With competitive equity being factored into the formula the North Coast Section Division II playoff bracket has gone from what has been considered a weak division to what might end up being an even better division than any division other the four-team Open Division.
The top seed Rancho Cotate was not the North Bay League – Oak Division champion but the bracket has three league champions, No. 2 seed Bishop O’Dowd in the West Alameda County – Foothill champion, No. 4 seed Granada captured the East Bay Athletic League – Valley title, and No. 9 Montgomery won the inaugural North Bay League - Redwood Division title.
Division II is also the only division in the NCS to have a full 16-team field.
OVERVIEW
The Diablo Athletic League has dominated this division after winning the last six titles. Clayton Valley won three times before being moved up first to Division I and now the Open Division. Miramonte, now in Division III, won once, and with the departure of Clayton Valley it’s been Campolindo claiming the title the past two years since moving up from Division III where they won two straight championships. That means the Prep2Prep NorCal No. 25T ranked Cougars will be going for a fifth consecutive NCS title, but this year the field is entirely different with three invaders from Division III moving up to challenge for the championship.
The top seed went to a North Bay League – Oak runner-up and P2P NorCal No. 18 Rancho Cotate team that had the highest power ranking after a lone loss to NBL – Oak champion and Division III top seed Cardinal Newman, but posted signature wins over Campolindo and a Pleasant Valley-Chico team that played Valley Christian tough.
Rancho Cotate was previously in D2 but dropped to D3 before petitioning back up for this season. They are joined in the top half of the bracket by P2P NorCal No. 25T Granada and a Marin Catholic team that has now moved up for the second time in three years. In 2016, the Wildcats, who were 5-0 against teams from the Marin County Athletic League this season but were not eligible to win the league title, were required to move to Division III due to competitive equity and this year they petitioned up like Rancho Cotate.
If Rancho Cotate does not get to the semifinals it would be a shocker. They open with Casa Grande and then would face the American Canyon at Montgomery winner.
The most interesting matchup in the top half of the bracket prior to the semis would be a pending second round game between P2P NorCal No. 25T and fourth-seeded Granada, and No. 5 seed and defending NCS D3 champion and CIF NorCal 3-AA Bowl game runner-up Marin Catholic.
To get there Granada has to beat cross-town arch rival Livermore on Friday night while Marin Catholic needs to get past Santa Rosa on Saturday afternoon.
The bottom half of the bracket looks like it’s going to come down to P2P NorCal No. 16 Bishop O’Dowd and defending champion Campolindo in a semifinal matchup between two teams that both have previous Bowl game experience and have captured a CIF title.
Not surprisingly, O’Dowd Coach Napoleon Kaufman was gracious with respect to receiving the No. 2 seed.
“Rancho’s one loss would be hard to overcome even though they didn’t play the level of competition we did,” Kaufman remarked. “I thought we deserved the second seed and that’s what I told the committee. The top four seeds turned out just the way I submitted to the committee. We’re totally fine.”
At this point regardless of who comes out on top it’s looking like the winner is ticketed for the CIF Northern Regional 3-AA Bowl game. If it’s Rancho Cotate they will be making their first ever Bowl game appearance and it will be after they win a third NCS title and first since the 2001 and 2002 teams won consecutive championships in the old 3A Redwood Empire division. They have been close recently and last year lost a heartbreaker to arch rival Cardinal Newman in the D3 semifinals
When asked what the outlook was going into the playoffs Rancho Cotate Coach Gehrig Hotaling first quoted poetry and then became pretty pragmatic.
“To quote the famous Dylan Thomas poem, ‘do not go gentle into that good night,” Hotaling said and then added. “We are trying to build on the last four years of coming close to the championship but not quite getting over the hump, and doing everything we can to make that leap – and if we go out we’re going out with a bang and not a whimper.”
For a full printable bracket, click here.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Rancho Cotate RB Rasheed Rankin, Rancho Cotate QB Jared Stocker, Rancho Cotate OL/LB Elias Rantissi, Rancho Cotate WR/DE Connor Barbato, Bishop O’Dowd RB Austin Jones, Bishop O’Dowd WR Jelani Warren, Bishop O’Dowd QB Mo Flynn, Bishop O’Dowd LB Branden Owens, Campolindo QB Grant Harper, Campolindo WR/DB/P Lucas Allen, Campolindo WR/DB Max Schoenberger, Campolindo DE Mason Mastrov, Granada WR/DB Malini Tia, Granada RB/DB Zack Macintire, Granada RB/K Octavio Morales, Granada LB Nate Basinger
Marin Catholic ATH Gaven Cooke, Marin Catholic OL/DL Jamar Sekona, Marin Catholic OL/DL Giovanni Ghilotti, Marin Catholic LB Alex Murray, Ukiah QB/DB Nate Johnson, Ukiah RB Lucas Stanley, Benicia QB Kameron Lane, Benicia RB/LB Aaron Jenkins, American Canyon RB/LB Eddie Byrdsong, Montgomery RB/QB/LB Khameron Perkins, Alhambra QB Aaron Hern, Maria Carrillo RB Tyler Van Arden, Santa Rosa RB/LB Jayvee Long, Livermore QB Zach Burke, Redwood RB Alex Aguero, Hayward QB/RB Asi Bailey, Casa Grande QB/DB Jadon Bosarge
SLEEPER TEAM
Everyone is pointing to a No. 2 O’Dowd versus No. 1 Rancho Cotate match-up in the finals, but two teams could emerge as the sleepers. If No. 5 seed Marin Catholic wins this week and then gets by No. 4 seed Granada they would be a sleeper of sorts but with their history they’re not really a sleeper. The sleeper is Granada. The EBAL – Valley was not very strong in its first year but Granada took the title, and in the two games they lost the Matadors were competitive with California but had a poor outing at Monte Vista. If the seeds hold true they will be coming to Rohnert Park to face Rancho Cotate in the semifinals and could very well give the hosts a tussle. Even just making it to the title game would qualify Granada as a sleeper but winning it all, like they did in their one and only NCS title in the old 2A East Bay Division 1995, would send Coach Tim Silva and his boys to a Bowl Game this time.
TITLE GAME PREDICTION
Rancho Cotate has had some overtimes in big games and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that happen in this game with either team coming out on top.
