Saturday CIF Regional Scoreboard

Retiring head coach Vic Galli of Pittsburg gets a ride on Saturday after his last home game on a rainy night, but it won’t be his last game period since the Pirates defeated Manteca and will get a chance next Saturday to win a state title. Photo: Chace Bryson / SportStars.

Note: CIF state championships will be staged next week (Friday & Saturday) for Open Division, D1-AA, D1-A, D2-AA and D2-A at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. All other CIF state finals will be at home sites in the north.

(Thanks to Northern California correspondent Daniel Poulter for providing writeups of the NorCal regional games.)

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DIVISION 1–A

North: Pittsburg (NCS D1) 35,
Manteca (SJS D2) 13
A storybook ending is in sight for soon to be retired Pittsburg head coach Victor Galli, as the Pirates breezed to a 35-13 victory over Manteca on a rain soaked night in the Bay Area. A strong second half was key for the Pirates, as Manteca had a lead for most of the first half until Florida bound four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada connected with Oregon State commit Zach Card on an 18-yard touchdown reception before the break. Card is one of the top track stars in the state. The Pirates will face a familiar foe, as Liberty (Bakersfield) will be Pittsburg’s opponent next week down at Saddleback College. The Patriots ended the Pirates’ season last year. Pitt (12-2 with losses only to De La Salle and Folsom and with win over Oakland McClymonds) was ranked No. 20 in this week’s State TOP 50. Manteca (12-2) had risen to No. 23, but will now drop down. The loss ended the remarkable career of Manteca’s Blake Nichelson, who may go up against Rashada when he is at Florida State.

South: Liberty of Bakersfield (Central Sec D1) 41,
Yorba Linda (CIFSS D3) 28
The last unbeaten team in the state for 2022 that still had a shot at going 16-0 was Yorba Linda and in this one the Mustangs were just out-classed by the visitors from the Central Valley. They also came into the night at No. 23 in the most recent State TOP 50 rankings, but Liberty was higher at No. 19. In the first half, two Liberty turnovers helped Yorba Linda (15-1) get out to a 28-14 lead. It was a different story in the second half. The Patriots (12-2) made it 28-21 on a 8-yard run by Jalen Hankins. They made it 28-28 on a 32-yard screen pass from Jace Nixon to Xander Chisholm. They took the lead at 35-28 on a 12-yard run by Hankins after he had a 71-yard run that completely flipped the field. The final TD came on a run by Mehki Delouth. Yorba Linda’s first half lead was built on the strength of a TD pass and TD run by senior QB Reyn Beal. Liberty will now travel even further south next week to Saddleback College in Mission Viejo for the state final. The Patriots know the drill from last year in the same game where they fell to Serra of Gardena. They also will know the opponent — Pittsburg — the same team they defeated at home in last year’s NorCal D1-A final.

DIVISION 2–A

North: San Ramon Valley of Danville (NCS D2) 19,
Marin Catholic of Kentfield (NCS D4) 17
With 18 seconds remaining, San Ramon Valley went for a potential go-ahead 37-yard field goal attempt. In the rain storm, Austin Shelton wouldn’t be denied, as the Wolves’ kicker blasted a no doubt game-winning field goal to power San Ramon Valley to the win over Marin Catholic in the East Bay on Saturday evening. The Wolves were able to attempt the kick after Owen Scott blocked a Charles Lewis field goal attempt with four minutes remaining by the Wildcats. In defeat, Marin Catholic star running back Charles Williams had a game high 233 yards and picked up both touchdown runs for the Wildcats. It wasn’t enough as they lost their first game of the season and finished 13-1. SRV went to 12-2 and may not be able to replace Marin Catholic in the State TOP 50 (MC was No. 50) since it has a loss to Clayton Valley of Concord and Clayton Valley has losses to both Turlock and Del Oro (Loomis).

Granite Hills of El Cajon players celebrate after victory on Saturday night over Etiwanda. They scored first four TDs of the game. Photo: @ewildeGHHS / Twitter.com.

