Losses by top teams don't change the order that much since they were to top teams from outside the area. Be sure to watch Cal-Hi Sports Area on YourTV20, San Francisco on Sunday at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Replays during the week on Comcast SportsNet throughout Northern California.

By Harold Abend, Special to CalHiSports.com

The Bay Area has definitely been dealt a serious blow in the California prep football pecking order after the top four teams had a loss, a squeaker, a loss and a win over a mediocre team.

Although prep football fans in the Bay Area won't like admitting it, and it might only be temporary, but it looks like the top talent for now has shifted to the Sac-Joaquin Section.

Our featured game this week was mistake-filled like many other early season contests, but it turned out to be one of the more entertaining games involving highly-ranked Bay Area squads.

James Langford's 25-yard field goal that went just inside the right upright with 11:10 left to play allowed Foothill of Pleasanton to pull out a hard-fought, hard-hitting 17-14 victory on the road in Novato on Saturday against an undersized but determined Hornets squad.

The game marked the senior debut of Oregon State-bound quarterback Sean Mannion, who passed for 1,948 yards and 19 touchdowns last year.

The 6-5, 205-pound signal caller had some rough moments under constant Novato pressure, but executed just enough times in the clutch, converting key second half third-and-long situations, including a 15-yard completion to junior wide receiver Cameran Rowland on third-and-eight during the winning field goal drive.

Mannion completed 14-of-29 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown, a first quarter 15-yarder to Patrick Berrigan that tied the score at 7-7, however he had three interceptions, was sacked once and threw several balls right at Novato defenders that could have been picked. After the game, he refused to blame the fact he has a whole new receiving corps.

"Obviously we didn't play as well as we hoped but there's no excuses about being new,” Mannion told CalHisports.com. "To come in here against a tough team like Novato that doesn't give up much is great. Our defense bailed us out.”

Novato had its share of opportunities, but besides an inability to capitalize on Falcons' mistakes, the Hornets had enough of their own.

The teams combined for eight turnovers, Foothill with five and Novato with three, plus the Hornets fumbled a snap they recovered that killed a possible winning drive in the game's final two minutes.

"Fumbles and turnovers on offense are a problem. Until we can play with the same intensity on offense as we do on defense we're going to have some more problems,” said a disconsolate Hornets' Coach Travis Brackett.

Foothill's bruising running back Nick Quan carried 21 times for 103 yards and one TD, a one yard plunge with 3:17 left before the half that tied the game at 14-14 after two quarters. He also accounted for 45 of the 63 yards in the drive that led to Langford's three-pointer.

On defense, Quan was instrumental in clogging the middle and bogging down Novato's running game in the second half. He finished with 11 tackles.

Novato's scores came on a 38-yard run by Evan Meehan and a 32-yard pass from Tre Watson to Meehan, who was limited in the second half by shortness of breath.

Tailback Ricardo "KiKi" Mendez was the yardage leader for Novato, rushing for 110 yards on 14 carries. Linebacker Jay Craft led an undersized Hornets defense with 15 tackles (two for loss) and a pass interception.

"We've got to build on it but this one is going to hurt,” said Craft.

The victory was No. 198 in the long career of Foothill Coach Matt Sweeney and ended a Hornets' 29-game home unbeaten streak dating back to October of 2004.

"We didn't play great but the boys fought like heck out there and a win is a win,” said Sweeney, who will reserve his spot in the next edition of the ESPN RISE CalHiSports.com Record Book and Almanac as soon as he reaches his 200th win.

This week's new Bay Area Top 20 follows:

(After games played on Saturday, Sept. 12)
(First rankings of 2009 regular season)

1) De La Salle (Concord) 1-1
We're still not ready to supplant the Spartans from the Bay Area catbird seat until a team from the Bay Area beats them or someone from the Bay Area goes out and beats a nationally or high state-ranked team. Yes, the 30-6 setback was by a wider margin than only one other time in head coach Bob Ladouceur's 30 years at Sparta, and they might have another real difficult time in two weeks at home against Lakeland (Florida). The Spartans are clearly not a top nationally-ranked team at this stage of the season but until someone from the Bay Area plays an ESPN RISE FAB 50 No.15-ranked team like Don Bosco Prep or a top team from Florida, we still might have to wait for league competition to begin to sort out what looks like a slightly down year.  

2) Monte Vista (Danville) 1-0
UCLA-bound quarterback Brett Nottingham threw for 299 yards and a touchdown and scored on a one-yard keeper, but a missed 37-yard field goal by James Logan preserved a 32-29 victory on the road in Union City. The offense was clicking but the defense had problems with the speedy Colts. Even if the Mustangs had blown out Logan there's no methodology for putting them ahead of a DLS team they are yet to beat. That could change on October 9 but before then it's Pittsburg this Friday in a game CalHiSports.com may attend, then Heritage and Livermore.

