JOHN MAFFEI’S PICKS
This week’s predictions for State playoff championship football games
Tickets: $17 adults. $10 high school students, seniors (65-plus) and children. All tickets must be purchased online at GoFan. TV: Spectrum will broadcast all 5 games on Spectrum News 1.
Division 2-AA
When: Today, 4 p.m.
(30) Modesto Central Catholic (13-1) vs. (24) Mater Dei Catholic (12-0) Preview: Central Catholic is the SacJoaquin Division II and the NorCal Division 2-AA champion. The Raiders have won 10 in a row. The team is led by RB Aiden Taylor, who has 254 carries of 1,936 yards and 36 TDs. Taylor had 281 yards and 4 TDs in a NorCal Championship win over Fresno Bullard. Julian Lopez has 144 carries for 1,279 yards and 17 TDs. The Raiders have rushed 513 times for 3,967 yards — averaging 7.7 yards a rush — with 63 TDs. Sophomore QB Tyler Wentworth has completed 84 of 147 passes for 1,492 yards and 12 TDs with 4 interceptions. Mario Savala and Nolan Croasdale are the leaders on defense. Brooklyn Cheek has 5 interceptions. … Mater Dei Catholic is the San Diego Section Division II champion, beating Ramona, and the SoCal Division 2-AA champion with a hard-fought 24-21 win over Helix. QB Dominic Nankil has completed 172 of 289 passes for 3,212 yards with 39 TDs and 4 interceptions. He has 6 WRs — Surahz Buncom (26-410-8), Cruz Estrada (27-634-6), Chris Snyder (26-334-7), Jaylen Hall (19-395-2), Jerry McClure (33-852-9) and Rollin George (24-436-4) — with more than 330 yards receiving. McClure had 2 long TDs against Ramona and an 80-yarder vs. Helix. RB Nico Mosley has 93 carries for 916 yards and Anthony McMillian has 63 carries for 737 yards, including a 66-yard TD vs. Helix. The defense, led by LB Tre Edwards and DE Jason Harden, has allowed just 90 points and has 64 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks and 12 interceptions.
Points for/against: Central Catholic 561-284. Mater Dei Catholic 513-90.
Prediction: Mater Dei Catholic 27, Central Catholic 24
Division 1-AA Today, 8 p.m.
Internet: All games will be streamed live on the NFHS Network Note: State rankings are from MaxPreps.
Where: All games at Saddleback College, Mission Viejo
When:
(17) Folsom (11-3) vs. (5) Cathedral Catholic (11-2)
Preview: Folsom, which has won 4 in a row, is the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champion, beating Rocklin (20-3) and the NorCal 1-AA champion, edging Concord De La Salle (2827), scoring with 2:18 to play to take the lead, then stopping a De La Salle 2-point conversion attempt with less than a minute to play and covering an onside kick. Folsom’s win marks the first time in 15 years De La Salle will not play for a state championship. Folsom is led by QB Tyler Tremain, who threw for 252 yards against De La Salle and has more than 3,000 yards and 40 TDs this season. RBs Toure Hendrick and Donovan Parker lead the ground game and WR Rico Flores has more than 1,000 yards. The defense, led by DE Diallo Washington, LB Josh Tremain and DB Caden Bienvenue, has 93 tackles for a loss, 30 sacks and 10 interceptions. Slade Wilson has 6 of those interceptions. … Cathedral Catholic, the San Diego Section Open Division champion, as well as the SoCal 1-AA champion, has won 8 in a row and 21 of its last 25. The Dons are led by RB Lucky Sutton, who had 27 carries for 435 yards and 6 TDs in an epic 71-62 win over Orange Lutheran last week in the SoCal title game. He has 704 rushing yards in two playoff games. Sutton has 215 carries for 2,380 yards and 40 TDs on the season. QB Charlie Mirer has thrown for more than 1,500 yards. Speedy WR Rex Haynes averages 23.4 yards a catch. The defense is anchored by Stanford-commit Jaxson Moi, Tano Letuli and Harmon Savaiinaea.
Common opponent: Cathedral Catholic lost 49-21 to De La Salle on Sept. 17. Folsom lost to De La Salle 31-10 on Oct. 8 before snapping a 5-game losing streak to the Spartans with the win last week.
Points for/against: Folsom 514-232, Cathedral Catholic 522-282.
Prediction: Cathedral Catholic 35, Folsom 31
Division 2-A
When: Saturday, noon
(59) Santa Clara Wilcox (10-4) vs. (47) Scripps Ranch (12-1) Preview: Wilcox, which has won 9 in a row, is the Central Coast Section DII champion, beating San Francisco St. Ignatius, and the NorCal 2-A champion, beating Manteca 35-21. Junior QB Armand Johnson has thrown for 1,458 yards and 17 TDs with 6 interceptions, and has 516 yards and 9 TDs rushing. RB Luther K. Glenn has rushed 211 times for 2,218 yards and 34 TDs, averaging 10.4 yards a carry. The Chargers average 7.8 yards on 521 rushes. SS Daniel Escorza has 104 tackles, 6½ sacks and 5 interceptions. MLB Derek Aguirre has 102 tackles and 10 tackles for a loss. The Chargers have 56 tackles for a loss, 29 sacks and 14 interceptions. … Scripps Ranch, which has won 6 in a row, is the San Diego Section Division II champion, beating La Jolla 42-0 in the title game, and the SoCal 2-A champion with a 45-38 win over Valencia. The high-scoring Falcons are led by junior QB Jax Leatherwood, who has thrown for 3,547 yards and 48 TDs with 2 interceptions. He has 6 receivers with more than 300 yards, led by Conor Lawlor, who has 72 catches for 1,367 yards and 20 TDs. RB Jalen Shaw, who has 116 carries for 1,109 yards and 17 TDs, didn’t play last week against Valencia while nursing an injury. He hopes to play Saturday. On defense, the Falcons are led by LBs Dylan Stoney, Hudson Wanner, Randy Ross and Xavier Medina along with DB Noah Gardinera.
Points for/against: Wilcox 477-306. Scripps Ranch 611-239.
Prediction: Scripps Ranch 35, Wilcox 27
Last week: 3-2
Season: 133-41