Section semifinals preview: Five Modesto-area teams play for championship berths
Five Stanislaus District high school football teams are one step closer to their dreams.
At the beginning of the season, each team sets goals of winning championships: league, section and state. After making their way through the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, they have reached the semifinals, playing Friday for a chance at making a section final.
In Division I, Turlock is fresh off an upset and plays one of the Sacramento area’s best. The six-seeded Bulldogs are in their second semifinal in three years and have another bracket-busting win on their minds. They are looking to earn their first playoff win over No. 2 Oak Ridge. Big Valley Christian in Division VII also goes on the road Friday, taking on a league foe, No. 1 Summerville.
Three local teams are top three seeds with home games. No. 2 Patterson knocked off East Union last week and on Friday night hosts upset-minded Sacramento High, which reached the semifinals as a six seed. Top seeds Oakdale (D-III) and Hughson (D-V) will defend home field, with a shot at a title game appearance on the line. Oakdale is looking to reach its first title game since 2021 and Hughson is looking to advance to its third straight championship.
Section championships are next weekend. Here is the schedule:
Friday, Nov. 29
At Hughes Stadium, Sacramento
D6 Championship: 11 a.m.
D4 Championship: 3 p.m.
D2 Championship: 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 30
At Hughes Stadium, Sacramento
D5 Championship: 11 a.m.
D3 Championship: 3 p.m.
D1 Championship: 7 p.m.
At St. Mary’s High, Stockton
D7 Championship: 3 p.m.
Division I
No. 6 Turlock (9-3) at No. 2 Oak Ridge (7-4), 7 p.m.
Fresh off a huge upset over Central Catholic in the first-ever meeting between Turlock and the Raiders, the Bulldogs were back in the weight room Saturday morning, getting ready for the section semifinals. Turlock is in the semis for the second time in three seasons and took down their second top-four seed in that span. The Bulldogs have played Oak Ridge four times in November. Each time, the Trojans have ended Turlock’s season. Turlock lost last season and in 2022, 2019 and 2018. Friday will be their third straight matchup. Freshman quarterback Scout Silva and sophomore running back Alex Ventura led the Bulldogs to the quarterfinals overtime victory Friday. Silva passed for over 150 yards and two scores and rushed for two more scores. He led the final drive to put the Bulldogs within a point and completed the conversion pass to Ventura for the game winner.
Now Turlock, the more physical team for most of the game against Central Catholic, will try to shut down Oak Ridge’s 6-foot-7 Alabama-bound tight end, Kaleb Edwards, who has 700 receiving yards and eight touchdowns on 39 catches. Oak Ridge was the No. 2 team in The Sacramento Bee’s final area regular season rankings and Turlock was the No. 2 team in our final regular season Stanislaus District rankings. The winner of this game likely plays Folsom, one of the top teams in Northern California, which is the top D-I seed and takes on No. 4 Inderkum. Everyone has D-I playing out like it did last season: Folsom vs. Oak Ridge in the championship game. But Turlock is looking to spoil some brackets. It wouldn’t be the first time this season.
Division III
No. 5 Destiny Christian (9-3) at No. 1 Oakdale (8-3), 7 p.m.
The Mustangs did not record a single passing yard but still ran up 479 offensive yards on the ground in last week’s 35-14 quarterfinals win over Woodcreek. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Wes Burford had 247 rush yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries, and Richard Flores made the most of his 10 carries, producing single-game career bests in rush yards (164) and touchdowns (2). Oakdale is back in the section semifinals for the second straight season after falling short of the third round two years ago. The Mustangs are looking to reach their first section title game since 2021. If they want to get there, the rushing attack of Burford, Flores and Chase Lopez (11 carries for 60 yards in quarterfinals) will have a lot to do with it.
Destiny Christian (formerly Capital Christian) finished the regular season as the No. 11 team in The Sacramento Bee’s rankings and breezed through the first two rounds of the D-III playoffs. It beat No. 12 Ponderosa 57-7 in the first round and upset No. 4 Capital Christian 28-7. The Lions are no strangers to putting up points. In eight of their nine wins, they have scored 35 or more points. They are led by quarterback Dallas Munn, who has six Division I scholarship offers from the likes of Portland State, Louisville and Houston Christian. He has passed for 2,753 yards and 24 touchdowns and rushed for 402 yards and eight scores. His go-to targets, Greyson Smith (946 yards, 12 touchdowns) and Antonio Johnson (658 yards, 1 touchdown), carry the bulk of the Lions’ offensive load through the air. On the ground, Malakai Taione Tauataina has rushed for 1,209 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Division IV
No. 6 Sacramento (9-3) at No. 2 Patterson (6-5), 7 p.m.
