Folsom, Manteca, Woodcreek, 12 Bridges among top seeds in CIF section playoffs

There were no surprises for the top seeds for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs, which feature eight, eight-team divisions as the high school sports governing body crunched the data to fill out the brackets on Sunday morning.

The Sacramento Bee top-ranked Folsom Bulldogs are the No. 1 seed in the large-school Division I bracket with Sierra Foothill League rival Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills seeded second and Bee No. 2-ranked Grant seeded third.

Folsom (9-1) seeks a record fifth consecutive D-I championship and Oak Ridge (7-3) aims to derail their rivals in that quest, having lost to the Bulldogs in each of the previous three section title games at Sacramento City College. Hughes Stadium will be the host venue for all eight section championship games on Thanksgiving weekend on Nov. 28-29.

Grant (6-4) won three successive section titles in other divisions and was moved up by the section to D-I due to the CIF’s sustained success formula. If the seeds hold, Grant would play at Oak Ridge in a semifinal on Nov. 21.

In Division II, Manteca (10-0) is the top seed and Sierra Football League-member Granite Bay (7-3) is the No. 2 seed. This bracket is especially deep with SFL members in No. 5 Jesuit (6-4) opening at No. 4 St. Mary’s of Stockton (8-2) and SFL rivals No. 6 Rocklin (5-5) opening at No. 3 Del Oro (7-3) in a Placer County showcase.

In Division III, Woodcreek of Roseville (9-1) is the top seed and Oakdale (8-2) is the No. 2 seed. No. 3 Merced is the bracket’s lone unbeaten team at 10-0.

In Division IV, Twelve Bridges of Lincoln (10-0) is the top seed, rolling in with its third successive unbeaten regular season under coach Chris Bean. Foothill Valley League rival Roseville (8-2) is the No. 2 seed.

In Division V, Casa Roble (9-1) is the top seed, and in one of the biggest discussions for the section selection crew of section staffers and retired regional coaches/athletic directors, Hilmar (6-4) was seeded second. The intrigue was where to seed Sutter (9-1), which lost 22-9 to Casa Roble on Friday to decide the Golden Empire League championship.

Sutter expected the No. 2 seed but are instead is No. 3 seed.

In Division VI, Sonora (10-0) is the No. 1 seed, and Liberty Ranch of Galt (10-0) is the No. 2 seed. Powerhouse programs meet in an opener when No. 4 Woodland Christian (9-1) hosts Bradshaw Christian of Sacramento (8-2).

In Division VII, Calaveras of San Andreas is the No. 1 seed with Stone Ridge Christian of Merced (9-1) the No. 2 seed.

The section for the first time will have a Division VIII bracket, specific to 8-man teams as compared to the traditional 11-man teams.

Mira Loma (10-0) is the top seed and Foresthill of Placer County (9-1) is the No. 2 seed.

Bowl game addition

The section has implemented for the first time a one-game postseason “Bowl Game” for teams that were not seeded in the top eight.

The design of the Bowls was to avoid lopsided opening-round playoff games where running clocks became the norm. Section schools overwhelmingly voted for this change by a 55-2 count.

There will be 29 Bowl games on Nov. 7, a night that all the other divisions have off, so, in effect, a bye week.

Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs

Listed by seeding. Games start Nov. 14.

Division I

No. 8 Downey at No. 1 Folsom

No. 5 Inderkum at No. 4 Monterey Trail

No. 6 Edison at No. 3 Grant

No. 7 Central Catholic at No. 2 Oak Ridge

Division II

No. 8 Tracy at No. 1 Manteca

No. 5 Jesuit at No. 4 St. Mary’s

No. 6 Rocklin at No. 3 Del Oro

No. 7 Chavez at No. 2 Granite Bay

Division III

No. 8 Destiny Christian at No. 1 Woodcreek

No. 5 Rio Americano at No. 4 Vacaville

No. 6 Vanden at No. 3 Merced

No. 7 Ponderosa at No. 2 Oakdale

Division IV

No. 8 Fairfield at No. 1 Twelve Bridges

No. 5 Placer at No. 4 East Union

No. 6 Pioneer at No. 3 Hughson

No. 7 Escalon at No. 2 Roseville

Division V

No. 8 Oakmont at No. 1 Casa Roble

No. 5 Lathrop at No. 4 Lincoln Zebras

No. 6 Rosemont at No. 3 Sutter

No. 7 Rio Linda at No. 2 Hilmar

Division VI

No. 8 Wheatland at No. 1 Sonora

No. 5 Bradshaw Christian at No. 4 Woodland Christian

No. 6 Amador at No. 3 Ripon Christian

No. 7 Ripon at No. 2 Liberty Ranch

Division VII

No. 8 Le Grand at No. 1 Calaveras

No. 5 Denair at No. 4 Mariposa

No. 6 Rio Vista at No. 3 Summerville

No. 7 Linden at No. 2 Stone Ridge

Division VIII (8-man)

No. 8 Valley at No. 1 Mira Loma

No. 5 Valley Christian at No. 4 Delta

No. 6 Encina at No. 3 Vacaville Christian

No. 7 Florin at No. 2 Foresthill

Section Bowl games

Nov. 7: Pleasant Grove at West Park; Franklin-Elk Grove at Whitney; Turlock at Lincoln-Stockton; Laguna Creek at Stagg; Pitmam at Kimball; Mountain Home at Tokay; Golden Valley at Enochs; Rodriguez at Christian Brothers; Gregori at Johansen; Vista del Lago at Elk Grove; Grace Davis at Atwater; Del Campo at Bella Vista; Sacramento at Nevada Union; Antelope at Yuba City; Los Banos at Patterson; Woodland at Wood; Livingston at El Capitan; Center at Dixon; Ceres at Argonaut; Gustine at Pacheco; Beyer at Orestimba; Union Mine at Highlands; Golden Sierra at El Dorado; Lindhurst at Bear River; Esparto at Marysville; Burbank at Colfax; Big Valley Christian at Waterford; Bret Harte at Delhi; West Campus at San Juan.

This story was originally published November 2, 2025 at 1:52 PM.