Division III state bowlers

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Now that Week 3 has blown out with the storm, I guess the only appropriate thing left to do is to try to figure out who’s going to make it to the Division III state bowl game in December.

OK, maybe it’s a little early to be discussing a jinxing-like subject such as this, but following its victory Friday over Oaks Christian, you gotta believe St. Bonaventure is in the driver’s seat.

Sure, the Seraphs’ final nonleague contest Friday night against Crespi at Pierce College isn’t going to be easy and going undefeated through the postseason is no walk in the park, either.

But can you tell me who’s going to beat St. Bonny this year? The Seraphs will once again plow through Channel League play and Hart is the only team that can seriously challenge them. Of course, we’ll have to wait until the Northern Division playoffs (possibly the finals?) to see that happen.

So now that I’ve made St. Bonny my pick as the South’s Division III bowl representative, who are the Seraphs going to play? Well, it’s tough enough for me to stay on top of what all the teams in my region are doing, so I’m going to pick the brain of Eric Maddy, our preps and stats guru over here at The Times.

According to Maddy, things are more complicated north of the 36-degree parallel. It looks as if several teams have a chance at reaching the bowl game, including Salinas Palma (despite a 55-0 loss to Concord De La Salle on Friday). If it can beat some top-notch opponents to win the Central Coast Section Open Division title, the Chieftains could be playing the Seraphs at the Home Depot Center.

Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman has a good shot, Maddy said, but a 35-35 tie with Modesto Central Catholic has damaged the bowl aspirations for both teams. Both likely need to win the rest of their games to have a shot, especially Central Catholic, since its schedule is nothing to brag about.

Cardinal Newman also has an easier road to the playoffs than Palma, and Maddy said, “If Palma stumbles, the Cardinals and (QB) Max Pond could very easily be making a return trip to Carson.”

I know it’s only September, but this is what we get paid to do. Besides, if we didn’t make guesses now, what would we write about two weeks from now when everything changes?

(That’s Darrell Scott in the photo, thanks to LAT photographer Ken Hively). You can see Ken’s other St. Bonny-Oaks Christian game photos here).

- Austin Knoblauch