OVERVIEW
The Redwood Empire portion of the North Coast Section has captured the last three Division III titles going back to 2017, not including 2020 when the NCS championships were cancelled, or 2018 when it would have been a Redwood Empire winner but the game between Eureka and Cardinal Newman never took place and the title was vacated.
Defending champion Windsor is still one of the favorites but last year’s No. 1 seed did not get this year’s top seed. Instead, the Jaguars are seeded second.
The top seed goes to El Cerrito. The Gauchos are coming off their first 10-0 regular season since 2012 when they got to 13-0 before losing to Marin Catholic in the D3 title game. In 2013 El Cerrito defeated Marin Catholic for the D3 championship but that’s the last time the Gauchos have hoisted a banner. One of the keys to the success of El Cerrito has been its offensive and defensive lines
El Cerrito opens with visiting eighth-seeded Montgomery and with a win will host the fifth-seeded Northgate at fourth-seeded Las Lomas winner.
On the bottom half of the bracket Windsor hosts No. 7 seed College Park and a victory gets the Jaguars a home game with the sixth-seeded Casa Grande at No. 3 seed American Canyon winner.
Click here for full printable bracket.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
El Cerrito: QB Michael Vanhook, RB Tony McAdoo, WR Daniel Harper, RB Tome Veukiso, WR Gavin Thompson
Windsor: WR/DB/RB/QB Hayden Anderson, QB Judson Anderson, RB Wyatt Morris, DB/WR Gunnar Erickson, RB/LB Max McFerren
American Canyon: QB/RB Kaleb Anderson, RB Kapono Liu, RB Ojani Castillo
Las Lomas: QB Michael Wood, RB/LB Adam Towell
Northgate: QB John Pelletier, Emilio Pucci
Casa Grande: QB Wyatt Abramson, RB/LB Ryder Jacobson, WR Spencer Almond
College Park: QB Jimmy Voorhies, RB/WR/DB Gavin O’Leary
Montgomery: QB Lucas Goye, RB Alex Alvarez, WR Keegan Peterson
SLEEPER TEAM
It’s hard to find a sleeper in this group but possibly American Canyon could give Windsor a good game and likewise for El Cerrito against the Northgate at Las Lomas winner.
TITLE GAME PREDICTION
Everything points to a championship matchup between El Cerrito and Windsor in what could be a very interesting affair.
