Who’s No. 1 in the SGV?

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Before I even brought up ‘The Question,’ Diamond Ranch Coach Roddy Layton beat me to the punch and gave an answer.

‘We’re not ready yet to be ranked No. 1 in the San Gabriel Valley cause if we were, we would have beaten them,’ Layton said after the Panthers lost to Oaks Christian, 34-21, at Ganesha High Thursday night. ‘So, no excuses. We’re a good team, but we’re not a great team. A great team would have found a way to beat them.’

I somewhat disagree with Layton. I don’t think any team in the SGV could have beaten Oaks Chrisitan (3-2), with the possible exception of St. Francis, but I do think Diamond Ranch (3-2) is ready to challenge for the No. 1 ranking. They probably get it, but hard-fought losses to Edison and Oaks Christian, both ranked in The Times’ top 25, are nothing to scoff at.

When asked if not them, then who, Layton mentioned Glendora (3-2), but when I told him that Glendora got trounced, 35-14, by El Dorado tonight, he said, ‘I don’t worry about that stuff, all I know it’s not us.’

Charter Oak (2-2-1), in my opinion, is No. 1 in the SGV. Their victory over Glendora is still the best win in the valley this season. Their tie with Damien (2-2-1) is a bit of a head-scratcher, but if they beat Claremont (0-4) on Friday night, it will be hard to pick another team.

St. Francis (3-1) has some claim to No. 1, but can’t be ranked higher than Arcadia, at least not while Arcadia (4-0) is undefeated. And the only loss suffered by Los Altos (4-1) was to St. Francis.

- Jaime Cardenas