The latest San Joaquin County football power rankings are in.
Each week, The Record will rank all 26 county high school football teams while tracking how the landscape shifts throughout the season.
It’s more than just wins and losses. Movement is explained. Results are detailed. Every ranking carries a reason.
After Week 4, here’s how all 26 county teams rank heading into Week 5. Movement reflects changes from The Record’s Week 3 rankings
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1. Tracy (—) (5-0)
Go back to 2009 to find the last Tracy team that finished nonleague play undefeated. That group went 11-1 and reached the section quarterfinals. This year's Bulldogs are starting to look capable of their own run. Tracy crushed Turlock 42-7 in the Battle for the Bone, snapping a four-game skid
in the rivalry and earning its first win over the Bulldogs since 2017.
2. Manteca (↑1) (3-2)
Patterson came in with “a lot of hype,” as coach Mark Varnum put it. Manteca made sure it didn't last long. The Buffaloes opened VOL play with a 47-7 rout, limiting Patterson to 98 passing yards with five sacks and three interceptions. The chase for a third straight league title couldn't have started much better.
3. Edison (↑1) (3-1)
Edison didn't even have to play to move into the top three. Two weeks ago, the Vikings fell 37-31 to Marin Catholic despite 292 total yards, with coach Eric Crocker pointing to special teams miscues as the difference. Suddenly, that loss looks a little different. Why? Just look at No. 4.
4. St. Mary's (↓2) (1-4)
So, what now? Five turnovers, including three fumbled punts, sent St. Mary's to a 21-7 loss to Marin Catholic at Cal. The Rams haven't lost four or more games since 2019, and it might take going back that far to find them outside the county's top three. The nonleague gauntlet is finished. Now for the real question. Is St. Mary's still the team to beat in the TCAL?
5. Lincoln (—) (3-2)
Down 20-6 at halftime. Tied after one overtime. Then came Lincoln's first double-overtime game in 15 years. The defense got the fourth-down stop, the offense finished it, and the Trojans escaped Downey 42-36. Upsets showed Lincoln could punch up. Winning against teams in its own state-ranking range throughout nonleague play showed the Trojans might really be “back.”
6. Chavez (↑2) (3-2)
Another SJAA game, another Chavez win. Quarterback Elijah Walker posted his seventh 300-yard game and 10th with at least four touchdowns, Oregon State commit Jackson Batch had 72 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and E’Aiden McCullough scored his first three career touchdowns in a 43-12 rout of Bear Creek.
7. Escalon (↑1) (3-2)
Talk about a response. A year after losing 38-8 to Ripon Christian, Escalon rolled to a 38-7 win in the TVL opener, rushing for 354 yards and holding the previously unbeaten Knights to 36 first-half yards. From 0-2 to 3-2 with three straight statement wins, the Cougars are red-hot, and the scary part is that they finally played “cleaner.”
8. Oakdale (↑2) (2-3)
Oakdale hadn’t started 1-3 since 2005, and it responded like Oakdale. The Mustangs ran for 331 yards in a 42-5 rout of Sierra after being held under 300 for three straight weeks, something that happened just once all of last season.
9. East Union (↓2) (3-1)
Sometimes a team just meets its match, and East Union did against unbeaten Placer in a 47-28 loss. Still, an offense replacing plenty from last year’s section championship team showed it can produce against better competition, rushing for 200 yards on 7.1 yards per carry and throwing for 224 yards.
10. Ripon Christian (↓4) (4-1)
Don’t let one ugly loss erase the bigger picture. After losing so much from last year’s section finalist team, few would’ve expected the Knights to reach the halfway point at 4-1.
11. Stagg (↑1) (3-2)
“No one stood out. Everyone did their job, and everyone got a piece of the pie.” Sopeter Mao wasn’t kidding. Seven players recorded a sack, five scored a touchdown and Stagg held Franklin to 84 passing yards and 43 rushing yards on 1.8 yards per carry in a 47-0 shutout.
12. Tokay (↑1) (4-1)
That loss to Stagg might eventually become Tokay's latest “what if?” But the Tigers aren't ready to find out yet. McNair hadn't scored fewer than 34 points all season and put up 38 against the back-to-back champions. Tokay held the Eagles to 14 in a 42-14 win.
13. Ripon (↓2) (2-3)
The biggest takeaway from a 28-15 loss to Hilmar? Andrew Shaw is back. Ripon's starting quarterback returned after missing three games with an injury, and even with some rust, the Indians were tied at halftime with arguably the TVL favorite.
14. Linden (—) (3-2)
Five weeks, five new career highs for Isaac Ruvalcaba. The senior runnning back did it again in Linden's MLL opener, rushing for 149 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries in a 35-7 win over Riverbank.
15. River Islands (—) (4-1)
The best start in program history finally met its match. Defending CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII and Division 5-A state champion Calaveras beat River Islands 48-6, handing the Riptide their first loss and holding them under 40 points for the first time.
16. McNair (—) (3-2)
17. Lathrop (—) (1-3)
18. Lodi (↑1) (2-3)
19. Sierra (↓1) (3-2)
20. Bear Creek (↑1) (1-4)
21. Merrill West (↑1) (3-2)
22. Franklin (↓2) (3-2)
23. Mountain House (—) (1-4)
24. Millennium (↑1) (3-1)
Maybe 8-man football was exactly what Millennium needed. After winning two, two and zero games the past three seasons, the Falcons have already surpassed each total. Ares Araujo went 5-of-9 for 235 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 144 yards and two more scores in a 48-22 win over Kairos Public.
25. Kimball (↓1) (0-5)
26. Weston Ranch (—) (0-5)
This article originally appeared on The Record: Major shakeup hits San Joaquin County football power rankings after Week 4
