With a few weeks left in the regular season, the race to postseason has heated up.
Sacramento Bee writer Joe Davidson takes a look at what's going on around Northern California along with the NorCal Top 20 football rankings.
Pittsburg quarterback Isaiah Harrison has helped the Pirates to a 6-1 record this season. (PHOTO: Ernie Abea)
MaxPreps NorCal No. 1
De La Salle (Concord) is charging toward another unbeaten regular season with offensive balance, superb line play and a stout defense the pillars of the program. Superb coaching binds it all together.
The Spartans last week rolled Amador Valley 56-13, storming to a 35-0 lead after the first quarter after
Jayden Nicholas took the opening kickoff 80 yards to the end zone, and
Brayden Knight had touchdown strikes to
Landon Cook,
Dylan Scott and
Emery Speight.
Riordan rolls onArchbishop Riordan (San Francisco) is the second-ranked team in the Bay Area by various media outlets and it sports one of the finest teams in school history with visions of winning the West Catholic Athletic League championship.
The Crusaders last week crushed Valley Christian 49-10 as
Michael Mitchell Jr. completed 12 of 17 passes for 292 yards and five touchdowns, three to
Cynai Thomas, and
Adonyae Brown rushed for 103 yards and two scores.
The only other unbeaten team in WCAL play is Serra, which hosts Riordan in a regular-season finale on Nov. 7.
Pitt pounds awayPittsburg entered last week's Bay Valley Athletic League game against knowing that history was on its side. The last time the Pirates lost a league game was in 2018, to Liberty, and despite a sloppy first half, Pittsburg won this meeting, 29-12.
Isaiah Harrison scored on a late 56-yard touchdown run, and
Carlos Torres tossed two TD strikes for Pittsburg, which lost only to Riordan this season, 42-35, on Sept. 13.
Burford becomes SJS rushing leaderWes Burford of
Oakdale is a throwback runner who invites contact and can also break free and sprint to the end zone.
The senior in a key Valley Oak League game against Central Catholic stepped into record-book history. In rushing for 290 yards and five touchdowns, the 6-foot, 210-pound Air Force-bound Burford became the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section's all-time career rushing leader.
Burford has 6,453 yards over three varsity seasons to go with 84 career touchdowns. He passed two all-time SJS runners who reached the NFL in Onterrio Smith of Grant (6,178 career yards from 1995-98) and Cam Skattebo of Rio Linda (6,192 from 2017-19).
Smith played for the Minnesota Vikings and Skattebo is a rookie starting back for the New York Giants.
Burford rushed for 1,819 yards and 27 TDs as a sophomore, and he went for 2,678 and 32 as a junior. This fall, he has 1,956 yards and 25 scores for a team that is 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the VOL with regular-season games remaining against Sierra and Manteca.
Central East showdown loomsThe top-ranked team in the Central Section is
Central East (Fresno), which is 7-1 with a nonleague loss to Grant on Aug. 29.
Central East is led by 2024 Central Section Player of the Year
Brandon Smith, who rushed for 260 yards and five scores in a 46-39 victory over Clovis West last week. That effort sets up a showdown Friday against Clovis in a battle of Tri-River League unbeatens.
Smith this season has rushed for 1,126 yards and 16 touchdowns after going for 1,871 and 25 in 2024.
Clovis record setterIn beating
Clovis East (Clovis) 42-15,
Clovis sets itself up nicely for a showdown against Central East to help decide the Tri-River League crown.
In that quest,
Deagan Rose has eclipsed the 10,000-yard career passing mark after passing for 243 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-15 win over Clovis East. Rose this season has passed for 1,995 yards and 22 touchdowns with one interception. He has 98 touchdowns for his career.
NorCal Top 201.
De La Salle (Concord), 7-0
2.
Folsom, 7-1
3.
Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco), 7-0
4.
Pittsburg, 6-1
5.
Manteca, 8-0
6.
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 6-1
7.
Grant (Sacramento), 5-4
8.
Central East (Fresno), 7-1
9.
Granite Bay, 7-2
10.
Junipero Serra (San Mateo), 4-3
11.
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills), 5-3
12.
St. Mary's (Stockton), 6-2
13.
California (San Ramon), 7-0
14.
Clovis, 7-1
15.
Clovis West (Fresno), 6-2
16.
Soquel, 7-0
17.
Los Gatos, 4-3
18.
Del Oro (Loomis), 5-3
19.
Jesuit (Carmichael), 5-3
20.
Acalanes (Lafayette), 8-0
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.
