The final count in the battle for bragging rights between the Northern and Southern regions based on the number of California Interscholastic Federation bowl game titles was won by Northern California by a 9-6 margin if you count the Central Section as part of Southern California.
The breakdown in Northern California was four state championships for the North Coast Section, two each for the Central Coast Section and Sac-Joaquin Section, and one for the Northern Section.
For Southern California, the giant Southern Section, with over a third of the high schools in the state, snagged four state championships, while the Central Section garnered two titles. The San Diego, Los Angeles City, San Francisco and Oakland sections failed to capture any state titles
In getting six state championships combined that equaled that of Southern California, it wasn’t the big schools in the North Coast Section or in the Central Coast Section that got it done this past weekend in their portion of the 15 state CIF Bowl Games that were contested at three Southern California junior colleges, it was the schools in the lower divisions that brought home the bacon. In fact, five of the six teams won a state title for the first time.
Yes, the Southern Section boasts the heavyweights, and in the five top divisions only Folsom was able to break through for Northern California in a 20-14 comeback win in the 1-A division over St. Bonaventure, but once you got past the 2-A division it was basically a landslide for Northern California.
From the 3-AA all the way down to 7-A Northern California captured the 3-AA, 3-A, 4-AA, 4-A, 5-A, 6-AA, 6-A and 7-AA divisions.
Despite only having a little over a million residents, the Redwood Empire portion of the North Coast Section captured three of the four NCS bowl game championships led by Marin Catholic in the 3-A division.
Williams and stingy defense lead Marin Catholic to second state title
When Marin Catholic star Charles Williams finally got his chance to perform on the big stage, the Wildcats standout definitely did not disappoint.
The bottom line is although it may not have been anywhere near the top performance of his career from a statistical standpoint, the Marin Catholic senior running back and defensive back was without a doubt the top player of the field on both sides of the ball in a state CIF 3-A Bowl Game 38-18 win over Mayfair on Saturday night at El Camino College in Torrance.
With the victory Marin Catholic (14-1) won its second CIF state championship since 2021 and second in four tries. The Wildcats won the 4-AA title in 2021 and came up on the short end in close losses in Division III in 2009 and 2012.
Williams, a 6-2, 185-pound senior with offers from Oregon State, San Diego State, Fresno State, San Jose State and Wyoming, only had 13 carries for 85 yards and two pass receptions for 102 yards, but his explosiveness and speed on offense and record-setting performance on defense were decisive in the victory. Williams had two TDs on offense, a 45-yard pass from 6-2, 210-pound senior quarterback Peter Macaulay that gave Marin Catholic a 26-7 lead midway through the second quarter, and a 9-yard run late in the third quarter that was the final tally for the Wildcats and opened up a 38-14 lead.
On defense Williams had two interceptions, his 10th and 11th of the season. Pick No. 10 tied the school record for interceptions in a season and No. 11 broke the record.
“He’s special,” said Marin Catholic head coach Mazi Moayed, who echoed the same words of the NFHS broadcasting team after Williams TD pass reception in which he eluded several defenders and outraced everyone to the end zone.
“There are very few words that can truly describe Charles Williams,” Moayed continued. “You need to experience him to understand him and what he has meant to our team. He’s selfless, tough and electric.”
It wasn’t just Williams who had a performance that will be etched into the memories of the Marin Catholic faithful for the ages, Macaulay, senior defensive end Mario Crocitto, senior wide receiver Braiden Bachich-Dixon, and junior linebacker Colin Lovette also had outstanding performances.
Macaulay, a tight end the first nine games and a backup quarterback, was thrust into the starter’s job after Marin Catholic suffered a 10-6 loss to Marin County Athletic League arch rival San Marin, a loss that broke a string of 49 straight league wins.
“The loss to San Marin was one of the most pivotal moments in our season,” Moayed remarked. “It was a gut check for our team but one of the best things that happened to us all year.”
