Moore League football games have been switched from Friday night - aka Halloween -- to Thursday night to avoid "all the ghosts and goblins out there."
Jordan at Wilson was already schedule for Thursday, but Poly at Cabrillo and Millikan at Compton have been switched to Thursday. Game times remain at 7 p.m. Lakewood has a bye.
It should be noted that Banning at San Pedro at 6:30 p.m. and Carson at Gardena at 7 p.m. had previously been switched to Thursday night as well.
The North-South Water Polo Challenge will be held, starting today and ending Saturday, up north, and is arguably the closest thing to a state championship in boys' water polo.
The top teams from the CIF-Southern Section, unbeaten No. 1 El Toro and No. 2 Los Alamitos, will face the top teams from Northern California, most notably top-ranked in the state and undefeated Miramonte, the San Diego area, Bishop's School and Carlsbad, and the Central Coast in a 16-team field.
Los Alamitos has just two losses, to El Toro and Miramonte by two-goal margins in each game.
Should be interesting
Artesia vs. Mayfair - The Pioneers, behind the passing game of QB Donnay Ragland, have been nearly unstoppable this year. Not sure the 'Soons have enough to slow them down or keep up. Take Artesia
St. John Bosco vs. Orange Lutheran - I will let a little secret out: I've kinda jumped on the Braves Bandwagon, and I'm not gettin' kicked off anytime soon. SJB is for real.
San Pedro vs. Narbonne -- For the simple reason that "Defense wins," it's a no-brainer to pick stingy San Pedro.
Jordan at Compton -- This one is really intriguing, especially since the Panthers popped Lakewood last week. But I will go with the 'Babes, noting how many big-play kind of guys they have on offense.
Lynwood at Gahr -- Now that Dominguez has been beaten and the SGVL door wide open, look for the aerial attack of QB Corey Neilson and the Gladiators to fly to the forefront.
Like lots and lots of sports fans, I like rankings and polls. But I know why coaches dislike them so much - because they mean absolutely nothing. And some are downright ridiculous.
In the age of the Internet and etc., it seems like everybody has things ranked. I'm sure if I scoured google long and hard enough, I could probably find rankings for middle school tiddlywinks. And who are most of these people, these group who "vote" in the polls?
Because of this, rankings and polls have gone from being meaningful to gossip-like. It's anything but scientific. It's just opinion.
Take the latest CIF-SS Pac-5 Division rankings for example:
PAC-5 DIVISION
RK. LW SCHOOL (LEAGUE) W/L RESULT NEXT
1. 1. Long Beach Poly (Moore) 6-0 def. Millikan, 50-7 @ Wilson/Long Beach
2. 3. Orange Lutheran (Trinity) 5-1 def. JSerra, 35-3 St. John Bosco
3. 4. Los Alamitos (Sunset) 6-0 def. Marina, 42-7 Edison
4. 5. Crespi (Serra) 5-1 def. Chaminade, 42-17 St. Francis
5. 6. Edison (Sunset) 5-1 def. Newport Harbor, 14-7 @ Los Alamitos
6. 7. Notre Dame/SO (Serra) 6-0 def. Alemany, 44-17 St. Paul
7. 8. St. John Bosco (Trinity) 6-0 def. Santa Margarita, 47-21 @ Orange Lutheran
8. 10. Mater Dei (Trinity) 4-2 def. Servite, 42-21 JSerra
9. UR Tesoro (South Coast) 6-0 def. Mission Viejo, 31-14 @ San Clemente
10. 2. Mission Viejo (South Coast) 5-1 lost to Tesoro, 14-31 @ Aliso Niguel
Others Receiving Votes: San Clemente (South Coast), 6-0; Compton (Moore), 5-0; Bishop Amat (Serra), 5-1; Servite (Trinity), 3-3.
I want to pick on where Orange Lutheran sits as compared to St. John Bosco. How is one-loss OL second and undefeated SJB seventh? It seems like it should be the other way around.
For what it's worth, Maxpreps.com has SJB ranked No. 4 in the STATE and OL isn't even in the top 25.
I guess we will be able to find out which rankings are better Friday night when SJB and OL hook up at Orange Coast College at 7:30 p.m.
