Panthers, Spartans lead their divisions into playoffs
Playoffs begin this Friday
Brackets are out and the road to a CIF Central Section championship continues for four Orange Belt teams - Division IV Porterville and Monache High School, Div. V Lindsay and Div. VI Strathmore.
Seedings were released Saturday afternoon and both the Panthers (8-2, 3-2 EYL) and Spartans (9-1, 5-1 ESL) received the No. 1 seeds for their respective divisions. Defending CIF State Div-6 AA champion Strathmore begins the playoffs on Friday while Porterville earned a first-round bye to start their first trip to the playoffs since 2014.
DIVISION IV TBD at No. 1 Porterville (8-2, 3-2 EYL), Nov. 9
The last time Porterville had the No.1 seed in a Valley playoff was when the top-seeded Div. III Panthers went undefeated for nearly the entire 2010 season before losing 26-21 to Kingsburg in the championship game.
It’s been quite the turnaround year for Porterville who after missing the playoffs and losing to crosstown rival Monache for three straight years; started the season on a six-game, playoffqualifying win streak, went 3-2 against Div. II teams and defeated the Marauders (6-4, 2-3 EYL) 51-40 in the 50th annual Granite Bowl.
With the bye week, Porterville’s first game is game is Friday, Nov.
9, against the winner of the opening round game between ninthseeded East Bakersfield (5-5, 4-1 South Yosemite League) and eighthseeded Wasco (7-3, 4-2 South Sequoia League).
A win in the quarterfinals could pit Porterville against the defending Valley champions, fourth-seeded Golden West (5-5, 3-2 West Yosemite League), in the semifinals. The Panthers beat the Trailblazers 28-13 this season. TBD at No. 3 Monache (6-4, 2-3 EYL), Nov. 9 Monache's regular season ended last week with a 51-40 loss to crosstown rival Porterville (8-2, 3-2 EYL) but it's on to the next one for the third-seeded Marauders as they make their second straight appearance in the Div. IV playoffs.
Monache made it to the second round last season, but that's where the team will start after earning a bye. On Nov. 9, the Marauders will host
the winner of Friday's opening round game between sixth-seeded North (6-4,4-1 SYL) and 11th-seeded Mission Oak (2-8, 1-4 EYL). Monache beat Mission Oak 35-7 in an EYL game earlier this season.
DIVISION V No. 13 Lindsay (5-4, 3-3 ESL) at No. 4 Liberty (9-1,4-0 North Sequoia
League), Friday Thirteenth-seeded Lindsay clinched their playoff berth just a week before last Friday's 35-7 loss to rival Div. VI Strathmore (9-1, 5-1 ESL).
This is the Cardinals fourth-straight trip to the playoffs but in each one Lindsay has started on the road and lost the opening round game.
DIVISION VI No. 8 Boron (3-7, 2-2 HDL) at No. 1 Strathmore (9-1, 5-1
ESL), Friday For the third year in a row, back-to-back Valley champion Strathmore enters the postseason as the top seed, this time looking to win their third-straight section title.
Similar to last season, they'll begin playoffs
against an eighth-seed they faced earlier in the season. This year's eighth seed is the High Desert League's Bobcats of Boron, a team Strathmore handled easily at the start of the season in a 48-6 victory at Boron. But as last year reminded the Spartans, trying to beat a team twice in one season is a difficult but doable task.
Strathmore is on a five-game win streak after defeating rival Div. V Lindsay (5-4,3-3 ESL) 35-7 in last week's 98th annual Bell Game.