High school football: California programs with most section titles

Bakersfield has ranked as the all-time leader for most California football section championships won for nearly 100 years, but the Drillers' reign as the state record holder is quickly coming to an end thanks to the incredible pace of the De La Salle Spartans.

The California Interscholastic Federation has not held a true high school football state championship since 1927. Since then, the state, which is a federation comprised of 10 sections, has held section championships. The Central, Southern and San Francisco sections have held playoffs for over 100 years while other sections in the state began hosting section playoffs in the 1970s. The Oakland Section began in the late 1980s.

In 2006, the CIF began holding "bowl" games in order to crown a state champion. Contestants were chosen via a panel of section commissioners. The format of the bowl games has changed in the 15 years since, but it has not evolved into a true state playoff format as contested in 48 other states (New Jersey also does not hold a true state championship playoff system).

As a result, MaxPreps is listing the state's all-time list of section championship winners, instead of state champions, since the section finals have generally been the climactic football event in the state for the better part of the past 100 seasons.

Bakersfield leads the all-time list with 37 section titles while De La Salle is closing fast with 35. Bakersfield won the bulk of its section championships prior to World War II while De La Salle has won all of its section titles since 1982. The Drillers won 10 straight Central Section titles between 1920-29 (when it also won six state championships) and picked up nine more to accumulate 19 prior to 1941. Bakersfield also had 27 total championships prior to 1982 when the Spartans won their first crown.

De La Salle has been making up ground fast. The Spartans have not lost a North Coast Section championship since 1991, giving them 28 straight section titles.

Long Beach Poly, the Southern Section leader, is third with 21 section titles while Los Angeles City section leader Manual Arts (Los Angeles) and Sac-Joaquin Section leader Central Catholic (Modesto) are tied for fourth with 19 each. San Francisco Section leader Galileo is sixth with 18 while San Diego Section leader Oceanside has 17, Central Coast Section leader Saint Francis (Mountain View) has 16, Oakland Section leader McClymonds is tied for ninth with 15 and Northern Section leader Sutter is tied for 14th with 13 championships.

The number of section titles was determined by information provided on the section websites. The Oakland Section championships begin with the formation of the section playoffs in 1988 and was found via research in the San Francisco Examiner and MaxPreps.
2.   De La Salle (Concord), 35
3.   Long Beach Poly (Long Beach), 21
4.   Manual Arts (Los Angeles), 19
4.   Central Catholic (Modesto), 19
6.   Galileo (San Francisco), 18
7.   Oceanside, 17
8.   Saint Francis (Mountain View), 16
9.   Dos Palos, 15
9.   Los Gatos, 15
9.   McClymonds (Oakland), 15
12. Lowell (San Francisco), 14
12. Polytechnic (San Francisco), 14
14. Ferndale, 13
14. Sutter, 13
16. Banning (Wilmington), 12
16. East Nicolaus (Nicolaus), 12
16. Lincoln (San Francisco), 12
16. Tehachapi, 12
20. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 11
20. Carson, 11
20. Corning, 11
20. Del Oro (Loomis), 11
20. Los Altos (Hacienda Heights), 11
20. Mater Dei (Santa Ana), 11
20. Palma (Salinas), 11

10 championships
Centennial (Corona)
Christian (El Cajon)
El Camino (Oceanside)
Fresno
Garces Memorial (Bakersfield)
Helix (La Mesa)
Kingsburg
Los Angeles
Marin Catholic (Kentfield)
Narbonne (Harbor City)
Paraclete (Lancaster)
Skyline (Oakland)
St. Bonaventure (Ventura)

Nine championships
Balboa (San Francisco)
Big Valley (Bieber)
Clovis West (Fresno)
Enterprise (Redding)
Escalon
Fall River (McArthur)
Folsom
Hart (Newhall)
Holtville
Immanuel (Reedley)
Lincoln (San Diego)
Paradise
Paso Robles
Pleasant Valley (Chico)
San Diego
San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno)
Sanger
Santa Monica
St. Ignatius (San Francisco)
Vista
Washington (San Francisco)
Woodlake

Eight championships
Cathedral Catholic (San Diego)
Clovis
Hilmar
Mission (San Francisco)
Oaks Christian (Westlake Village)
San Fernando (San Fernando)
Valley Christian (San Jose)

Seven championships
Atascadero
Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose)
Berkeley
Caruthers
Fort Bragg
Fremont (Los Angeles)
Grant (Sacramento)
Hayfork
La Habra
Manteca
Mission Viejo
Monte Vista (Danville)
Morse (San Diego)
Oak Grove (San Jose)
San Benito (Hollister)
Selma
Serra (San Mateo)
Temple City
Winters

Six championships
Anderson
Biggs
Birmingham (Lake Balboa)
Bishop's (La Jolla)
Campolindo (Moraga)
Carlsbad
Carpinteria
Colton
Corona del Mar (Newport Beach)
Edison (Fresno)
Edison (Huntington Beach)
Elk Grove
Glendale
Granite Bay
Huntington Park
Justin-Siena (Napa)
Loyola (Los Angeles)
Placer (Auburn)
St. Augustine (San Diego)
Salesian College Preparatory (Richmond)
San Pedro
Santa Ana
South Hills (West Covina)
Strathmore
Tulare Union (Tulare)
Washington Union (Fresno)

Five championships
Antelope Valley (Lancaster)
Aptos
Arroyo Grande
Bakersfield Christian (Bakersfield)
Bishop Amat (La Puente)
Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland)
Bloomington
Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento)
Brea Olinda (Brea)
Canyon (Canyon Country)
Central Valley Christian (Visalia)
Charter Oak (Covina)
Chowchilla
Citrus Hill (Perris)
Colfax
Cordova (Rancho Cordova)
Covina
Crenshaw (Los Angeles)
Delta (Clarksburg)
Dinuba
Dorsey (Los Angeles)
Franklin (Los Angeles)
Gardena
JW North (Riverside)
Lassen (Susanville)
Lompoc
Marian Catholic (San Diego)
Maxwell
Mt. Shasta
Norco
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills)
Oakdale
Palo Alto
Poly (Sun Valley)
Portola
Red Bluff
Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton)
Salinas
San Luis Obispo
San Marino
San Mateo
Santa Barbara
Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach)
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth)
South Pasadena
St. Bernard's (Eureka)
St. Margaret's (San Juan Capistrano)
Tomales
Valley Center
View Park (Los Angeles)
Wilson (Los Angeles)