Here is the Press-Telegram Top 10 Football Rankings for this week:
1 Poly (6-0)
Friday vs. Wilson
2 St. John Bosco (6-0)
Friday vs. Orange Lutheran
3 Serra (6-0)
Friday vs. Harvard-Westlake
5 Los Alamitos (6-0)
Thursday vs. Edison
5 Compton (5-0)
Friday vs. Jordan
6 Jordan (5-1)
Friday at Compton
7 Narbonne (5-1)
Friday vs. San Pedro
8. San Pedro (6-0)
Friday at Narbonne
9 Lakewood (1-6*)
Friday at Jordan
10. Artesia (6-1)
Friday vs. Mayfair
Teams to watch: Lynwood (4-1-1), Valley Christian (6-1), Paramount (4-2), Warren (4-2), Wilson (4-3), Mayfair (4-3), St. Paul (3-3), Carson (3-3), Gahr (3-3).
* - forfeited four wins
Artesia routed Glenn, 42-0, on Saturday night behind another strong outing from QB Donnay Ragland, who threw for 2 TDs and ran for two more.
The Pionners are 6-1 and 3-0 in the Suburban League. They face perennial league favorite Mayfair on Friday for first place.
Jordan High is apparently the real deal, getting a quality 21-14 win over Lakewood on Friday night. From what I heard about the Panthers, they were a good team that could make some noise in the Moore League. Now I know what that sound was Friday night.
And the San Gabriel Valley League is officially a wide-open race, after Gahr knocked off longstanding power Dominguez, 42-35. The Dons are now 0-6 and apparently snowballing in the wrong direction. That really leaves the door open for a team, say Gahr or Lynwood, to slip through.
And San Pedro did it too, topping Carson, 6-5. Man, the Pirates defense is gooood!
Cypress beat Kennedy, leaving me just 1 for 4 on my picks this week.
OUCH!!!
After going 3 for 3 in Week 5, here are some more predictions for Week 6
Lakewood at Jordan -- The Lancers are too talented overall for the Panthers, but the game could be closer than some might think.
Dominguez at Gahr -- After thinking it over the past few days, I am going with the crowd in believing the Dons, despite being 0-5, are still the class of the SGVL. Dominguez wins first game.
Cypress vs. Kennedy -- I love the fact that Cypress is a hard-hitting, love-to-hurt-you kind of team, so the nod goes to the Centurions breaking a 7-year losing streak to their rivals.
Carson at San Pedro -- This could be the game of the week. San Pedro has a tough, tough defense, but the bottom line is that Carson has too much speed and playmaking ability.Colts in a close one; maybe even at OT affair like last year.
On Friday, St. Anthony is celebrating its 2008 homecoming - against St. Genevieve at Clark Ave. Field at 7 p.m., by honoring the 1948 Saints football team that beat Santa Barbara, 8-7, for the CIF championship.
Expected are 18-20 players (and some cheerleaders), along with their families. They will be honored at a pre-game party from 5-7 p.m. at St Cyprian church (right
next door to the field). All alumni, family and friends are invited to the "tailgate" party.
The 1948 team will be honored before the game and at half time.
For more information, contact Pat Metzger at patriciametzger@gmail.com
or at (562) 243-8460.
The San Gabriel Valley League football season kicks off Friday, and to be totally, honest, I don't know what to make out of it.
Despite perennial favorite Dominguez opening the season 0-5, albeit against some pretty tough company, and what has seemed like plenty of dysfuntion around the program this year, many believe the Dons will rebound and win yet another league title.
I'm not so sure.
No doubt about it, the Dons have the best defense in the league. However, they also have an offense that has struggled all year due to inexperience. That should make for low-scoring games, meaning a lucky break here or there could sink them.
And SGVL rivals have some big-play ability that could create that lucky break.
Dominguez will be tested Friday against high-scoring Gahr and QB Corey Nielson, who leads the area in passing.
And in future weeks, the Dons will be up against a talented crew from Lywnood that can run the ball like crazy. Warren has a legit back in Jesse Callier. Paramount is 4-1 because of its defense, and Downey hasn't shown to be a pushover.
Part of me would like to say Dominguez will be there at the end, but maybe there are just too many hurdles to for the Dons to overcome in what should be the most wide open the SGVL has been in some time.
