UNCHARTED TERRITORY FOR LOS GATOS, ACALANES

Los Gatos and Acalanes made school history over the weekend, capturing their first Northern California regional championships and earning a spot into this week's state finals.

Now comes the busy part. The logistics of making the trip to Southern California while prepping for the biggest game of the season.

“It's been a whirlwind,” Los Gatos coach Mark Krail said during a conference call on Sunday with reporters from across the state. “This is the first time for us winning a regional game. Tough game with El Cerrito last night. They were everything we could handle, Just fortunate to get a win.

“You go from there to celebrating for a few short moments and then you're on Hudl looking at film of the next opponent. We're off an running. Super excited for the kids. Great group of guys that get to experience this all for the first time in our school's history, which is fun.”

Acalanes coach Floyd Burnsed said he has been going nonstop since his team's 4914 regional victory at home on Dec. 1 over Escalon.

“A lot going on,” Burnsed said. “A lot of excited people since this is our first trip to a state playoff, which is great. We exchanged film on Saturday, so we got a chance to look at Birmingham a little bit. They're very impressive. Very, very large. Got good speed. They look like a really, really, very good team.”

By contrast, the Bay Area News Group's other two teams traveling to Southern California this weekend, Serra and De La Salle, are familiar faces on the state championship scene.

DLS will be appearing in its 16th state final in the 17 seasons the event has been held in the modern era. The Spartans play Mission Viejo today at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

Serra is making its sixth state finals appearance. The Padres will play for the Open Division championship against Mater Dei-santa Ana on Saturday at Saddleback.