It’s five of the state’s top 10, plus Mission Viejo

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It’s now official. When Mater Dei plays host to Corona Centennial on Thursday, it will pit the Nos. 1 and 2 ranked teams in the state against each other. That’s how those teams were ranked on Monday when CalHiSports.com released its state rankings.

Matt Logan has done a great job at Centennial for several seasons, and more than any other coach in the Inland Empire, he has shown a willingness to have his team play outside its comfort zone, i.e., travel off the I-15 corridor and play teams that might actually be able to beat the Huskies. (Note: Centennial running back Ryan Bass pictured right)

‘To me, the sign of a good football coach is consistency within the program,’ said Mater Dei’s Bruce Rollinson. ‘You have a lot of one-and-dones, they put together one or two great years and you don’t hear from them again. Year in and year out, [Logan] is putting a high quality product on the field.

‘I don’t study what Centennial does as far as scheduling, but year in and year out they’re very highly ranked, and they usually finish at the top or close to it. Obviously, they’re doing things right.’

Which makes this 1 vs. 2, old-guard vs. new guard, OC vs. IE matchup so great to see, especially for Logan, who is now getting a chance to see the fruits of his labor paying off at the highest level. Centennial is ranked No. 16 in the nation by StudentSports.com, Mater Dei is No. 5.

Over the last four seasons, Centennial has played Long Beach Poly, Dominguez, San Clemente and Crespi. Its first scheduling coup came in 2002, when it began playing Clovis West, which has turned into a nice North-South rivalry. Centennial leads that series, 5-1, but the games have been good. Since Clovis West won the first meeting, 42-13, Centennial has won by scores of 44-40 in 2003, 36-33, 42-21, 34-31 and 31-24.

For glam value, Centennial-Clovis West lags only behind the Mission Viejo-Concord De La Salle series of recent years (Mission Viejo leads, two games to one). Those teams play at Mission Viejo on Saturday in a nationally televised game.

De La Salle comes in ranked No. 3 in the state. With its loss to Vista two weekends ago, Mission Viejo isn’t ranked in the state’s top 25 -- man, how long has it been since that was the case? -- but I suspect the Diablos will be better for the experience. My feeling is that MV is still probably a top 25 team, although if it can’t beat De La Salle -- and I’m not saying it can’t -- it could have a tough time re-emerging in the state ranking before the playoffs.

Mark Tennis, the executive editor of CalHiSports.com, which produces the state-wide rankings, will be in the Southland for the weekend. “I won’t go down there for just one game,” Tennis said by telephone from his Stockton office.

Actually, Tennis will be down for three. On Friday, he will have a chance to watch Servite at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Servite is No. 9 in the state this week and Notre Dame is No. 10.

That’s five of the top 10 teams in the state, plus Mission Viejo. That’s a pretty good weekend of high school football in the Southland.

- Martin Henderson

--Image by Christine Cotter/Los Angeles Times