Some rivalries will be rekindled, while new feuds are forged this Friday in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.
One of seven teams remaining with a perfect record, Manteca welcomes old-school foe Tracy in the loaded Division II bracket.
In Galt, Ripon looks to get over the hump against undefeated Liberty Ranch after dropping their first two meetings the past two seasons.
Elsewhere, East Union hosts Placer in their first grid-iron confrontation in recent history. Ripon Christian meets with visiting Amador for the first time. And Lathrop locks up with Lincoln in an intriguing first-time meeting between 9-1 teams.
All teams should be well rested going into their openers after getting last Friday off. Bubble teams got to compete in the section’s recently-implemented bowl games, in the meantime.
Final-round contests take place Nov. 28-29 at Sacramento City College’s Hughes Stadium.
Here’s a closer look at the first-round matchups:
DIVISION II
No. 8 Tracy (5-5) at No. 1 Manteca (10-0): Several generations ago, this was the big rivalry around these parts.
That has certainly changed, as both developed rivalries with newer schools in the area, and Tracy left the Valley Oak League in the 2000s. They’ve since faced off six times in non-league contests, with Manteca winning five of them — most recently in 2019.
Friday will mark the return of running back David Grisham to Guss Schmiedt Field. He was part of Manteca’s 10-0 freshman team, and he’s now Tracy’s leading rusher with 1,064 yards (7.5 per carry) and nine touchdowns.
Dual-threat quarterback Brady Brown, who made his varsity debut as a freshman last year, has enjoyed a productive first year as the full-time starter with 1,140 yards and 14 touchdowns passing to go with 624 rushing yards and six TDs.
Junior linebacker Case Borges anchors the Bulldogs’ defense. He has recorded 103 tackles, 20.5 for losses, 10 sacks and three forced fumbles.
Tracy finished third in the Tri-City Athletic League, while Manteca repeated as outright titleholder in the VOL. The nine-time section champion Buffaloes are on a 16-year streak of playoff appearances, making the semifinals in four of the last five years.
DIVISION IV
No. 5 Placer (6-4) at No. 4 East Union (7-3): One of the storied medium-school programs in the section, Placer, the 2017 Division IV champion, is looking to make a fifth final in the last decade.
East Union’s last final-round appearance was as a Division II team in 1989, when current first-year coach Jason Stock starred at running back. The Lancers chances improved with quarterback Kirk Simoni having ample time to recuperate from an Achilles strain.
They’re hoping that their brutal four-week stretch in VOL play — they went 1-3 facing Patterson, Oakdale, Central Catholic and Manteca in succession — has them ready for what’s to come.
The Hillmen from Auburn are also battle tested, having seen the likes of Casa Roble — the top seed in Division V — and Del Oro (No. 3 in D-II) in non-league play. Placer lost both battles and took third in the Foothill Valley League, falling to Twelve Bridges and Roseville — the top two seeds in this division.
Danny Sanchez-Harlow spearheads Placer’s Wing-T attack. He has rushed for 1,079 yards (10.4 per carry) and 10 touchdowns but is also a weapon in the passing game (13 receptions, 396 yards, three TDs).
DIVISION V
No. 5 Lathrop (9-1) at No. 4 Lincoln (9-1): These two have the best combined record in the first round of this year’s playoffs.
And this will be the first time these two champions will meet.
The Fighting Zebras of Placer County ran the table in the Pioneer Valley league, with their lone loss — 23-21 to Pierce — coming against one of the top teams from the Northern Section. They have an odd win via forfeiture, as Week 8 opponent Center a no-showed for Lincoln’s senior night contest because of transportation issues. The team was not notified of the forfeiture until minutes before the scheduled kickoff.
Lincoln has still put up impressive numbers with just nine games played. Senior quarterback Eli Duff (1,638 passing yards, 23 TDs, five INTs) is at the center of the Fighting Zebras’ pistol offense, and he’s joined by rugged runner Brock Galer (817 yards, 7.8 per carry, 11 TDs). Sophomore Mason Volzer (33 receptions, 609 yards, 14 TDs) leads four receivers with at least 200 yards.
Two-time Western Athletic Conference champion Lathrop, by contrast, operates out of a run-heavy Wing-T starring 1,000-yard rushers Pablo Peña and Treydon Santos. The Spartans are making a third straight postseason appearance and fourth overall.
DIVISION VI
No. 6 Amador (6-4) at No. 3 Ripon Christian (8-2): This bracket can be dubbed the “TVL-SVC Invitational,” with each conference bringing three representatives to the party.
Ripon Christian, in the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year, finished as the runner-up in the highly-regarded Trans Valley League after 55-14 Week 10 loss at Sonora, the top seed and defending champion of the bracket. Meanwhile, Amador ended up fourth in the Sierra Valley Conferene but was competitive in back-to-back losses to second-seeded Liberty Ranch and No. 5 Bradshaw Christian with its best player out.
Brad Blankeneim is back at full strength, and the Buffaloes stampeded their last four opponents, as a result — including a 47-21 trouncing of rival Argonaut in the finale. The 6-1, 195-pound dual-threat quarterback is Amador’s leading rusher with 940 yards (11.1 per carry) and 16 touchdowns in eight games. He has also completed 38 of 62 passes for 581 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
Junior running back Evan Santos (769 yards, 6.7 per carry, 11 TDs) and 6-3 receiver John McPartland (27 receptions, 462 yards, eight TDs) are also featured in first-year coach Scott Nichols’ spread offense.
This is the first meeting between the two schools on the grid iron.
No. 7 Ripon (5-5) at No. 2 Liberty Ranch (10-0): Ranked 16th overall by MaxPreps, Liberty Ranch’s Wing-T offense has continued to steamroll opposing defenses despite losing the third-leading rusher in the section, Joseph Brown, to graduation.
In his place are three juniors each with 1,000-plus rushing yards: Joe Lara (1,130, 7.9 per carry, 21 TDs), Andrew Quinn (1,188-8.4-14) and Wyatt Correia (1,046-14.3-13). The ball-hawking defense has produced 23 turnovers, intercepting 17 passes, breaking up 101 and recovering six of nine forced fumbles.
Liberty Ranch claimed the SVC title with a 28-21 win over Bradshaw Christian, which reached the final round last year with an undefeated record but lost to Sonora.
While the Hawks are soaring into the playoffs with their season-long winning streak, Ripon has stumbled to four straight losses, albeit against four TVL powerhouses. As if the Indians needed anymore motivation, they’re looking to avenge losses to Liberty Ranch the past two seasons.
They previously met in a 2023 non-league game in which the Hawks escaped from Stouffer field with a 14-13 victory. They tangled again last year for the first round of the playoffs, and Liberty Ranch capitalized on Ripon miscues on the way to a 35-0
