High school football: Matchups set for CIF Northern California Regional Championships
Five Sacramento-area high school football teams learned Sunday afternoon that their dream seasons will continue for at least another week.
The California Interscholastic Federation released brackets for the Northern California Regional Championship games to be held Friday and Saturday at home sites, with the winners playing for state crowns in their respective divisions Dec. 8-9 at junior college venues in Southern California.
All section champions advance to a CIF regional final, and locally, that includes Folsom, Rocklin, Grant, Casa Roble and Woodland Christian.
Rocklin (12-1) will host Grant (11-2) in the Division 2-AA title game on Friday at 7:30 p.m., a showdown of longtime Sac-Joaquin Section powers and the first playoff meeting between the programs since Rocklin stopped defending CIF State Open Division champion Grant on a goal-line stand in a 2009 section D-II semifinal.
Grant is coming off a section D-III repeat and Rocklin won the section D-II title, so why is Grant moving up? Because the seeding committee ranked Grant as a team worthy of this game. The CIF bowls are not based on enrollment, like the Sac-Joaquin Section playoff brackets are. The CIF ranked all 27 NorCal teams in order and placed teams in matchups accordingly.
Folsom, a 10-time Sac-Joaquin Section champion since 2010, drew a Saturday home game in the Division 1-A final against storied Pittsburg of the North Coast Section, a team that will come in at 13-0. Folsom is 11-2, but its losses were to NorCal No. 1 Serra of San Mateo, which for the second consecutive season advances straight to the prestigious CIF State Open final against national power Mater Dei of Santa Ana; and to De La Salle, which will host Clovis North of Fresno in the 1-AA final.
Casa Roble (12-1), fresh off winning the section D-V title, will visit Soquel of Santa Cruz County in the Division 4-AA final on Friday. Woodland Christian, the only unbeaten team in the section at 13-0, will visit Orland (11-1) of the Northern Section.
The Rocklin-Grant game is not the first time the CIF had two Sacramento-area teams meet for a NorCal championship. In 2014, Grant and Folsom met for the D1-AA title game at overflow Sacramento State in a meeting of unbeteans. Folsom won.
“Man, amazing,” Grant coach Carl Reed said. “Both times two (section teams plays), it involved us. It’s a big game, two championship programs who have had big games in the past. It’s a great test for both programs.”
CIF NorCal finals schedule
▪ AA-level games will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday; A-level games will start at 6 p.m. Saturday.
▪ The CIF Open Division state championship is already set with Serra-San Mateo (12-0) playing Mater Dei (12-1) on Dec. 9.
Division 1-AA: Clovis North (13-0) at De La Salle (10-2)
Division 1-A: Pittsburg (13-0) at Folsom (11-2)
Division 2-AA: Grant (11-2) at Rocklin (12-1)
Division 2-A: El Cerrito (11-1) at Los Gatos (11-2)
Division 3-AA: Escalon (11-1) at Acalanes (9-4)
Division 3-A: McClymonds (9-2) at Marin Catholic (12-1)
Division 4-AA: Casa Roble (12-1) at Soquel (11-2)
Division 4-A: Palma (6-7) at Hughson (10-3)
Division 5-AA: Miramonte (9-3) at Pleasant Valley (9-3)
Division 5-A: Woodland Christian (13-0) at Orland (11-1)
Division 6-AA: Palo Alto (8-5) vs. St, Vincent de Paul (11-2)
Division 6-A: Colusa (12-0) at South San Francisco (12-1)
Division 7-AA: Portola (12-0) vs. Ferndale (9-4)
Division 7-A: Lincoln-San Francisco (9-3) at Strathmore (10-4)
This story was originally published November 26, 2023 at 2:08 PM.