Football: Behind the new rankings

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Here’s a sneak peek at the new rankings that will be published in Monday’s paper, with comments on team movement after the jump:

1. Corona Centennial (6-0)

2. Long Beach Poly (6-0)

3. St. Bonaventure (5-1)

4. Crespi (5-1)

5. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (6-0)

6. Edison (5-1)

7. Vista Murrieta (6-0)

8. Oaks Christian (6-0)

9. Redlands East Valley (6-0)

10. Los Osos (5-1)

11. Bishop Amat (5-1)

12. Upland (6-0)

13. St. John Bosco (6-0)

14. Mater Dei (4-2)

15. Tesoro (6-0)

16. Mission Viejo (5-1)

17. Servite (3-3)

18. Orange Lutheran (5-1)

19. Los Alamitos (6-0)

20. Rancho Verde (6-0)

21. Loyola (4-2)

22. Chaparral (5-1)

23. Serra (6-0)

24. Thousand Oaks (6-0)

25. Valencia (5-1)

Moving Out: Lakewood. Never mind the fact that the Lancers were 1-5 before last week (yes, we realize four of the losses were forfeits). Lakewood is not the same team we envisioned in the preseason after losing Alex Fletcher to transfer, Allie Long to injury and Jerry Stone to ineligibility. Most recently, the Lancers lost something even worse: a Moore League game to Long Beach Jordan.

Moving In: Valencia. There were LOTS of viable candidates to move into the rankings this week (note to the reader who proposed Hesperia: the undefeated Scorpions were not one of them). I like the fact that since losing their opener against Thousand Oaks, the Vikings have defeated then-ranked Palmdale and scored at least 35 points in each of their last four games. They’ll also get tested against Saugus in a couple of weeks.

Moving Up: We leapfrogged Vista Murrieta over Oaks Christian and Redlands East Valley because the latter two teams haven’t played much of anyone. The Lions won’t until the playoffs and the Wildcats won’t until taking on Fontana Miller in Citrus Belt League play. St. Bonaventure, Crespi, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Edison all moved up one spot in the wake of Mission Viejo’s loss to Tesoro. The Titans got a nice seven-spot bump for beating the Diablos. Los Osos and Bishop Amat also jumped two spots thanks to Servite’s loss to Mater Dei. We gave the Monarchs a two-spot bump for that victory. Thousand Oaks also moved up a spot after Lakewood fell out.

Moving Down: The fall was precipitous for Mission Viejo, which plummeted from No. 3 to No. 16 while not only losing to Tesoro but looking bad while doing so. Servite has three losses but still checks in at No. 17, down from No. 10, considering that the defeats are against Crespi, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Mater Dei. The Friars also have a victory over Edison on their resume, so there. A handful of teams--Orange Lutheran, Los Alamitos, Rancho Verde, Loyola and Chaparral--had to take a one-spot hit to account for Tesoro’s meteoric rise.

On the Doorstep (in no particular order): Newport Harbor (4-2), Oxnard (6-0), San Clemente (6-0), Alemany (5-1), Santa Monica (6-0), Moorpark (5-1), Esperanza (5-1), Laguna Hills (6-0), Narbonne (5-1), San Pedro (6-0), L.A. Jordan (3-3), Taft (5-1).

--Ben Bolch