third spot in next week’s rankings.
It looks like freshman QB Paytyn Guess dipping through a hole for Mater Dei during Friday’s showdown game vs St. John Bosco. The Monarchs rallied for a 36-35 win after trailing 35-21 with four minutes left in the game. Photo: Mater Dei High School Football / Facebook.com.
6. Centennial (Corona) 7-3
Defeated Murrieta Mesa (Murrieta) 62-0 on Thursday. The Huskies over the years really have done a good job of holding down their scoring in the second half of these types of games. In this game, it was 48-0 at halftime. Next stop will be the CIFSS D1 playoffs and Centennial is now as healthy as it’s been all season.
7. Central East (Fresno) 10-0
Defeated Clovis East (Clovis) 54-14 on Thursday. Relando Jefferson (recently de-committed from Fresno State) had several highlight reel catches and finished with nine receptions for 225 yards and three TDs. It will be total shocker if the Bengals don’t win the CIF Central Section D1-AA title.
8. Folsom 9-0
Does not play this week. The Bulldogs placed their bye for what would have been the next to last regular season game for most teams. For them, that was last week’s 42-41 win over No. 28 Del Oro of Loomis. They have Jesuit in next week’s regular season finale.
9. Serra (San Mateo) 7-1
Did not play on Friday. It’s another Saturday game this week for the Padres and this week it will be a big one: at state No. 24 Archbishop Riordan in San Francisco. We are going to be there after seeing a another Bay Area game on Friday night. Serra (only loss to De La Salle) along with Central East and Folsom are in the running to be in the CIF D1-AA NorCal regional final.
10. Lutheran (Orange) 5-5
LOST to No. 1 Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 43-21. The Lancers finished the Trinity League with losses to the Eagles, St. John Bosco and Mater Dei but had wins over JSerra and Servite. They will probably have to play one of the top seeded teams next in the first round of the CIFSS D1 playoffs.
11. Mission Viejo 8-1
Defeated No. 22 San Juan Hills (SJ Capistrano) 54-44. The Diablos weren’t able to play San Clemente two weeks ago due to the Norte fire, but they won the Alpa League title on Friday by beating San Juan Hills one week after the Stallions got a win over San Clemente. Jack Junker rushed for 134 yards and two TDs and Carson Vandermade rushed for 129 yards and three scores. Mission will be in the CIFSS D1 playoffs.
12. JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 4-6
LOST to No. 29 Servite (Anaheim) 38-35. Hayes Cloutier ran for two TDs and passed for two and Luca Deleon raced 53 yards for a punt return to lead the Lions. They ended winless in the Trinity League for the season, however, as the Friars scored in the final seconds for the win. It looks like all six Trinity League teams may now be in the CIFSS D1 playoffs in a bracket of more than eight teams, but we’ll find out Sunday.
13. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 6-2
Did not play on Friday. The Cardinals have a Saturday afternoon game this week vs St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma. They’ve been the No. 2 projected seed for the CIF North Coast Section Open/D1 playoffs and if they end up with that seed they’d likely be the ones and not San Ramon Valley or Pittsburg who would get a shot at De La Salle in the NCS Open championship.
14. Bishop Amat (La Puente) 8-2
LOST to No. 2 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth 56-7. The Lancers had not lost in the Mission League prior to this game and were a huge underdog, but 56-7 is probably worse than most thought. The good news is that Amat is almost for sure going to be in the CIFSS D2 playoffs back among teams more closely aligned to their level of play.
15. Inglewood 9-1
Does not play this week. The Sentinels ended their 10-game regular season schedule last week with a win over Leuzinger (Lawndale). They won the Bay League title over state No. 17 Palos Verdes and should be one of the top teams in the CIFSS D2 playoffs.
16. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 6-3
Defeated Granite Bay 49-0. Team with a win over Crean Lutheran of SoCal rolled to an easy win in the Sierra Foothill League with one game left in its regular season.
17. Palos Verdes (PV Estates) 9-1
Defeated Leuzinger (Lawndale) 45-0. Another team to watch in the CIFSS D2 playoffs will be the Sea Kings, who have lost only to Inglewood and that was in a 26-23 matchup that was decided by just a couple of plays.
18. San Ramon Valley (Danville) 8-1
Defeated California (San Ramon) 35-20. The Wolves, who lost their first game last week 31-14 to No. 4 De La Salle, will now close their regular season next week vs their arch-rivals from Monte Vista of Danville. Between themselves, Cardinal Newman and Pittsburg, one of those three teams is likely going to be in the CIF NorCal D1-A or NorCal D2-AA regional final.
19. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 7-3
Defeated Lincoln (San Diego) 41-18. Returning State Junior of the Year Honor Fa’alave-Johnson hasn’t done much this season with injuries, but broke loose on Friday with 157 yards rushing and three TDs vs the Hornets. Cathedral Catholic is the defending SD Section Open champ and hasn’t lost to a section opponent, but may not be the top seed to start this year’s Open Division playoffs. That’s the way the computer crumbles.
Pitt’s Kenny Ward has been making eye-opening plays for his team since we saw him as a freshman two years ago. Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
20. Crean Lutheran (Irvine) 8-2
Defeated Villa Park 49-21. The Saints capped off a perfect run in the Bravo League behind QB Caden Jones, who was reported with 403 yards passing and six TDs. Three of his TDs went to Braylen Ross. Crean is expected to earn one of the higher seeds for the CIFSS D2 playoffs on Sunday.
21. Chaparral (Temecula) 6-4
Defeated Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 49-14 on Thursday. Considering the Pumas didn’t have QB Dane Weber until a few weeks ago and only lost 41-27 to Corona Centennial two weeks ago with Weber back, watch out for them in the CIFSS D2 playoffs. Weber passed for 387 yards and tour TDs in Thursday’s game.
22. San Juan Hills (SJ Capistrano) 8-2
LOST to state No. 11 Mission Viejo 54-44. The Stallions offense had a lot of success in the loss as QB Parker Armstrong passed for four touchdowns. The defense just couldn’t get stops against Mission’s rushing attack.
23. San Clemente 8-1
Defeated Edison (Huntington Beach) 21-14. Jaxson Rex scored on a 10-yard run to give the Tritons some breathing room in the third quarter, but they had to recover a fumble at the end to clinch the win. We keep seeing San Clemente in the CIFSS D1 playoff projections despite its loss to San Juan Hills from the previous week. It should be D2.
24. Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 6-2
Did not play on Friday. We will be among the likely Bay Area media throng on Saturday to check out the matchup betwwen the host Crusaders and state No. 10 Serra (San Mateo) that will decide the 2026 West Catholic Athletic League title.
25. Huntington Beach 10-0
Defeated Laguna Beach 35-14. Despite having Ohio State-committed QB Brady Edmunds and going 10-0 for the regular season, the Oilers look like they may get a tough lower seed for the CIFSS D2 playoffs. The best case scenario for them would be a high seed for D3.
26. Pittsburg 6-3
Defeated Antioch 32-13. Prior to seeing the big game in SF on Saturday between Serra and Riordan, we checked out the Pirates for the first time this season as they traveled to play their longtime rivals in the Big Little Game. It’s the 108th edition of the series and Antioch came in with just one loss and in a game it lost by one point. Antioch scored first on a pick six and was looking to take a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter but a field goal attempt was blocked by Antjuan Holly and then scooped up by junior sensation Kenny Ward who ran it back more than 55 yards for a touchdown. Ward then gave Pitt the lead on a 65-yard punt return touchdown. The Pirates still have a path to win an NCS title and CIF state title, but it wouldn’t be any higher than D1-A for the state games.
27. Buchanan (Clovis) 9-1*
Defeated Clovis North (Fresno) 52-0. It was a strong end to the regular season for the Bears, who have lost only to state No. 7 Central East (not counting a forfeit loss). They are likely the No. 2 seed for the CIF Central Section D1-AA playoffs.
28. Del Oro (Loomis) 7-2
Defeated Whitney (Rocklin) 46-14. Instead of moping around after their tough 42-41 loss from the previous game to Folsom, the Golden Eagles got busy in a one-sided outing vs the Wildcats. Del Oro’s two losses are to Oak Ridge and Folsom, which both will be in the Sac-Joaquin Section D1 playoffs. The Golden Eagles will be D2.
29. Servite (Anaheim) 4-6
Defeated state No. 12 JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 38-35. We have to admit we didn’t think the Friars were to going to beat the Lions and gain their first Trinity League win of the season. QB Gino Wang is a battler and came through with TD run with 20 seconds left to lift Servite to the win. Both Jorden Wells and Benjamin Harris played for Servite and with them (they have been missing for several weeks) the Friars showed they will have to bounce back up to 10-15 range of the rankings they were in before several lopsided losses in league.
30. Carson 9-1
Defeated Mary Star (San Pedro) 45-42. The Colts played an unbeaten small school from the CIF Southern Section to close the regular season. We’ll see how good Mary Star can be in whatever division it will land in for the CIFSS playoffs. Carson will be the top seed and heavy favorite in the L.A. City Section Open Division playoffs.
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:
