Four Stanislaus District football teams learn NorCal bowl game matchups

Like a jigsaw puzzle that’s just a few pieces from completion, four Stanislaus District football teams are just two moves away from sitting back and enjoying the picture that has been the 2015 football season.

But unlike a puzzle, which gets easier to complete as you near the end, these next two weeks will be the toughest of all for Central Catholic, Sonora, Sierra and Stone Ridge Christian.

Step 1 is the CIF Regional Football Championship Bowl Games – the NorCal and SoCal Bowls. The state office announced the pairings for those games Sunday.

Unlike recent years, when there were five state champions crowned, 13 teams will win their final game this season.

Central Catholic, which just won its fourth consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section title, is the three-time reigning D-IV state champ. This year, the Raiders have been placed in the small school Open division and will face Marin Catholic of Kentfield (12-1), the North Coast Section Division IV winner.

Kickoff is slated for Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re at home, and that’s as good as it gets,” said Central Catholic coach Roger Canepa, who is 51-3 at David Patton Field since his arrival in Modesto in 2008. “The extra day is going to help. I know we’re banged up, but I never know how banged up until Monday. I ask everybody after the game and they’ve got the adrenaline going. They go home for the weekend and then they’re sore.

“But the game’s at our place, and I think that’s the most important thing. They’ve got to come here.”

Marin Catholic will travel 97 miles Saturday for its NorCal matchup with the Raiders. If that seems like a long road trip, it is. But Sierra, Stone Ridge Christian and Hanford, Sonora’s opponent, would probably be willing to trade.

Sierra (8-5), the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Division IV champion, must travel 105 miles for its 7:30 p.m. contest on Saturday night against Sutter (9-4) at River Valley High School in Yuba City.

Hanford (12-1), which won the Central Section’s D-III title, will venture 143 miles Friday to be in Sonora for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against the Wildcats (12-1), the Sac-Joaquin Section D-V champion.

Stone Ridge Christian (12-1), the two-time reigning D-VII champion in the Sac-Joaquin Section, defeated Mission (San Francisco) 70-21 on Saturday in a NorCal play-in game. The Knights earned the right to travel 139 miles to face 11-2 East Nicolaus (Nicolaus), winner of the Northern Section’s D-IV tournament, on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

A win in the NorCal bowl would allow teams to face the winner of the equivalent Southern California bowl for the state championship.

State title games for large and small Open divisions, as well as I-AA, I-A, II-AA – essentially, the state’s marquee games – will be held Dec. 18-19 at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium. Should the Raiders get past Marin Catholic, they would play Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. at Sac State.

All other state championship games will be played at host sites yet to be determined.

This story was originally published December 6, 2015 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Four Stanislaus District football teams learn NorCal bowl game matchups."