While high school football has a month left in its regular season, all the other fall sports are coming down to the end of its regular-season schedules and the championship races are tighter than ever.
Let’s take a look at how those races for division titles are heating up.
Girls’ golf
With its 197-214 win over Aragon, not only did Mills avenge a loss to the Dons earlier in the year, the Vikings captured their first-ever Peninsula Athletic League title, clinching the Bay Division crown.
Mills had never won a Bay or Ocean division title until this year.
Meanwhile, Burlingame has captured its third straight Ocean Division title and are a win away from an undefeated Ocean Division season. The Panthers will join Aragon and Carlmont in a CCS play-in round next Tuesday at Poplar Creek Golf Course to determine the PAL’s second automatic CCS qualifier, joining Mills.
Boys’ water polo
Top to bottom, there might not be a more competitive division in the CCS than the boys’ PAL Bay Division. Last year, Menlo-Atherton, Sequoia and Woodside shared the Bay Division crown and with Burlingame joining the mix this season, we could be headed for another tri-championship with two weeks left in PAL play.
Burlingame entered play Wednesday with a one-game lead over M-A and Sequoia, with the Panthers and Bears facing off in a showdown Wednesday. A Bears win would create another three-team logjam atop the Bay Division, but a Panthers victory would set up a most assuredly winner-take-all match with Sequoia Thursday, Oct. 23.
In the Ocean, Aragon, unbeaten in PAL play, holds a one-game lead over San Mateo. The two meet in penultimate match of the PAL schedule, Tuesday, Oct. 28, at Aragon.
The West Catholic Athletic League is shaping up to be a two-team race. Both Sacred Heart Prep and Menlo School enter Wednesday’s matches undefeated in league play. The Knights haven’t beaten the Gators since the 2010 CCS Division II championship game. The two will face off in the WCAL finale, Wednesday, Oct. 26, at SHP.
Girls’ water polo
Bay Division leader M-A is in the driver’s seat for a third-straight division championship. Woodside is a game back of the undefeated Bears and the Wildcats would need to beat the Bears on the final day of the regular season, Oct. 29, to create a co-championship.
Much like the Bay Division, there is only one game separating Burlingame and Hillsdale in the race for the Ocean Division title. But the Panthers handed the Knights their only league loss. The two meet for the second time Oct. 28.
In the WCAL, the race for the title is down to two unbeaten teams — 4-0 St. Francis and 3-0 Sacred Heart Prep. They met Wednesday afternoon in a showdown in Atherton.
Volleyball
Menlo-Atherton is in line for its seventh Bay Division title in 10 years after holding off third-place Carlmont Tuesday in a match in which the Bears rallied from down two sets.
The Bears are on a collision course with second-place Aragon, which also needed five sets Tuesday to get past Sequoia. M-A and Aragon will meet for the second time this season next Tuesday in Atherton. A Bears win would all but lock up the division title, giving them a two-game lead with two games left in the regular season.
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In the Ocean Division, Capuchino, which is undefeated, is looking to capture its second division title in four years. The Mustangs have a two-game lead over San Mateo with four matches left to play. The two face off next Tuesday in San Mateo. Capuchino could, conceivably, clinch the Ocean crown with a win, assuming the Mustangs take care of business against a one-win Terra Nova Thursday.
In the WBAL, SHP all but put a death grip on the Foothill Division title after handing Notre Dame-Belmont its second loss in league play with a four-set win Tuesday. The Gators, which are a perfect 8-0 in Foothill Division play, has a two-game lead over the Tigers with four matches remaining in the regular season.
Flag football
It’s pretty remarkable how good the local flag football teams have gotten in a short amount of time. The Bay Division is among the toughest in the CCS and Carlmont and Menlo-Atherton are on a collision course for the Bay Division title.
Both are undefeated going into Wednesday’s games and they are slated to face each other Monday in Atherton. Carlmont has never lost to a PAL team, while M-A is a contender in just its second season.
The Ocean Division race got a lot clearer after South City and Hillsdale faced off for control of the division Wednesday at Capuchino. Both entered the matchup with unbeaten division records.
In the WBAL, Menlo School is head and shoulders better than the rest of the league. Like Carlmont, the Knights have never lost to a WBAL school and are 41-2 overall in three seasons.
Football
There is still a lot of ball left to play this season, but the title races are starting to come into clearer focus.
Menlo School is one of two teams, along with Woodside, still unbeaten on the season, but the Knights will close Bay Division play by running a gauntlet. After a game against a winless Palo Alto team this week, the Knights close the season by hosting Los Gatos next week and Wilcox on Halloween night. They close the regular season against rival Sacred Heart Prep.
More shaking out will occur Friday when Bay Division heavyweights Los Gatos and Wilcox face off in what amounts to an elimination game.
In the De Anza Division, it looks like a two-team race between King’s Academy and San Mateo, the only two teams in the division with a winning record. The race could be decided as soon as Thursday night when the Knights host the Bearcats in Sunnyvale.
In the Ocean Division, Woodside is the team to beat. The Wildcats get their first real, big test when they host Half Moon Bay Friday night.
Milpitas has now thrust itself into the title conversation following a triple-overtime win over HMB. The Wildcats and Trojans meet in the regular-season finale Nov. 7.
After the last three season in virtual free fall, Terra Nova is back among the living and appears to have the inside track to the El Camino title. The remaining four teams on its El Camino schedule are a combined 1-23 in division play and 8-16 overall.
With Jefferson knocking MacDonald from the ranks of the unbeatens in a dominating 41-20 win last week, the Grizzlies are the overwhelming favorite to run the table and capture the division crown.
And in the WCAL, that race is shaping up to be a showdown between 3-0 Serra and 3-0 Riordan. The Padres have outscored their three league opponents by a combined score of 120-30, while the Crusaders have outscored its opponents 157-58. The two meet on the final day of the regular season, Nov. 7.
Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal. since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.
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