MJC awarded spot in north football Final Four; Central Catholic to play for title
The Modesto Junior College football team will get a chance to play for a state title.
The Pirates were awarded a spot in the north Final Four on Sunday, and will host American River College next Saturday.
The 8-2 Pirates concluded the regular season on Saturday with a 48-21 victory over Delta College. They finished second in the Valley Conference at 4-1, a game behind Fresno City College (5-0).
Fresno will travel to College of San Mateo in the other north semifinal.
The two winners Saturday will meet in the north championship on Nov. 30, with the winner advancing to the state title game on Dec. 14 at Bakersfield College.
MJC beat American River 38-20 earlier this season, jumping out to a 31-7 halftime lead. American River (8-2, 5-0) went on to win the NorCal Conference.
On Saturday, the host Pirates cruised to victory over Delta College on “Sophomore Night.”
After Alvin Howard returned an MJC kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown — following MJC quarterback Danny Velasquez’s 48-yard TD — the Pirates scored 34 straight points to seal the victory.
MJC racked up 665 total yards — including a whopping 477 yards and 28 first downs on the ground — in winning the fourth of its last five games.
Velasquez rushed for 211 yards on 17 carries and Payton Bass had 84 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
Against the north Final Four teams, the Pirates are 1-2 — with the victory over American River and losses to San Mateo (35-12) and Fresno (26-24).
Girls Volleyball: Central Catholic will play for the CIF State Division II title on Tuesday night when it travels to face Los Gatos.
The Raiders defeated Branson of Ross on Saturday, 3-0, in the semifinals.
The No. 3-seeded Raiders have won all nine games in their three state playoff games. Los Gatos, the No. 1 seed, is 9-1.
The match starts at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, Escalon, the No. 3 seed, fell to No. 7 Aptos 3-0 on Saturday in the Division IV semifinals.
In Division VI, No. 1 Stone Ridge Christian of Merced beat No. 4 Burney of Shasta County 3-1 and will host No. 2 Fall River of McArthur of Shasta County on Tuesday in the championship game.