On November 13th, 2009 Cloverdale defeated St. Vincent 38-7.   The two teams went into that game tied for first place in the NCL I South race and the win gave the Eagles the league championship.
Since then things have changed.
One of the changes is that when Cloverdale travels to meet St. Vincent on Saturday the two teams aren’t in the same league.
In 2009 the NCL I was divided into North and South.   Cloverdale and St. Vincent were two of five teams in the NCL I South.   That was the league from 2005-2011 and St. Vincent had pretty good success, sharing one league championship and winning another one outright.
In 2011, Cloverdale was put in a more tradition NCL I with seven other teams.   There is no North or South.     Meanwhile, St. Vincent was placed in the NCL II with three other teams.   The next two seasons it was changed to the NCL II/Bay Football league.  This year it is back to the NCL II with St. Vincent joined by Calistoga, Tomales and Upper Lake.  Each team will play a home and home in league play.
Since that game in 2009 Cloverdale has struggled.  They had one victory in each season from 2010-2012 and had a combined record of 3-26-1.  Record wise things started out the same in 2013. Although the games were closer they started 0-4.   They finished 4-2 and although the two losses were one sided to the two powers of the league (Middletown and St. Helena), there was hope for the new season.  That hope grew with the opening 35-0 win over Calistoga.
After having a couple of down years for their standards, St. Vincent went 17-6 over the last two seasons and shared both NCL II/Bay Football League titles.
The two teams have played every year since the 2009 title game. The last three has been part of the pre-league schedule.   2010 was the last season of the NCL I South.  St. Vincent has won all four games.
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
No. 10 Cloverdale (1-0) at St. Vincent (0-1)
Cloverdale scored three first quarter touchdowns and controlled things the rest of the way in its opening win at Calistoga.  Junior running back Luke Bernardi rushed for 150 yards and had one of the first quarter touchdowns.
St. Vincent started the season by losing a defensive battle to St. Bernard’s 13-6.  St. Vincent was held to a little over 200 yards in total offense.
Fort Bragg (0-1) vs. Encina (Sacramento)(0-0) at El Camino (Sacramento)
If the first game is any indication Fort Bragg will be a fun team to watch.   They lost the opener to McKinleyville 46-36 in a wild shootout.  Part of the shootout was an offensive show by Junior Quarterback Kaylor Sullivan who went 30 of 39 for 466 yards and two touchdowns.
Encina went 4-6 last season which is the best record they have had since 2004 when they had the same record.   In between they had three winless seasons and three other with one wins.
No. 8 Montgomery, Santa Rosa BYE
JC FOOTBALL
SRJC at San Joaquin Delta   1 pm
SRJC went 6-5 last season and is states No. 18 team in the pre-season rankings.
San Joaquin Delta finished 2-8 in 2013
FRIDAY SCHEDULE
No. 5 Maria Carrillo (1-0) at No. 1 Analy (1-0)
YSN365.com GAME OF THE WEEK           
No. 2 Cardinal Newman (1-0) at St. Mary’s (Stockton) (0-0)
KSRO 1350 AM…103.5 FM…GAME OF THE WEEK…BROADCAST TIME 7 PM
No. 3 Rancho Cotate (0-0) at Alhambra (1-0)
No. 4 Windsor (1-0) at Benicia (0-1)
Salesian (0-0) at No. 6 Middletown (0-0)
Napa (1-0) at No. 7 Casa Grande (0-1)
No. 9 Petaluma (1-0) at Vintage (0-1)
Ukiah (0-0) at Eureka (1-0)
Galena (Reno)(0-1) at Sonoma Valley (0-0)
Lower Lake (0-0) at El Molino (1-0)
St. Helena (0-0) at Healdsburg (0-1)
Tomales (1-0) at Elsie Allen (0-1)
Piner (0-1) at Richmond (0-0)
Clear Lake (1-0) at Durham (0-1)
Willits (0-1) at Hoopa Valley (0-1)
Upper Lake (0-1) at Kelseyville (1-0)
Calistoga (0-1) at South Fork (0-1)
My email address is jacpasquini@comcast.net