There is an old saying in high school football that goes something like this: If you're practicing on Thanksgiving, you've had a great season.
Translation: you're in the playoffs, most others are not, and kindly pass the turkey, the ham and all the fixins!
Some talking points to toast the holiday weekend as some sections have crowned section champions and others are about to.
DLS wins NCS — againTop-ranked
De La Salle (Concord) was beaten statistically at Diablo Valley College in facing
Pittsburg for the North Coast Section Open Division championship. But the Spartans had more points.
In beating the Pirates 24-17, DLS won its 33rd consecutive NCS crown, and as the No. 1 ranked team in Northern California, the Spartans will most likely be the CIF selection committee's choice to advance to the CIF State Open Division finals next month in Southern California.
CIF state brackets will be announced on Sunday afternoon
De La Salle won despite Pittsburg running more plays (76-39), gaining more yards (396-338) and producing more first downs (24-10). But the Spartans had more big scoring plays, including three long touchdown runs by
Jaden Jefferson,
Brayden Knight and
Brady Smith to move to 12-0.
Pittsburg at 10-2 still has some season left. The Pirates will play
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) for the NCS Division I championship in search of the program's fifth consecutive crown. DLS last lost in NCS play in the 1991 finals, to Pittsburg, for a robust won-loss mark of 282-0-1 against such competition. DLS had won six of seven NCS crowns before 1991.
Riordan rocksArchbishop Riordan (San Francisco) defeated rival
Junipero Serra (San Mateo) 33-13 at San Jose City College to win the program's first Central Coast Section Open Division championship.
Fourteen days earlier, Riordan beat Serra 42-35 to win the West Catholic Athletic League crown for the first time in 20 years.
Michael Mitchell Jr. hit
Perrion Williams for a 77-yard touchdown to open the scoring, and then hit
Cynai Thomas for a 68-yard score as the Crusaders moved to 12-0 for the first time and will advance to a CIF Northern California title game.
Riordan last won a CCS title in 2007 at a lower division.
8-man funStuart Hall (San Francisco, Calif.) capped a 12-0 season by winning the 8-man Division I San Francisco Section championship with a 32-0 rout of
Priory (Portola Valley).
Napoleon Cabading found
Jake Oenning for two touchdown strikes, and
Dominic Gutierrez had a fumble recovery for a score and two interceptions. 8-man teams do not advance past the section finals.
The Sac-Joaquin Section introduced 8-man leagues for the first time this season, leading to Saturday's section title game at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, where
Mira Loma (Sacramento) (12-0) plays
Foresthill (11-1) for the crown.
Silver Bowl champsMcClymonds (Oakland) beat rival
Oakland Tech (Oakland) 34-0 in the Silver Bowl for the program's 16th consecutive Oakland Section championship.
Berell Staples had three touchdown passes, two to
Prince Staten. McClymonds will be in a NorCal title game.
SJS rematch gamesThe Sac-Joaquin Section championships at Hughes Stadium will have five championship games that include rematches from regular-season games.
In Division I, top-seeded and NorCal No. 2-ranked
Folsom will play Sierra Foothill League rival
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) for the title on Friday night. Folsom beat Oak Ridge 28-9 in league play on Oct. 3 as the Bulldogs extended their 19-year winning streak over the Trojans to 24 games, including in each of the past three section D-I title games.
In D-V,
Casa Roble (Orangevale) takes on
Sutter in a rematch of a Week 10 showdown in which the Rams beat host Sutter 22-9 on Oct. 31, Halloween Night. The teams play on Friday at 12:30 p.m.
In D-VI, 12-0
Sonora (Sonora, Calif.) faces
Ripon Christian (Ripon) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. with Ripon Christian eager for redemption. The Knights lost to Sonora 55-13 on Oct. 31.
In D-VII, top-seeded
Calaveras (San Andreas) plays
Linden on Friday morning at 9 a.m., having defeated that school 42-12 on Oct. 24.
And in D-VIII in 8-man action, 12-0
Mira Loma (Sacramento) plays 11-1
Foresthill on Saturday morning at 9 a.m., the Matadors having downed the Wildfires 23-13 on Oct. 17.
NorCal Top 201.
De La Salle (Concord), 12-0
2.
Folsom (Folsom, Calif.), 11-1
3.
Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco), 12-0
4.
Pittsburg, 10-2
5.
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 11-1
6.
Central East (Fresno), 12-1
7.
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills), 9-3
8.
St. Mary's (Stockton), 10-2
9.
Grant (Sacramento), 7-5
10.
Manteca, 11-1
11.
Junipero Serra (San Mateo, 7-5
12.
Granite Bay, 9-3
13.
Los Gatos, 9-3
14.
Clovis, 10-3
15.
Woodcreek (Roseville), 11-1
16.
Palma (Salinas), 11-1
17.
Acalanes (Lafayette), 11-1
18.
Sonora, 12-0
19.
Chico, 10-2
20.
Gridley, 12-0
