(Note: It is not our intention to entice gambling in any way with these predicted scores. We will only use actual scores, not point spreads. Finally, because we greatly respect all coaches and student-athletes who step onto the field to compete, the winning margin of some predicted scores could be pared down.) 

After a couple of 3-3 weeks, we bounced back with a 5-1 showing and are now at 36-12 with two weeks to go in the regular season. Here are the predicted scores and analysis for the top games around California coming up this weekend:

The "Battle for the Bell" has been an intense rivalry over the years and this year's game at Cal-State Fullerton could turn into an instant classic. Even if both teams weren't 8-0, this would be an intense and emotional game. With Fountain Valley, it's hard to say what is the best team it has beaten after eight weeks, but it might be the 4-4 Newport Harbor squad the Barons topped last week by five points. Edison, on the other hand, has beaten some pretty tough teams in the past six weeks. The Chargers handed Dana Hills and Servite its only losses of so far. A source we trust commented on how good he thought Servite looked against Mater Dei and we can't get over how good Edison played in its win over Servite. Fountain Valley was a little sloppy last week and will need to be perfect in this one and that's always hard to do in such an emotionally-charged game. We'll be at this game, but for live coverage you can tune in to IBNSPORTS.com. Rankings: Edison is No. 5 overall in the state and is No. 46 in the ESPN RISE FAB 50. Fountain Valley is No. 24 overall in the state and is No. 20 in the overall SoCal top 20.

 

 

Oceanside 35, Valley Center 14
Home field advantage and the always-aggressive Jaguars' defense could make this battle of 8-0 teams closer than expected. What is expected is the Pirates, CIF Bowl Division II titlists in 2007, will defeat Valley Center, a school with almost 1,000 fewer students. The Jaguars have also played a considerably softer schedule and Oceanside's line should dominate as it has all season, producing good field position. Valley Center, which edged previously unbeaten Ramona 17-16 last week on a 98-yard kickoff return, will try to control the ball on the ground, but won't produce enough points. Rankings: Oceanside is No. 4 overall in the state and is No. 45 in the ESPN RISE FAB 50. Valley Center is on the bubble in the CIF Div. II South bowl game.

 

Something's got to give in the state's biggest small school game since Francis Parker ended St. Margaret's long winning streak. Escalon (8-0) enters with four straight shutouts and is averaging 43.5 ppg. Most of the romps are what they are, but a 37-0 win over Buhach Colony shows some legit strength on both side of the ball. The Crusaders (8-0) are playing at home and are averaging 50 ppg after last week's 65-0 win against Hughson. Isaiah Burse will be the difference if Modesto Christian wins. He has nearly 1,000 yards passing with 16 TDs plus 750 yards rushing with 11 TDs scored. The Cougars, who are led by Steven Silva's 20 touchdowns, won against Modesto Christian last year, 40-21. Both teams may be better, but it doesn't look like the Crusaders are so much better that they can beat Escalon. Rankings: Escalon is No. 5 in the CIF Division III North bowl game. Modesto Christian is No. 1 in the CIF Small Schools North bowl game.

The Friars come in as the prohibitive favorites in this one, but considering the circumstances we think the Lancers are a much better team than their record might indicate. Throw away the game against Pickerington Central in Ohio because that was so long ago, plus that team is 9-1 now. Lutheran basically lost on a miraculous play to an REV team this is now 8-0. The only stinker is the setback against Narbonne of Harbor City and even that game went into double overtime. We've seen Narbonne play and quite frankly the Gauchos are not nearly as good as last year, so that's worrisome going against a Servite team that has impressed so far. Without a healthy Bobby Wheatley, who is listed as week-to-week, we think Cody Fajardo will be able to lead the Friars to victory although recent history shows us no team has gone through the Trinity League unscathed. We're bucking history a bit in that regard since Servite should handle JSerra the following week, but we're staying consistent in choosing Servite over Lutheran following a Lancers' win over Mater Dei. Rankings: Servite is No. 10 overall in the state and is  No. 18 in the ESPN RISE West Region top 20. Lutheran is No. 12 in the CIF Div. II South bowl game.

While it was mentioned above that we're bucking a trend by saying Servite will beat Orange Lutheran, we'll go along with history and pick Serra in an upset over Mitty in the West Catholic Athletic League. The Monarchs should win this game, but in the WCAL in just about every sport the front-runner almost always gets brought back to earth and not even last year's Bellarmine team went through the league unscathed. The Padres are playing at home and have a good chance at reversing recent close losses to St. Francis of Mountain View (27-24) and Bellarmine (23-21). Rankings: Mitty is No. 6 in the NorCal overall top 15. Serra is No. 15 in those same rankings.