South: Granite Hills of El Cajon (SD D2) 41,
Etiwanda (CIFSS D5) 21
In a game in which it was sure that a team of Eagles was going to win, the scoring came in twos for the Granite Hills Eagles in their regional title playoff win at home against the Etiwanda Eagles. Zack Darling and Isaiah “Pablo” Jackson both rushed for two touchdowns and helped Granite Hills pile up 348 yards rushing as a team (total from Eric-Paul Johnson of the Riverside Press-Enterprise). QB Parlan Sanders also passed for two TDs, one that was a 74-yarder to Joaquin Thomas. Even though Granite Hills had a 28-0 lead in the third quarter, Etiwanda was hoping to come back starting with a 6-yard TD run by QB Dermaricus Davis. The Etiwanda faithful also knew their team had come back from an 18-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to win the CIFSS D5 title. Granite Hills would have none of that and just continued to score. Davis added a TD pass and a TD run later in the quarter. Granite Hills improved to 12-2 and will now be looking to win its first-ever CIF state title as well as move up from No. 48 in the State TOP 50 rankings. Etiwanda closed its season at 9-6.

DIVISION 3–A

North: Bellarmine of San Jose (CCS D2) 35,
Vanden of Fairfield (SJS D4) 21
There will be two West Catholic Athletic League sides in State Championship Bowl games, as Bellarmine (8-6) got past Vanden (Fairfield) for a victory at San Jose City College on Saturday evening. Vanden scored first with a field goal in the first quarter, but the Bells answered back with 35 unanswered points over the next two and a half quarters. The game clincher for Bellarmine was a Billy Ladd 48-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter to make it 28-3. Ben Pfaff also had two first half touchdowns for the Bells in the blowout victory. This will be the first time since 2015 since the Bells have been in a state championship game. They lost in that one to Mission Viejo and lost in their other appearance in 2011 in the final seconds to Santa Margarita (Rancho SM). Vanden, last year’s D3-AA state champion, finished 12-2.

South: Laguna Hills (SSD7) 35,
Birmingham of Lake Balboa (LA City Open) 28
This game turned on two plays. First there was a 95-yard kickoff return for a score by Laguna Hills’ Troy Leigber that gave the Hawks a 28-21 lead in the third quarter. Then when the score had been tied 28-28 early in the fourth quarter after a 5-yard run by Peyton Waters, it appeared a pass by the Hawks was going to be intercepted. Instead of the interception, however, the ball bounced off the hands of the Birmingham defender and into the hands of Laguna Hills’ Drew Wade, who completed a 52-yard touchdown. The would stand as the game-winning score. Birmingham’s last chance ended on a sack by Sam Stark with 44 seconds left. Leigber also rushed for 121 yards and scored three other times in addition to the kickoff return. The junior will enter the state final with 50 touchdowns on the season and will be the state scoring champion. Playing in San Jose also isn’t far from where Troy’s brother, Mitch, plays at Stanford. Laguna Hills improved to 14-1. Birmingham hadn’t lost since the the preseason before going on a run in the CIF L.A. City Open Division playoffs and wound up 9-5.

DIVISION 4–A

North: San Marin of Novato (NCS D5) 29,
Menlo School of Atherton (CCS D3) 21
San Marin will join Mater Dei Catholic (Chula Vista) and McClymonds (Oakland) as defending state bowl champions from last year that will have an opportunity to win a second straight state title, as the Mustangs jumped out to an early lead and held on for a victory over the Knights. San Marin appeared to be en route to a blowout NorCal Regional Bowl victory, as the Mustangs went into the break up 19-0. It was announced right after halftime, however, that star quarterback Dominic Ingrassia would not return after suffering an injury at the end of the half. Jimmy Hughes stepped in and bounced the Mustangs lead to 29-7 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. Menlo still mounted a comeback, but could never get closer than the final score. San Marin ended up sacking Menlo quarterback Jake Bianchi eight times in the victory. Up next will be welcoming Granada Hills North of the Golden Gate next week.

South: Granada Hills Charter of Granada Hills (LA City D1) 56,
Laguna Beach (CIFSS D9) 55
This was a back-and-forth scorefest with 11 lead changes so it was bizarre that after a kickoff return touchdown by Granada Hills’ Darrell Stanley with five minutes left that no team scored again. Darrell’s cousin, Dijon, was again the focal point of the Highlanders’ offense as the Utah-committed RB blazed for 252 yards on 21 carries and scored four touchdowns. Head coach Bucky Brooks’ squad (12-2), which had to travel to south Orange County to play the Breakers, will now head up to Marin County next week to take on San Marin. Laguna Beach (11-4) had a historically great season not just for junior RB Bella Rasmussen becoming the first girl in state history to score two times in a game. The Breakers also won their first CIFSS title since 1946. QB Jackson Kollock led their offense with 314 yards passing and five TDs plus he ran for a score.

