Here are 10 things to know ahead of the 2025 Sac-Joaquin Section football postseason
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Section corrected Pitman–Kimball hosting error; nine Stanislaus bowl games set Friday.
- Wes Burford nears 7,000-yard career mark; Chase Perino leads section in receiving.
- Sac‑Joaquin Section shortens playoffs to three weeks and moves first practice to Aug 3.
Pitman originally thought it was headed to Tracy.
The Pride, in the midst of their best football season since 2018 under first-year head coach Braden Plaa, made it into one of the 29 new Sac-Joaquin Section postseason bowl games. The Pride had a chance to secure the program’s first winning season in years while playing for the chance to end its season with a win.
When the playoff bowl games and eight-team brackets were announced during Sunday’s selection show, Pitman learned its fate: The No. 13 Pride, with five wins and five losses, would drive to play … Kimball? The 15-seed, with just one win, nine losses and three forfeits to its name?
The Jaguars originally played and won those three games against West of Tracy, Mountain House and Golden Valley. But because Kimball unknowingly played two ineligible players, it was forced to retroactively forfeit those contests, according to an Oct. 7 Stockton Record report.
“This is truly devastating for our players and for our coaches. Please understand that this is not the fault of our coaching staff or a reflection on the program they are building with our students. Coach Nico and his coaching staff have done a tremendous job of working with our student athletes to establish a positive program at Kimball,” The Record reported that Principal William Maslyar said in a statement sent to parents.
“It is ultimately the responsibility of the administration to ensure all players are cleared and eligible to participate in any sport according to TUSD (Tracy Unified School District) and CIF regulations. I am truly sorry that we failed to accurately monitor our students’ eligibility for football and for the impact it has had on our team.”
It turns out the section selected the Jaguars to host due to oversight, a mistake that was fixed Tuesday.
When it was brought to the section’s attention, the office called Kimball and Pitman on Tuesday, explained the situation, and both schools agreed that Pitman would host. The game will be at 7 p.m. Friday at Turlock High’s Joe Debely Stadium, where Pitman plays all of its home games.
“It’s just a great opportunity for us to get to play an extra game, no matter home or road,” Pitman athletic director Dustin Curtiss said in a text Thursday morning. “We were working really hard early this week to try to find a way to get the Pitman community (band, color guard, students, fans, etc.) to the game (when it was at Kimball). When the game got moved to a home game, obviously that work became much easier for us to do. We are really excited for this senior class to have one more home game and hopefully we can pack Joe Debely to show support for them one more time.”
Battle of Modesto schools in postseason bowl game
This Friday, nine bowl games will feature at least one Stanislaus District football team in a night expected to produce some of the best action of the season. No game could mean more for Modesto than the battle of Division I Gregori and Division III Johansen.
Both teams are playing some of their best football late in the season. The Jaguars found their rushing attack against Enochs and finished CCAL play on a three-game win streak. The Jaguars most recently pulled out a nail-biter 28-21 win over Pitman, which hosts Kimball in a bowl game this week.
Johansen is coming off its best regular season since 2019, with seven wins, a second-place finish in the Western Athletic Conference and the chance to host one final game this season. The Vikings ended the regular season with three straight WAC wins, including the season-finale victory over Davis that clinched second place.
This matchup between two of the top Modesto City Schools teams is why the bowl games will likely mean a lot to the winners: regional bragging rights, a banner and a chance to win the final game of the 2025 football season.
Here are the Stanislaus District bowl games:
Turlock at Lincoln-Stockton
Pitman at Kimball
Golden Valley at Enochs
Gregori at Johansen
Grace Davis at Atwater
Los Banos at Patterson
Ceres at Argonaut
Beyer at Orestimba
Big Valley Christian at Waterford
Central Catholic’s Perino leads the section in receiving
Whether it’s Kayden McHenry or Max Medina, Central Catholic’s quarterbacks have looked to one receiver more than any other this season: Fresno State commit Chase Perino.
The senior has turned in career highs in nearly every statistical category as the Raiders’ big play threat and has some of the best numbers in the Sac-Joaquin Section. Through 10 regular season games, he leads the section in receiving yards (1,137) and catches (73) and is second in receiving touchdowns (15).
