June 20, 2011
While the school year has been over for less than a month, it is already time to start looking ahead towards the next football season. With the 2012 class being one of the best to come through the region in a number of the years, NCP analysts Douglas Benton and Steve Hu discuss the most pressing questions in this edition of NCP Roundtable.
1. What teams are looking for a bounce back season?
Steve Hu: Nevada Union. After coming off a 13-1 season in 2009, the Miners started 2010 at 4-1 and looked to have another solid season. But the team lost every league game, granted all of them were reasonably close losses. Leading tackler Tanner Vallejo will be returning as he was just a sophomore.
Pittsburg. The Pirates also had a Jekyll and Hyde 2010 season as they started the season winless at 0-5 but then won every league game to only lose a rematch playoff game to league rival Heritage to end the season at 5-6. Feao Vunipola and Malik Watson will be key returning players at linebacker and quarterback to lead the Pirates.
Douglas Benton: At the end of the first half of the season, it looked like Nevada Union was primed to make another run at a SJS Division I section title. However, the Miners went winless in their first year in the Sierra Foothill League to miss the playoffs with a 4-6 record. This year, head coach Dave Humphers returns the vast majority of his starters and should be read y to compete near the top of a difficult league. Also look for Foothill-Pleasanton and Pittsburg to bounce back from first round exits after being fixtures in the NCP Top 20. Another team who will try to take the next step as a playoff contender is Elk Grove of the SJS, which returns 21 of its 37 players including 1,100 yard rusher Deon Ransom.
2. What teams have questions to answer heading into the fall?
Steve Hu: Palo Alto. When you win state, the target will be that much bigger on you. In addition, the Vikings lose Davante Adams (Fresno State), Kevin Anderson (Stanford), and T.J. Braff (Santa Clara baseball). An early season test against Archbishop Mitty will be a good indicator if the Vikings are in rebuilding or reloading mode.
Folsom. Another team that will have the bulls eye on opponents' schedules. The big question is the quarterback position as Dano Graves accounted for 62 passing touchdowns. The Bulldogs will have back to back games against Grant and San Ramon Valley to gauge where their offense is at early in the season. Folsom lost their first game last season to Grant before going unblemished the rest of the way.
Douglas Benton: Palo Alto went on a special run last season with an undefeated mark in capturing the CIF Division I state championship. The Vikings are now tasked with replacing a strong senior core, led by quarterback Christoph Bono as well as talented defenders in Anderson and Braff. They will also have to deal with WCAL teams Bellarmine and Valley Christian-San Jose which should be able to make a potential championship run. Another section finalist which will have to retool is Monterey Trail, especially in the ever expanding football area of Elk Grove. In a league with Grant at the top and a challenging non-league slate, we should know more about the Mustangs after the first month.
3. De La Salle is the clear No. 1 team. Which other schools will be in the state title discussion?
Steve Hu: Football is the consummate team sport. With that said, look at the Rivals 250 list, which only lists 4 and 5 star prospects. If your team has a 4 or 5 star prospect, that should be worth at least a few points in your advantage. Shaq Thompson (#10, 5 star, Grant), Aziz Shittu (#12, 5 star, Buhach), Arik Armstead (#23, 4 star, Pleasant Grove), Zach Kline (#40, 4 star, San Ramon Valley), Byron Marshall (#90, 4 star, Valley Christian), Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick (#180, 4 star, Whitney), and Freddie Tagaloa (#206, 4 star, Salesian) will all give their respective teams legit chances of going undefeated and will have strong playoff teams. And keep in mind, these teams also have other players who are high caliber players as well. Interestingly, De La Salle has no one on the top 250 list but still return some really good pieces in Michael Barton, Bart Houston, and Michael Hutchings.