Although Garfield checks in with a 4-4 record, 7-1 Roosevelt knows that doesn't mean a thing. In fact, the 22,000 plus fans that will fill East Los Angeles College know that doesn't mean a thing. This is more than the best rivalry in the state. For some of the players on both teams, this day will be one of the most memorable of their lives and that could help the underdog Bulldogs. But forget the hyperbole, the reason we like Garfield to pull off the upset on a late touchdown is its schedule. Only St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs beat the Bulldogs by more than a touchdown and they have usually risen to the occasion under coach Lorenzo Hernandez. Roosevelt hasn't played nearly as tough a schedule and sometimes in this game the team with the better record can put too much pressure on itself to play a perfect game. That's when mistakes happen. Rankings: This doesn't apply for this rivalry series.

Two teams that for almost 30 years have fought for dominance of the Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties portion of the Central Coast Section collide again for the area's bragging rights and first place in the Tri-County League. Both teams are 4-0 coming into the Palma home game this Friday night at the Salinas Sports Complex. The two similar teams, which usually both employ a strong running attack, have a long rivalry and have played each other every year since 1996 with Palma holding an 8-5 advantage in the last 13 meetings, including winning the last three games. Still, no other team in the area has had anywhere near the success against the Chieftains than Hollister's Haybalers. Both teams have the same relative scores against common opponents this year but the big difference is in the quality of the non-league opponents. Palma has seen some potent offenses and very tough defenses and had more than reasonable success. San Benito is led by senior quarterback Trevor Fabing, who has rushed for 11 TDs on a team that has 28 rushing touchdowns. While Palma can run it to paydirt, the Chieftains also have a quarterback with a good gun who can get yards in the air. Austen Fales, a 6-1, 185-pound senior, is now the signal caller after taking over from his brother, David, now at Nevada. Palma won 25-0 last year but only by 17-14 and 28-21 the previous two seasons. The Haybalers will keep it close again but the 45-minute trip back to Hollister will probably not be a joy ride. Rankings: Palma (6-1-1) is No. 2 in the CIF Division III North Bowl rankings and No. 6 in the Bay Area rankings. San Benito (8-0) is No. 11 in the CIF Division I North Bowl rankings and No. 10 Bay area rankings.  

For the past couple of years, some up and coming program is supposed to emerge in the Mountain View/Big VIII and wrestle away league supremacy from these two long-standing powers. It hasn't happened. Both have dropped just one game, with Norco losing to state No. 3 Crenshaw and Centennial dropping a 31-13 decision to Mater Dei of Santa Ana. Take away the Mater Dei loss and Centennial owns a 23-game winning streak and a FAB 50 national ranking. The Huskies have improved since that loss, but Norco presents some challenges because the Cougars are so physical at the line of scrimmage and that's where Mater Dei gained its advantage over the Huskies. On the other hand, Norco is on the road, is somewhat banged up and seems to be giving up a large amount of points to teams that a state-ranked club should put away easier. This game will be close, but Centennial probably has just enough on defense to pull out the home win. Rankings: Centennial is No. 21 overall in the state and is No. 9 in the CIF Div. I South bowl game. Norco is No. 20 overall in the state and is No. 6 in the CIF Div. II South bowl game.

We've been wrong picking Del Oro to win twice so far, so for this one we just can't go for the Golden Eagles a third time. Del Oro was probably looking ahead a little bit when it was upset last week by Woodcreek of Roseville, but the Thunder took care of Woodcreek, 28-0, earlier this season. Running back Jackson Cummings has 1,100 yards and 18 TDs for Rocklin, while Bryce Pratt has been a monster all season for Del Oro. The difference may be the Rocklin defense, which has only allowed two touchdowns in three Sierra Foothill League games. Rankings: Rocklin is No. 5 overall in Northern California and is No. 1 in the CIF Div. II North bowl game. Del Oro is No. 11 overall in NorCal and is No. 11 in the CIF Div. II North bowl game.

This should be a doozy in the San Fernando Valley. Playing at home is one reason to like Alemany, and so is coach Dean Herrington, the mentor of St. Francis coach Jim Bonds. The reason to like St Francis is that if it weren't for a costly fumble, the Golden Knights would likely have beaten Notre Dame and would he highly-ranked. St. Francis hasn't played the schedule Alemany has, but should be ready for this game. The difference will be that St. Francis' Dietrich Riley will have slightly more impact on the game's outcome than Alemany's Malcolm Marable. In the end, the game will be determined by a turnover that will go St. Francis' way unlike the Notre Dame game. Rankings: St. Francis is No. 14 in the CIF Div. II South bowl game. Alemany is on the bubble in Div. II South bowl game.

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