Facts, stats and leaders as CIF Sac-Joaquin Section high school football playoffs begin
1: The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs are here with 84 teams spread across seven divisions, from the largest schools down to the smallest. Friday’s openers will not include the top four seeds as those programs have byes. For everyone else, it’s game on.
Breaking down the playoffs by the numbers with data compiled by the section office and years of Bee research:
1: Place in the hearts of Wood of Vacaville players when it comes to beloved coach Jacob Wright, an alum of the school who died earlier this season from a heart attack.
1: Amount of Sacramento City Unified School District teams in the playoffs as the Rosemont Wolverines are in the mix for the 11th time and fourth in succession. The school opened 20 years ago. Rosemont opens Division V play at home against Dixon. Sacramento High, in the Division IV field, was a member of Sac City Unified until it became a charter school in 2003.
1: Amount of wins in 2022 for Pleasant Grove. Now the upstart Eagles of the Elk Grove Unified School District, under second-year coach Josh Crabtree, have four victories and have used as many quarterbacks due to injury heading into a D-I game at Inderkum.
2: Teams that are undefeated at 10-0: Twelve Bridges of Lincoln with its first senior class in D-V and Woodland Christian of Yolo County in D-VII. Both seek their first banners. In 2015, a record 10 teams entered the postseason undefeated. At least one unbeaten team has won a section title in 22 of the last 28 seasons.
7: Defending champions back for more: Folsom in D-I, Manteca in D-II, Grant in D-III, Vanden in D-IV (now competing in D-III), Escalon in D-V (now in D-IV), Hughson in D-VI and Ripon Christian in D-VII.
7: Consecutive playoff losses for Union Mine of El Dorado, which is in the playoffs for the 11th time since opening in 1999. The Diamondbacks (8-2) host Calaveras (4-6) in a D-VI opener, inspired by the memory of the program’s greatest player and a beloved longtime assistant coach in Sean Tow, who died over the summer from an illness.
8: Interceptions by Josh Taylor of Faifield, making him the section leader.
11: Section championships for Escalon in 17 finals appearances. Escalon is the top seed in D-IV at 9-1.
14: Years since Bella Vista and Fairfield last made the playoffs. Both put dreadful losing streaks in the past to get here. The Broncos, who will visit No. 5 Merced, ended a Northern California record 48-game skid in 2021, went 5-5 in 2022 and now are the No. 12 seed in D-III under coach Jim Gray. Fairfield snapped a 38-game skid at the start of this season and as the No. 7 seed will host No. 10 Rio Americano in D-IV.
14: Consecutive playoff berths for Folsom, which seeks its 10th banner since 2010 and third in succession in D-I as the top seed.
15: Consecutive playoff teams for Inderkum, which seeks its first championship and is seeded fifth in D-I.
16: Consecutive playoff teams for Bradshaw Christian of Sacramento, all under 151-game winning coach Drew Rickert, who seeks his sixth banner since starting the program from scratch in 2004.
18: Sacks by Jeremiah Tuiileila of Grant to lead the section.
19: Years since Valley Christian of Roseville made the playoffs. The Lions seek their first playoff win, having gone 0-3 lifetime. They are in the D-VII field.
19: Times Foothill has reached the playoffs, the last four in succession. The Greater Sacramento League champions open D-V play at Lathrop in a meeting of 7-3 teams.
20: Section championships won by Central Catholic of Modesto, the most in this section’s history. The Raiders seek their first banner in D-I after having been moved up in division in recent years due to the section’s sustained success model.
21: Times Bear River has reached the playoffs, a run that includes three section banners under famed retired coaches Terry Logue and Scott Savoie in seven finals appearances. Bear River and alum coach Tanner Mathias open D-VI play at Liberty Ranch of Galt.
22: Years since Mesa Verde of Citrus Heights has been in the playoffs, a credit to alum coach Lenny Casillas, whose team is seeded 12th in D-V and opens at No. 5 Center. Mesa Verde is 8-1 all-time in the playoffs, winning banners in 1986, ’87 and ’99 under famed coaches Mike Gephardt and Ron Barney. Gebhardt died in 2007 and Barney remains a loyal fan of the Mavericks.