“The fortunate part for us was it was a regular-season loss,” Moayed continued. “That meant the season continued and we had a chance to make the necessary changes.”
After the loss one of the biggest changes was Moayed decided to turn to Macaulay as the starting quarterback for the playoffs, and the decision ended up paying huge dividends with big wins over Bishop O’Dowd, Tamalpais and Redwood Empire Catholic school rival Cardinal Newman in the NCS D5 title game.
Macaulay had a solid game for Marin Catholic in a 35-28 victory in the NorCal 3-A game over a McClymonds team that prior to that game had the Wildcats number.
Against Mayfair, Macaulay was 13-of-24 for 328 yards and two TDs, the one to Williams and a 46-yarder to Bachich-Dixon, who had four receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
After Mayfair was stopped on its first three plays of the game’s opening drive, the SoCal 3-A champions made an ill-advised decision to go for it on fourth down and it failed. On the first play for Marin Catholic Macaulay ran it in for a touchdown that gave the Wildcats a lead they never relinquished.
Marin Catholic held on downs again and this time on the first play of its second drive Macaulay found Bachich-Dixon. Two plays, two scores and it was 13-0 Wildcats.
Two field goals by senior kicker Charles Lewis made it 19-0 Marin Catholic in the early second quarter and the way the Marin Catholic defense was playing at that point it was already looking like the deal was done.
Besides the two picks for Williams, Crocitto had four sacks and Lovette had three sacks. The play of the defense and the offense led by Williams and Macaulay, offset the fact that down the stretch Marin Catholic was missing four starting offensive linemen due to injury and six starters overall.
Mayfair (12-4) got its first touchdown on a 56-yard pass from junior quarterback Jeremiah Calvin to senior Sean James Jonas to make it 19-7, but Marin Catholic answered with the TD pass from Macaulay to Williams.
After Mayfair answered with a 14-yard TD run by senior Ryan Heredia that cut it to 26-14 with just over three minutes left in the half, Marin Catholic answered right back with just over two minutes before halftime when Macaulay found Bachich-Dixon on a 39-yard TD to give Marin Catholic a 32-14 lead at the half.
From there the only Wildcats points came on the third quarter TD run by Williams, and Mayfair could only muster two safeties in the second half with both coming in the fourth quarter against mostly Marin Catholic subs.
“Our defense was our backbone all season,” Moayed remarked.
The Marin Catholic defense did give up a season-high 28 points to McClymonds, and the 18 for Mayfair was the second most it gave up, but in the other three previous playoff games en route to the NCS D3 title, it only gave up 26 points combined, and for the 15 games for the entire season it only allowed 124 points, just over eight points a game.
Besides the defense Moayed had high praise for Macaulay.
“Peter was a catalyst for us and proved to be the difference in our season,” Moayed said. “He’s a winner in all aspects of life no matter where his feet stand.”
For Moayed he now establishes himself as one of the winningest active head coaches in California history with over 150 wins as he now has a 158-24 record since taking the Marin Catholic helm in 2010, including a 5-0 record in the 2020 pandemic shortened season.
St. Vincent de Paul dominates Wasco to win 6-AA championship
They will be having a parade this coming Sunday in Petaluma to honor the St. Vincent de Paul Mustangs football team. The reason for the festivities in a somewhat agricultural town known for parades for everything from Butter and Egg Days to a massive Veteran’s Day parade, is the tiny Catholic school of around 200 students had just done something no other high school in Petaluma had ever done.
Last Friday afternoon at Pasadena City College, St. Vincent de Paul became the first high school in Petaluma in any sport, boys or girls, to win a CIF state championship after the Mustangs dominated Wasco in a 27-6 Division 6-AA Bowl Game championship victory.
Now, after playing in three North Coast Section title games and winning two, but not advancing to a state championship, St. Vincent de Paul (13-2) has finally found paydirt on the biggest stage.
