Metro teams taking their shows on the road for regionals
If Metro football teams are going to win state bowl championships, they’ll need to take the long route.
Eight of the 10 Bay Area squads selected for the CIF Regional Bowl Championships will play on the road, according to the 12 regional pairings announced Sunday.
The governing board for California high school sports also selected its top teams from the North and South — De La Salle-Concord (11-1) and Mater Dei-Santa Ana (Orange County) (14-0) — both of which will skip the regional level and play in the Dec. 16 Open Division state title game at Sacramento State.
Ron Nocetti, associate director of the CIF, said there are many factors in how sites are picked, but ultimately the organization tries to balance travel for all sections.
For the second year in a row, Central Coast Section Division 2 champion Serra (11-2) travels to a Central Section champion, in this case Tulare Union (13-0) for a 7:30 p.m. Friday game in the 2-AA regional. The 225-mile trip will take Serra about 40 miles south of last year’s foe, Sanger (Fresno County). Serra beat Sanger 49-36 at the school’s Tom Flores Stadium in what Serra coach Patrick Walsh called one of the most enjoyable experiences of his 20-year coaching career.
Walsh wasn’t complaining Sunday about playing in Tulare County — at another stadium named after an athletic legend, Bob Mathias Stadium — or playing against running back Kazmeir Allen, who recently became the state’s record holder for touchdowns in a season (70). Allen, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior committed to UCLA, has rushed for 2,989 yards and 60 touchdowns.
“I’ve seen him on film and he does football very, very well,” Walsh said with a laugh.
Walsh was in a very good mood after defeating St. Francis 31-30 in a tremendous CCS final. It was the fourth time in two seasons the Padres have defeated the 17-time CCS champions. Serra, which led 31-17 heading into the fourth quarter, stopped a two-point conversion try with 1:26 to go to preserve the victory. The two-point pass by Reed Vettel was well covered and missed.
As for traveling so far: “Hey, if people are putting up Christmas lights and decorations and we’re still practicing, I’m all good with it,” Walsh said.
Another team celebrating a remarkable regional final, Marin Catholic-Kentfield, will travel almost the same distance in the opposite direction.
The Wildcats (12-0), who outlasted Cardinal NewmanSanta Rosa 59-56 in the North Coast Section Division 3 title game behind 502 passing yards and four touchdowns by Spencer Petras, play at Shasta-Redding (11-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the 3-AA regional.
“It was one of the greatest, most unbelievable games I’ve ever been a part of,” Marin Catholic coach Mazi Moayed said. “It was a little bittersweet considering what that whole community has been through, and we’re close to that staff. But I loved the heart and soul our guys showed. We didn’t take our first lead until the fourth quarter.”
As far as facing a 216-mile trip on five days’ rest against a team that had a bye last week, Moayed said: “Honestly, we’re just excited to be playing and looking forward to it. Given the choice, we’d love to play at home, but everyone has a process.”
Nocetti said not having a field with lights didn’t help, but Moayed said the Wildcats petitioned to play at Rancho CotateRohnert Park, site of Saturday’s NCS D3 final.
Other teams to hit the road Friday include Oakland Section champion McClymonds (12-0) at Yuba County school East Nicolaus (13-0) in 5-AA and NCS D5 champion St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo (11-1) at Tulare County school Strathmore (14-0) in 6-AA. Both are rematches from last season. McClymonds beat East Nicolaus 45-26 at Chabot College en route to a 5-A state title, and SPSV won 29-28 at Strathmore in the 6-A state title game. Strathmore, another Central Section team, was moved to the North Regional to balance the brackets.
Others locals on the road Saturday are Pittsburg (8-2) at Placer County school Granite Bay (12-2) in 1-A, St. Francis (9-4) at San Joaquin County school Manteca (12-2) in 2-A and Galileo (9-2) at Rio Vista (9-3) in 6-A, all at 6 p.m.
Also Saturday, Half Moon Bay (13-0) hosts Sutter (12-1) in 3-A, and two local teams square off in 4-A as Milpitas (12-1) travels to Campolindo-Moraga (10-4) in a rematch of the 2015 regional that Campolindo won 27-24. MaxPreps senior writer Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for The Chronicle.