In other statistical categories, Air Force commit Wes Burford is first in the section, second in California and 16th nationally in rushing yards (2,280). He is averaging a career-high 10.8 yards per carry and 228.0 rushing yards per game and is just three rushing touchdowns away from reaching a new career high after finishing the regular season with 30. He is also first in the section and second in the state in total points (209) and second in the SJS and sixth in California in total touchdowns (30).
His teammate Richard Flores is No. 12 in the state and third in the section in total points (144) and 11th in the SJS in total touchdowns (22).
Patterson’s Dasen Pettis is fifth in the section in rushing yards (1,461) and Downey’s Elias Hyanes is 15th in the section in rushing yards (1,263).
Sonora enters postseason undefeated
Sonora returned all of its offensive production from last season’s team, which took home section and state titles, and picked up right where it left off. The Wildcats do not have a single player in the top 50 in the section in rushing yards, instead opting to do it by committee. There are 10 players with at least 100 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on the season.
The Wildcats took down Oakdale and Turlock in nonleague games and ran through the Trans-Valley League, scoring 45.2 points per game and allowing just 13.5 per game in league play.
They have done most of this without one of their best players, senior returner Tommy Sutton, who broke his forearm three games into the season and had surgery. The Wildcats are hoping he can return for the postseason.
Sonora, to no one’s surprise, is the No. 1 seed in Division VI, is expected to have playoff success and is likely the favorite to repeat as section champion.
Hughson to compete in third division in as many seasons
Hughson qualified as the No. 3 seed in Division IV this season. This means when the Huskies take the field next Friday night, they will start their journey to a Sac-Joaquin Section four-peat in its third division in as many seasons.
The Huskies are the latest example of the section’s continued-success rule. In 2022, they won the Division VI section title and in 2023 they repeated, meaning they moved up to Division V last season. When they won the 2024 D-V blue banner, they automatically got bumped up to Division IV.
Hughson finished tied with Ripon Christian for second in the TVL behind unbeaten Sonora and host No. 6 Pioneer in the quarterfinals.
Once again, the team has the talent to make a deep postseason run with Fresno State commit tight end Bryce McDaniel, defensive lineman Valente Soria, receiver Lawson Aviles, two-way junior Titus Beers and a budding star in freshman quarterback Hudson Baldwin.
Local quarterfinals home games
The Sac-Joaquin Section quarterfinals begin next week, Nov. 14, and like every playoff format, the lower-seed visits the higher seed no matter the distance. There are no Stanislaus District home playoff games in Divisions I, II or VII, but D-III through D-VI will have one local game each. Fans get the opportunity to see some of the section’s best athletes take the field in their backyards. Here are the local first-round matchups in the CIF-SJS quarterfinals.
D-III: No. 7 Ponderosa at No. 2 Oakdale
D-IV: No. 6 Pioneer at No. 3 Hughson
D-V: No. 7 Rio Linda at No. 2 Hilmar
D-VI: No. 6 Amador at No. 3 Ripon Christian
Oakdale’s lead back enters playoffs as section’s leading rusher
Wes Burford entered a Valley Oak League matchup against Central Catholic 29 yards away from Sac-Joaquin Section immortality. Through just about two and a half varsity seasons, the engine of the Oakdale High Wing-T offense had 6,163 career rushing yards and then-section career rushing yards leader Cam Skattebo, finished his career at Rio Linda with 6,192.
Burford finished the rivalry game against the Raiders with 25 carries for 290 yards and five touchdowns, not only blowing past Skattebo but passing 13 others on the state all-time career rushing list in one night. Through the 2025 regular season, he has 6,777 rushing yards, good for 20th in the history of California high school football, according to Cal-Hi Sports’ all-time career rushing yards list. The Mustangs made the 2024 D-III title game and this season are the No. 2 seed in the D-III bracket. A deep playoff run would not only give Burford and the team a chance to reach their ultimate goal of winning a blue banner but could mean the Air Force commit breaks the 7,000-yard rushing mark, a milestone just 17 rushers in state history have reached, according to Cal-Hi Sports.
