After an uninterrupted two-year reign at the top of the Bay Area News Group football rankings, a new – yet familiar – team takes Serra’s No. 1 spot in these rankings to start the 2024 season.
Perennial North Coast Section champion De La Salle, fresh of an appearance in the CIF 1-AA state title game and touting returning talent at virtually every position, is BANG’s top team.
De La Salle has a non-league schedule befitting the ranking. The Spartans open the season against Sacramento juggernaut Grant before welcoming a retooled Serra squad in Week 2.
Nipping at the Concord powerhouse’s tail is loaded Pittsburg, which returns quarterback Marley Alcantara and UCLA commits JuJu Walls (edge rusher) and Jadyn Hudson (safety/receiver).
The Pirates will play host to San Francisco juggernaut Archbishop Riordan in Week 3. The Crusaders return the majority of their high-end talent – Washington–bound WR Chris Lawson the best of the decorated bunch – and start the season in the Top 5.
We’re not counting out Serra, though, even if the majority of its core has graduated. Patrick Walsh’s Padres start the season on Friday night with a major road test at Folsom.
Three schools that weren’t in the final Top 25 last season — Bishop O’Dowd, Menlo-Atherton and Monte Vista — are ranked to begin this one.
Monte Vista, after a four-win season last fall, could vastly outperform its No. 14 ranking. RB Julian McMahan (Washington), TE Kellan Ford (Arizona) and QB Brayden Turner (Fresno State) are all Division I talents.
Menlo-Atherton is ranked 22nd and Bishop O’Dowd is 24th.
On to the rankings …
(Mercury News & East Bay Times)
No. 1 DE LA SALLE
Final 2023 ranking: 2
Season opener: Friday vs. Grant-Sacramento, 7:30 p.m.
No. 2 PITTSBURG
Final 2023 ranking: 3
Season opener: Friday at Monterey Trail-Elk Grove, 7:15 p.m.
No. 3 ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN
Final 2023 ranking: 11
Season opener: Friday at McClymonds, 7 p.m.
No. 4 SERRA
Final 2023 ranking: 1
Season opener: Friday at Folsom, 7:30 p.m.
No. 5 MCCLYMONDS
Final 2023 ranking: 9
Season opener: Friday vs. Archbishop Riordan, 7 p.m.
No. 6 EL CERRITO
Final 2023 ranking: 7
Season opener: Friday vs. Amador Valley, 7 p.m.
No. 7 ST. FRANCIS
Final 2023 ranking: 13
Season opener: Friday at Helix-San Diego, 7 p.m.
No. 8 SAN RAMON VALLEY
Final 2023 ranking: 4
Season opener: Friday vs. St. Ignatius, 7 p.m.
No. 9 VALLEY CHRISTIAN
Final 2023 ranking: 14
Season opener: Friday at Wilcox, 7 p.m.
No. 10 LOS GATOS
Final 2023 ranking: 5
Season opener: Friday at Soquel, 7:30 p.m.
No. 11 CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER
Final 2023 ranking: 20
Season opener: Friday vs. Spanish Springs-Nevada, 7 p.m.
No. 12 WILCOX
Final 2023 ranking: 12
Season opener: Friday vs. Valley Christian, 7 p.m.
No. 13 CAMPOLINDO
Final 2023 ranking: 8
Season opener: Friday vs. Vanden-Fairfield, 7 p.m.
No. 14 MONTE VISTA
Final 2023 ranking: Not ranked
Season opener: Friday vs. Granada, 7:15 p.m.
No. 15 LIBERTY
Final 2023 ranking: 19
Season opener: Friday vs. Frontier-Bakersfield, 7 p.m.
No. 16 LAS LOMAS
Final 2023 ranking: 16
Season opener: Friday at Vintage-Napa, 7 p.m.
No. 17 ST. IGNATIUS
Final 2023 ranking: 10
Season opener: Friday at San Ramon Valley, 7 p.m.
No. 18 CALIFORNIA
Final 2023 ranking: 15
Season opener: Friday vs. Patterson, 7 p.m.
No. 19 LIVE OAK
Final 2023 ranking: 22
Season opener: Friday vs. Palma-Salinas, 7:15 p.m.
No. 20 ACALANES
Final 2023 ranking: 6
Season opener: Friday vs. Lowell-San Francisco, 7 p.m.
No. 21 SACRED HEART PREP
Final 2023 ranking: 23
Season opener: Friday at Seaside, 7:30 p.m.
No. 22 MENLO-ATHERTON
Final 2023 ranking: Not ranked
Season opener: Saturday vs. Bellarmine, 7 p.m.
No. 23 CHRISTOPHER
Final 2023 ranking: 17
Season opener: Thursday vs. Carmel, 7:30 p.m.
No. 24 BISHOP O’DOWD
Final 2023 ranking: Not ranked
Season opener: Friday vs. Tamalpais, 7 p.m.
No. 25 MENLO SCHOOL
Final 2023 ranking: 18
Season opener: Saturday vs. Tennyson, 2 p.m.
Editor’s note: Teams eligible for the Bay Area News Group rankings come from leagues based predominantly in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The news organization’s high school staff chooses the teams.