“The support of the entire St. Vincent community, from administration, faculty and parents, and the entire Petaluma community, including the two public schools (Casa Grande and Petaluma) has been amazing,” said sixth-year St. Vincent de Paul head coach Trent Herzog. “It's been a great six years."
Faced with trying to defend a Wing-T offense of Wasco that came into the game having rushed for 3,538 yards and 42 TDs with two running backs that rushed for over 1,000 yards and 30 touchdowns, NCS D6 and NorCal 6-AA champion St. Vincent de Paul knew it was going to have to stop the run and make the most of its possessions.
“The keys to winning were to play (with) discipline, limit the turnovers and penalties, and being able to effectively run the ball.” Herzog said. “We were able to do all of that as we had zero turnovers, only three penalties and we ran the ball for over 200 yards.”
“On defense we needed to align correctly and trust our reads and keys, and do our jobs,” Herzog continued. “We felt confident coming in as long as we could be more physical at the point of attack we had a good chance to slow them down.”
Not only did they slow Wasco down and stuff the run right out of the box, the Mustangs took over with solid overall play including effectively running the ball themselves mixed in with a little passing from quarterback and game MVP Gabe Casanovas.
Casanovas, a 6-2, 190-pound sophomore, was an efficient 5-of-9 passing for 66 yards and two TDs, plus he rushed for 59 yards on seven carries with a third score.
Although he didn’t find the end zone rushing, sophomore running back Mason Caturegli rushed for a game-high 113 yards on 19 carries. Caturegli did have a TD as a receiver. Senior Jack Davis scored twice, once rushing and the other receiving.
Wasco got the ball to start the game and not surprisingly after not getting a first down on three runs, the Tigers went for it on fourth down and came up short, giving the ball to the Mustangs on their 34-yard line.
St. Vincent de Paul didn’t get a first down on its first three plays but faced with fourth-and-1 Davis ran for 10 yards to the Wasco 15. Wasco held again on the next three plays and the Mustangs were faced with fourth-and-5 from the 9-yard line. No problem. Casanovas rolled out and found Davis all alone in the end zone for a touchdown with 3:53 left in the first quarter. When junior Tyler Chelew converted the PAT St. Vincent de Paul had a 7-0 lead it never relinquished.
Wasco (9-6) would get to 7-6 on a long run by junior Noah Lopez in the early second quarter, the only big play the Tigers broke all game. From there the teams went into halftime with St. Vincent de Paul clinging to the 1-point lead.
The second half was all Mustangs. Casanovas connected with Caturegli on a 21-yard TD pass to make it and Davis and Casanovas had each had 5-yard rushing TDs to complete the scoring.
Two players stood out defensively for St. Vincent de Paul. Senior two-sport star Nico Antonini (basketball) had 10 tackles, including one for a loss, and junior lineman Rob Rooks forced a fumble, blocked a field goal and had six tackles with two for losses.
“I’m extremely proud to bring a state title back to Petaluma,” Herzog said in conclusion. “Our players have worked so hard for this and everyone is super excited and can’t wait to celebrate with the town of Petaluma next Sunday.”
Ferndale captures first-ever state championship
The football program at Ferndale has a long and storied history. The Wildcats won the first small school North Coast Section championship in 1975 when they captured the old Class A championship. Since then, Ferndale has now won a total of 14 NCS titles, but until they won this year’s Division VII championship with 14-7 victory over Willits, it had been 11 years since its last title, and the tiny school had never played for a CIF Northern Regional or state championship.
Now, that has all changed after a 32-7 win over Portola in the NorCal 7-AA title game and a hard fought 29-21 comeback win over Fairfax in the 7-AA state championship on Friday at El Camino College, Ferndale can add some new hardware to what is already a pretty full trophy case.