First ever eight-man section title bracket
There will be more history in this year’s postseason, as the section introduced eight-man football this season. The year started with 11 eight-man football teams across the section and will end with eight teams competing for what is believed to be the first ever eight-man football blue banner in the Division VIII bracket.
Eight-man football is popular in the northern part of California, into Oregon and in Southern California, and teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section were welcome to start eight-man teams before this year. Turlock Christian has had a team for the past two seasons and played out-of-area teams prior to this year.
Teams can use eight-man football to help rebuild their program. Two Sacramento-area teams, Florin and Valley, folded last season in late August before the first game due to low numbers. Both played eight-man this year and were the final two teams selected for the postseason bracket.
Turlock Christian missed the postseason but will continue to use the growing eight-man football pool to help build momentum around its football program.
Modesto schools take on D-I powerhouses in quarterfinals
Central Catholic and Downey are two Modesto schools in Division I playoff rematches.
The Raiders, the No. 7 seed after playing one of the Stanislaus District’s toughest schedules and finishing 5-5 overall, take on Oak Ridge, the team that eliminated them in the 2023 semifinals. Central Catholic has a tough challenge if it wants to get back to the section semifinals, assistant coach LaRon Thompson noted at the final Modesto Quarterback Club meeting Monday. He also added that the Raiders have been improving all season and when quarterfinals come next Friday, they will be ready to try to “shock the world” and earn a win.
Downey will face the four-time defending state powerhouse Folsom in the first round. The No. 8 Knights take on the Bulldogs for the second straight season in the quarterfinals. Despite loss last season, Downey’s 28 points were the most any team scored on the Bulldogs in 2024. This season, do-it-all running back/defensive back Elias Haynes and the Knights will take the confidence from winning their last five games into Folsom to face a team littered with Division I talent, including five-star quarterback and BYU commit Ryder Lyons and receivers Jameson Powell (Ole Miss commit) and Rob Larson.
Can Hilmar send Frank Marques out on top?
From having high school girls help call plays to playing an entire season with a three-quarterback rotation, Frank Marques has always done things his way as the Hilmar High head football coach for 23 years.
Doing so has led to success. He has won over 190 football games with six TVL titles, 10 trips to the Sac-Joaquin Section championship, four section titles and a 2018 Division 6-AA state championship.
“I’ve seen people stick around too long. And I feel like the young coaches are ready to take over the reins, so it’s just time for me to step aside and let somebody else carry this torch forward,” he told The Bee earlier this season.
The only thing that feels better than retirement is retirement with a blue banner, and as the No. 2 seed in Division V, the Yellowjackets are looking to send their veteran coach out on top.
Marques entered the season with 192 wins and with six regular season victories. He is up to 198 entering the postseason, meaning with wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals, he would enter the section championship with 200 career victories.
Their quarterfinals matchup Friday, Nov. 14, is against Rio Linda. Should they win that game, the Yellowjackets would face the winner of No. 6 Rosemont at No. 3 Sutter.
The football calendar will look different next year
The new postseason format going into effect this season was a polarizing decision, with many on social media talking about matchups, who would make the bracket and who would play a one-time bowl game.
While opinions circulated, there were not many thoughts on one of the main reasons the postseason was changed. Reducing the playoff bracket from 12 teams to eight also takes one week out of the high school football season. A three-week playoff format instead of the customary four-week postseason can help minimize player injuries and keep high school students from getting burnt out over the course of a long season.
This year’s postseason is still four weeks long. Bowl games are this week and the top eight teams in each division have a bye. Bracket play starts next week with section title games on Nov. 29 at Sacramento City College.
The real shortened season will go into effect next year. Because there will be a three-week playoff instead of four, the Sac-Joaquin Section’s football advisory committee plans for the first football practice at the start of the season to be one week later, moving the entire season one week.
Instead of starting the final week of July, the first official football practice will be Aug. 3 and scrimmages will be Aug. 21. The first game will be Aug. 28 and the regular season will end Nov. 7. Next year, bowl games (postseason games for No. 9 through No. 16) and section quarterfinals (postseason games for No. 1 through No. 8) will likely be on the same day.
