Central Catholic, Oakdale football teams could meet again in section title game

Both Central Catholic and Oakdale will host games until a potential rematch in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III finale, which would take place Dec. 5 at Lincoln High in Stockton.

“I think the two best teams did play last night,” said Raiders coach Roger Canepa, whose team won the past three D-IV section and state titles. “They’re going to be home the whole time, so they’re not being punished (for the loss), and rightly so. It’s how it should be.”

The Raiders and Mustangs are two of 27 Stanislaus District teams that advanced to the postseason. They’re joined by Gregori, Modesto, Merced and Turlock in Division I; Downey, Beyer and Pitman in D-II; Patterson, Manteca and Central Valley in D-III; Lathrop, Los Banos, Sierra and Calaveras in D-IV; Sonora, Ripon, Orestimba and Ripon in D-V; Hilmar, Mariposa, Ripon Christian, Gustine and Amador in D-VI; and Big Valley Christian and Stone Ridge Christian in D-VII.

One team that did not receive an at-large bid was Escalon, snapping a 17-year run of reaching the playoffs.

The Cougars beat Modesto Christian 38-14 on Friday to get to 5-5, but they were not one of the .500 teams to get an at-large bid.

“We really felt we had Ripon beat,” said Escalon coach Mark Loureiro, whose team lost to the Indians 18-12 as time expired on Oct. 30. “And we dominated MC, but it was too little too late.”

Beyer High drew the No. 16 slot in Division II, getting a date with No. 1 Grant, one of the top teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section, regardless of division. No. 8 Downey gets a home game against No. 9 Granite Bay and would play the winner of the Beyer-Grant contest.

In D-I, No. 10 Modesto will hit the road to take on seventh-seeded Merced and No. 15 Gregori will travel to face No. 2 Elk Grove, the seventh best team in the state, according to Cal-Hi Sports. No. 8 Turlock gets a game against No. 9 Franklin-Elk Grove.

In addition to Central Catholic, Lathrop, the fourth-place team out of the Valley Oak League, was No. 1 in the Division IV bracket, Sonora is the top seed in Division V, Hilmar is tops in Division VI and Stone Ridge Christian, with a first-round bye, is No. 1 in D-VII. That gives the Stanislaus District five No. 1 seeds.

Orestimba High, which, like Central Catholic, defeated a league rival in a battle of 9-0 teams, wasn’t as fortunate as the Raiders. The reward for the Warriors’ 21-13 win over Gustine is a No. 4 seed and first-round date with rugged Hughson, the third-place team out of the Trans-Valley League.

“We’re in a very tough predicament,” said Orestimba coach Aaron Souza. “We’re among the largest Southern League schools, similar in size to TVL schools. It’s a tough draw. In a perfect world, all the Southern League schools would be in D-VI. But we’ve just got to figure that we’re 10-0, won our first outright league title in 35 years and had the first undefeated season in school history, so there’s no reason to sit around and cry about the situation.”

Especially when you consider that this crop of Orestimba seniors defeated Hughson when they met in a junior varsity game two years back.

“We’re going to be excited to play the first home playoff game in Warriors Stadium,” Souza said.

In an odd bit of scheduling, No. 11 Central Valley will visit No. 6 Manteca. The two met in the first round in 2013, and Alex Laurel (258 yards rushing, five TDs) helped eventual D-III champ Manteca to a 69-55 win despite the Hawks getting 378 yards and four TDs from eventual Bee Player of the Year Ja’Quan Gardner.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Central Catholic, Oakdale football teams could meet again in section title game."