It was a wild Week 9 in Orange County football, full of upsets that radically altered my rankings.
San Clemente pulled the biggest upset.
The Tritons edged Mission Viejo but don’t forget that Corona del Mar clipped San Clemente not too long ago.
I wonder what the Sea Kings thought when they saw that SC-MV score? Wonder if they thought what many O.C. football junkies probably keep pondering: the county sure needed to see that CdM-Los Alamitos result to help with the rankings.
How do we view that 7-7 tie between CdM-LosAl in a partial game? At the least, it was a lost chance for two very good teams to further their cases for higher rankings.
If CdM defeats Los Al, the Sea Kings would be third in the county in my rankings. If Los Al wins that game, the Griffins would likely be much higher and not stuck in a debate here with Servite for the No. 8 spot.
But that Sunset League showdown didn’t get completed, the Tritons have won the South Coast title outright, something the Sunset might not have this season.
Remember what Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said about big games not being played. He used a pretty strong word after the lightning storm postponed the MD-Bosco showdown: victim.
He didn’t want his team to be a victim of circumstance.
Here’s my expansive view of the gridiron landscape:
ALBANO’S TOP 40
1.Mater Dei
2. JSerra
3. San Clemente
4. Mission Viejo
5. Orange Lutheran
6. Villa Park
7. Corona del Mar
8. Servite
9. Los Alamitos
10. Santa Margarita
11. Tesoro
12. Capo Valley
13. La Habra
14. Edison
15. San Juan Hills
16. St. Margaret’s
17. Yorba Linda
18. Valencia
19. Huntington Beach
20. Western
21. Garden Grove
22. Katella
23. Aliso Niguel
24. Sunny Hills
25. Segerstrom
26. Orange
27. Santa Ana
28. El Toro
29. Fountain Valley
30. Laguna Beach
31. Ocean View
32. Canyon
33. El Modena
34. Woodbridge
35. Pacifica
36. Cypress
37. Tustin
38. Foothill
39. Brea Olinda
40. Newport Harbor
Please send comments to Dan Albano at dalbano@scng.com or @ocvarsityguy on Twitter
