It wasn't exactly a slam-dunk but my vote for No. 1 in the county football poll went to Tesoro, which knocked off previously No. 1-ranked Mission Viejo in impressive fashion. Tesoro can play better than it did Friday and that should be a scary thought for San Clemente this week.

Tesoro could have won that game at least 38-14 but didn't capitalize on some chances in the third quarter.

I heavily considered Los Alamitos. I saw them beat Narbonne and Narbonne would beat some county top-10 teams. The Griffins might not be dazzling the pollsters, but they are getting the job done. Kinda of like Clark Evans. He sometimes isn't pretty but he gets the job done, is super tough and makes big plays.

I also looked long and hard at Edison. The Chargers' loss to Servite hurts their case but before it is all said and done, they could still get my No. 1 vote.

With the parity in county football, there certainly is a chance the South Coast or Sunset league champions won't be 5-0.

Ok, so here's what the vote I submitted:

1. Tesoro
2. LosAl
3. Edison
4. Mater Dei
5. OLu
6. San Clemente
7. Mission Viejo
8. Servite
9. Newport Harbor
10. Esperanza

Babovic, a foreign exchange student from Serbia, has been cleared by the Southern Section to play junior varsity but was seeking to play varsity.

As it was late in Tuesday's session, the definition of enrollment loomed large in the decision by Judge Steven L. Perk.

The Southern Section and state CIF argued that enrollment starts when a student begins to attend class.

Babovic's attorney, Richard Bridgford, argued that enrollment started when Babovic's registration process was completed at Corona del Mar in March and his spot at the school was secured. The senior arrived in the United States in August and began taking classes in September.

In the end, Perk sided with the Southern Section and state CIF's definition, meaning that Babovic had inappropriate contact before enrolling.

"They (CIF) won a technicality based on an interpretation of enrollment," said Bridgford, also the father of Mission Viejo quarterback Allan Bridgford.

Perk emphasized that Corona del Mar administrators should have known the eligibility rules better.

Babovic played for Corona del Mar in a tournament in Hungary in July. James Watson, the father of the family hosting Babovic, said Corona del Mar's administration approved the participation.

But Perk also said that he believed Babovic was not recruited by the school and was a random placement. Watson took victory in that part of Perk's findings.

Watson said he was "thrilled" his family's name was cleared. But there was disappointment, too. He said he was disappointed that a "tragic comedy of errors" prevented Babovic from playing "varsity ball."

State CIF attorney Diane Marshall-Freeman was pleased with the ruling. "We're just pleased the judge upheld the rules of the CIF," she said.

Bridgford said he has not decided whether to appeal.

1. Faith Baptist

2. Windward

3. Santa Clarita Christian

4. Avalon

5. Thacher

6. Sierra Canyon

7. Hesperia Christian

8. Calvary Chapel/MV

9. Montclair Prep

10. Excelsior Education Center

Division II

1. Big Pine

2. Desert Chapel

3. Trona

4. Rolling Hills Prep

5. North County Christian

6. Hope Centre Academy

7. Lighthouse Christian

8. Southlands Christian

9. Cuyama Valley

10. Desert Christian/BD

El Toro has now captured the Villa Park Classic and South Coast Tournament back-to-back. The Chargers' next tournament will be North-South Challenge in Northern California on Oct. 24-25. In NorCal, El Toro could be challenged by several teams, including Miramonte, Los Alamitos, Sacred Heart, Villa Park and Santa Barbara.

It's only October but El Toro is better than I thought they would be. Russell Renteria is one of the best sophomore center I have seen and Dalton Stokes gives the Chargers some added fire power.

It's going to take one heck of an effort to beat El Toro.

Thanks to the efforts of parents and coaches around the county these girls are getting the publicity they deserve.

Valencia has been consistently good all season long and that has kept this team in the top 10 rankings.

Here are 10 things I know about girls tennis around the county:

1. Its fun when an unranked team gets an upset win over ranked team. There has been a lot of this happening lately. For example: Woodbridge beat Laguna Hills, Northwood beat Santa Margarita, Mater Dei beat Sage Hill and El Dorado beat Esperanza.

2. There is a complicated formula to get into the top 10 of the girls tennis standings. A lot of variables come into play. Here are a few of them: strength of schedule, overall record and how many ranked or quality teams have you beaten? Want a quick way to get into the top 10, beat a ranked team.

3. It seems that there are three tiers in tennis: tier 1 (Dana Hills and Corona del Mar), tier 2 (University, Valencia and Troy – when healthy and fully loaded) and tier 3 (everyone else).

