Modesto JC football’s road to state title starts Saturday. Pirates are ‘fired up’
The third phase of the 2025 college football season begins Saturday for Modesto JC in the state playoffs.
As one of the top eight teams in Northern California and the Valley Conference champion, the Pirates earned a spot in the postseason yet again.
The Pirates were ranked the No. 8 team in the state of California in the final JC Athletic Bureau’s California Community College Football Coaches Association rankings on Nov. 12. They jumped four spots from their previous No. 12 ranking.
In the 3C2A Northern California Regional playoffs, MJC earned first-round a bye as the No. 2-seed, and with it another week of rest. Diablo Valley College defeated Butte College last week.
MJC will host the Northern California semifinal Saturday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m.
The last time the Pirates stepped on the field was Nov. 8 in a game where they clinched the Valley Conference championship on the road against College of the Sequoias.
MJC made sure there would not be a co-conference title for the third straight season. The Pirates have won at least a share of the last five Valley Conference titles, sharing the 2021 and 2022 titles in addition to winning the last three outright.
“We’ve had spirited practices and the guys are fired up,” MJC coach Rusty Stivers said. “We’ve had some live situational periods to try to be game-like so that’s been good. Guys are fired up and ready to go.”
In their regular season finale, running back Bryson Davis returned to the early season form that stamped him as one of the best running backs in the state. After being in and out of the lineup due to injury in the middle part of the season, the sophomore rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, powering the team to a 33-27 win.
Quarterback DayDay Tafoya completed an impressive 18 of 20 passes for 212 yards and a passing touchdown and rushed for 72 yards on 11 carries. Xzavier Clark caught 10 passes for 92 yards and rushed for 49 yards on three carries. Kurtis Maynor caught four passes for 89 yards. Defensively, Jack Hinchey recorded a pair of sacks for 20 yards and Jalonn Booth added a game-high three sacks for 18 yards. Both forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.
Now, MJC must deal with the rest vs rust argument.
The Pirates had three weeks off to get healthy, fine-tune offensive and defensive schemes and install new tweaks that they hope will ensure a deep playoff run.
But practice does not prepare a team for game action. Diablo Valley just played last week, defeating Butte 30-7, the school’s first-ever playoff win.
“They’re probably one of the most balanced offenses in Northern California; they have a passing attack and they have a Division I running back,” Stivers said.
The Pirates are familiar with the team they welcome to Modesto on Saturday.
MJC and the Vikings scrimmaged prior to this season in a game that served as a test between two of the state’s top programs.
“Yeah, we got to see each other, but we’re totally different now,” Stivers said.
Diablo Valley enters the game 10-1 overall and was ranked the No. 3 team in the Northern California Regional bracket.
The Vikings started the season a perfect 5-0 in non-conference play then fell in their Bay 6 Conference opener by six points to Northern California No. 1-ranked San Mateo. The Vikings finished as part of a three-way conference tie with San Mateo and San Francisco.
Modest JC football honors
Captain and tight end Glen Weber is up to three Division I scholarship offers: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Eastern Washington and Northern Illinois
All-Valley Conference First Team Members
QB — DayDay Tafoya
RB — Aiden Muhammad
RB — Bryson Davis
TE — Glen Weber
OL — Alex Cardenas
OL — Roman Foumai
OL — Gavin Gleason
DL — Jalonn Booth
DL — Fermin Villegas
DB — Frank Callum
LB — LeBron Stallworth
DB — Alius Mayo
Valley Conference Defensive MVP
Jalonn Booth
Valley Conference Coach of the Year
Rusty Stivers
