"You've got to play the field" is what I quoted St. Paul High School head football coach Marijon Ancich as saying in the aftermath of his team's 63-14 loss to Crespi Friday night. The context: I was asking him how Crespi stacked up against the teams St. Paul has lost to thus far, and St. Paul has lost to some great teams: notably, St. John Bosco of Bellflower and Bishop Amat of La Puente. He said Encino was the best, but you've got to play the field.
I think what he meant was, you've got to prove it on the field, and that's the whole essence of high school football. One week St. Paul loses 38-6 to Bishop Amat, and the next week it loses 63-14 to Encino, but does that mean Encino would beat Bishop Amat by 21 points next time around? Not at all. You've got to prove it on the field each week, and part of the fun of all this is seeing just how often teams fail to perform to your expectations.
For example: I said last week that Loyola of Los Angeles was the best-looking team I'd seen all year. But this was a team that had lost (the week before I saw them) by 20 points to Valencia ... a team that I had seen earlier in the year just barely squeaking by Thousand Oaks by a field goal. And Thousand Oaks is a team that I've seen get pounded by Westlake.
Well, last week added to the questionable character of my assessment of Loyola as "the best team I've seen all year," as the Cubs went and lost to St. Francis of La Canada Flintridge ... another team I've seen. And when I saw St. Francis, they were just squeaking by Crescenta Valley, and C.V. is the lowest ranked team I've seen all year (on the calpreps rankings). Good thing I'm not gambling on any of these games.
* Some Bay Area scores just to stay global.
All these rankings are from the great calpreps.com.
Last week's results
Southern Section
No. 2 Oaks Christian 43, No. 518 Carpinteria 0
No. 7 Serra 34, No. 71 Harvard-Westlake 6
No. 13 Valencia 49, No. 495 Golden Valley 0
No. 14 Bishop Amat 36, No. 44 Alemany 14
No. 21 Westlake 31, No. 45 Newbury Park 27
No. 25 Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks 21, No. 90 Chaminade 3
No. 50 St. Francis 27, No. 32 Loyola 23
No. 64 Crespi 63, No. 166 St. Paul 14
No. 177 Thousand Oaks 42, No. 402 Calabasas 13
No. 222 Saugus 26, No. 267 West Ranch 22
L.A. Section
No. 339 Cleveland 13, No. 331 Birmingham 12
No. 76 El Camino Real 59, No. 456 Granada Hills 10
No. 109 Taft 53, No. 513 Chatsworth 6
No. 132 Arleta 42, No. 589 Van Nuys 0
No. 336 Sylmar 21, No. 364 Panorama 19
No. 421 Reseda 14, No. 254 San Fernando 6
No. 280 Poly 77, No. 609 Verdugo Hills 0
No. 349 Kennedy 23, No. 567 Monroe 0
No. 427 Grant 33, No. 596 N. Hollywood 6
No. 462 Canoga Park 37, No. 544 Firebaugh-Lynwood 6
Next week:
Southern Section:
No. 392 Oak Park at No. 2 Oaks Christian
No. 3 Moorpark at No. 159 Thousand Oaks
No. 43 Loyola at No. 10 Bishop Amat
No. 12 Westlake at No. 235 Royal-Simi Valley
No. 55 Crespi at No. 17 Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks
No. 21 Valencia vs. No. 82 Hart-Newhall at College of the Canyons
No. 188 St. Paul at No. 33 St. Francis
No. 39 Newbury Park at No. 239 Agoura
No. 96 Chaminade at No. 53 Alemany
No. 194 Saugus vs. No. 476 Golden Valley (game played at Canyon)
L.A. Section
No. 114 Taft at No. 69 El Camino Real
No. 132 Arleta at No. 429 Grant
No. 285 Cleveland at No. 460 Granada Hills
No. 299 Sylmar at No. 363 Kennedy
No. 381 Panorama at No. 304 San Fernando
No. 596 North Hollywood at No. 312 Poly
No. 360 Reseda at No. 568 Monroe
No. 485 Chatsworth at No. 375 Birmingham
No. 468 Canoga Park at No. 586 Van Nuys
Thanks to my Daily News sports section (I just started getting it delivered last Thursday--$70 for the whole year) for all results.
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