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The regular season is over, the second season upon us, the one all teams strive for and sacrificed to reach.
Playoffs time.
The top 40 football teams in the Central Coast Section were seeded into five eight-team divisions. The winner of each division advances to the state playoffs.
Let the mayhem begin.
DIVISION I
No. 8 Aptos (8-1) at No. 1 St. Francis (9-0), Friday 7 p.m.
St. Francis received the No. 1 seed, an acknowledgement that the Lancers are ranked as the No. 1 team in the CCS heading into the postseason, something that St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno takes scant pleasure in.
“It’s zero-zero, nobody cares what you’ve done,” Calcagno said. “Lose and go home.”
Aptos is coached by Randy Blankenship, a longtime high school coach in the state and a recognized master at teaching the Wing-T offense.
“He’s been around a long time,” Calcagno said. “My dad used to play his teams at Nevada Union.”
The Wing-T is a commonly used formation in high school football, but not in the West Catholic Athletic League, where Valley Christian is the only team that runs it.
“It’s something we prepare for once a year,” Calcagno said. “Everyone’s got to know their assignments, what to do in that set, what to do in that motion.”
Aptos’ only loss was to Salinas, and that came the week after the team’s two most impressive wins of the season, 49-0 over Campolindo and 47-42 over Palma. Whether the Aptos defense can contain the St. Francis power running game is questionable. Nobody else has been able to have any success at doing that.
With all the positive energy from the win over Serra last Saturday, the St. Francis players are raring to go.
“The guys are pretty excited,” Calcagno said
No. 5 Menlo-Atherton (8-2) at No. 4 Salinas (8-0), Friday 7 p.m.
With the second-highest number of CCS power points, M-A coach Chris Saunders thought his team would be seeded in the top four and get a first-round home game. But the addition of Calpreps ratings pushed the Bears down to the No. 5 seed.
“We got the short end of the stick,” Saunders said. “But even before that I thought it wasn’t right to use Calpreps. You work for something all season, but Calpreps ranks us lower with their algorithm, so it doesn’t matter.”
Salinas, predominately a running team out of the spread, scored over 40 points in six of its eight games.
“They have a good group of athletes,” Saunders said. “I like ours better. We’ll want to force them into passing downs, put their quarterback and receivers into a position of having to make plays downfield, something they haven’t had to do a ton of.”
There are a number of similarities between the two teams
“Offensively and defensively we run the same stuff,” Saunders said. “They run the spread with four wide receivers on offense and an odd front on defense, same as we do.”
Saunders praised Salinas QB Adam Shaffer, a running threat, and two of his receivers, but said he thought lineman Michael MacNeill (6-1, 280) was their best player.
“He is one of the best linemen we’ve faced all year,” Saunders said.
The winner will most likely play at St. Francis in the semifinals.
DIVISION II
No. 5 Half Moon Bay (5-4) at No. 4 Menlo School (10-0), Saturday 1 p.m.
This will be an interesting matchup between two Peninsula Athletic League teams, Half Moon Bay finished second in the PAL Bay, Menlo first in the PAL Ocean.
Menlo’s passing game on offense has received the lion’s share of attention with QB Sergio Beltran setting a new CCS record for most regular-season touchdown passes with 44. Less talked about, the Menlo defense has played equally well, allowing only 97 points in 10 games. The most any team scored against Menlo was 21 by Hillsdale in a 55-21 Menlo victory.
But the Half Moon Bay offense is unlike any other Menlo has faced, a deeply problematic one to shut down. The Cougars mix their base triple-option with the spread and the scrum, and do all three well. They’ve scored over 40 points in a game five times this season. Menlo’s defense may have its hands full.
But the same is true on the other side. Half Moon Bay’s defense has not been a strength, allowing more than 40 points in five games and 39 in another.
So this one is liable to come down to who can outscore who.
San Benito is the No.1 seed in Division II. The Menlo-Half Moon Bay winner will play the San Benito-Burlingame winner in the semifinals.
DIVISION III
No. 5 Palo Alto (5-5) at No. 4 Christopher (5-5), Friday 7 p.m.
Christopher is a spread team that passes more than it runs. Sound familiar to Paly followers?
“It’s like looking in a mirror,” Palo Alto coach Nelson Gifford said. “And like us, they’re battle tested.”
Christopher finished fifth in the Pacific Coast Gabilan Division, behind Salinas, Aptos, San Benito and Palma. Palo Alto finished tied for third in the SCVAL’s De Anza Division, behind Los Gatos and Wilcox.
