Several games Friday night had huge Central Coast Section playoffs implications. We present a brief rundown of some of the big results and what they mean for the playoff picture.
BVAL-Mt. Hamilton
Pioneer (8-1, 6-0 BVAL-MH) hosts Oak Grove (5-3, 5-0) next week to decide the league championship and trip to the CCS Open Division playoffs.
BVAL-Santa Teresa
Westmont 35, Silver Creek 32: The visiting Raiders were riding high after four consecutive wins thrust them into a four-way tie for first place in the BVAL-Santa Teresa Division but a loss to the Warriors ended their hopes for a league title.
However, Silver Creek is still in good shape for a CCS at-large berth. Westmont, meanwhile, is in position to claim a share of the BVAL-ST title with a win over Sobrato in the final week. But if Live Oak defeats Gunderson as expected, the Acorns would win the tiebreaker.
BVAL-West Valley
Branham 38, Mt. Pleasant 7: The Bruins completed their three-year turnaround under coach Nick Gardiner with an impressive victory over the host Cardinals, clinching a BVAL-West Valley Division title and a trip to the CCS playoffs.
"It's unbelievable right now," quarterback Luke Morin told Prep2Prep's John Murphy. "It's just a great feeling knowing we're going to CCS."
In claiming the BVAL-WV automatic bid, Branham is expected to earn a mid-level seed in the CCS Division III playoffs. The most recent Prep2Prep projections had the Bruins traveling to Aptos for a first-round game.
It was the first loss of the season for Mt. Pleasant (8-1, 5-1), but the Cardinals will likely be left out of the playoff proceedings based on their CCS point total, which is impacted by playing in the BVAL "C" Division.
MBL-Gabilan
San Benito 17, Palma 13: The Haybalers pulled off a stunning upset of the previously undefeated Chieftains, who came in with a 16-game winning streak in MBL-Gabilan play. Andrew Sotelo scored the winning touchdown on a 41-yard run early in the fourth quarter, as San Benito came back from a 13-0 deficit.
Both teams are assured of a CCS berth, but the loss, coupled with Salinas' 38-0 win over North Salinas means that Palma (8-1, 4-1 MBL) must defeat Alvarez next week to capture the MBL-Gabilan title and a trip to the Open Division playoffs. Salinas (6-4, 5-1) has completed its regular season.
MBL-Pacific
Christopher 36, North Monterey County 6: The Cougars clinched the MBL-Pacific Division title and automatic CCS berth. Even with a loss next week at Gilroy, Christopher (8-1, 5-0) would own the tiebreaker with Monte Vista Christian (8-2, 5-1).
MTAL
As has been expected all season, Pacific Grove (8-1, 6-0 MTAL) meets Carmel (6-2, 5-0) next week to decide the MTAL title, with the result only impacting the CCS playoffs in terms of seeding in Division IV.
PAL-Bay
Sacred Heart Prep 35, Burlingame 14: Force of nature Ben Burr-Kirven led the Gators to their first PAL-Bay title and trip to the Open Division with a win over previously undefeated Burlingame (8-1, 4-1). The Gators (9-0, 4-0) finish with a trip down the street to Menlo, but even with a loss, they would win the tiebreaker by virtue of their win over the Panthers.
"The PAL-Bay title was the one thing we hadn't won," Burr-Kirven told the Mercury News. "Now we get to play in the Open, which was our goal at the start of the season."
Burlingame will most likely wind up as one of the top seeds in Division III.
PAL-Ocean
Aragon (9-0, 4-0 PAL-Ocean) has already clinched the league title and is projected to be in the middle of the bracket in Division III.
PAL-Lake
The King's Academy 48, Carlmont 14: The Knights completed their remarkable turnaround from a year ago by clinching the PAL-Lake Division title and a trip to the CCS playoffs as Dominic Sabel threw for 241 yards and four touchdowns.
SCVAL-De Anza
Milpitas 47, Palo Alto 7: As expected, the Trojans wrapped up the SCVAL-De Anza Division with a win over the host Vikings. Milpitas will compete in the Open Division while Palo Alto is planted firmly on the CCS bubble with 18.5 CCS points at the moment. Paly will likely need to win at Saratoga to qualify for the playoffs.
SCVAL-El Camino
Fremont 35, Wilcox 19: While the win itself had no bearing on the division race - the Firebirds had already clinched the SCVAL-El Camino title and Wilcox is a non-league opponent - a decisive win like that signals that Fremont (9-0, 5-0) could be dangerous in Division I.
WCAL
Bellarmine 17, St. Francis 14: It wasn't easy, but the Bells put themselves in a position to play for at least a share of the WCAL title with a win over the rival Lancers in the "Holy War". The loss puts St. Francis in a must-win situation against St. Ignatius next week to keep its Open Division hopes alive.
Serra 35, Sacred Heart Cathedral 17: The Padres recovered from a slow start - not to mention last week's loss at Mitty - to keep pace with Bellarmine and Valley Christian in the WCAL race. Serra (6-3, 5-1) hosts Bellarmine (8-1, 5-1) next Saturday to decide at least half of the title, pending Valley's result at Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The Padres have the lowest point total among the three WCAL title contenders, but will still likely qualify for the Open Division even with a loss to Bellarmine, which is a lock for the Open.
Valley Christian 15, Mitty 14: Quarterback Michael Machado once again led the Warriors on a huge drive to pull out a close victory and keep his team in the running for a WCAL title. After throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown, Machado led Valley Christian on an 80-yard drive late in the third quarter to provide the winning score on a 20-yard pass to Mark Quinby. In any case, Valley Christian is a lock for the Open Division.
