Garden Grove's Puga steps down

by Jeff Fisher
Follow @HSFBamerica

After four very successful years as the head football coach at Garden Grove, Willy Puga is stepping down, according to Steve Fryer of OCVarsity.com.

Puga led the Argonauts to a 41-12 record with a 2010 CIF-Southern Division championship to go along with runner-up finishes in '12 and '13.  This past season, Garden Grove finished 13-1, losing to eventual state champ Corona del Mar in the championship game.

Long Beach Poly taps former Giant LB Antonio Pierce as new head coach

 

by Jeff Fisher
Follow @HSFBamerica

Antonio Pierce, who played nine years in the NFL with the Giants and the Redskins, is the new head football coach at Long Beach Poly.

Pierce, who was introduced to the media today, becomes the 25th coach of the Jackrabbits, who have been playing football for 106 years.  Pierce takes over for Raul Lara, who resigned at the end of last season after leading the school to a record five CIF-SS titles and an overall record of 142-30.

Pierce, who is native of Compton, played his prep football at Paramount High. After high school, he went on to Mt. San Antonio College before moving on to Arizona. He was undrafted, but had a successful professional career making the Pro Bowl in 2006. He was a starter on the Giants' Super Bowl team in 2007.

While addressing the media, Pierce, who's son will be a junior on the team this year, said he will continue with his ESPN analyst duties.  You can hear his comments about commuting to ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut and topics in the video above.

MaxPreps honors St. John Bosco

 

by Jeff Fisher
Follow @HSFBamerica

There is no shortage of national ranking folks out there these days.  Even I decided to dip my toe into the pool a couple of years ago with a High School Football America Top 25.

In my mind though, MaxPreps has done the best job through the years with two different types of polls - one an opinion poll, the Xcellent 25, headed by my good friend Steve Spiewak and the Freeman Rankings that use a non-biased computer program to determine team rank.

This past season, St. John Bosco came out on-top in the Freeman Rankings and this past Monday, representatives of MaxPreps traveled to Bellflower to honor the Braves and head coach Jason Negro as part of the website's Tour of Champions journey around America.

2103 Southern California High School Football Playoff Scores - November 15, 2013

Southern California High School Football Scores
CIF LA City Section and Southern Section Playoffs
Friday, November 15, 2013

1st Round

CIF-SS

Pac 5

St. John Bosco 69 Agoura 24
Tesoro 49 Cabrillo 32
Servite 42 Westlake 21
Alemany 48 Lakewood 29
Long Beach Poly 18 Orange Lutheran 16
St. Bonaventure 35 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 21
Mater Dei 28 Oaks Christian 17
Mission Viejo 45 Crespi 0

Inland

Vista Murrieta 57 Los Osos 14
Charter Oak 53 Yucaipa 33
Rancho Cucamonga 48 Redlands East Valley 7
Norco 56 Great Oak 27
Upland 21 South Hills 15
Corona Santiago 35 Eisenhower 14
Chaparral 31 Chino Hills 28
Corona Centennial 56 Etiwanda 23

Northern

Palos Verdes 63 Righetti 16
Hart 56 Paso Robles 35
West Torrance 35 Canyon Country Canyon 14
Saugus 34 Atascadero 27
Mira Costa 34 Highland 6
Arroyo Grande 40 Quartz Hill 0
Valencia 38 Redondo 17

Western

Serra 48 Pacifica 16
Buena 28 Morro Bay 7
St. Francis 45 Culver City 28
Camarillo 35 Santa Ynez 0
Lompoc 38 Cathedral 7
Santa Monica 27 Channel Islands 0
Ventura 56 Nipomo 14
Chaminade 71 Morningside 0

Central

Rancho Verde 52 Colton 3
Elsinore 55 Palm Desert 40
Kaiser 49 Canyon Springs 0
Paloma Valley 49 Chino 14
Poly (Riverside) 57 Summit 26
Colony 36 Palm Springs 21
La Quinta 35 Chaffey 6
Heritage 21 Arlington 7

Southwest

La Habra 42 Canyon 21
Newport Harbor 32 Dana Hills 13
Los Alamitos 42 Foothill 0
Fullerton 29 Valencia (Placentia) 21
Edison 35 Cypress 14
Villa Park 66 Buena Park 40
San Juan Hills 28 Fountain Valley 27
Huntington Beach 31 Yorba Linda 14

Southeast

Norwalk 42 West Covina 27
Domiguez 41 El Rancho 0
Los Altos 37 Paramount 10
Muir 53 La Mirada 35
La Serna 55 Burroughs (Burbank) 7
Diamond Bar 63 Downey 29
Burbank 49 Mayfair 14
Santa Fe 31 Diamond Ranch 28

