By Mark Tennis, Steve Brand & Ronnie Flores

This week's new listings follow below. After games of Saturday, Oct..18. Previous ranking in parentheses.

This year, since we now have the CIF Open Division bowl game that will match the highest ranked Northern California team vs. the highest ranked from Southern California, we will place teams according to the CIF's split of north and south, which is to put Central Section schools in the south. We maintain that due to population factors that the Central Section should be in the north and have always split teams in our rankings that way. This year, however, because of the bowl game, the NorCal and SoCal overall rankings obviously have to be done according to the CIF's boundaries.

Northern California Overall Top 15
(CIF North Open Division)

1. (1) Bellarmine (San Jose) 6-0
2. (2) De La Salle (Concord) 5-1
3. (4) Oak Grove (San Jose) 6-0
4. (5) Granite Bay 6-0
5. (6) Grant (Sacramento) 6-0
6. (7) San Ramon Valley (Danville) 6-0
7. (8) Monte Vista (Danville) 6-0
8. (9) Gilroy 6-0
9. (3) Valley Christian (San Jose) 5-1
10. (10) Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 6-0
11. (11) Palma (Salinas) 5-1
12. (12) Merced 5-1
13. (14) Nevada Union (Grass Valley) 6-0
14. (15) Central Catholic (Modesto) 4-1
15. (nr) Junipero Serra (San Mateo) 3-3

Rundown: Bellarmine was certainly pressed, needing a 78-yard drive that ate up six minutes on the clock to put away Valley Christian, 27-16. RB Usua Amanam (21-137-3 TDs), who is headed to Stanford, got his third TD, a 17-yarder, to clinch the victory. Now the attention turns to the Halloween showdown between No. 2 De La Salle and No. 7 Monte Vista. De La Salle was favored against then No. 10 Foothill, but scoring 63 points in a lopsided 63-7 win was stunning. Among the top 10 teams, only No. 10 Foothill lost and only No. 7 Monte Vista was seriously pressed. Granite Bay's 50-8 pummeling of Division II No. 6 Del Oro normally would be impetus for the Grizzlies to move up but there is nowhere to go. Serra was chosen to replace Foothill this week despite three losses. Those losses, though, are to De La Salle (29-28), Valley Christian (23-21) and McQueen of Reno (unbeaten and No. 1-ranked in Nevada). Bellarmine plays Serra this week and the Bells better not be coming down after the high of beating Valley Christian because the Padres are more than capable of beating them. They did last year, too.

Southern California Overall Top 20
(CIF South Open Division)

1. (1) Poly (Long Beach) 6-0
2. (2) Centennial (Corona) 6-0
3. (3) Oceanside 6-0
4. (4) St. Bonaventure (Ventura) 5-1
5. (7) Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 6-0
6. (6) Los Alamitos 6-0
7. (8) Crespi (Encino) 5-1
8. (9) Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) 6-0
9. (10) Redlands East Valley (Redlands) 6-0
10. (12) Bishop Amat (La Puente) 5-1
11. (13) Lutheran (Orange) 5-1
12. (14) St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 6-0
13. (19) Tesoro (Las Flores) 6-0
14. (15) Edison (Huntington Beach) 5-1
15. (16) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 6-0
16. (17) Upland 6-0
17. (18) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 6-0
18. (nr) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 4-2
19. (nr) Los Osos (Rancho Cucamonga) 5-1
20. (11) Servite (Anaheim) 3-3

Rundown: Top-ranked Long Beach Poly won its 75th consecutive Moore League contest with a 50-7 victory over Millikan of Long Beach. Most expect the Jackrabbits to cruise in league play and to the No. 1 seed in the CIF Southern Section Pac-Five playoffs. Season closers against undefeated Compton and the most talented Long Beach Jordan team in quite some time, however, could be close games. No. 2 Centennial could also finish its regular season with three tough games in league so there is no guarantee the debate at the top of these ratings will last through the post-season. No. 3 Oceanside, like Poly, also is expected to roll through to the post-season but its playoff division is not nearly as tough. The scenarios at the top of this division have been well-versed, but things could get real interesting if Poly and Centennial of Corona don't win divisional titles within the Southern Section. Would Oceanside be selected over a team from the Southern Section that won a section title in the same divisions as Centennial and Poly? The answer would probably be no if it were an undefeated team potentially like Los Alamitos, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks or Tesoro. If it was an undefeated Redlands East Valley club from the Inland Division or a Pac-Five champion with one or more losses, then Oceanside could makes things very interesting since the Pirates are not likely to lose against the competition they will face the rest of the season.

Corrections or comments? Email mark@studentsports.com and be sure to leave a message so others can check out what you have to say.