It’s too early to count Justin-Siena High’s football team out of the Marin County Athletic League race and far too soon to discount the idea that the Braves can sparkle in the postseason.

“Justin’s a great team with a fantastic coaching staff,” said Marin Catholic coach Ken Peralta after his team slipped past the Braves, 14-10, at Dodd Stadium. “Rich Cotruvo’s one of the finest coaches around. They’ll bounce back and, I think, be a playoff team.”

The CIF North Coast Section Class A playoff berth should come the Braves’ way barring a total collapse. There are 16 Class A teams and eight will advance to the postseason. Justin’s 1-2 in the MCAL and 3-3 overall — with three losses to three Division III teams. The remainder of the MCAL schedule includes nothing but games where D-IV Justin plays a D-III foe.

Even better for their playoff hopes, the Braves finish the season with powerful Novato, Tamalpais and three league teams that currently stand 0-7 in the MCAL.

Logic indicates a team that can finish, say, 5-3 or 6-2 in a Division III league will get serious consideration for a Class A at-large berth.

Justin’s No. 39 in the MaxPreps NCS rankings. The only Class A teams in front of it are just ahead in Middletown (3-1) and St. Patrick’s of Vallejo (3-1). Humboldt-Del Norte League teams Ferndale (5-0) and McKinleyville (4-1) will both get berths because Ferndale’s a perennial power from a school of 168 students playing up in D-IV and McKinleyville’s down from the H-DNL big-school conference and competing with four NCS Class B teams in Ferndale’s conference.

Marin Catholic’s Peralta certainly thinks a playoff spot is in Justin’s future as his team won to improve to 3-0 in the MCAL and 4-1 overall.

“Their defense is outstanding,” he said. “We looked past their loss to San Marin and focused on how well they (Justin) played in beating a good Redwood team pretty soundly. They played us incredibly hard.”

The Braves players have had their eye on making every game, all season long, mean as much as it can.

“We don’t want to get to the end of the season and be playing games where, you know, you’re playing hard ... but, you’re not playing that hard because there’s not as much on the line,” Justin senior Dan Pardini said before the season started.

He’ll get his wish immediately as far as the MCAL race goes. The Braves take on San Rafael (0-2 MCAL, 0-5 overall). Friday’s game is a must-win affair, as is the Nov. 7 game with Terra Linda (0-3 MCAL, 0-6). Justin plays powerful Novato, which is tied atop the MCAL at 3-0, 4-2 overall. Novato played a rugged nonleague schedule to account for the two losses. Tamalpais is 1-0 in the MCAL and 4-1.

“Novato’s got to be considered the favorite to win the league,” said Marin Catholic’s Peralta. “But, there’s no reason Justin can’t go beat them. It’s a very balanced league race.”

Justin plays San Rafael, Novato and Tamalpais on the road. The lone game at Dodd Stadium comes Nov. 7 versus Terra Linda.

“I don’t know what happened,” Justin star Craig Cybulski said after a stunning 12-7 loss to San Marin. “We didn’t play Justin-Siena football.”

Indeed, the senior receiver-free safety has been witness to a season where the ground-oriented Justin veer offense has struggled to move the ball. Even the statistics are deceiving because they don’t include the opening forfeit win versus Emery, but do include a game where the Braves ran over, around and through Acalanes.

The Braves have rushed for 151.8 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry, but Reid Francis went for 140 versus Acalanes and Johnny Leli rushed for 79. They’ve only managed 81 yards combined in the other four games. That rushing total is bolstered by Marcus Solis running 92 yards for a game-winning touchdown versus Redwood. Solis has rushed 32 times for 186 yards for the season.

“The schemes are good,” Cotruvo said. “Running is what we do.  ... We just need to do a better job of moving the ball in the red zone and finish off drives.”

Quarterback Eddie Aguayo leads the team in rushing with 67 carries for 227 yards. He’s been sacked a fair amount, especially since senior lineman Casey Tompkins went down with an injury. Aguayo played most of the second half against Marin Catholic with senior star Justin Clayton trying to block on a severely sprained ankle.

“It was hard for Justin to push off on offense,” Cotruvo said. “We tried to use him more on defense.”

Aguayo’s completed 41 of 88 passes for 553 yards. Cybulski leads with 16 pass receptions, but for only 130 yards.

The defense is fine.

“We haven’t seen a better defensive effort than what Justin gave,” San Marin’s coach, Kevin Gowyer said a week after losing to Marin Catholic.

Linebacker Greg Haugen and defensive lineman Guido Murnig have been playmakers. The Braves absolutely need Tompkins and Clayton to be healthy. Cybulski has been brilliant in the secondary.

The Braves have given up just 30 points — and are 1-2 — in three MCAL games.

“We’ve had some injuries,” Cotruvo said. “But, there are no excuses.”

 This is high school football.”