Head coach Bucky Brooks and some of his players show off CIF regional title plaque that Granada Hills Charter won on Saturday night at Laguna Beach. Photo: @ghctk12 / Twitter.com.

DIVISION 5–A

North: Orland (Northern Sec D3) 42,
Clear Lake of Lakeport (NCS D7) 21
There will be two undefeated teams playing next week for state titles and one of them will be the little Northern Section school of Orland, as the Trojans pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 42-21 victory over Clear Lake (Lakeport). The other school will be Serra of San Mateo. Orland (14-0) took a 21-14 lead into the final frame and the Trojans put their faith into running back/quarterback Grant Foster, as the senior had two of his three rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter and had over 150 yards in the second half. Foster also picked up the Orland all-time career rushing record in the victory. Cliff Johnson forced a fumble with under three minutes remaining that was recovered by Christian Padilla to secure the victory. Clear Lake (12-2) had knocked off an unbeaten team, St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma, to win its section title. It wasn’t meant to be do it for a second straight week.

South: Shafter (Central Sec D4) 20,
Walnut (CIFSS D11) 16
After being shut down to just 93 yards in the first half, the visiting Generals used their own defense and an opportunistic offense to win a SoCal title. Christopher Espinoza rushed for two touchdowns while freshman QB Ezekiel Osborne continued to play well for Shafter. The Generals (10-4) will now have to take a five-hour plus road trip up to Orland (about halfway between Sacramento and Redding on I-5) where they will try to win their first CIF state title. Walnut (11-4) scored on a 66-yard TD pass by Sal Quintanilla and on a TD run by Florencio Muro.

DIVISION 6–A

North: Atascadero (Central Sec D5) 21,
Colusa (Northern Sec D4) 0
The Greyhounds didn’t make the long drive north to Colusa for no reason, as they shut out their hosts 21-0 to head to the Division 6-A state bowl Championship. The Greyhounds came into the night with a strong running attack behind top running back Trey Cooks. The Atascadero rusher, who had picked up over 1,600 yards on the season, had each of the first two touchdowns for the visitors. Atascadero will now host 12-3 San Gabriel next week. Colusa wrapped up a 10-3 season.

South: San Gabriel (CIFSS D13) 46,
Kennedy of Granada Hills (LA City D2) 34
Jacob Muniz threw for two TDs and he ran for two scores as the Matadors captured their first regional title after winning their first section crown last week. It was the last two TDs, though, on runs of 6 and 5 yards by Elijah Muniz that gave San Gabriel (12-3) some breathing room. Kennedy had a streak of three straight TDs in the first half that included two TDs by Gabriel Argott, the running back who had 43 carries in the team’s L.A. City Section title game. Kennedy ended its season at 9-6.

DIVISION 7–AA State Championship

Pinole Valley of Pinole (NCS D6) 34,
Mendota (Central Sec D6) 21
This one-game state final was won by the visiting Spartans of Pinole Valley, who became bowl eligible for knocking off previously unbeaten St. Mary’s of Berkeley in their section playoffs and then winning in the final. Just before halftime, Pinole Valley (9-4) got a clutch 20-yard TD pass from Maddox Wu to Ellis Shamsid-Deen that gave the team a 20-14 lead. The Spartans then jumped on top 27-14 on a 72-yard run in the third quarter by Shamsid-Deen. The Aztecs (9-4) scored their first two TDs of the night on runs by Chris Mejia. The Spartans won their first CIF state title.

DIVISION 7–A

North: Lincoln of San Francisco (SF Sec) 9-3 had a bye

South: Crenshaw of Los Angeles (LA City D3) 48,
Whittier Christian of La Habra (CIFSS D14) 7
The bottom L.A. City Section team usually has a tough time in the regionals, but not this year. Crenshaw, which is still just 7-7 on the year, got rolling early on an impressive TD by Donce Lewis and were leading 34-7 at halftime. There was a running clock in the second half since Whittier Christian starting QB Caleb Mer injured his arm and couldn’t play. Head coach Robert Garrett of Crenshaw has won one CIF state title in his long career and he had a team in 2009 that lost to De La Salle in the Open Division. The Heralds finished 10-5.

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