De La Salle senior running back John Velasco leads the Spartans toward a 22nd straight North Coast Section Division I title. Velasco rushed for 1,314 yards and 19 touchdowns in the regular season.
File photo by Dennis Lee
The North Coast Section of California pairings and four-week playoffs were announced Sunday with the winner of each of the five divisions eligible for the CIF State regional play-in game for the State Bowl series in Carson. (Click on each division to see the bracket).
Division I - As if this tournament didn't appear anticlimactic enough, then came Friday's score:
De La Salle (Concord) 55, California-San Ramon 0. The top-ranked Spartans have won 21 straight NCS crowns and, with one of their more talented teams in years, No. 22 appears imminent. The win Friday over the tournament's No. 3 seed cements that notion. One of these years, perhaps, De La Salle (10-0) will be given a free pass straight into the regional, allowing superb programs like No. 2
Pittsburg (8-2), No. 3
California (San Ramon) (8-2), No. 4
Deer Valley (Antioch) (9-1), No. 5
Logan (Union City) (8-2), No. 6
San Ramon Valley (Danville) (6-4) and No. 7
Foothill (Pleasanton) (8-2), among others, a fighting chance.
Predicted winner: Duh. De La Salle.
JaJuan Lawson, Casa Grande
File photo by Dennis Lee
(10-0) is the well-deserved top seed with the tournament's most dominant player, dual threat QB
JaJuan Lawson. But many see defending champ and No. 2
Clayton Valley Charter (Concord) (9-1) as the favorite. Fifth-seed
Concord (7-3), which lost on a last-second two-point conversion to Clayton Valley 49-48, is in Casa Grande's bracket.
Miramonte (Orinda), with red-hot
Drew Anderson at quarterback, is on Clayton Valley's side.
Winner: Clayton Valley.
Division III - This has been the most interesting division the past several years and continues to be. The top seed is
Marin Catholic (Kentfield) (10-0), but No. 2
Campolindo (Moraga) (10-0) made a strong case with a win over the tournament's most talented team,
El Cerrito (8-2). Fourth-seed
Analy (Sebastopol) (9-1) has a win over D1 No. 2 Pittsburg, so this tournament is loaded.
Winner: Marin Catholic.
Division IV - Top seed
San Marin (Novato) (8-2) got beat up by Marin Catholic on Saturday but has a bye to rest up. With the tournament's most dominant player, Arizona State-bound dual threat QB
Manny Wilkins, the Mustangs should roll to their first title since 2001.
Winner: San Marin.
Division V - Middletown (9-1) is the top seed but will have a tough semifinal game between either
Salesian (Richmond) (5-5) or charging
St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma) (7-2).
Winner: St. Vincent.
See all the California state brackets
