Five Sacramento-area schools earn top seeds in Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs
Some brackets were easy to figure out, formulate and place onto paper. Others, not so much.
On Sunday morning at the Sac-Joaquin Section headquarters, a committee of section staffers and retired regional coaches and administrators crunched data and merged minds to seed seven divisions of the high school football playoffs that start Friday at home sites.
The top two divisions required the most attention and debate, as the criteria of seeding teams included league placement, strength of schedule, signature victories, enrollment and CalPreps.com computer rankings. Head-to-head matchups helped, but sometimes even that became a bit problematic, especially, as assistant section commissioner Will DeBoard said, “In a lot of cases, we have a Team A that beat Team B, who beat Team C, which beat Team A. We’re often asked, ‘Which criteria is the most important?’ Well, all of them.”
All told, 78 teams made the playoffs, including large-school Divisions I and II, medium-school Divisions III and IV, and small-school Divisions V, VI and VII.
The top four seeds in Divisions I-VI have first-round byes.
A look at the divisions
Folsom, top-ranked by The Bee for pretty much every week since the start of the 2012 season, was the clear D-I top seed. The Bulldogs (9-1) seek their eighth section title this decade and are also working on a CIF State championship Division I-AA three-peat.
Oak Ridge (8-2) placed third in the Sierra Foothill League behind Folsom and Rocklin, but earned the D-I No. 2 seed due to overall strength of schedule – and losing only by three to Folsom helped. Oak Ridge coach anticipated this seed.
No. 3 Inderkum (10-0) is in the D-I scramble for the first time after years of D-II and D-III enrollment, and St. Mary’s of Stockton got the No. 4 seed despite a 6-4 record because it played the most difficult schedule of any team in the section, if not all of Northern California, including losses to De La Salle, Serra of San Mateo and Pittsburg.
“St Mary’s schedule, everyone would have gone 6-4 with that,” DeBoard said. “Davis got the six seed in D-I at 9-1 but didn’t have that signature win outside league.”
Rocklin is the top seed in D-II, but the Thunder (7-3) will not host any section playoff games. The school violated section bylaw 201a last spring, a pre-enrollment contact. In this case, eighth-graders were working out in the Rocklin weight room – a seemingly harmless act, but a violation of section policy.
Cosumnes Oaks (7-3) is the No. 2 seed, followed by Vacaville (8-2) and Jesuit (5-5). Longtime section power Central Catholic of Modesto is seeded fifth and No. 6 Elk Grove and No. 7 Granite Bay loom as dark horses.
The Foothill Valley League advanced all six of its teams, the only one in the section to do so. None of the teams had a losing record: Placer (8-2), Rio Linda (8-2), Oakmont (6-4), Ponderosa (5-5), Lincoln (5-5) and Nevada Union (5-5).
The SFL advanced six of its seven teams: Folsom, Rocklin, Oak Ridge, Del Oro, Granite Bay and Whitney. Only Grant (1-9) is out.
Some teams had good overall records, but their seasons are over.
Laguna Creek went 1-9 last season and is 7-3 now, but will not make the postseason, DeBoard said, because, “It wasn’t ranked high enough (top 12 in its division) to advance.”
The same is true for 8-2 Grace Davis of Modesto – not a strong enough league, strength of schedule or CalPreps ranking.
It’s further proof that strength of schedule and league strength matters and that seedings are not win-loss standings.
Defending champion Capital Christian (8-2) is the top seed in D-III, with Placer (8-2) second, Buhach Colony (10-0) third and Manteca (8-2) fourth.
Defending champion Rio Linda (8-2) is the top seed in D-IV with Oakdale (7-3) second, Casa Roble (7-3) third and Sierra (7-3) of Manteca fourth.
Center (10-0) is the top seed in D-V with its best record in school history. Ripon (9-1) is second, Amador (9-1) third and Bradshaw Christian (8-2) fourth. Colfax (7-3), the defending champion, is seeded ninth.
Escalon (9-1) is the top seed in D-VI, defending champion Hilmar (9-1) is second, Ripon Christian (9-1) third and Golden Sierra (8-2) fourth.
Defending champion Denair (8-2) is the top seed in D-VII and Mariposa (6-4) second.
For complete brackets, visit cifsjs.org.
Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs
Division I
All games Friday, 7p.m.
No. 9 Lincoln-S at No. 8 Edison
No. 12 Pleasant Grove at No. 5 Monterey Trail
No. 11 Gregori at No. 6 Davis
No. 10 Del Oro at No. 7 Turlock
Byes: No. 1 Folsom, No. 2 Oak Ridge, No. 3 Inderkum, No. 4 St. Mary’s
Division II
All games Friday, 7 p.m.
No. 9 Whitney at No. 8 Lincoln-L
No. 12 Tracy at No. 5 Central Catholic
No. 11 Oakmont at No. 6 Elk Grove
No. 10 Downey at No. 7 Granite Bay
Byes: No. 1 Rocklin, No. 2 Cosumnes Oaks, No. 3 Vacaville, No. 4 Jesuit
Division III
All games Friday, 7 p.m.
No. 9 Antelope at No. 8 Ponderosa
No. 12 River Valley at No. 5 Vista del Lago
No. 11 Johnson at No. 6 Roseville
No. 10 Yuba City at No. 7 Christian Brothers
Byes: No. 1 Capital Christian, No. 2 Placer, No. 3 Buhach Colony, No. 4 Manteca
Division IV
All games Friday at 7 p.m.
No. 9 Nevada Union at No. 8 Vanden
No. 12 Kimball at No. 5 Atwater
No. 11 Beyer at No. 6 Merced
No. 10 Del Campo at No. 7 Patterson
No. 13 Golden Valley at No. 4 Sierra
Byes: No. 1 Rio Linda, No. 2 Oakdale, No. 3 Casa Roble
Division V
All games Friday at 7 p.m.
No. 9 Colfax at No. 8 Union Mine
No. 12 Los Banos at No. 5 Woodland
No. 11 Livingston at No. 6 Rosemont
No. 10 Foothill at No. 7 Liberty Ranch
Byes: No. 1 Center, No. 2 Ripon, No. 3 Amador, No. 4 Bradshaw Christian
Division VI
All games Friday at 7 p.m.
No. 9 Hughson at No. 8 Linden
No. 11 Western Sierra at No. 6 Calaveras
No. 10 Highlands at No. 7 Bear River
Byes: No. 1 Escalon, No. 2 Hilmar, No. 3 Ripon Christian
No. 5 Sonora at No. 4 Golden Sierra, Nov. 15
Division VII
No. 6 Vacaville Christian at No. 3 Woodland Christian
No. 5 Big Valley Christian at No. 4 Le Grand
Byes: No. 1 Denair, No. 2 Mariposa
This story was originally published November 3, 2019 at 2:42 PM.