MaxPreps NorCal Top 25 high school football rankings

Section: North Coast
League: East Bay Athletic
Coach: Justin Alumbaugh
Next: vs. Liberty
Update: The top-ranked team by the Bay Area News Group and the San Francisco Chronicle, the Spartans beat Pittsburg 38-0 in the NCS Open Division semifinals. De La Salle now seeks its 27th consecutive NCS crown and 31st since 1981. A win over Liberty will land the Spartans in a CIF State title game for a record 13th consecutive season. The NorCal unbeaten streak is 299, dating back to 1991. The Spartans are a remarkable 382-5-2 against NorCal teams since 1984 and 452-25-3 overall since 1982. Earlier wins this season include 27-21 over Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, 14-0 over Sac-Joaquin Section No. 1 Folsom and 33-15 over Central Coast Section No. 1 Saint Francis.

2. (2) Folsom, 11-1
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Sierra Foothill
Coach: Kris Richardson
Next: vs. Monterey Trail
Update: The top-ranked team by The Sacramento Bee for all but one week since the start of the 2012 season, the Bulldogs are back in a SJS final for the ninth consecutive season, seeking their seventh crown this decade. The loss this season was 14-0 to De La Salle in a season opener, no thanks to five turnovers. Folsom is 124-10 this decade with three CIF State title teams (and two 14-1 teams that lost to De La Salle in the 2012 and 2013 NorCal Open finals, since dropped).

3. (3) Liberty (Brentwood), 11-0
Section: North Coast
League: Bay Valley Athletic
Coach: Ryan Partridge
Next: vs. De La Salle
Update: The Lions beat Clayton Valley Charter 42-14 in a NCS Open Division semifinal and get a shot at top-seeded De La Salle. Liberty won its first NCS championship last season, a great feat for a school that opened in 1902.

4. (4) Saint Francis (Mountain View), 11-1
Section: Central Coast
League: West Catholic Athletic
Coach: Greg Calcagno
Next: vs. Valley Christian
Update: The Lancers beat league rival Serra 38-8 in a CCS Open Division contest as Opeti Fangupo had 192 yards rushing. The loss was to De La Salle 33-15. This is the top team in the Central Coast Section, winners of 17 section titles. Saint Francis is the defending CIF State Division I-A champion.

5. (7) Monterey Trail (Elk Grove), 12-0
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Metropolitan
Coach: TJ Ewing
Next: vs. Folsom
Update: The Mustangs will meet top-seeded Folsom for the SJS Division I championship behind leaders Zach Larrier and Jehiel Budgett. It is the third D-I final for the program under the only varsity coach in program history.

6. (8) Del Oro (Loomis), 11-1
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Sierra Foothill
Coach: Jeff Walters
Next: vs. Central Catholic
Update: The Golden Eagles will play Central Catholic for the SJS Division II crown, seeking the program's 12th title since 1989. Del Oro is in a final for the 18th time, second most in section history to Central Catholic.

7. (10) Central Catholic (Modesto), 11-1
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Valley Oak
Coach: Roger Canepa
Next: vs. Del Oro
Update: The top-ranked team by The Modesto Bee, Black Hat Football and Front Row Sports, the Raiders will meet Del Oro for the SJS Division II title. Central Catholic has won a section-record 19 titles in a record 21 appearances. The loss this season was to De La Salle 35-7 after trailing by just 14 in the third quarter. Coach Canepa won CIF state titles here in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

8. (8) Placer (Auburn), 12-0
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Foothill Valley
Coach: Joey Montoya
Next: vs. Capital Christian
Update: The Hillmen slugged out a 7-6 mud win over River Valley in an SJS Division III semifinal to reach a final for the third successive season and 10th time in program history. Seventeen starters are back from a CIF state finalist. This was a state-wide power in the 1970s.

9. (16) Capital Christian (Sacramento), 12-0
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Capital Athletic
Coach: Casey Taylor
Next: vs. Placer
Update: The Cougars beat Antelope 32-13 in an SJS Division III semifinal and seek the program's first larger-division section crown after winning titles in recent years in D-5 and D-6. Coach Taylor won five section titles in eight title-game appearances at Del Oro.

10. (11) Wilcox (Santa Clara), 12-0
Section: Central Coast
League: De Anza
Coach: Paul Rosa
Next: vs. Menlo-Atherton
Update: The Chargers beat Salinas 45-27 in a CCS Open Division I semifinal by rushing 62 times for 313 yards, including 123 yards and three scores by Paul Rosa. Wilcox last won a section title in 1997 and this season produced its first 10-0 regular season since 1991.

11. (12) Valley Christian (San Jose), 10-2
Section: Central Coast
League: West Catholic Athletic
Coach: Mike Machado
Next: vs. Saint Francis
Update: The Warriors beat Mitty 42-14 in a CCS Open Division 2 semifinal and face another league rival for the title. The losses were to Saint Francis 7-3 and 10-6 to Wilcox. Valley Christian went 12-1 in 2004, 12-1 in 2005, 11-2 in 2010 and 13-2 in 2016.

12. (5) Clayton Valley Charter (Concord), 9-2
Section: North Coast
League: Diablo Foothill
Coach: Tim Murphy
Next: season complete
Update: The Ugly Eagles lost to Liberty 42-14 in the NCS Open Division semifinals. The Ugly Eagles have emerged as a power of late, going 12-1 in 2008, 12-2 in 2012, 11-2 in 2013, 15-1 in 2015 and 13-2 in 2016.

13. (6) Pittsburg, 7-4
Section: North Coast
League: Bay Valley
Coach: Vic Galli
Next: season complete
Update: The Pirates lost to De La Salle in an NCS Open Division semifinal, 38-0. Pittsburg played for the CIF State Division I title last season and is the last NorCal program to beat De La Salle, in the 1991 NCS finals.