4. Here two ranked teams on the rise in tier 3: Northwood (might be one of the better teams in this tier – at least more consistent and not scared to play quality teams) and El Dorado (some people thought they were really down this year, but a quality win over Esperanza proved otherwise).

5. Now the flip side – here is a ranked team on the decline in their 3: Mater Dei (already lost twice this week to Northwood and Los Alamitos – although there was some shady business with this one sending its Junior Varsity team).

6. There are quite a few quality teams outside of the top 10 that are ready to break in, all they need is a big win: Laguna Beach (6-1 overall, could do so with a win over University next week), Newport Harbor (6-3 overall, had a big win against Troy this week) and Los Alamitos (might be better than most people had anticipated).

7. There are also some teams that win and lose some big games, all they need to do is be a little more consistent: Santa Margarita (lost to Troy and beat Laguna Hills as well as Los Alamitos), Esperanza (lost to El Dorado and has beaten everyone else), Sage Hill (lost to Mater Dei and beat Woodbridge, 11-7, Newport Harbor, 12-6, and Los Alamitos, 11-7), and Laguna Hills (lost to Santa Margarita and beat Mission Viejo, 11-4, and Tesoro, 10-8).

8. Capistrano Valley has an interesting team. The Cougars might be the kings of tier 4, if there was one. Despite losing to all of them, I like that they are not scared of going up against some of the better teams in the county (Laguna Beach, Newport Harbor, St. Margaret’s and Dana Hills). In fact Capo might have one of the toughest schedules in the county. A tough nonleague schedule should prepare the Cougars for a league and another return to CIF playoffs.

9. If you make the effort, then I will make the effort. Here are few scores that have been reported: Corona del Mar defeated Laguna Hills, 12-6, Laguna Beach beat Calvary Chapel, 14-4, Northwood beat Trabuco Hills, 18-0, Esperanza beat Marina, 14-4, Sage Hills beat Calvary Chapel, 16-2, and Valencia beat Pacifica, 16-2. Don’t mean to be picky, but it would be nice to get overall records as well, only one that reported theirs was the Lightning (7-1).

10. The best game of the young season is finally upon us and I will be there to cover it. No. 2 Corona del Mar will be on the road against No. 3 University on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Here is how I see it playing out: The Sea Kings will win the doubles match-up and the Trojans will be victorious on the singles end. The key will be the games scores within the match and someone will have to find a way to get an upset victory, maybe a No. 3 over a No. 2 in singles.

Not long after Veterans Stadium in Long Beach had been emptied of spectators on that Sept. 3 evening, the Internet was buzzing about Barkley’s performance.

Some went so far as to say that the 2007 Gatorade national player of the year and future USC quarterback was all hype.

Not so fast.

Click here if you want to read the entire story.

El Dorado   6   (F)
Tesoro      27

Corona del Mar  27  (F)
Magnolia             6

Laguna Hills   45  (F)
Woodbridge     9

Anaheim   24   (F)
Loara        21

Orange   0   (F)
Marina   41

Santa Ana Valley  21  (F)
Santiago               27

Rancho Alamitos   34  (F)
Sonora                   9

Trabuco Hills   28  (F)
Gahr                 21

Fountain Valley   17  (F)
Palos Verdes       3

JSerra      37   (F)
Pacifica   35

The Barons (4-1) scored first on a 5-yard pass from Dominic Ragland to Artie O’Keefe to take a 7-0 lead at 2:58 in the first quarter.

The Sea Hawks (0-4) connected on a 35-yard field goal to close the deficit to 7-3. Fountain Valley responded with a 22-yard field goal to push its lead to 10-3 at intermission.

Kyle Middlebrooks broke a 41-yard touchdown run early in the fourth, and the Barons led, 17-3, with 11:41 left in the contest.

Though Fountain Valley dominated throughout, Coach John Shipp said his team needs to clean up its play.

The Barons committed 9 penalties for 90 yards.

“We need to work on that,” Shipp said. “It was nice to get the win but the penalties set us back.”

Decillo carried 28 times, continually pounding the ball up the middle.

Mayer, who was playing for the first time since breaking his wrist in the Mustangs’ first game, engineered two  second-half scoring drives.

“It’s good to get one under our belts,” said Mayer, who played with a cast on his left wrist and completed 11 passes as Trabuco Hills (1-3) defeated the Gladiators (2-3) for the third year in a row “It’s been a long couple of weeks for me.”

With the score tied, 14-14, late in the third quarter, Mayer tossed a 33-yard TD pass to Justen Lasch giving the Mustangs a 21-14 lead.

Donnie Simonsen scored on 6-yard run in the fourth.