Eastern

San Gorgonio 69 Hesperia 20
Tahquitz 35 Burroughs (Ridgecrest) 14
Norte Vista Silverado 16
Oak Hills 42 Rialto 24
Citrus Hill 61 Ramona 7
Apple Valley 10 Victor Valley 7
Moreno Valley 24 Carter 8
Serrano 45 Hemet 6

Southern

Corona del Mar 44 Loara 3
Los Amigos 33 Estancia 12
Woodbridge 21 Valley 17
Westminster 40 Rancho Alamitos 3
Irvine 45 Calvary Chapel 14
Magnolia 24 Segerstrom 17
Katella 35 Costa Mesa 21
Garden Grove 42 Orange 10

Northwest

Oak Park 42 Bishop Montgomery 21
Valley Christian 21 La Puente 14
Carpenteria 31 La Salle 23
El Segundo 35 Santa Paula 28
Bishop Diego 34 North Torrance 0
Duarte 27 Maranatha 17
Torrance 42 Azusa 20
Nordhoff 42 Verbum Dei 0

Mid-Valley

Monrovia 62 Sierra Canyon 10
Montebello 24 Northview 17
Pomona 45 Rosemead 14
Paraclete 54 La Canada 3
San Dimas 48 Gabrielino 6
San Marino 51 Bell Gardens 34
Schurr 29 Viewpoint 7
Arroyo 56 Baldwin Park 53

East Valley

Jurupa Hills 55 Arrowhead Christian 41
Shadow Hills 31 Brethren Christian 24
Santa Clara 27 Banning 20
Western Christian 55 Sage Hill 35
Big Bear 49 Ontario Christian 0
Citrus Valley 41 Fillmore 14
Rim of the World 38 Linfield Christian 37
St. Margaret's 49 Twentynine Palms 6

Northeast 

Mission Prep 49 Santa Clarita Christian 12
St. Genevieve 28 Poly (Pasadena) 14
Desert 51 St. Anthony 27
Salesian 62 Chadwick 16
Boron 60 Capistrano Valley Christian 42
Excelsior 51 Hamilton 13
Rio Hondo Prep 62 St. Monica 28

8 Man

Division I 
Quarterfinals

Avalon 44 Mojave 27
Faith Baptist 50 Cate 22
Coast Union 47 Laguna Blanca 20

Division II
Quarterfinals

Joshua Springs 60 Price 7
Cuyama Valley 58 Lighthouse Christian 28
Trinity Classical Academy 71 Noli Indian 6
Desert Chapel 64 Trona 0

Los Angeles City Section

1st Round

Division I

Narbonne 58 El Camino Real 0
Birmingham 34 South East 13
Garfield 27 Palisades 20
Carson 51 Arleta 22
Venice 62 Locke 0
San Pedro 31 Fairfax 23
Dorsey 22 Roosevelt 7
Crenshaw 83 Jefferson 0

Division II

San Fernando 76 Verdugo Hills 44
Bell 35 Washington 6
Chatsworth 28 University 10
Sylmar 39 Marshall 8
Eagle Rock 31 Hamilton 27
South Gate 62 Lincoln 22
Grant 48 Huntington Park 32
Granada Hills 42 Van Nuys 0

Division III

View Park 36 Legacy 0
Douglass 34 Contreras 21
Torres 55 Marquez 14
Wilson 17 Hawkins 7
Bernstein 52 Monroe 25
Rancho Domiguez 16 Chavez 7
Santee 42 Belmont 2
Poly 42 Hollywood 7

8 Man

Sherman Oaks CES 34 Bright Star 30

High School Football America Diamond Rankings through end of regular season

inShare

by Jeff Fisher
Follow @HSFBamerica

Here is the latest High School Football America Diamond Rankings through the last weekend of the CIF Los Angeles City and Southern Sections. 

Click here to read last week's rankings. 