Max Medina has passing records, Noah Cozart has receiving records and the Patterson Tigers are back in the Division IV section semifinals for the second straight season. Medina, a junior, already has his second straight season with over 2,500 passing yards and 30 touchdowns. He is third in the section and 17th in California with 2,927 passing yards and Cozart is fourth in the section in receiving yards (1,022) and adds a team-high 15 touchdown catches. Running backs Coby Joseph and Jeremiah Lugo each have over 650 rushing yards and six or more rushing touchdowns to balance out the offense. Patterson earned a quarterfinals win over league foe East Union last week after a first-round bye and it now prepares for an upset-minded Sacramento High Dragons team with nine wins under its belt.
The Dragons beat the No. 11 seed in the first round then went on the road and upset No. 3 Roseville, 45-38 in the quarterfinals. Both games have been close. Their freshman running back is special. Cordell Radcliffe has 1,091 yards and eight touchdowns on 127 carries with five games of 100 or more rushing yards. Senior Darius Moore also has 931 rush yards and eight scores. Quarterback Leron James Radcliffe holds up his end of the team’s balanced offense, passing for 1,960 yards and 29 touchdowns. A win for the Tigers means a shot at redemption. They are looking to get back to the championship game and come away with a win. Last season, they led against Escalon, but fell 36-35.
Division V
No. 4 Union Mine (9-2) at No. 1 Hughson (11-0), 7 p.m.
Hughson is as talented and hungry as ever. If they’re going to make a third-straight section championship game, it’ll need consistent play against No. 4 Union Mine. Last week was about shaking off the rust of nearly three weeks without a football game, this week will likely be about proving why it is the No. 1 seed in D-V and backing up its impressive 11-0 record. In the quarterfinals, Arizona commit Robert McDaniel connected with receivers Malakai Sumter (2 catches, 67 yards, 1 touchdown) and Lawson Aviles (5 catches, 69 yards, 1 touchdown) and running back Eli Wilbanks had his sixth 100-plus yard rushing game and added two touchdowns in a 28-6 win.
The defense was dominant, allowing less than 10 points for the fifth time this season. The Huskies had nine tackles for loss, six sacks and came away with an interception and a fumble recovery. They’ll need another dominant defensive effort Friday night. Union Mine and Hughson have a common opponent. Earlier this season, the Diamondbacks beat the same El Dorado team the Huskies beat last week. El Dorado and Union Mine are both members of the Sierra Valley Conference. Union Mine beat the Cougars 48-7 in the regular season finale to cap a 6-1 league season. They finished second in the SVC behind Bradshaw Christian, which went a perfect 7-0.
Division VII
No. 5 Big Valley Christian (7-5) at No. 1 Summerville (10-1), 7 p.m.
The Lions have stacked big wins all season and last week’s quarterfinals game was no different. Big Valley Christian got its revenge on Waterford, beating the Wildcats 55-25 after losing 35-22 earlier this season. That speaks to the improvement the Lions have made over the course of the season. That improvement has the team in the playoffs for the first time since 2021, helped them earn their first playoff win since 2015 and has them in the semifinals this week for the first time since 2015, when Division VII had just a three-round playoffs. Sophomore quarterback Travis Lema threw two touchdown passes but the real stars were in the running game. Ezra Stubbert rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns on just 12 carries and Jeremie Jourdan had 193 yards rushing, three touchdowns and 23 carries.
Their opponent Friday, Summerville of the Mother Lode League, has been a powerhouse in the small-school divisions for decades. Their lone loss this season came to Calaveras in MLL play. The Lions, also a MLL team, get a chance at revenge once again. Oct. 25, the two sides met in their final league game, a 47-21 Summerville win. If the Lions want to advance to their first section title game in nearly a decade, they’ll need an all-around, well-balanced performance.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 12:05 PM.
