Local Digest: 6 Modesto teams reach football playoffs; MJC suffers heartbreaker

Six Modesto football teams were invited to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoff party.

Central Catholic, Modesto Christian and Big Valley Christian reached via automatic bids by winning or tying for their respective conferences titles while Downey, Gregori and Modesto — which finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Central California Athletic Conference — qualified by virtue of a ranking system.

Central Catholic, playing in Division II, was among 10 area teams to receive first-round byes in the new format that, in most divisions, narrowed the field from 16 teams to 12. Entry into postseason outside of winning or tying for a league title, along with seedings, was tied to rankings at calpreps.com.

First-round games are Friday except for Pitman’s home game against Davis Sr., which will be played Thursday because Turlock also is home for the first round. Teams with byes open in the second round on Nov. 9.

Among pairing highlights:

• Five teams from the first-year Central California Athletic League reached postseason. However, Turlock received only a No. 6 seed for winning the title. A victory, though, would send the Bulldogs to Oak Ridge, which ended the season 2-2. The Bulldogs won their last five, and are arguably one of the most complete teams in the field. The 12-team format, with four byes, puts the winner of No. 8 vs. No. 9 at No. 1 in Round 2. If Gregori can slip past Edison, the Jaguars travel to Folsom.
• In Division VI, three Trans-Valley League teams and one Southern League team (unbeaten Ripon Christian) received first-round byes. Looking a head, there could be a Modesto Christian-Ripon Christian semifinal matchup on Nov. 16. The Crusaders had their hopes of an unbeaten regular season dashed Friday night by Ripon. RC would love nothing more than to match the effort of its next-door neighbors.
• In Division II, while Central Catholic received a No. 2 bid, calpreps.com has the Raiders at No. 3 behind possible semifinal opponent Inderkum (10-0) and the division’s top seed Del Oro (9-1). The Raiders open against the winner of Elk Grove-Vacaville.
• In Division IV, we’ll have a rematch in the first round when Pacheco hosts Sierra. Pacheco handily won its first meeting with Sierra on Aug. 31, 36-14, in game that saw Ronnie Garcia Jr. rush for 144 yards and two touchdowns. That was his best game of the year.

• With just six teams in Division VII, top seeds Denair (No. 1) and Big Valley Christian (No. 2) would only need one win to square off for the title. The two teams have five like opponents. Each beat Millennium, Woodland Christian, Stone Ridge Christian and Gustine. Against Waterford, Denair won while Big Valley lost.

Section championship games in all divisions, except Division VII, are Saturday, Nov. 24. The Division VII title game is a week earlier.

MJC Football: The Pirates (5-3, 2-1) appeared headed for an important Valley Conference road victory over Fresno City before their defense fell apart.

Jonah Johnson connected with Malik Anderson on an 84-yard touchdown pass with 1 minute, 25 seconds left as the Rams (6-2, 3-0) rallied for two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to beat MJC 33-27 on Saturday afternoon at Ratcliffe Stadium.

The PIrates were leading 27-19 when Fresno City drew to within 27-25 when Johnson hit Anthony Stewart on a 53-yard scoring play with 4:51 to play.

A few minutes earlier, Devan Bass’ 1-yard touchdown run put the Pirates up by eight. Darus Nelson had two rushing touchdowns for MJC, including a 42-yard run in the first quarter.

The Pirates rushed for 315 yards behind quarterback Jack Weaver (116 yards), Nelson (78) and Bass (73).

They were hurt, however, by 10 penalties.

Manteca High graduate Ferrin Manuleleau led the way defensively for the Pirates with eight solo tackles and 1 1/2 sacks.

Water Polo: The Johansen High boys and Beyer girls were the highest-seeded Modesto teams when pairings for the Sac-Joaquin Section Water Polo were announced Friday.

No. 4 Johansen opens the Division II tournament on Tuesday when the Vikings host No. 13 Laguna Creek. Meanwhile, the Patriot girls open Division III play Friday against No. 13 El Dorado.

Both games start at 3:30 p.m.

Also in Division II boys, Grace Davis travels to Woodcreek in Roseville.

In Division I boys matches on Tuesday, No. 6 Turlock hosts Armijo at 5:30 p.m. No. 10 Pitman meets No. 7 Lincoln and No. 12 Gregori plays No. 12 Lodi at Tokay High.

In the eight-team Division III tournament that starts Thursday, No. 2-seeded Oakdale hosts No. 7 El Camino at 5:30 p.m. In 3:30 p.m. matches, No. 4 Beyer hosts No. 5 Sonora and No. 6 Ripon travels to No. 3 Nevada Union.

In girls play, No. 12 Gregori and No. 14 Pitman will find themselves on the road for Wednesday openers while No. 8 Oakdale hosts No. 9 Turlock at 5:30 p.m.

In Division II, No. 10 Ceres travels to Buhach Colony while No. 14 Johansen travels to Merced to face El Capitan.

In Division III on Friday, Sonora, the top seed, hosts El Camino.

-----------------------------------------

Sac-Joaquin Section Football Playoff Pairings (Stanislaus District teams)

Thursday

Division I

Davis Sr. at Pitman

Friday

Division I

Gregori at Edison

Modesto at Sheldon

Cosumnes Oaks at Turlock

Division II

Downey at Grant

Bye (seed): Central Catholic (No. 2)

Division III

Burbank at Manteca

Ponderosa at Buhach Colony

Bye (seed): Merced (No. 3)

Division IV

Valley at Oakdale

Rosemont at Patterson

Sierra at Pacheco

Cordova at Golden Valley

Division V

Orestimba at Los Banos

Bye (seed): Ripon (No. 2), Sonora (No. 4)

Division VI

Amador at Hughson

Waterford at Rio Vista

Bye (seed): Modesto Christian (No. 1), Hilmar (No. 2), Escalon (No. 3), Ripon Christian (No. 4)

Division VII

Millennium at Gustine

Bye (seed): Denair (No. 1), Big Valley Christian (No. 2)

Complete football pairings at www.cifsjs.org.

This story was originally published October 27, 2018 at 6:31 PM.