Seeding held in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs, with only St. Ignatius having a difficult time advancing to the semifinals. But now things should get very interesting, as all four teams can make a viable argument as to why they should be considered the favorites in what figures to be an entertaining climax to the D-III playoffs.
No. 4 St. Ignatius at No. 1 Pioneer, Friday (7 pm)
The visiting Wildcats have certainly been down this road before. Last season, SI finished sixth in the West Catholic Athletic League but made it all the way to the Division III title game, losing to Aptos. In 2011, SI wound up seventh in the WCAL, but tiptoed its way to a CCS Division III title with three wins by a grand total of 12 points.
This year, the Wildcats came in sixth in the WCAL, but out-scored their opponents, 155-153, during league play. That's primarily because SI lost four of its five league games by eight points or fewer.
SI features a pro-style offense led by senior quarterback Ryan Hagfeldt, who threw for 1,753 yards and 14 touchdowns. The balanced attack boasts two primary ballcarriers: senior Brian Vollert (110 carries, 519 yards, 9 TDs) and junior Xavier Tharpe (108, 474, 1).
Defensively, the Wildcats are paced by senior defensive back Dominic Burke (team-high 85 total tackles) and senior defensive lineman Dom Orsi (6 sacks).
Pioneer was one of the teams most impacted by the CCS decision to essentially choose Menlo-Atherton over Menlo as the fourth team from the PAL-Bay Division (denying Menlo an additional bonus point for defeating Academic champ Mission-SF). Had Menlo qualified instead of M-A, the Mustangs would have landed in Division II.
In any case, the Mustangs rebounded from a 55-0 season-opening loss to Valley Christian by reeling off eight wins in a row before losing in the season finale to Oak Grove. Pioneer has been a high-scoring juggernaut – averaging nearly 40 points per game – engineered by senior quarterback Zach Silva (2,214 yards passing, 30 TDs, 5 INTs).
Defensive standouts include senior Eddie Smith (77 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss), junior David Gonzalez (74, 2) and senior Ares Johnsen (team-high 5 sacks).
PREDICTION: St. Ignatius 31, Pioneer 24
No. 3 Burlingame at No. 2 Aptos, Friday (7 pm)
The visiting Panthers are certainly battle-tested coming out of the rock-solid PAL-Bay Division. Burlingame has suffered just one loss all season, a 35-14 defeat at home against Sacred Heart Prep that decided the PAL-Bay title.
The Panthers like to run the ball out of the Wing-T formation with senior Griffin Intrieri (1,047 yards, 14 TDs) and junior Laipeli Palu (754, 10) carrying the bulk of the load. But Burlingame can also sling it behind senior quarterback Avery Gindraux (1,322 passing yards, 14 TDs), who has gone over 150 yards four consecutive games, including last week’s 261-yard, 2-TD performance in the 21- win over Aragon.
In Aptos, Burlingame will see a mirror image of itself, as the Mariners also operate primarily out of the Wing-T. The SCCAL champs - and defending CCS Division III champs - lost just one game all season, 28-12 at Granite Bay, one of the top teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Aptos likes to spread the ball among a host of running backs led by senior Brandon Pierce and junior Ben Sherriffs.
PREDICTION: Aptos 30, Burlingame 24