“I think our guys are mentally ready,” Gifford said. “Eight of the 10 teams we played are in the playoffs including the last five teams we played. All those games were battles.”
Injuries have taken more of a toll than normal for the Vikings this season. Eleven players were out in a recent game against Milpitas. Some have come back, but others haven’t, including running back Josh Butler, who played in parts of only three games this season. In 10 games over his sophomore and junior seasons, Butler rushed for 1,073 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“He’s such a good kid, works so hard,” Gifford said. “Life’s not fair.”
Charlie Hoke and Jack Nerwman have taken Butler’s place at running back. Jeremiah Madrigal, moved up from the frosh-soph team, will also see some time against Christopher.
“Traveling down south for the playoffs has become a tradition at Palo Alto High School,” Gifford said. “We were a 6 seed in 2019 and went down and beat Palma. We’re just excited we get to play. I want to make sure we stay in this moment as long as we can.”
Leland is the No. 1 seed in Division III. The Palo Alto-Christopher winner will play the Leland-Scotts Valley winner in the semifinals.
No. 7 Mountain View (5-5) at No. 2 Live Oak (7-2), Friday 7 p.m.
Mountain View played competitively all season long until its final game against Los Gatos. The Spartans got beat up in that game, and even with a bye week following have not completely recovered. Standout running back Leo Navarro suffered a broken leg in that game and coach Shelley Smith said the team is down five starters who play both sides of the ball.
Sophomore Dillon Daniels will be the primary fill-in for Navarro, but Smith said some other position changes are in the works. QB Jackson Steffen was second behind Navarro on the team in rushing with 480 yards. He also passed for 832 yards and threw for 14 touchdowns without an interception.
Live Oak quarterback Xavier Catano is his team’s leading rusher with 651 yards and nine touchdowns. As a passer, 10 of his 40 completions have gone for touchdowns.
“Their quarterback can outrun most people on the field,” Smith said. “They use their quarterback as a running back, but if you overplay the run they’ll throw the ball on you.”
Live Oak’s defense also came in for praise from Smith.
“Their defense is very aggressive with a lot of team speed,” Smith said. “They rally to the ball very well and force you into mistakes.”
Live Oak’s only loss in league play was by a 14-13 score to Leland, which resulted in Leland seeded first and Live Oak second in the Division III bracket.
DIVISION IV
No. 6 Alisal (4-5) at No. 3 Sacred Heart Prep (3-7), Saturday 1:30 p.m.
Sacred Heart Prep is coming off an 18-15 loss to Menlo School in the Valpo Bowl game. Six of its seven losses this season have been by a one-score margin.
“I hope we can use that as fuel, as motivation for what we’re capable of in the playoffs,” SHP coach Mark Grieb said. “A little thing here or there could’ve made us 5-5 or 7-3.”
The Gators were about as balanced as you can be on offense, averaging 151 yards rushing and 147 passing per game.
Grieb says he doesn’t know much about Alisal, “and hopefully they don’t know much about us.”
He did learn a few things, however, from an exchange of film.
“I learned how well their linemen get off the ball,” Grieb said. “That’s where everything starts. They play a physical style, run the option, don’t throw too much. They’re good at what they do.”
Homestead received the No. 1 seed in Division IV. The SHP-Alisal winner will play the winner of the game between No. 2 seed Hillsdale and No. 7 Lincoln in the semifinals.
DIVISION V
No. 6 Los Altos (7-3) at No. 3 Soquel (7-3), Friday 7 p.m.
After finishing in a three-way tie for the SCVAL’s El Camino Division title, the Eagles initially feared their season was over since both Cupertino and Gunn had more CCS power points. Cupertino, with the most points, got the El Camino’s first CCS berth. The SCVAL by-laws stipulated that head-to-head results would determine the second auto qualifier, and Los Altos got in by virtue of its regular-season win over Gunn.
Now the Eagles would like to extend their season with a win over Soquel, the second-place team from the Pacific Coast League Mission Division.
“They’re bigger than us up front and have some good skill guys,” Los Altos coach Dave DeGeronimo said. “They do multiple things on offense out of multiple formations. They run a version of Gunn’s double wing and they can spread you out as well.”
DeGeronimo, who also serves as his team’s offensive coordinator, took a long look at the Soquel defense.
“Their front seven looks pretty stout,” he said. “We have to figure out how to get the ball to our playmakers.”
Aragon is the No. 1 seed in Division V. Cupertino, which handed Los Altos its one El Camino loss, received the No. 2 seed and will play St. Francis of Watsonville on Friday. If Cupertino and Los Altos both win they would advance to a rematch in the semifinals.
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