Del Oro footall picked No. 4 by Calpreps.com

Ned Freeman is at it again.Freeman, a self-described "sports fanatic," who runs the Web site calpreps.com, has un-veiled his 2009 state football previews for every league and school in California.Freeman's Web site is famous for its bevy of statistics, which cover every bit of the high school football playbook from A to Z.Freeman again has included among his rankings such important facts as dynasty ratings, national ranks, state ranks, rating comparisons and starting power ratings.He also enjoys projecting a team's record for the upcoming season, it's final power rating and a percentage ranking of what chance the team has of going undefeated for that season. He even projects opening game results. For instance, calpreps.com rated the 2008 Del Oro Golden Eagles as the No. 3029 ranked team in the nation, regardless of school size and or state division. This year calpreps.com has Del Oro starting the season as the No. 221 ranked team in the state and the No. 2,631 ranked team in the nation. Freeman, a resident of the Bay Area, is so in-tune with high school sports across the country that mega high school Web giant Max Preps, a division of CBS Sports, uses Freeman to gather all of their schedules and previews for this football season."I've always liked the number crunching aspect of what we do," said Freeman, 39, who attended high school at Drake in Marin County and college at UC Santa Barbara.Freeman has 13 employees who put together everything from state vs. state football history to picking the state's opening game projection.Locally, Freeman sees Granite Bay winning the Sierra Foothill League this season.The Web site's preseason SFL preview has the Grizzlies being followed in order by Rocklin, Woodcreek, Del Oro, Roseville and Oakmont.Del Oro coach Casey Taylor, one of the few SFL coaches who have submitted his team's top players and strengths and weaknesses, noted that his program "needs to recapture its winning tradition".Top players projected for the Golden Eagles include senior wide receiver Spencer Butterfield, senior running back Bryce Pratt and junior linebacker-running back Derek Luque (5-10, 215).Last season Del Oro's 2008 opponents posted a record of 68-44. This year the Golden Eagles will play three teams – Cardinal Newman (35), Granite Bay (34.5) and California High (32) – which are ranked among Freeman's top 50 schools in the state.Freeman also projects Cal High to defeat Del Oro, 31-17, at Hughes Stadium on Sept. 12 in their opening game at the "Battle at the Capital" showcase. "It's really a lot of fun," said Freeman. "We like to see how our ratings and predictions measure up with everyone else."A year ago, in what took many local prep football followers by surprise, calpreps.com projected Whitney to win the Pioneer Valley League with Colfax picked second and Placer third.The Wildcats didn't disappoint either. They not only won the PVL but also went 13-0 in capturing their first CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship.In this year's calpreps.com PVL preview, Freeman has Whitney again projected as the top team in the league followed by Placer, Bear River, Colfax, Mesa Verde, Lincoln and El Dorado.Three key points that Freeman factors in when doing his projections are : How many returning starters does a team have? Is the team's top quarterback and running back returning? What was the success of the program's JV squad from the previous year ?"I think a lot of previews and especially this one is based on what a team has done the previous year," said Whitney coach Mike Gimenez. Sometimes too much emphasis is put on what a JV team did the year before."Placer coach Joey Montoya has also listed on his team submission that the Hillmen return five starters on offense and defense with top players listed as running back-defensive back Ashmer Gotzmer, defensive end Michael Gray and tight end-linebacker Josh Klem.Freeman predicts Placer to win its opening game over Rosemont, 37-18.Bear River, meanwhile, is picked third in the league with top players listed as running back-safety Johnny Jewett, running back-linebacker Cole White and tackle Garret Davis, a 6-3 275-pounder.Bear River is picked to defeat Capital Christian in its opener 36-24 while Colfax is a 21-17 pick over Center. CalPreps.com's Sierra foothill league picks1. Granite Bay2. Rocklin3. Woodcreek4. Del Oro5. Roseville6. Oakmont