Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009

Section playoff invitations go out to area teams

Playoff invitations went out this afternoon to Sac-Joaquin Section football teams.

Davis High School, a so-called "bubble team," was smiling after the announcement.

The Spartans were joined in the playoffs by Modesto Metro Conference champion Modeseto High and runner-up Enochs.

The playoffs open on Friday night. All kickoffs are at 7 p.m.

Modesto (7-3), a No. 9 seed, will open at No. 8 Los Banos (7-3). the Central California Conference champion. Davis (6-4) will visit 9-1 Vacaville, while Enochs (4-6) travels to No. 1 seed Tracy (10-0). Pitman (6-4) of the CCC, a No. 13 seed, will play at No. 4 Monterey Trail (8-2) of Elk Grove.

Buhach Colony (6-4) and Atwater (7-3) of the CCC received Division II berths. Buhach, a No. 16 seed, opens at St. Mary's (10-0), while Atwater, at No. 10, travels to Stagg (8-2).

Of the seven MMC and CCC teams to qualify, only one team, Los Banos, received a home game.

Like the CCC, four teams from the Valley Oak League received berths, with each of them hosting a first-round game. In Division III, No. 3 Sierra (9-1) will host Mira Loma (6-4), while No. 5 Oakdale (9-1) plays host to Natomas (6-4). Manteca (8-3), at No. 8, will host Casa Roble (6-4). In Division IV, Sonora (8-2) received a No. 4 seed and will host Whitney (7-3).

Also in Division III, No. 11 Patterson (6-4) of the Western Athletic Conference, will visit No. 6 Benicia (8-2).

Division IV is broken into two brackets, Division IV-A and Division IV-B.

Among the Stanislaus District teams joining Sonora in Division IV-A, No. 7 Calaveras (6-4) will travel to No. 1 Dixon (9-1) while No. 8 Livingston (6-4) meets top seed Lincoln of Lincoln (10-0).

Modesto Christian gained the top seed in Division IV-B and will play host to Colfax (6-4). If the Crusaders win, they'll meet the winner of the Escalon (9-1) and Hilmar (8-2), the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively. MC held off Escalon 21-16 in Week 9 and eventually won the Trans-Valley League title.

Western Athletic Conference champion Central Catholic (9-1) received the No. 2 seed in Division IV-B, and will host Argonaut (6-4). In another game in that bracket, No. 3 Summerville (9-1), the Mother Lode League champion, will play host to Ripon (7-3).

In Division V, No. 4 Mariposa (5-5) plays host to Lindhurst (6-4) and No. 6 Denair (5-5) travels to Highlands (5-5). No. 2 Le Grand (6-4) and top seed Capital Christian (7-3) received byes.

In Division VI, Big Valley Christian (6-4) received the No. 6 seed and will travel to 7-3 Delta.

For all the brackets, click on the links above.

Don't forget to watch Richard T. Estrada and Brian VanderBeek in a special playoff edition of Stanislaus Football Weekly on Monday afternoon. Estrada and VanderBeek will give their thoughts on the playoff field.