Team	Record	Measure	Error
1. St. John Bosco	10-0	102.96	6.20
2. Mission Viejo	10-0	98.42	6.79
3. Mater Dei	8-2	95.42	5.74
4. Long Beach Poly	9-1	94.74	5.96
5. Serra	10-0	94.20	6.16
6. Vista Murrieta	9-1	92.49	5.32
7. Orange Lutheran	7-3	92.47	5.61
8. Oaks Christian	8-2	92.28	5.64
9. Rancho Cucamonga	9-1	90.59	5.76
10. Alemany	8-2	90.40	6.06
11. St. Bonaventure	7-3	90.38	5.67
12. Corona Centennial	8-2	90.22	5.59
13. Venice	8-2	89.36	5.29
14. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks)	7-3	87.68	5.90
15. Westlake	8-2	87.05	6.25
16. Tesoro	8-2	86.27	6.45
17. Narbonne	8-2	86.22	5.75
18. JSerra	7-3	85.91	6.35
19. Hart	8-2	85.02	5.34
20. Palmdale	8-2	84.04	5.21
21. Norco	7-3	83.87	5.93
22. Chaminade	8-2	83.87	5.56
23. Canyon Country Canyon	8-2	83.07	5.64
24. San Pedro	7-3	82.94	5.28
25. Bishop Amat	6-4	82.74	5.99
26. Upland	7-3	82.40	6.12
27. Crenshaw	6-4	81.98	5.67
28. Servite	5-5	81.70	6.3
29. San Fernando	10-0	81.36	5.06
30. Moorpark	7-3	80.82	6.08
31. Valencia (Valencia)	8-2	80.65	5.82
32. Arroyo Grande	7-3	80.40	4.91
33. Chino Hills	7-3	80.23	5.85
34. Lompoc	9-1	80.06	4.79
35. West Torrance	8-2	79.85	5.22
36. Eisenhower	8-2	79.72	5.70
37. Camarillo	9-1	79.25	5.20
38. Birmingham	7-3	79.18	5.32
39. Loyola	4-6	78.97	6.19
40. St. Francis	8-2	78.67	5.25
41. South East	9-1	78.60	5.55
42. Palos Verdes	8-2	78.34	4.94
43. Lakewood	5-5	78.26	5.80
44. Charter Oak	6-4	78.12	5.94
45. Agoura	6-4	78.01	6.28
46. Chaparral	7-3	77.38	6.16
47. Newberry Park	5-5	77.34	6.10
48. Garfield	7-3	77.15	5.85
49. Thousand Oaks	6-4	77.10	6.26
50. Ranco Verde	8-2	76.18	4.85

High School Football America & SportsMeasures unveil new SoCal High School Football Power Rankings

by Jeff Fisher
Follow @HSFBamerica

For the past two years, a great friend of mine, Patrick Fisher (no relation, but a great name) and I have been trying to figure-out a better way to rank high school football programs.  It all began in Chicago, when Patrick and I began a conversation about his company SportsMeasures. I love his tagline - Real Science for Real Sports.

I was fascinated with Patrick's passion for sports, numbers and analysis - he possesses a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Chicago with a specialization in Measurement, Evaluation and Statistical Analysis.

After a great meeting with myself and Trisha Hoffman at the Westin in Chicago, Patrick and I decided to try to build a better mouse trap when it comes to ranking high school football teams.  Patrick had already been analyzing college football for several years with great success...meaning better than the BCS.

I was convinced that Patrick had the secret sauce that would be tested by high school football.  Everyone - USA Today, MaxPreps, etc. - has been trying to break the code on the best way to rank teams around the country.  Instead of attacking the task of breaking down all 15,000-plus teams around the country, Patrick and I set-out to test his analysis against the 2011 Illinois high school football season.  After a few tweaks, Patrick's methodology worked!!

When High School Football America moved to Los Angeles last year, Patrick's talent was really tested when I explained that California's classification system is...a little goofy.  What do I mean by that?  Simply put, it's not as easy as this team is in 5A, that team is in 4A, etc.

Nearly 12 months and the end of the 2013 SoCal high school football season later, we think we've mastered the task.

There isn't a lot of surprise at the top where undefeated and nationally-ranked St. John Bosco is at the top of the heap.  What may surprise some is the fact that nationally-ranked, by every national media outlet, Serra is currently ranked #8. I'm sure that will open some eyes and start some conversation.

We feel confident that is the best analysis ever done in the Southern California Southern and LA City Sections.

So without further ado, below is the SportsMeasures' Power Rankings through Week 9 of the regular season.

 

1. St. John Bosco (9-0) - 100.7

2. Mission Viejo (9-0) -  97.05

3. Orange Lutheran (7-2) 95.25

4. Mater Dei (7-2) 95.02

5. Oaks Christian (8-1) – 94.21

6. Long Beach Poly (8-1) – 93.97

7. Rancho Cucamonga (9-0) - 93.91

8. Serra (9-0) – 92.76

9. Vista Murrieta (8-1) – 90.69

10. Alemany (7-2) - 88.89

11. Venice (7-2) – 88.38

12. St. Bonaventure (6-3) - 88.34

13. Corona Centennial (7-2) – 87.40

14. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) (7-3) – 87.22

15. JSerra (6-3) – 87.21

16. Hart (8-1) – 85.97

17. Tesoro (7-2) - 85.80

18. Servite (5-4) - 83.78

19. Narbonne (7-2) – 83.78

20. Westlake (7-2) – 83.53

21. Bishop Amat (5-4) 83.10

22. Palmdale (7-2) – 82.91

23. Canyon Country Canyon 82.74

24. Chaminade (7-2) – 82.20

25. Chino Hills (7-2) 82.06