Le Grand football to play for state crown

LE GRAND -- The Le Grand High football team will get its shot at a state championship.

The CIF section commissioners selected the Bulldogs (12-0) on Sunday to represent Northern California in the CIF State Division 4 Championship Game. They will play on Friday against Sierra Canyon (14-0) at Carson's Home Depot Center. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Anticipating the Bulldogs were in, head coach Rick Martinez and his coaching staff were already meeting on Sunday to come up with a gameplan when they got the call from athletic director Frank Ferreira with the news.

"We found out earlier than we thought," Martinez said. "We were already meeting. We got the call and it was like, 'Hey, we're in. They made the call. Good. Let's get to work.' "

The Bulldogs are one of two Sac-Joaquin Section teams heading down south.

Del Oro (13-1) will face Helix (12-1) in the Division 2 championship on Saturday.

The Open Division game will feature De La Salle (12-1) against Westlake (14-0) on Saturday night. Bellarmine (12-1) will play Santa Margarita (12-2) in the Division 1 game on Friday night after the Le Grand-Sierra Canyon game.

Washington Union (14-0) became the first Central Section team to be selected for a bowl game. The Panthers will face Campolindo (14-0) in the Division 3 championship.

Campolindo got the nod over Hilmar (12-2) in Division 3 after upsetting Marin Catholic 20-18 on Saturday in the North Coast Section championship game.

Le Grand has had its eyes on Sierra Canyon as the Trailblazers marched to their Southern Section championship.

Sierra Canyon has an explosive offense that averages 46 points per game. Quarterback Tyler Stewart has passed for 2,114 yards and 31 touchdowns and thrown just two interceptions.

Stewart's numbers are very similar to Le Grand quarterback Alex Bucio, who has racked up 2,344 yards, 40 touchdowns and two interceptions.

"They're obviously the best team we've played all season," Martinez said. "We're good, too. They're well-coached. They're disciplined. We're going to have our work cut out for us. We're going to work hard and try to put our kids in the best possible position to win."

Since winning their second consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division 5 championship two weeks ago, the Bulldogs have been practicing for the possibility of playing for the state championship.

The Bulldogs knew they were likely in the title game when Salesian destroyed Ferndale 42-6 in the North Coast Section Division 4 championship game on Saturday night.

Martinez listened to the game on the Internet as he sat next to a bonfire with friends and his coaching staff.

"That's when we did the celebrating," Martinez said. "That's where the excitement was. We got a lot of phone calls. There was a lot of congratulations. We heard from a lot of people in the community."

Le Grand's bowl selection is a community event. Rooter buses have already been reserved. There's talk of cancelling school on Friday so people can travel to Carson to watch the game.

"I guess like any small public school, this is huge for the community," Martinez said. "We've been getting calls from people all over the United States. The kids are going to get a lot of positive reaction from people. This is a good thing for us.

"Hopefully when we get to practice (this afternoon) we can focus on the game and get back to work. We're not happy just going down there. We're going to win."