Over the years the most comments I have consistently received are about the weekly rankings.
The debate at the moment is who should be No. 1 and how can Cardinal Newman be ranked higher than Rancho Cotate. I am not worried about the Newman-Rancho debate, because it will play itself out.

Analy as No. 1 is another story. Analy and Rancho Cotate are in the same division, so they could see each other then. With Cardinal Newman moving to Division 4, there can be no Analy-Cardinal Newman game.
Three of four Analy wins are against NBL teams, so you can compare scores. I’m not a fan of this because the games have such different circumstances. Also the situation will come up that Team A beat Team B by less than Team C did, but Team C has the bigger win over Team D.
Over the years the most frequent complaints are where a team from the NCL world is so high in the rankings. I have written this before and will write it again mainly because of getting new readers (I hope).
I am a graduate from the NCL world (Cloverdale), so I will be the first to admit I give them a little more attention than maybe others would. Do I think that a team from the NCL world would beat some of the NBL or SCL teams that are ranked ahead of them? Sometimes yes and sometimes no, but the rankings are based on types of games against their world. I have been tempted to put an NCL III team at No. 10, even though they are an eight man league and that may still happen.
I was pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who did it that way and it was confirmed this week when St. Helena was ranked in the Prep2Prep North Coast top 25 rankings. I asked a reporter about that and he echoed what I think, “I try to remind people that my rankings are used to recognize achievement during the season, not a projection of who would win in a game between two teams.”
By the way as far as the top, in the Prep2Prep rankings the highest local team is Cardinal Newman at No. 11. That is followed by Analy at 15 and Rancho Cotate at 16.
RANKINGS
No. 1 Analy (4-0) (Last Week No.1)…Enjoyed its first week as No. 1 with a bye. They start the quest for their fourth straight league championship this Friday Night at Sonoma Valley.
No. 2 Cardinal Newman (2-2) (2)…Jordan Brookshire is back and had a big game in a win over Santa Rosa.
No. 3 Rancho Cotate (3-1) (3)…After a bad week, the offense came back in a big way. Second of three road games to start league play when they go to Montgomery. After that is the trip to Cardinal Newman.
No. 4 St. Helena (4-0) (4)…Took care of one of the NCL I undefeated teams with a one-sided win over Cloverdale. They have hit the forty point mark in three of the four wins.
No. 5 Fort Bragg (4-0) (5)…Had the week off after opening league play with a win over Clear Lake. Next up is a home game with Lower Lake.
No. 6 Maria Carrillo (2-2) (6)…An impressive win over Montgomery gets them back to .500. Next they go to Cardinal Newman.
No. 7 Windsor (3-1) (7)…Pulled away in second half to defeat Ukiah. Next they meet Casa Grande in a game that will be at Petaluma High School.
No. 8 Petaluma (3-2) (10)…Has a three game winning streak to get over .500. They go to Piner on Saturday.
No. 9 Willits (4-0) (9)…Has won as many games as the last two seasons combined. They have a 41 point scoring average, which is second in the area behind St. Helena.
No. 10 Middletown (1-2) (NR)…Of course had to get them in here. Just playing a game is remarkable. Winning counts as going over the top.
POWER RANKINGS
No. 1 Rancho Cotate (Last Week No. 1)
No. 2 Analy (2)
No. 3 Cardinal Newman (3)
No. 4 Windsor (4)
No. 5 St. Helena (6)
No. 6 Maria Carrillo (8)
No. 7 Casa Grande (5)
No. 8 Fort Bragg (7)
No.9 Petaluma (9)
No. 10 Cloverdale (10)
HONORS
Coleman Drew (Middletown)…Rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns as they returned to the field with a 21-0 win over Lower Lake.

Chris Taylor Yamanoha (Rancho Cotate)…Had his hand all over the 48-28 win over Casa Grande with a season best in catches with seven, and in yards with 132, two of them going for touchdowns. Also rushed the ball once for a four yard score and for good measure added two interceptions, which gives him three on the season.
Jordan Brookshire (Cardinal Newman)…Returned from concussion injury in a big way by rushing for 138 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-10 win over Santa Rosa.
Jahaiver Otero (St. Helena)…Rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown in a 41-13 win over Cloverdale. Otero also caught a touchdown pass. The touchdowns came in the third quarter and broke open a close game.
Lucas Dentoni (Petaluma)…166 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a 51-13 win over Sonoma Valley. It was his second highest rushing game of the season and the third straight game he has scored two touchdowns.
Max Brown (Windsor)…Threw for 288 yards and four touchdowns in 39-22 win over Ukiah. All four touchdowns came in the second half as Windsor pulled away from a 14-12 halftime lead. He also threw a pass for a two point conversion and rushed for 66 yards.
Edgar Evina (Calistoga)…Had sixty seven yards in receiving, which doesn’t sound like much but it was all the Calistoga passing offense. He did it on two catches, which both were touchdowns in a 60-24 win over Potter Valley. He also led the team in tackles with 12.
Josh Groesback (Maria Carrillo)…152 yards on 25 carries in a 42-7 win over Montgomery. He scored the first four Puma touchdowns. Maria Carrillo rushed for 403 yards on the night.
Nick Vollert (St. Vincent)…A bright side in a 54-21 loss to Balboa with ten catches for 169 yards. Second straight game with ten catches and in four of five games has at hit at least the 100 yard mark in receiving. The last three weeks he has hit at least 160.
KSRO GAME OF THE WEEK…Maria Carrillo at Cardinal Newman…Broadcast Time…Friday 6:35 pm
My email address is jacpasquini@comcast.net