Ferndale (11-4) trailed 21-8 in the third quarter but from there the defense got stout and the vaunted veer offense began to click. The Wildcats got two quick scores to take a 22-21 lead, the second one on a rushing TD by sophomore Prescott Langer with around five minutes left in the third, and then got the clincher on a TD run by sophomore Tanner Pidgeon with less than five minutes left.
Acalanes claims three firsts including a CIF state championship
Despite having a solid football program for many years Acalanes not only won its first state championship with a 35-23 Division 3-AA come-from-behind victory over Birmingham on Saturday morning at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, the Dons hit the trifecta with their first North Coast Section championship and first Northern Regional title as well.
To say the program has come alive under former college coach and current Acalanes head coach Floyd Burnsed might be an understatement.
Acalanes (11-4) trailed 21-7 with just over a minute left in the half but cut it to 21-14 on the half’s last play on a 1-yard plunge by senior Jack Giorgianni.
The Dons tied it with 9:08 left in the third quarter on a 9-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Sully Bailey to senior wide receiver Henry Souza, but fell behind 23-21 after taking a safety.
Acalanes took the lead on a game-winning 33-yard pass from Bailey to senior Trevor Rogers, and then put some icing on the cake when Bailey found senior wide receiver Paul Kuhner on a 10-yard TD pass with 31 seconds left for the game’s final tally.
Bailey finished 23-of-36 for 290 yards and four TDs with one interception. Rogers was on the receiving end of two of the TDs and finished with seven receptions for 149 yards receiving.
Folsom captures lone top division title for Northern California
Folsom (13-2) fell behind St. Bonaventure 14-7 with 5:39 left to play but scored on a 7-yard run by senior running back Abram Woodson with just 2:41 remaining. Head coach Paul Doherty decided to go for two but sensational sophomore quarterback Ryder Lyons did not get in leaving the Bulldogs trailing 14-13.
Folsom was able to get the back and Lyons was not to be denied after he connected with sophomore wide receiver Jameson Powell with just 20 seconds remaining for the game winner in a 20-14 victory in the 1-A title game.
Lyons passed for 137 yards and one TD and rushed for 122 yards and a second score. Senior linebacker Mason Kelly led the defense with nine tackles.
It was a fifth CIF state championship for Folsom in six appearances.
Serra, De La Salle, Grant and Los Gatos all fall
For the second straight year Northern California top-ranked Serra (12-1) was unable to produce any points and lost 35-0 to state No. 1 Mater Dei in the Open Division final after falling 45-0 to St. John Bosco last year in the same game.
De La Salle (11-3) took a 7-0 lead on a 55-yard TD run by junior quarterback Toa Faavae but by halftime they trailed 10-7 and never led again in a 27-14 loss to Mission Viejo in the 1-AA title game.
Grant-Sacramento (12-3) led 7-6 after one quarter, trailed 14-13 at the half, and 21-13 in the early fourth quarter. The Pacers scored on a 6-yard TD run by senior running back Devin Green, but the 2-point conversion attempt to tie the score failed and La Serna ran out the clock in a 21-16 Division 2-AA victory.
Los Gatos (12-3) fell behind Central Valley Christian 17-0 midway through the second quarter, 24-7 at halftime and 38-21 at the end of the third quarter, however, the Cats stormed back and scored on a 19-yard pass from senior quarterback AJ Minyard to sophomore tight end Mason Wend with under a minute to play, but Los Gatos ran out of time in a 45-42 loss in the 2-A title game
Soquel and Palma are first-time winners
Soquel and Palma each captured its first state championship.
Soquel (13-2) was a 28-7 winner over Jurupa Hills in the 4-AA title game and Palma (11-4) was a 42-19 winner over Mission Oak in the 4-A championship.
Other state championship title game scores
Division 5-AA
Ramona-Riverside 35, Pleasant Valley-Chico 7
Division 6-AA
Woodland Christian 23, Banning 13
Division 6-A
Colusa 33, Sweetwater 17
Division 7-A
Strathmore 42, Bell Gardens 7
