The Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs open this week and Prep2Prep begins its coverage with a playoff preview.
Lots of bowl possibilities from CIF-SJS
What if anything was proven last Saturday in the Grant-Sacramento 52-14 dismantling of host Jesuit-Carmichael, is the total lock Folsom supposedly has as the top team in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section may be in question.
What makes the situation even more complicated to sort out at this point with the SJS playoff alignment, is after the first minor upset in what will need to be a myriad of possibilities and twists, the two won’t meet unless it’s for a spot in Carson.
Going into last Friday night Grant was on the bubble to qualify for Division I, meaning there were 16 playoff-eligible teams with larger enrollments than Grant in the mix. If they all qualified, meaning finishing at least in first or second place in their league, the Pacers would be placed in Division II.
By Saturday afternoon’s kickoff it was already known that Turlock had upset cross-town Pitman to finish second in the Central California Conference. Grant was Division II-bound.
That meant that instead of Grant and Jesuit fighting it out on the field for not only the Delta League title, but for the No. 2 seed in the Division I playoffs as well, the end result of the game was not going to change Grant being the No. 1 seed in Division II and Jesuit getting the No. 2 seed in Division I behind Folsom.
Now, if Cal-Hi Sports state No. 3 and Sacramento Bee top-ranked Folsom (10-0) and state No. 9 and SacBee No. 2 Grant (10-0) both win their respective SJS divisions, they could eventually meet for the NorCal Division I Bowl title, provided De La Salle is chosen for the Open Division.
And even if state No. 15 and currently unbeaten Milpitas (9-0) runs the table and wins the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division, the commissioners could opt for two teams from the Sac-Joaquin Section and leave out the Central Coast Section, regardless of who wins the Open Division.
If that sounds a little confusing stay tuned, and as the playoffs progress more explanations for more scenarios including other divisions will be forthcoming. Until then here is a review of the six CIF-SJS playoff brackets.
Division I
With Grant out the division, it's looking like the only way Folsom won’t win is if the No. 1 seeded Bulldogs suffer a total collapse, which is highly unlikely.
Last week Folsom warmed up for the playoffs with a 71-7 shellacking of Woodcreek-Roseville. It was the Bulldogs' highest point total of the season for a team averaging a whopping 55.8 points per game.
Washington-bound quarterback Jake Browning didn’t even play the entire game but still threw for 276 yards and six touchdown passes. He now has 3,507 yards and 56 TDs this season with just four interceptions and an astronomical 141.5 QB rating. Also, with 196 career TD passes he’s only four away from the magic 200 mark and moving in on the national record of 210 set by Marty Mauk of Kenton, Ohio, in 2011.
Browning will get a chance to add to those numbers when the Bulldogs meet No. 16 Stagg-Stockton at home this Friday night.
On the other side of the bracket is a No. 2 seed Jesuit that’s licking its wounds from the pounding it took in the loss to Grant. Last year the Marauders gave Folsom as good a game as any team did other than De La Salle before falling 42-35 in the D1 semifinals.
This year’s Jesuit team appeared to be better than last year, although Folsom looks improved as well. Now, after the way Jesuit looked against Grant the question looms if the Marauders or anyone can give Folsom a real contest.
The No. 4 Merced team on Folsom’s side of the bracket has two losses to CIF Central Section Division I Clovis West-Fresno and Edison-Fresno, Clovis West is 5-5 and Edison 9-1 with a loss to 7-3 Division II Sanger. It’s not looking like Folsom will have a problem reaching the finals.
On the Jesuit side No. 3 Granite Bay looms as a potential semifinal opponent but the Marauders will need to play better than they did against Grant to get that far. The road starts with Gregori-Modesto on Saturday afternoon. With a win it’s either a matchup with a solid No. 7 seed Tracy team or the Turlock squad that sneaked in and received the No. 10 seed.
Prediction: Folsom wins the Division I title 42-14 over Jesuit.
Division II
After being dropped down to Division II Grant would seem to have been given an easier ticket to eventually face Folsom in the NorCal Division I Bowl Game than had they been in Division I and had to meet Folsom in the SJS D1 finals.
That is until you look at who the potential semifinal opponent is and you see that it’s a Del Oro-Loomis (5-5). While the record is not sparking, Del Oro defeated D1 No. 3 seed Granite Bay on the road 20-7 to solidify a No. 4 seed.
Grant opens at home on Friday with No. 16 Patterson, and frankly it’s doubtful anyone in the CIF-SJS other than potentially Folsom in a Regional game, can match the size and speed of the Pacers. The big, quick line anchored by 6-foot-6, 300-pound Division I prospect Darrin Paulo averages over 300 pounds and would make a lot of college coaches mouths water. Plus, the depth veteran head coach Mike Alberghini has consists of a lot of young players at both the skill and size positions.
