With one week of regular season play left, the usual suspects continued to dominate the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 football rankings released Oct. 22.

St. John Bosco again was No. 1 locally and in Maxpreps’ composite national rankings, with former No. 1 Mater Dei holding on to third. J.Serra, which has lost only to Mater Dei and St. John Bosco, inched up to fifth from sixth in D-1, while Bishop Amat climbed from seventh to sixth.

Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks’ big win over Alemany moved the Knights up to eighth (from tenth) in D-2, and dropped the Warriors out of the top ten altogether, while Cathedral was ninth.

Paraclete rose to seventh (from eighth) in D-3; idle St. Bonaventure held on to eighth in D-4; St. Paul remained third in D-5; and St. Bernard rose from seventh to fourth in D-13. In eight-man football, Villanova crept up to eighth (from ninth) in D-1, and St. Michael’s Prep held at eighth in D-2.

This week’s games

Several league titles and multiple playoff berths are on the line in regular season finales, most of which are scheduled Oct. 26. The breakdown (with league records in parentheses):

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  • rnTrinity: Servite (1-3) at St. John Bosco (4-0); Mater Dei (3-1) at Orange Lutheran (2-2); Santa Margarita (0-4) at J.Serra (2-2). St. John Bosco holds the edge, having beaten Mater Dei Oct. 12.

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  • rnMission: Alemany (2-2) at Bishop Amat (4-0); Chaminade (2-2) at Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (3-1); Loyola (0-4) at Serra (1-3). Seedings for Divisions 1 and 2 playoffs are at stake, Bishop Amat has already beaten Notre Dame, which beat Alemany, which beat Chaminade but lost to Serra.

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  • rnAngelus: Cathedral (2-0) at Salesian (1-1); Crespi (0-2) at St. Francis (1-1). A Cathedral win locks up the title for the Phantoms.

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  • rnDel Rey: St. Genevieve (1-2) at St. Paul 3-0, Harvard-Westlake (2-1) at La Salle (0-3); St. Anthony (2-2) idle. St. Paul wins the title with a victory.

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  • rnCamino Real: St. Monica (0-2) at Bishop Montgomery (2-0); Mary Star (1-1) at Cantwell-Sacred Heart (1-1). Bishop Montgomery has already beaten Mary Star and Cantwell.

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  • rnSanta Fe: St. Pius X-St. Matthias (2-0) at St. Bernard (2-0) to decide the league title; Don Bosco Tech (0-2) at Verbum Dei (0-2).

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In leagues with only one Catholic school represented, games include Los Osos at Damien (Baseline League), St. Bonaventure at Calabasas (Marmonte), St. Joseph/Santa Maria at Righetti (Mountain), Santa Clara at Hueneme (Citrus Coast), and Bishop Diego at Thousand Oaks (Camino).

Paraclete plays Sierra Canyon in a non-league game at Pierce College. In eight-man football, Laguna Blanca is at Villanova (Oct. 27), and St. Michael’s Prep is at Rolling Hills Prep.

Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).

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