Folsom & Grant in different divisions so possibility of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section getting a big payday for the two to play each other isn’t going to happen. Inderkum, Central Catholic, Bear River and Capital Christian are other top seeds.
For State 25 Weekend Scoreboard and links to other section playoff pairings breakdowns, CLICK HERE.
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs are conducted in seven divisions. The divisions are determined by enrollment and leagues are split.
Division I: Folsom is the top seed as expected and heavy favorite to repeat. Two teams that just lost in league title deciding games – Jesuit of Carmichael and Granite Bay – are seeded No. 2 and No. 3. Watch out for Monterey Trail, the No. 12 seed, which has a win over D3 No. 1 seed Inderkum. Monterey Trail plays No. 5 seed Cosumnes Oaks in the first-round.
Oakdale fullback Frankie Trent is part of that team’s hard-to-stop running game.
Division II: Grant had to slide down to D2 since there were more schools with larger enrollments that were playoff qualifiers. The Pacers are in a tougher division other than Folsom not being involved. St. Mary’s of Stockton and Del Oro of Loomis perhaps should have been seeded higher than Elk Grove (lost to both Grant and Jesuit) but some in the section seem shocked that Del Oro at 5-5 was seeded fourth. We’re not. No one in the field played both De La Salle and Folsom and no one (maybe not even Grant) played and beat a team as good as Vista Murrieta. St. Mary’s needs to be wary of playing Rocklin in the quarterfinals. In recent years, the Rams have struggled in the playoffs against teams like Del Oro and Rocklin.
Division III: Kudos to the seeding committee for not backing away from the unusual order of Manteca Sierra, Oakdale and Manteca going to the 2-3-4 seeds even though they’re all from the same league. Inderkum took the No. 1 slot but probably will have to play 11-0 El Dorado of Placerville in the quarterfinals. El Dorado arguably could have gone in higher than a No. 8 and in front of No. 5 Sacramento, but also didn’t play anyone as good as Rocklin or Burbank either.
Division IV: Central Catholic of Modesto is expected to begin its quest for a third straight CIF D4 state bowl game title by winning this section crown. The Raiders’ toughest competition probably will come from No. 2 seed Sonora, which has only lost to D3 playoff team Oakdale (which just beat Central Catholic by a bigger margin). Congrats to Natomas for making the playoffs after starting the season with a 32-game losing streak, the longest in the state.
Division V: Top four seeds are Bear River of Lake of the Pines, Colfax, Mariposa County and Hughson. Hughson won last Friday 42-21 over Ripon despite the program being involved in a hazing scandal. Head coach George Harp was not at the game.
Division VI: Capital Christian of Sacramento (10-0) and Modesto Christian should face in the final. It was a one-point win for the Cougars when the two played earlier. And if Sonora were to knock off Central Catholic in D4 or if Oakland McClymonds were be hit with forfeit losses, the projected winner between Cap Christian and Mod Christian probably would go to the CIF D4 NorCal bowl game.
Division VII: Elliot Christian of Lodi is the top seed.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
10 Comments
And so who does De La Salle play? maybe Milpitas or Clayton Valeey?
De La Salle will likely go straight to the CIF Open Division bowl game and won’t play a NorCal bowl game. The CIF eliminated the two regional open division games this year. De La Salle will have a first-round bye in its section playoff, then will face either James Logan or San Ramon Valley.
So DLS will only play 3 games to make the State Championship? And the SJ Section teams will have to play 5 games? Am I reading this correct?
Sac-Joaquin Section teams will have to play four games. Yes, DLS will only have to play three. Don’t see much difference though between a bye and playing a team you’re going to be ahead 50-0 or worse at halftime.
The differance is that SJS schools will actually have to “play” 2 more games. Long season/wear & tear etc. And no NorCal championship for NCS schools. SJS schools will also have to play a Championship game, so for D1 it would actually be 5 games to reach State Final.
Counting the regional game that DLS isn’t going to play, you are indeed correct. Folsom will get more wear & tear in practice the next few weeks, though, than from an actual game. NCS schools other than DLS also are going to have to win a NorCal bowl game to play in a state final.
Mark, how does the CIF rationalize having the SoCal Pac-5 go thru a meat grinder for playoffs and DLS plays a couple of teams they have already beaten and get a bye week to start? This is another reason the NorCal Regional games need to be played.
There’s nothing the CIF state office can do about how the Southern Section runs its own playoffs and how the NCS runs its own playoffs. I agree that it’s another reason that the NorCal open division game should not have been shelved.
How will the NorCal D2 Champion be decided? (team that goes to the State Bowl Championship)
It will be bowl game between two teams that will be chosen among the Sac-Joaquin Section D3, Northern Section D1, North Coast Section D2 and probably a team from the CCS (could be WCAL team like Archbishop Mitty).