“If we had our druthers we’d prefer to be in Division I and playing Folsom, who we’ve had some good success in the playoffs against in the past,” Alberghini remarked.
For Grant, the road to a potential showdown with Folsom would likely include a victory over Del Oro in the semis and a clash with either No. 2 seed Elk Grove, a team it defeated 26-19 at home and Jesuit dispatched 42-38 at Levi's Stadium, or No. 3 St. Mary's-Stockton.
Were it not for a double-overtime loss at St. Ignatius-San Francisco, St. Mary's (9-1) would be staring at a possible bowl game berth instead of settling in at No. 9 in the Cal-Hi Sports NorCal Division I bowl rankings.
Elk Grove (8-2) opens with No. 15 Vintage-Napa while St. Mary’s gets No. 14 River Valley-Yuba City.
Prediction: Grant wins the Division II title with a 35-21 victory over St. Mary’s.
Division III
Getting to a high spot in the Cal-Hi Sports NorCal or SoCal Bowl Rankings is important as the funnel narrows, since those rankings are one of the criteria used by the 10 commissioners on the Bowl selection committee for choosing the teams.
A team that would be higher than No. 5 in the Cal-Hi Sports NorCal Division II rankings is CIF-SJS Division III No. 1 seed Inderkum-Sacramento (9-1), which has won eight straight since a heartbreaking 29-27 loss to Division I No. 12 seed Monterey Trail-Elk Grove.
Despite being No. 5 in the pecking order for two NorCal Division II Bowl berth, Inderkum would make a great case for a spot if it can win out and claim the SJS D3 title.
No. 1 Clayton Valley-Concord and No. 3 Concord are both participating in the CIF North Coast Section Division II playoffs, so by necessity, one of them will be knocked off the board.
Current No. 3 Los Gatos still has a shot at the CIF-CCS Open Division, which would rule the Wildcats out of Division II altogether.
Defending NorCal champion and No. 4 Enterprise-Redding looks like a solid choice but it has a 22-point loss to a Vacaville team that has lost to a Napa team that not only did Clayton Valley wallop but CIF-NCS Division III top seed Campolindo-Moraga handled easily.
Because of these strength of schedule factors Inderkum could be a qualifier, but first it has to get by an opener at home with cross-town Valley, and eventually a likely semifinal matchup with either No. 4 Manteca or No. 5 Sacramento.
The bottom half of the bracket features No. 2 seed Sierra (9-1), which could have been the top seed had it not fallen victim to an upset by arch-rivals Manteca two weeks ago in a 34-20 loss that cost Sierra sole possession of the Valley Oak League title.
The No. 3 seed on the bottom half is the Oakdale team Sierra defeated 31-20 in league play.
Inderkum and its potent offense and stingy defense looks like the top half finalist with Sierra and Oakdale (9-1) fighting it out to meet the Tigers for the D2 crown.
Prediction: Inderkum gets on the board for the NorCal Division II Bowl Game with a 35-24 win over Oakdale.
Division IV
For purposes of the state Bowl Game picture, we have two teams fighting for two different slots in the NorCal D3 and D4 Bowl Games with only one surviving.
Top-seeded and two-time defending CIF Division IV Bowl Game winner Central Catholic-Modesto (7-3) is also Cal-Hi Sports NorCal No. 1 team despite a third-place finish in the Valley Oak.
On the bottom half No. 2 seed Sonora (9-1) has won nine straight since a season-opening 28-14 loss at Oakdale.
Los Banos (8-2) is the No. 3 seed and Escalon (7-3) is the No. 4 seed but neither is likely to hang with Central Catholic although Los Banos could give Sonora a good semifinal test.
Prediction: Central Catholic begins a road for a three-peat at Carson with a 28-21 win over Sonora.
Division V
None of the top seeds are in the hunt for a Bowl Game berth and it looks like Bear River-Grass Valley (8-2) should handle anyone including No. 2 Colfax (6-4) in the finals.
Division VI
Top-seeded Capital Christian (10-0) is a prohibitive favorite and if it wins the CIF-SJS D6 title the Cal-Hi Sports Division IV No. 3 ranked boys from Sacramento could get a Bowl berth if No. 2 McClymonds-Oakland is unsuccessful in its appeal of the ineligibility of a player. If the violation is confirmed, it may cause McClymonds to forfeit four games, thus pretty much nullifying its chance of selection.