14. (14) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 10-1
Section: North Coast
League: North Bay
Coach: Paul Cronin
Next: vs. El Cerrito
Update: The Cardinals as the top seed in the NCS Division III playoffs raced past Encinal 56-21 after leading 35-0 at the half. The loss was to No. 3 Liberty, 31-14. This has been a power since the 1970s. Cardinal Newman has won 11 or more games nine times since 2006.

15. (13) Inderkum (Sacramento), 11-1
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Capital Valley
Coach: Terry Stark
Next: season complete
Update: The Tigers lost to Central Catholic 31-30 in an SJS Division II semifinal. This has been a section power under coach Stark since 2006, winning 10 or more games 12 successive seasons with seasons of 12-2, 12-1, 11-3 and 11-1 in recent years.

16. (33) Menlo-Atherton (Atherton), 11-2
Section: Central Coast
League: Peninsula Bay
Coach: Adhir Ravipati
Next: vs. Wilcox
Update: The Bears will face Wilcox in the CCS Open Division I championship, led on defense by Noa Ngalu. The program went 12-3 in 2016 and went 11-2 in 2007 and 2008.

17. (16) Palo Alto, 10-2
Section: Central Coast
League: De Anza
Coach: Nelson Gifford
Next: season complete
Update: The Vikings lost to Menlo-Atherton 17-7 in the CCS Open Division I playoffs. The other loss was 35-21 to Wilcox. The Vikings have won five section titles since 2004 and a state title in 2010 with a 14-0 team.

18. (20) Eureka, 11-0
Section: North Coast
League: Humboldt Del Norte
Coach: Jason White
Next: vs. Las Lomas
Update: The Loggers will face Las Lomas in the NCS Division III semifinals. This has been a power from the northern part of the state, having gone 12-2 in 2009 and 11-1 last season.

19. (32) Las Lomas (Walnut Creek), 12-0
Section: Central Coast
League: Diablo Valley
Coach: Doug Longero
Next: vs. Eureka
Update: The Knights are in the NCS Division III semifinals after beating Newark Memorial 54-7 and Terra Linda 42-09. Not bad for a program that went 1-9 in 2015 and 0-10 in 2016. Las Lomas went 13-1 in 2007.

20. (14) Serra (San Mateo), 7-4
Section: Central Coast
League: West Catholic Athletic
Coach: Patrick Walsh
Next: season complete
Update: The Padres lost to Saint Francis in a CCS Open Division II contest, 38-8. Last season, Serra won the WCAL, CCS, NorCal and CIF State titles, and it takes a 13-game WCAL winning streak into league play.

21. (18) Freedom (Oakley), 8-3
Section: North Coast
League: Bay Valley
Coach: Andrew Coakley
Next: vs. California
Update: The Falcons beat Amador Valley 48-29 in an NCS Division I playoff and meet California in a semifinal. Two of the losses were to Pittsburg and Liberty. Earlier wins include 14-7 over Antioch and 37-24 over San Ramon Valley. The Falcons went 10-2 in 2011, 11-2 in 2016 and 9-3 in 2017.

22. (22) St. Mary's (Stockton), 7-5
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Tri-City Athletic
Coach: Tony Franks
Next: season complete
Update: The Rams lost to top-seeded Folsom in the SJS Division I playoffs, 52-7. The other losses include Central Catholic, Pittsburg and Mater Dei with a big win was 44-20 over Bishop O'Dowd. St. Mary's went 13-1 in 2004, 12-2 in 2007, 12-3 in 2008, 11-1 in 2009, 11-2 in 2010, 12-2 in 2014 and 14-2 in 2016

23. (22) Sheldon (Sacramento), 9-2
Section: Sac-Joaquin
League: Delta
Coach: Joe Cattolico
Next: season complete
Update: The Huskies lost to St. Mary's in the final seconds of an SJS Division I game. The other loss was in a season opener to Monterey Trail, which is 12-0.

24. (23) Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland), 10-2
Section: North Coast
League: West Alameda
Coach: Napolean Kaufman
Next: vs. Campolindo
Update: The Dragons are in the NCS Division II semifinal after rolling Benicia 49-14. The losses were to De La Salle and St. Mary's of Stockton. The Dragons have been a power of late with a record of success.

25. (tie) (24) Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park), 11-1
Section: North Coast
League: North Bay
Coach: Gehrig Hotaling
Next: vs. Marin Catholic
Update: The Cougars beat American Canyon 42-7 to advance to the NCS Division III semifinals. The loss was to Cardinal Newman, 42-21. Rancho Cotate went 10-3 in 2007, 12-2 in 2010, 13-1 in 2012 and 10-2 last season.

25. (tie) (25) Campolindo (Moraga), 10-2
Section: North Coast
League: Diablo Foothill
Coach: Kevin Macy
Next: vs. Bishop O'Dowd
Update: The Cougars beat Ukiah 49-14 to advance to the NCS Division II semifinals. The program has won five section titles and two CIF State banners this decade under coach Macy.

The Next 10
26. San Ramon Valley (Danville) — 7-4
27. California (San Ramon) — 8-3
28. Moreau Catholic (Hayward) — 11-0
29. Aptos — 11-2
30. Chico — 10-1
31. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) — 8-4
32. Rio Linda — 10-2
33. Casa Roble (Orangevale) — 11-1
34. Colfax — 12-0
35. Bear River (Grass Valley) — 11-1


Joe Davidson has covered high school sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1988. Follow him on Twitter: @SacBee_JoeD and on Facebook: sacbeepreps and on Instagram: JoeDavidsonMedia