3) Serra (San Mateo) 1-1
It was the Deo'Andre Clark and Adonis Smith show as the Padres rebounded from the 14-7 loss to De La Salle with a solid 34-14 win at home against College Park of Pleasant Hill. On the first play from scrimmage, Clark caught a 92-yard TD pass from junior signal-caller Andy McAlindon. He gave the Padres a 21-7 halftime lead with a 94-yard kick return. Then, to top it off, Clark added an 80-yard touchdown reception on another excellent pass from McAlindon (6-for-12, 190 yards, two TDs, no INTs). Smith gained 182 yards rushing on 25 carries with two trips to paydirt. Next up for Coach Patrick Walsh's charges is an interesting matchup with reigning NCS Division III champ Encinal on the road in Alameda, the second game the CalHiSports.com caravan is considering for a visit.

4) Pittsburg 1-1
The Pirates only trailed 10-6 when they got the ball to begin the third quarter, but after a Julius Mozee interception, Granite Bay scored quickly en route to a 30-20 defeat for Coach Vic Galli's boys in the second of four games at the inaugural Battle at the Capital at Folsom High. Tracy Clark caught a pass from Mozee on the 2-yard line and dived for a touchdown to get it close in the late third quarter but CalHiSports.com state-ranked Granite Bay scored on two of its next three possessions to seal the victory over the No. 21 ranked Pirates. Pitt doesn't drop that far in these rankings because it plays Monte Vista on Friday in Danville.

5) Foothill (Pleasanton) 1-0
After the trouble the Falcons had with an undersized Novato team and its speed, the roster James Logan presents could be a problem for Coach Matt Sweeney's squad in a Friday night matchup at home.

6) Los Gatos 1-0
This is where its starts to get dicey with teams losing or only playing one game, but we're giving the next spot to Coach Butch Cattolico's squad that dismantled Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) in a season-opening 56-7 victory. Senior 6-3, 220-pound quarterback Nick Hirschman was a pinpoint 9-of-10 passing for 222 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers, including an 83-yarder to Jake Hackman-Salazar. We'll see if the Wildcats are for real this Friday when they host a hungry St. Francis team coming off a loss to Palma of Salinas.

7) Bellarmine (San Jose) 1-0
Coach Mike Janda lost a ton of talent but a 36-7 win over San Leandro last week looks good enough to get them this spot in the Bay Area pecking order. On tap for the Bells is a chance to show they belong here as they play Friday night at home against state-ranked St. Mary's of Stockton.

8) Milpitas 2-0   
The word was that the Trojans were very talented this season but it was hard to tell in an opening week 42-0 blanking of a not-so-good North Salinas. This past Friday night's 17-7 win over a solid St. Ignatius (San Francisco) is another matter.

9) Palma (Salinas) 1-1
After a hard-fought 10-9 loss to respectable Spanish Springs (Nevada) in a defensive battle to open the season, the Chieftains exploded offensively in a 31-14 victory on the road last Friday at St. Francis of Mountain View. Austen Fales completed 12-of-16 passes for 239 yards and one touchdown, an 83-yarder to Bruce Taylor, who finished the night with five receptions for 179 yards and the one score. Jack Baird carried 25 times for 107 yards and one touchdown. After a week off, Palma hosts Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa.

10) Berkeley 2-0
The real Coach Carter who should be starring in movies now enters his third season at the Yellowjackets' helm and has his team off to a great start after identical 26-7 road victories over Ponderosa (Shingle Springs) and Freedom of Oakley, respectively. Next up is another road game at Castro Valley before a home date with Pittsburg.

11) Novato 1-1
Despite a close 17-14 loss to Foothill (Pleasanton) that followed an opening week 20-14 victory in Shasta County over Foothill of Palo Cedro, the Hornets take the top spot in the Redwood Empire due to the lopsidedness of Cardinal Newman's loss to Central Catholic of Modesto.

12) St. Francis (Mountain View) 1-1
After a 35-0 demolition of Oak Grove (San Jose) in their opener, the Lancers were brought back to earth by Palma in a 31-14 setback at home. It doesn't get any easier but it will be a chance to move up when the boys travel south to Los Gatos this Friday night.

13) Valley Christian (San Jose) 1-0
The host Warriors scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to come away with a 24-7 victory over San Leandro. Next up is a reeling Menlo-Atherton.

14) Deer Valley (Antioch) 1-0
Opened with a 35-14 win at Washington of Fremont.

15) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 0-1
After the 36-12 loss to Central Catholic, the Cardinals drop about eight spots from where they were in the preseason in the Bay Area. They could be looking at an 0-3 start if some of the offensive woes aren't fixed since next is Del Oro of Loomis and then Palma is the week after that.

16) James Logan (Union City) 0-1

17) Encinal (Alameda) 1-0

18) Wilcox (Santa Clara) 2-0

19) Heritage (Antioch) 2-0  

20) Casa Grande (Petaluma) 1-0

On the Bubble
Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 1-0, Aptos 2-0, Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 2-0, Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 1-0, Carmel 2-0, Clayton Valley (Concord) 2-0, King's Academy (Sunnyvale) 2-0, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 1-1, McClymonds (Oakland) 1-0, Miramonte (2-0), Oakland Tech (Oakland) 1-0, Palo Alto 1-0, Petaluma 2-0, Pioneer (San Jose) 2-0, Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) 1-0, Salesian (Richmond) 1-0, San Benito (Hollister) 2-0, San Ramon Valley (Danville) 1-0, Seaside 1-0, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 1-1.

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