While the 2023 high school football season still has a few weeks to go, the outline for the 2024 season has already been sketched out by the Peninsula Athletic League, with the annual re-alignment of the now 33-team, mega league.
Since going to a power-league structure with the advent of the PAL in 1996, bylaws state that the league must realign the various divisions every year to ensure the league maintains as much competitive equity as possible.
“A lot of care went into (the re-alignment process),” said Steve Sell, Aragon athletic director who recently stepped down as football coach after 24 seasons and who still remains on the PAL re-alignment committee.
“We started at 6:30 (p.m.) and didn’t get out of there until 9:30 (p.m.).”
Here is a breakdown of the five PAL divisions next season, who is in and who is out for 2024:
Bay Division
Los Gatos, Menlo School, Menlo-Atherton, Palo Alto, Sacred Heart Prep and Wilcox
In: Menlo School and Palo Alto
Out: Burlingame and Mountain View
De Anza Division
Aragon, Burlingame, Capuchino, Hillsdale, Mountain View, King’s Academy
In: Aragon, Capuchino
Out: Homestead, Half Moon Bay
Ocean Division
Carlmont, Half Moon Bay, Milpitas, San Mateo, Sequoia, Terra Nova
In: Carlmont, Half Moon Bay
Out: Aragon, Capuchino
El Camino Division
Fremont-Sunnyvale, Homestead, Los Altos, Santa Clara, South City, Woodside
In: Homestead, South City
Out: Carlmont, El Camino
Lake Division
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Cupertino, El Camino, Gunn, Jefferson, Lynbrook, MacDonald, Mills, Monta Vista, Saratoga
In: El Camino, MacDonald
Out: South City
In the end, there were no real eyebrow-raising decisions. The Lake Division expanded by one, from eight to nine teams, with the addition of MacDonald High School in Santa Clara. MacDonald came online two years ago, fielding junior varsity teams the last two seasons.
Sell said a committee of seven athletic directors — three each from the PAL and SCVAL, one from the West Bay Athletic League — weigh the criteria presented to them to come up with a number that is then ranked 1 through 33.
But it’s not all math based.
“There are a variety of factors,” that go into the decision-making process, Sell said, including returning all-league players, number of wins in the program between varsity and junior varsity, the total number of kids in the program and the number of kids likely to play varsity football next season.
Not surprisingly when you have 33 schools and coaches, not everyone agrees with the re-alignment. Sell said he expects some schools will protest, at which point the committee will re-examine and vote on the proposal.
“We do vote on significant misplacement. If the group overwhelmingly feels that a change should be made, we’ll do it. … But the key is you’re looking for something that is clear and obvious,” Sell said. “We’re trying to predict the outcome of high school football games eight months in advance. We’re never going to bat a thousand.
“We’re doing the best we can.”
***
Foothill College in Santa Clara County is not, technically, in the Daily Journal’s coverage area. But the Owls’ athletic program does draw a number of athletes from San Mateo County high schools and the Foothill football team, which features nine players from from Menlo-Atherton and Sequoia, deserves a shout out after finishing a perfect 10-0 regular season, capturing the Pacific 7 Conference championship in the process.
The Owls are just one of four teams, out of 61 community college teams in the state, to finish the regular season undefeated.
The Owls rolled through the five-game, non-conference portion of their schedule, outscoring the opposition 211-16. They did not give up more than 7 points in any of those games and posted a pair of shutouts.
The competition stepped up in conference play, but Pac 7 teams were no match for Foothill. Monterey Peninsula, the Owls’ conference opener, was the only team this season to score 20 points or more, with Foothill cruising to a 40-24 win.
Los Medanos was the only other team to score in double digits against Foothill, but the Owls still rolled to a 48-14 win.
The Owls then outscored their next three opponents 153-17.
So why isn’t Foothill playing in the Northern California playoff to determine a state champion? Community college football has essentially been split into Division I and Division II, six conferences in the National Division and three conferences in the American Division.
Only those teams playing in National Division conference are eligible to play for the state championship. The Pacific 7 Conference plays in the American Division.
The season is not over for the Owls, however. They will host Monterey Peninsula in the American Division Bowl at 1 p.m. Dec. 2. It will be the second meeting between these teams this season.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. To report scores or tips, email sports@smdailyjournal.com.
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