Mater Dei and St. John Bosco are first and second locally yet again in this week’s CIF-Southern Section-Division 1&2 poll, as the two Catholic school titans — also ranked one-two nationally by Maxpreps — try not to look past this week’s games before their head-to-head meeting Oct. 25 in Bellflower.

But while the Monarchs again dominated their opposition last weekend, the Braves barely survived an upset bid by Servite, prevailing only by the margin of a missed extra point. The Friars’ strong showing moved them up from tenth to sixth in the D-1&2 poll, one spot behind J.Serra which, like Mater Dei, won its Trinity League opener easily and was fifth in the Oct. 8 poll.

Also moving up was Bishop Amat, conqueror of previously unbeaten Alemany, and now ranked eighth in D-1&2. The divisions will be separated come playoff time in early November.

Alemany’s one-point loss left the Warriors still third in the Division 3 poll, with Paraclete ninth and St. Francis tenth (the Spirits and Knights play each other on Friday). Loyola moved from seventh to sixth in D-4 after upsetting D-1’s Serra of Gardena, with Damien tenth, and St. Paul is fifth and St. Bonaventure sixth in D-5. 

Unbeaten St. Pius X-St. Matthias remains No. 1 in D-14, with unbeaten St. Monica of Santa Monica third and Mary Star of the Sea tenth. Teams just outside the top ten include Cathedral (D-3), Bishop Diego (D-5), Crespi (D-6), St. Anthony and La Salle (D-9), St. Bernard (D-13).

This week’s games

The Oct. 11 Trinity League games feature two outstanding matchups: Mater Dei (6-0 overall, 1-0 in league) hosts Servite (4-2, 0-1), while J.Serra (5-1, 1-0) hosts St. John  Bosco (6-0, 1-0). Santa Margarita (3-3, 0-1) hosts Orange Lutheran (3-3, 0-1) on Oct. 10.

In the Mission League, Alemany (5-1, 0-1) is at Loyola (3-3, 1-0), Chaminade (3-3, 1-0) at Bishop Amat (5-1, 1-0), and Notre Dame (4-2, 0-1) at Serra (4-2, 0-1), all on Oct. 11. 

The Del Rey League games for Oct. 11 find La Salle (4-2, 0-1) at St. Anthony (3-4, 1-0), and St. Genevieve (4-2, 0-0) at Harvard-Westlake (2-5, 0-1), with St. Paul (5-2, 1-0) idle.

In other league action on Oct. 11, St. Bonaventure is at Westlake (Marmonte), and Chino Hills is at Damien (Baseline). On Oct. 12, Bishop Diego hosts Camarillo (Camino).

Non-League

The Oct. 11 battles include St. Francis (5-1) vs. Paraclete (4-3) in Palmdale, as well as St. Bernard at St. Monica, St. Pius X-St. Matthias at Godinez Fundamental, Mary Star at Verbum Dei, Salesian at Rancho Christian of Temecula, and Pioneer at Bishop Montgomery.

Eight-Man Football: Santa Clara at Noli Indian, Oct. 11; St. Michael’s Prep at Faith Lutheran (La Verne), Oct. 12.

Idle: Crespi, Cathedral, Cantwell Sacred Heart, Don Bosco Tech, Villanova.