Press-Telegram Top 10
1 Poly (5-0)
Friday vs. Millikan
2 St. John Bosco (5-0)
Friday vs. Santa Margarita
3 Serra (5-0)
Friday vs. Bosco Tech
4 Los Alamitos (5-0)
Thursday vs. Marina
5 Compton (5-0)
Oct. 24 at Jordan
6 Lakewood (1-5*)
Friday at Jordan
7 Jordan (4-1)
Friday vs. Lakewood
8 Narbonne (4-1)
Friday at Banning
9. San Pedro (5-0)
Friday vs. Carson
10. Carson (2-3)
Friday at San Pedro
Teams to watch: Lynwood (4-0-1) Artesia (5-1), Valley Christian (5-1), Paramount (3-1), St. Paul (3-2).
* - forfeited four wins
As predicted Friday...
Poly beat St. Bonaventure won with its defense, and will now more or less cruise until the second or so round of the playoffs.
Los Alamitos proved too much for City power Narbonne.
Serra, with its big-play ability, routed Woodland Hills Taft. The Cavs' defense was pretty good too.
OK, I admit, that Banning game (the super reach of the week) didn't come through too good.
Going out on a limb to predict a couple of big gridiron games tonight.
Poly vs. St. Bonaventure -- Bottom line is defense wins, and Poly's D is so fast and physical. Take the Jackrabbits
Los Alamitos vs. Narbonne -- Tough one because neither team has played a team as capable as each other. Narbonne seems a little banged up, so going with the Griffins.
Serra at Woodland Hills Taft -- Serra will put up points, no doubt about that. But can the Cavs stop Taft, that's the question. In a close one, going with Serra because of big-play ability.
And for fun, let's try an upset special....With so many apparent lopsided games on the schedule, this is really going out on a limb - Banning over Orange Lutheran.
The big Los Al vs. Narbonne football game will now be played Friday night - not Saturday as many schedules show - at 7 p.m. And it will be played at Narbonne - not at Gahr.
Press-Telegram Top 10
1 Poly (4-0)
Friday vs. St. Bonaventure
2 St. John Bosco (5-0)
Oct. 17 vs. Santa Margarita
3 Serra (4-0)
Friday at Woodland Hills Taft
4 Los Alamitos (4-0)
Saturday vs. Narbonne
5 Compton (4-0)
Friday at Wilson
6 Narbonne (4-0)
Saturday vs. Los Alamitos
7 Lakewood (0-5*)
Friday vs. Cabrillo
8 Jordan (3-1)
Friday vs. Millikan
9. San Pedro (4-0)
Friday vs. Sylmar
10. Carson (2-3)
Oct. 17 at San Pedro
Teams to watch: Paramount (3-0), Lynwood (3-0-1) Artesia (4-1), Valley Christian (4-1), Bell (3-1), St. Paul (2-2), Norwalk (2-2), Warren (2-2), Banning (2-2), Gahr (2-3).
* - forfeited four wins
The Downey vs. Kennedy football game that was orginally set for Saturday night at Western High has been changed to Friday night at Downey.
Also, the Steve Lewis Volleyfest will be played at Poly High, not at Lakewood like some guy (uh, hum, hum) messed up on earlier in the week. My apologies!
I've noticed quite a few of you out there videotaping games. If you are one of those videographers, I'd like to talk to you about uploading some of that game footage. Email me at dave.werstine@presstelegram.com
So, just how will the Moore League football season play out. Here's just one predicition:
1. Poly -- Just too good. Case closed
2. Compton -- This spot and the next two are really up for grabs, but picking 'babes on gut feeling.
3. Lakewood -- Solid team, but loss of star RB will probably hurt.
4. Jordan -- The Panthers are wild cards in the equation. Seem like they might be able to sneak up on Compton or Jordan.
5. Millikan -- With a couple of big games from QB Holtz, Rams have a chance to upset Nos. 2-4 but not all of them.
6. Wilson -- Bruins need to find a way to get their best player, Roberts, the ball even more to finish ahead of this spot. Or beat Millikan on Friday.
7. Cabrillo -- Am as sure Jags will finish here as Poly will be first