22: Consecutive years St. Mary’s of Stockton has made the playoffs. The top-seed in D-II is coached by alum Tony Franks, who said this is the best team in school history.
23: Playoff teams for Dixon, including 15 of the last 16 seasons. Its last title was in 1973. The Rams play at Rosemont in D-V.
24: Consecutive seasons Granite Bay has reached the playoffs, the longest ongoing streak in the section. The record is 28, held by Grant, ending in 2019, though the Pacers roared back last season to win D-III and are the top seed in that division now. Granite has been in the playoffs 25 times since opening in Placer County in 1996. The Grizzlies seek their seventh banner and their ninth championship game appearance.
24: Times Christian Brothers has reached the playoffs, including the last 10 years in succession. The D-III Falcons open against Yuba City in D-III and aim for a return trip to the finals, seeking their first banner in 40 years.
26: Times Colfax has reached the playoffs, the last seven in succession. Colfax has reached the finals 11 times, winning five, the last under 230-game winning coach Tony Martello in 2018.
33: Total touchdowns by senior running back Nathan Crawford of Twelve Bridges to lead the section. His 206 points also lead the section.
33: Times Del Oro has reached the playoffs, including 13 in succession. The Golden Eagles have won 12 section titles in 18 finals appearances. The Golden Eagles are the No. 6 seed in D-II and open with Laguna Creek.
36: Times Elk Grove has been in the playoffs since its first entry in 1984. The program seeks its sixth title and its 11th title game appearance. The Thundering Herd host Vacaville in D-II.
36: Times Calaveras has made the playoffs, reaching eight finals, the last in 2010. Calaveras visits Union Mine in D-VI.
39: Touchdown passes by Inderkum junior Ricky Cole, which leads the section.
52: Years of section football playoffs. Before the postseason, high school teams played 10 regular-season games.
64: Teams this season that returned to the postseason.
137: Combined playoff appearances for Elk Grove (84) and Vacaville (53) as the storied programs meet for the fourth time in six playoff seasons.
133: Miles in which Kimball of Tracy will travel to play at Nevada Union in Grass Valley in D-III, the most for any section opener this season. Kimball would have hosted this game had it completed its application-to-host form.
132: Miles Bella Vista will travel from Fair Oaks to Merced in D-III.
219: Reported tackles by Thomas Rominger of Valley Christian, an average of 21.9 a game.
222: Championship teams since the section tournaments began.
282: Wins for Roger Canepa, who has coached throughout the 209 region of the section, including at Central Catholic since 2008. He is tied for the all-time section lead with longtime friend Mark Loureiro, the retired coaching great from Escalon. Mike Alberghini of Grant won 281 games from 1991-2019.
1971: First year of the D-III bracket, won by Dixon and coach Ira Finney.
1976: First year of the D-I bracket, which saw the famed Cordova Lancers win titles in 1976, ’77, ’78 and ’79 under coach Ron Lancaster. Cordova led the nation in victories in the 1970s at 102-6-1.
1975: First year of the D-II tournament, won the first three seasons by Placer under famed coaches Bill Miller and Tom Johnson. Placer won also won titles in 1980 and ’81.
1986: First year of the D-IV bracket with Hilmar and coach Jerry Van Lengen winning the first four championships.
2002: First year of the D-V bracket with Central Catholic and coach Mike Glines winning the first six titles.
2006: First year of the D-VI bracket with Lindhurst and coach Mike Mason winning the first two titles.
2006: First year of the D-VII bracket with Calvary Temple of Modesto winning it. The school closed in 2008 due to declining enrollment.
2014: The year Folsom went 14-0 in section play and 16-0 overall, each game with a fourth-quarter running clock, the only team in section history to pull such a feat. That team included current NFL players Jake Browning at quarterback, Josiah Deguara at tight end and Jonah Williams on the offensive line.
3,045: Total yards by Folsom sophomore quarterback Ryder Lyons to lead the section.
This story was originally published November 2, 2023 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Facts, stats and leaders as CIF Sac-Joaquin Section high school football playoffs begin."