Northern California high school football rankings: Archbishop Riordan rolling, Serra breaks through

De La Salle remains No. 1 after 5-0 start with smothering defense.

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Oct 1, 2025, 3:07pm
Most every Northern California team is in league play now, and just in time for the official start of fall.

Top-ranked De La Salle (Concord) has one more nonleague game before kicking off East Bay Mountain League action on Oct. 17 after a bye week.

A peek at some highlights from last week
Manteca is 5-0 after rolling Central Catholic 49-7 to open Valley Oak League play and No. 6 in the NorCal Top 20. (PHOTO: Charles Chang)
Manteca is 5-0 after rolling Central Catholic 49-7 to open Valley Oak League play and No. 6 in the NorCal Top 20. (PHOTO: Charles Chang)
De La Salle rolls on
De La Salle (Concord) moved to 5-0 after beating longtime Sac-Joaquin Section powerhouse St. Mary's (Stockton), 36-7, as the defense was stout again.

DLS has not allowed an offensive touchdown in four games, including against St. Mary's.

Duece Jones-Drew rushed for two touchdowns as the Spartans grinded away with seven players combining to rush 36 times for 292 yards and four scores, averaging 8.1 yards a carry.

DLS plays unbeaten Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) on Friday.

Riordan breakthrough
Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) moved to 4-0 with a 47-28 victory over Saint Francis (Mountain View) to open West Catholic Athletic League play, and that was the first Crusaders road victory over the storied Lancers since 1971.

Michael Mitchell Jr. passed for 364 yards and four touchdowns to spark Riordan.

Manteca mauls rival
The Manteca Buffaloes have thundered to a trophy case full of Sac-Joaquin Section championships, and they are 5-0 after rolling Central Catholic 49-7 to open Valley Oak League play.

Nikko Juarez rushed 18 times for 293 yards and three touchdowns, and Maava Tialavea scored twice as the team rushed 30 times for 353 yards, averaging 11.8 yards a carry.

Serra breaks through
Junipero Serra (San Mateo) finally tasted victory after playing as brutal of a schedule as any team on the West Coast.

Serra beat Valley Christian (San Jose) 41-6 with nine players combining to rush 32 times for 167 yards with six different players scoring points, including Saul Marks making all five of his extra points and drilling two field goals.

Dylan Modena and Cornell James each returned interceptions for touchdowns to pace the Padres defense.

Serra has losses to NorCal No. 1 De La Salle, No. 2 Folsom and to MaxPreps national No. 1 St. John Bosco.

Short-handed Jesuit stuns Rocklin
Down a host of starters because of injury, including three offensive linemen and the team's fastest skill player, Jesuit (Carmichael) rocked Rocklin 20-14 in a Sierra Foothill League contest.

Teddy Rios sealed it with a late 42-yard touchdown strike to Stevie Hughes, and the Marauders exhaled when a last-play Hail Mary bomb from Reeve Slone into the end zone was ruled incomplete.

Sophomore running back John Giovannettone rushed for 102 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown, and Brody Quinn ran for 84 yards and had a score for Jesuit, which was coming off of a 31-20 loss to Granite Bay.

Analy heats up
After dropping a 48-13 season opener at Windsor, the Analy (Sebastopol) Tigers have won four consecutive games, including 48-34 over Kimball (Tracy).

Junior quarterback Matthew Medina overcame an early pick-6 to fire six touchdown passes, two of them to Darren Bauman, and he ran for a score. Medina passed for 306 yards.

Vinnie and the Jets
An 0-4 start to the season for Amador Valley (Pleasanton) was not expected for a program that in 2024 won the CIF Northern California Regional Division 3-AA championship and nearly won a CIF State crown before falling to Bakersfield in a thriller
Graduation cleared out a host of Amador football starters, though Vincent Maiorana returned. The senior rushed for 330 yards and six touchdowns to power the Dons past Foothill (Pleasanton) 49-25.

St. Helena red hot in the Napa Valley
The Redwood Empire has a team to ponder and a player, too.

St. Helena is 5-0, thanks in part to Dean Sommer, a three-sport star.

The senior receiver/defensive back returned two interceptions for touchdowns, and he returned a punt 50 yards to the end zone. He had 191 yards of total yards, including handoffs and receptions.

NorCal Top 20

1. De La Salle (Concord), 5-0
2. Folsom, 4-1
3. Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco), 4-0
4. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills), 4-1
5. Pittsburg, 3-1
6. Manteca, 5-0
7. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 4-1
8. Grant (Sacramento), 2-4
9. Central East (Fresno), 4-1
10. Clovis East (Clovis), 4-1
11. Granite Bay, 4-2
12. Junipero Serra (San Mateo), 0-3
13. St. Mary's (Stockton), 3-2
14. Rocklin, 3-2
15. Soquel, 4-0
16. California (San Ramon), 5-0
17. Clovis, 4-1
18. Los Gatos, 2-2
19. Clovis North (Fresno), 5-0
20. Acalanes (Lafayette), 5-0

Joe Davidson has covered high school sports since 1984, including since 1989 with The Sacramento Bee. He is part of the weekly 3 Stooges Podcast that breaks down CIF Northern California sports. In 2024, he was named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California. In that same year, he was inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame at the Rose Bowl. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association and has been honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award and was in 2025 presented the Legacy Award for years of football contribution by the National Football Foundation, Sacramento Chapter.

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