Douglas Benton: This has the potential to be another big year for NorCal on the state stage after winning four of the five games in 2010. Outside of De La Salle, Pleasant Grove and Bellarmine will be in the discussion for a bid all year as the favorites in the SJS Division I and CCS Open Division respectively in returning a high number of starters off of successful seasons. These two schools look to fill spots No. 2 and 3 in NorCal heading into the year. Other teams will be Grant and Del Oro out of the SJS in what could be another thrilling Division II playoff field. In the lower levels, Cardinal Newman should be very good again this year as well as Escalon with Josh Miguel back in the fold. Salesian should also challenge as a team playing excellent football down the stretch and the CIF Division IV runner-up Brookside Christian returns quarterback Tony Rodriguez.
4. What are the non-league games you would most want to attend?
Steve Hu: Folsom at Grant 8/27. Going into last season's playoff game, Grant was undefeated and had cruised in the earlier season matchup but lost to Folsom. This game can be a springboard for Thompson to showcase his national status. Like the college BCS system, the winner will be that much ahead in the state title playoff chance. But remember, Folsom lost this game last season and was still able to rebound against the long odds. Expect Grant to win at home as their offense will be hard to stop all year.
Pittsburg at Monte Vista 9/16. Monte Vista gets overshadowed by De La Salle but they feature a very strong team as well. Both Monte Vista and Pittsburg have very good quarterbacks in Jeff Lockie and Watson respectively. Pittsburg wins a close one as the offense has dual threat playmaking quarterback.
De La Salle at St. Thomas Aquinas 9/23. De La Salle will have tough matchups with Bellarmine and St. Mary's Stockton before this game. But if they can win both of those games, this game against St. Thomas Aquinas could be a national top 5 matchup as both teams finished in the top 5 of Rivals final team rankings for last season. The game will be televised live on ESPN as St. Thomas Aquinas will be breaking in a new coach. Playing at home, expect St. Thomas Aquinas to win with their defense as lineman Jelani Hamilton is one of the top recruits in Florida.
Douglas Benton: Putting aside the De La Salle-St. Thomas Aquinas match-up, which has the potential to be one of the best games in the country all year, there are plenty of intriguing non-league games in the first month. The first one is on September 2 when Bellarmine travels to play De La Salle. It will be a Top 3 match-up and feature the Spartans against WCAL competition. This game will be an excellent gauge on how big of a separation there is between DLS and the rest of NorCal as well as if Bellarmine is worthy of national status this year. Folsom will open up its season against Grant this year, but I like the match-up with San Ramon Valley the next week. The Wolves should be very competitive this year with Kline at the helm and will be a nice test for Folsom and its pass defense. An out of the area game to look for is when Westlake comes up to play Del Oro on September 3. The Golden Eagles have received some early talk as a potential nationally ranked team and will look to post an important win against a 12-2 team last year from Southern California after losing games to Bishop Gorman and Clovis West last year.
5. Which leagues will be the toughest in NorCal this season?
Steve Hu: East Bay Athletic League has the top team in the state in De La Salle. As a result, that level of competition raises the bar for all the other teams.
WCAL always seem to perform well out of conference. The league schedule is played at a grind it out pace that goes into the playoffs. Valley Christian will probably be the favorites but Bellarmine returns a lot of key starters as well.
Douglas Benton: There are four leagues that stand out to me in Northern California, led by the Sierra Foothill League. The SFL has star power at the top, strong coaching and the depth to make it a challenge almost every week. This year, it looks to be Del Oro as the early favorite, but Granite Bay and Nevada Union aren't far behind. Also, Rocklin is just two years removed from a state bowl bid. In no particular order the rest of the way is the East Bay Athletic League, the West Catholic Athletic League and the Delta River League. The EBAL has De La Salle at the top with nice depth of good teams with San Ramon Valley, Monte Vista and Cal. The WCAL is always tough and this year is no different with Bellarmine and Valley Christian the top contenders. Serra will also be a factor with a good running game returning. Possibly the biggest factor in this league is the rivalries, which keeps the competition close. Finally, the Delta River League was tough last year and will be again with Pleasant Grove and Folsom bringing back good squads. A dark horse team to possibly slide into the third spot is Sheldon under head coach Josh Crabtree.
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