Until five years ago, a playoff run like this would not have been possible for Lincoln.
No matter how good the Lions were, the postseason would always be out of reach. That’s because for decades, Lincoln was locked into the Big Bone Game on Thanksgiving against historic rival San José High — a game the Lions have not lost since 1997.
But starting in the 2021 season, the schools agreed to move the rivalry game to early in the season, allowing both teams to compete for section and state titles. And Lincoln, typically among the stronger public school programs in San José, has stretched out its 2025 campaign as far as it can possibly go.
The Lions lost in the first round of the Central Coast Section playoffs in 2021 and 2022, then finished 3-7 and failed to qualify each of the last two years. But this fall, Lincoln (11-3) got off to a 5-0 start, stumbled with a trio of one-score losses in BVAL-Mount Hamilton Division play, then found its footing again.
After surviving a scare from Scotts Valley in the CCS Division IV opening round, the Lions went on the road and routed Willow Glen by five touchdowns, then put up 49 points for the second straight week in a win over Branham for the section championship. That gave Lincoln another home game in the NorCal Division 6-AA bracket, and the Lions used a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to beat Gridley and punch their ticket to states.
Longtime head coach Kevin Collins joked to the Bay Area News Group this week that Lincoln will have “nationals,” “internationals” and “universes” after this weekend, but Friday’s matchup with Valley Center in Fullerton is the end of the road.
The Lions love to run the ball, and they have the luxury of being able to hand off to senior Kyan Phillips, who played through injury last week and is up to 1,688 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns in 14 games. He is also Lincoln’s second-leading pass-catcher, with his 454 receiver yards and seven touchdowns trailing only Michael Whitelaw (664 yards, nine TDs).
Sophomore Luca Papoulias is starting at quarterback in his first year on varsity, and seniors Jonathan Medina and Lucas Martinez can spell Phillips for stretches in the backfield.
The Jaguars (8-6) are playing their best football of the year after starting slowly. Valley Center has won five straight games and seven of its last eight following a 1-5 start that included a forfeit loss. After winning the San Diego Section Division IV title, the Jaguars overcame an early 13-point deficit to beat Valley View 30-19 for the SoCal 6-AA crown.
Valley Center has no shortage of offensive playmakers. Senior quarterback Braylon Mitchell completed 12 of 15 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns last week, with 121 of those yards going to Jesse Morales. The Jaguars have an explosive running back of their own in Joeisha Ryan Triado, who rushed for 128 yards and two scores on just 17 carries to get them to this game.
That trio has carried Valley Center all season long, with Mitchell just five yards short of 3,000 for his final high school season.
Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday at Fullerton Union High School District Stadium. HSRatings predicts a 38-28 victory for Lincoln.
SI seeks title under first-year head coach
Heading into a road trip to Valley Christian on Halloween night, St. Ignatius had just two wins and essentially no margin for error to make the playoffs a year after winning the CCS Open Division title.
So the Wildcats started winning, and they have not lost since. Six straight victories have SI (8-6) en route to its first-ever state championship game, and the last two have been nail-biters — a last-second field goal to beat arch-rival Sacred Heart Cathedral for the CCS Division II title and a 17-13 defensive slugfest over Monte Vista in the NorCal Division 3-AA playoff game.
“We said going to Valley, it’s a playoff game,” Wildcats first-year head coach JaJuan Lawson said. “And then we went to the (Bruce-Mahoney), that was a de facto playoff game. And then it’s been playoff games ever since. We’ve been like that for so long. Our minds are just so locked in.”
Senior Caedon Afsharipour has helped steady SI’s offense since his return from an injury, with Zui Shelton as his favorite receiver and Steve Malone beginning to take more snaps away from Luke Tribolet at running back. But the heartbeat of this Wildcats team is its defense and special teams.
The linebacking corps, led by Charlie Ball and Jack Riedy, is among the best in Northern California. Tucker Jones and Matthew Bruso are strong up front and helped contain Monte Vista dual-threat quarterback Ian Ondricek last week. And kicker Thomas McKeon, a week after his game-winner against the Fightin’ Irish, drilled another key fourth-quarter field goal to help SI hold off the Mustangs.
The final boss for the Wildcats will be Ventura (13-2), a team riding a 10-game winning streak into Friday night. The Cougars won the Southern Section Division VI title, then knocked off Arroyo Grande on the road last week in the SoCal 3-AA championship. Three different Ventura players — sophomores Tristan Savage and James Watson and senior quarterback Derek Garcia — rushed for more than 100 yards in that 35-28 victory.
Garcia also was 15-of-22 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns. His usual partner in crime is superstar receiver Jack Cunningham, who has caught 116 passes for 2,041 yards and 26 touchdowns in 15 games as a senior. That receiving yards total leads the entire state of California.
Kickoff is at 8 p.m. in Fullerton, following the Lincoln-Valley Center game. HSRatings projects SI to win, 28-24.
