The Northern California high school football season is in full swing as league play dominates the action with an eye toward postseason.
Here are some notes from around the region.
Rio Vista rumbler
Rio Vista is a small high school located near the Sacramento River, and it has been a football program of note for decades.
These days, the intrigue is tied to a running back named
Ethan Friedel. The 6-foot, 210-pound sophomore running back for the Rams rushed 30 times for 356 yards and seven touchdowns in a 65-32 victory over
Mesa Verde (Citrus Heights) in a Sierra Delta League contest.
Friedel has rushed for 881 yards and 14 scores for Rio Vista, which is 5-2 overall and 4-0 in league play.
Ethan Friedel has rushed for 881 yards and 14 scores for Rio Vista, which is 5-2 overall and 4-0 in league play. (PHOTO: Richard Flink)
of the CIF Central Section won its 700th game in program history, a 36-14 win over
Mendota, and players celebrated by holding up a banner that mentioned the milestone.
Dos Palos first played football in 1923. Another Northern California school is closing in on 700 wins.
Pittsburg of Contra Costa County is sitting on 691 wins, according to Cal-Hi Sports.
Granite Bay coach wins 200th
Joe Cattolico of
Granite Bay of Placer County recently
won his 200th game, becoming the 13th coach in the greater Sacramento area to reach the milestone.
Ever the humble coach, Cattolico did not realize he was closing in on the milestone until he was asked about it by The Sacramento Bee. Turns out, he won his 200th game that week, a 14-13 win over
Del Oro (Loomis) on Oct. 3 in Sierra Foothill League action.
Cattolico's father, Butch Cattolico, was a 264-game winner at Los Gatos.
Central East QB sizzlesThe top-ranked team in the CIF Central Section is
Central East (Fresno), and the Bengals have one hot quarterback at the controls.
Junior
Jelani Dippel scorched Clovis East 50-20 in firing six touchdowns to go with 426 yards. He also ran for a score. Three of his touchdown passes went to
Bayon Harris.
Central East is 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the Tri-River League. Central East's loss was 42-26 to
Grant (Sacramento) in an Aug. 29 nonleague game in Sacramento.
NorCal Top 201.
De La Salle (Concord), 6-0
2.
Folsom, 6-1
3.
Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco), 6-0
4.
Pittsburg, 5-1
5.
Manteca, 7-0
6.
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 5-1
7.
Grant (Sacramento), 4-4
8.
Central East (Fresno), 6-1
9.
Granite Bay, 6-2
10.
Junipero Serra (San Mateo), 3-3
11.
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills), 4-3
12.
St. Mary's (Stockton), 5-2
13.
California (San Ramon), 6-0
14.
Clovis West (Fresno), 6-1
15.
Jesuit (Carmichael), 5-2
16.
Rocklin, 5-2
17.
Soquel, 5-0
18.
Clovis, 6-1
19.
Los Gatos, 3-3
Joe Davidson has covered high school sports since 1984, including since 1989 with The Sacramento Bee. He is part of the weekly 3 Stooges Podcast that breaks down CIF Northern California sports. In 2024, he was named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California. In that same year, he was inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame at the Rose Bowl. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association and has been honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award and was in 2025 presented the Legacy Award for years of football contribution by the National Football Foundation, Sacramento Chapter.
