OVERVIEW
While the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs have Sacramento Bee No. 1 and Prep2Prep CIFSJS No. 3 Sacramento seeded No. 1, this division like SJS Division I is loaded with any number of teams that could emerge as the champion.
Sacramento (9-1, 7-0 Metropolitan League) has been riding a 32-27 upset of a Folsom team that hadn’t lost to a Metro Sacramento area team in 51 games so naturally that carries a lot of weight to the locals, and Sacramento certainly deserves top billing, but just off that one game does not make them a prohibitive favorite in this group.
Some locals have pointed to their 35-7 home loss to JSerra-San Juan Capistrano as being to a state-ranked team since they are No. 26 in the Maxpreps power rankings but those same power rankings have Sacramento currently No. 159 in the state because their league is considered very weak, and the win over Folsom disappears in those type of rankings using a form of algorithms.
No. 2 seed Del Oro-Loomis (8-2, 4-2) is No. 36 in the power rankings and like Sacramento on the Bubble of the Cal-Hi Sports rankings as is No. 3 seed Antelope (10-0, 7-0 Capital Valley Conference) the No. 37 team in the power rankings. And what about No. 4 seed Jesuit-Carmichael (7-3, 5-2 Delta League) the second place finisher in the Delta League along with SJS D1 sixth-seed Davis? They aren’t on the Cal-Hi Sports Bubble but are No. 48 on Maxpreps.
In fact, No. 5 seed Central Catholic-Modesto, No. 6 Grant-Sacramento, No. 7 Roseville, No. 9 Whitney-Rocklin, No. 10 Vacaville, and even a 4-6 No. 11 Granite Bay are all ahead of Sacramento in the power rankings
All these teams are well below Sacramento in the P2P SJS rankings so for our assessment you can throw out the variance and variables in the various rankings and the seedings as well.
If Sacramento beats No. 16 Stagg-Stockton as expected they would face either No. 8 Inderkum-Sacramento or Whitney, and starting from that point there are no cinches. From there should the Dragons win it would likely be Jesuit or Central Catholic so you can see why this division looks wide open.
To go all the way Sacramento likely will need big games from Tariq Hollandsworth. The senior 6-0, 206-pound running back had a season-high 268 yards and a TD against Folsom.
On the bottom half of the bracket Del Oro and Antelope have a road to the semis that likely will involve Grant, or even Granite Bay or Roseville, and from that group it’s a toss-up at this point.
Most of the Sac-Joaquin Section teams are playing on Thursday to avoid playing on Veterans Day although Sacramento, Grant and Roseville will play on Friday and Jesuit hosts on Saturday afternoon.
One program with ties to the military from The Honor Bowl that will definitely play on Thursday is Del Oro when they host No. 15 seed Laguna Creek-Elk Grove. Coach Casey Taylor agrees this division is wide open.
“Sacramento’s big win over Folsom speaks for itself. They’re a good team and deserving of respect and the top seed,” Taylor remarked. “In the past there were a handful of quality teams in D2 but this year there could be 10 or 12 teams that could win this division. We’re happy to be the number two seed with the home field advantage and are looking to take advantage of our situation.”
That will unfortunately not be the case for Sacramento. According to Taylor who was not absolutely sure, the Sacramento field was not playable, and although they tried to find something close it wasn’t possible this week with so many teams in action, so they have to go to Stockton. Hopefully, having to travel so far will change if they win and fields become available.
“Yeah, that field is pretty rough,” DeBoard said. “It’s unfortunate for our top seed to travel in the first round after earning that top seed.”
“It’s a shame to have earned the top seed and the home field and Sacramento doesn’t get to use it,” Taylor said.
The well-respected and classy Taylor can afford to be a bit sympathetic because if both his Golden Eagles and the Dragons make it to the finals it will be at Sacramento State, and Del Oro likes that field. Last year they beat Rocklin there for the D2 title, and then after going down to Bakersfield and beating Liberty they came back to Sac State to win 16-13 over Camarillo for the CIF Division II-AA Bowl Game championship.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sacramento RB Tariq Hollingsworth, Sacramento QB Derek Shelton, Sacramento WR DaVon Owens, Sacramento LB/RB Jaime Cousey, Del Oro QB Stone Smartt, Del Oro RB/DB Dalton Gee, Del Oro WR/DB Mason Hurst, Antelope RB/DB Elijah Dotson, Antelope QB Nick Spagnola, Jesuit RB/LB Lorenzo Burkes, Jesuit QB Cole Brownholtz, Jesuit LB Jason Gallagher, Central Catholic RB/DB Jared Rice, Central Catholic RB/LB Montell Bland, Central Catholic QB/DB Cole Petlansky, Grant RB/DB Tyree Marcelle, Grant WR/CB Lawrence Hardy, Grant QB/P Cameron Davis, Roseville RB/DB Brendan McMinn, Inderkum QB/DB Trajon Cotton
SLEEPER TEAM
This is the first of two pick-ems for a sleeper and title game prediction but the pick for a sleeper would have to be a No. 8 seed Inderkum that should they get by Whitney may have a surprise for top-seeded Sacramento.
TITLE GAME PREDICTION
We’ll seek out the spirits and go to a Ouija board for an answer on this one and the answer is Del Oro over either Sacramento, Jesuit, Central Catholic or Inderkum. Close your eyes and make a pick on who the Golden Eagles will face. Is it going to be No. 1 versus No. 2 if Sacramento gets through to face Del Oro? We still like Del Oro to go back to a Bowl Game.
