California small school bowl favorites

The California Interscholastic Federation has made several changes in the way that teams will qualify for the five bowl games at the end of the season and those changes could open the door for a number of new teams to earn a berth in the championship contests.

Instead of using enrollment-based parameters as in the past, the state has divided the enrollment divisions of each section to fit into the three bowl game divisions. The open division opponents can be chosen from any of the three CIF divisions and the small school bowl opponents will come from among the section champions in Division III for schools with less than 500 students.

For the next few weeks, MaxPreps will look at the contenders in each of the three divisions, along with the open and small schools division, before launching bowl game ratings in October. Those ratings will run through the playoffs until the bowl game selection committee makes its choices Dec. 12.

Previews begin this week with the small schools division.

SMALL SCHOOLS DIVISION
The small schools division consists for teams with enrollments of less than 500 that play in the following sectional divisions:

Northern California: Central Coast Section III-IV,  North Coast Section III-IV, Northern Section II-III-IV, Sac-Joaquin Section IV-V-VI.

Southern California: Central Section IV-V-VI, San Diego Section IV-V, Southern Section Mid-Valley, Northeast, Northwest, Southern and East Valley.

While it looks like there is the potential for a large number of small schools qualifiers, looks can be deceiving. Remember that only section champions with enrollments of less than 500 students qualify for the small schools division bowl game (the rest qualify for the Division III bowl game). That means very few of the potential section champions among the CIF Division III schools have a shot at qualifying for the small schools division bowl game. However here are a few worth considering.

NORTH
Sac-Joaquin Section IV: Previous enrollment divisions for the state bowl games kept Central Catholic (Modesto) at the bottom of Division III with no chance of qualifying for the small schools bowl. That has changed with the new parameters. With an enrollment of around 450 students, Central Catholic qualifies for the small schools bowl, now all it has to do is win the Section IV championship.

Last year, Modesto Christian won the section title and qualified for the small schools bowl game. There, it defeated Parker (San Diego) for the state title. The Raiders could meet the Crusaders in the playoffs again, but will have to get through a Western Athletic League schedule that includes a number of new opponents.

Leaving the Western Athletic League are Hilmar, Orestimba and Gustine. Taking their place are Los Banos, Ceres and Central Valley (Ceres). The Raiders are already off to an 0-1 start with a 24-21 loss to Cardinal Newman. A matchup with powerful St. Mary's (Stockton) and games against much larger Johansen (Modesto) and Tokay (Lodi) could send the Raiders into league play with a losing record.

However, should the Raiders survive their tough schedule and win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV championship, they become the heavy favorite to earn the nod. Coach Roger Kanepa begins his third year at Central Catholic with one of best athletes in the state in football-baseball standout Billy Flamion at wide receiver. Senior wideout Jack Killian gives the Raiders another standout in the receiving corps, but Canepa will have to find a new starting quarterback this year to replace the graduated Dylan Swartz.

Others to consider: Modesto Christian will miss the talents of MaxPreps Small School State MVP Isaiah Burse, who graduated last year. Le Grand may be a team to consider in Sac-Joaquin Section Division V as it opened the season with a 56-6 win over Tranquillity, which won the Central Section Division VI finals two years ago.

Northern Section IV: Some of the Northern Section's best small schools reside in Division IV, rather than Division III, including traditional powerhouses like Modoc (Alturas) and Fall River (McArthur). Coached by one of the section's all-time winningest coaches in Shaun Wood, Modoc has a stellar ground game and returns all of its skill players from last year's team that went 10-1. Fall River loses coach Todd Sloat and his son Taylor, who was an all-section quarterback last season. However the Bulldogs have won the last three Division V section titles (the Northern Section no longer has Division V) and is off to a 1-0 start. Modoc and Fall River play in the same league and will likely meet each other twice before the season ends, including the regular season meeting on Oct. 1.

Others to consider: East Nicolaus (Nicolaus) had an up and down season last year but could be the team to beat in the Mid-Valley League this year. Portola, the defending Division IV champion, lost a ton of athletes from last year's squad but will still challenge the Spartans in the MVL.

North Coast Section III: Only six teams qualify for the small schools bowl game from this North Coast Section Division — Berean Christian (Walnut Creek), Clear Lake (Lakeport), Cloverdale, Ferndale, Middletown and Valley Christian. If one of those six teams wins the NCS III title, look for them to get all consideration ahead of any NCS IV team.

Ferndale has been the traditional power here, but the Wildcats are already off to an 0-1 start after opening their season in Oakland last week against McClymonds. Ferndale was 10-1 last season and returns several of its top running backs. Replacing defensive dynamos like Sylas Sarvinski and Dustin Walter will be coach Kim Jorgensen's toughest task.

Central Coast Section III-IV: Only two Central Coast Section teams qualify for the small schools division (Marina and St. Francis (Watsonville)) and neither are expected to contend for a CCS title.

SOUTH
Central Section IV-VI: Only about five teams qualify for a small schools berth from the Central Section. They include Immanuel (Reedley) and Central Valley Christian (Visalia) in Division IV, Fresno Christian in Division V and Tranquillity and Laton in Division VI. Tranquility was the section champion in 2008, but Central Valley Christian has the best tradition. The Cavaliers have eight starters back on offense and nine back on defense, but not much help coming up from a 2-7-1 JV team. Central Valley Christian already lost its opener last week to Templeton 14-0.

San Diego Section IV-V: Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach) is the only qualifier out of Division IV in the San Diego Section, but the team with the best bet of qualifying is Parker in Division V. Last year's SoCal rep for the small schools bowl game will miss all-everything quarterback Deon Randall, but 14 other starters return, including standout running back Kenny Brookins, all-state kicker Matt Wile and receiver Roland Jackson.

Southern Section Northeast & East Valley: We will likely know who the top Southern California small schools candidate will be following St. Margaret's game against Parker this week. The Tartans won the first small schools bowl game in 2008, but they lost to Parker during the regular season last year. St. Margaret's (San Juan Capistrano) opened last week with a 41-20 win over a team from British Columbia and the team has 10 starters back, including quarterback Brennan Smith.

Very few other teams in the Northeast or East Valley Division qualify because of enrollments over 500. St. Margaret's begins the season ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section East Valley Division rankings while Bishop, which has an enrollment over 500, is ranked No. 1 in the Northeast Division.