De La Salle and Centennial will meet for the Open Division title, just like they did in 2012.
File photo by David Hood
The California Interscholastic Federation has announced the 18 teams that will be moving on in the quest for state titles. Note that there are no longer Regional Bowl Games in the Open Division.
Click here to see the final California Bowl Game Rankings.
Stay tuned to MaxPreps this week for coverage of all the big games.
Open Division
Centennial (Corona) vs. De La Salle (Concord)Saturday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m., StubHub Center (Carson)How the Huskies got here: The 12-2 Huskies won the Big VIII League title and the Southern Section Pac 5 Division title. They beat Serra (Gardena), Mater Dei (Santa Ana), Bishop Amat (La Puente) and St. John Bosco (Bellflower) in the playoffs.
Who got them here: The Huskies use a two-quarterback system and it has worked wonderfully.
Nate Ketteringham and
Anthony Catalano alternate series and do it well. Star wide receiver
Javon Mckinley has been unstoppable in the postseason and
Sammonte Bonner has done a masterful job filling in for
JJ Taylor, who is still out after an appendectomy.
Why they were chosen: Winning the Pac 5 is pretty much a stamped ticket to the bowls. Centennial is on a 12-game winnings streak after starting 0-2, showing exceptional resiliency. Their losses are quality ones as well: Mater Dei and Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas).
Their bowl history: Centennial lost the Open Division Bowl Game to De La Salle in 2012, lost the Division I Bowl Game to Palo Alto in 2010, won the Division I Bowl over De La Salle in 2008 and lost the Division I Bowl to De La Salle in 2007. Also, they lost to St. John Bosco in last year's Open Division Regional Bowl.
How the Spartans got here: The 13-0 Spartans played a freelance regular season schedule and then won the North Coast Section Division I crown. They beat San Ramon Valley (Danville), California (San Ramon) and Pittsburg in the playoffs.
Who got them here: Andrew Hernandez and
Antoine Custer split the rushing duties and keep the ball moving on the ground.
Keanu Andrade posted 90 tackles and
Damon Wiley has 10.5 sacks.
Why they were chosen: Because they are De La Salle and nobody from Northern California can beat them. Their nonleague schedule was also commendable.
Their bowl history: De La Salle has played in the bowl games every year since their inception. Last year they lost to St. John Bosco in the Open Division, in 2012 they beat Centennial in the Open Division, in 2011 they beat Westlake in the Open Division, in 2010 they beat Servite in the Open Division, in 2009 they beat Crenshaw in the Open Division, in 2008 they lost to Centennial in Division I, in 2007 they beat Centennial in Division I and in 2006 they lost to Canyon in Division I.
