They have already won its first section title. Now Denair tries for state title.

Denair coach Anthony Armas thought the season was over after his football team won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII title.

Last Saturday, the Coyotes beat Golden Sierra for the school’s first football crown.

It was a great way to punctuate an incredible season.

Or so Armas thought.

A day later, he found out that Denair (11-1) would host Santee (13-1) of Los Angeles in the CIF State Division 7-AA Championship on Saturday at 6 p.m.

“I was pleasantly shocked,” Armas said at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Championship breakfast on Monday. “It was kind of surreal. Once it settled in, it was ... try to prepare and, ‘What are we going to do this week?’ “

The goal Saturday for the Coyotes will be to try to contain Falcons senior running back Joseph Todd.

Todd is fifth in the nation and second in the state with 3,060 rushing yards and has 44 rushing touchdowns. Armas said Todd is “pretty athletic” and the Falcons remind him a lot of Ripon Christian.

“They have some big lineman,” Armas said. “They are big and physical. It’s going to be a challenge but we played RC and I don’t see them as being as good as RC.”

With the game at home, Armas is looking forward to a great atmosphere with a lot of the community coming.

Denair residents already have done something special for the Coyotes.

After Saturday’s win over Golden Sierra, the Coyotes got an escort from the fire department down Main Street once they returned to Denair.

“It was so cool,” Armas said. “The kids didn’t quite understand what was going on until we hit main street. It just shows our small community how close we are and things like this are a big deal.”

The celebrations have now ended. The Coyotes are focused on the next task.

“We always talk about this week’ game is most important because it’s this week’s game,” Armas said. “I think the kids will regroup, rally and do what we do.”

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What: CIF State Division 7-AA Championship

Who: Santee (13-1) at Denair (11-1)

Time: 6 p.m.

Location: Denair High School

Ticket Prices: $12 adults, $8 students and seniors

Santee Strength: Running back Joseph Todd – 3,060 rushing yards and 44 touchdowns.

Denair Strength: Senior running backs Hunter Musgrave and Steffin Winston. Combined for over 2,300 yards and 37 touchdowns.

How they got here: Denair won CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII title, Santee won CIF LA Section Division III title.