CIF Bowl Championship D3-7 roundup: Northern California takes eight of 10

Grant-Sacramento completes season to remember with a game to remember for D3-AA title win over San Jacinto

While the rain wasn’t expected in Southern California until late Saturday night, it was wet and wild in Northern California where most CIF-State football playoff bowl title games were played.

That made for sloppy conditions and perhaps more turnovers than normal. But all the games were played, and a host of champs were crowned.

Here is the rundown:

DIVISION 3-AA
Grant-Sacramento 36, San Jacinto 34

In perhaps the best game of the bowl championships, Grant found its swagger once more. 

A Sacramento-area powerhouse that led the region in victories in the 1990s and 2000s and had dominant teams through 2014, the decline was swift and unforgiving for the Pacers. They went 1-9 and 0-9 in the previous two full seasons, and then did something about it.

GAME STORY | PICTURES

They got better. They hit the weight room. They made changes. The added coaches, new ideas, a new offensive wrinkle. And then they played like the Pacers of old - with balance on offense and big plays all over the field with national recruits.

On Saturday night, a day of rain on Mike Alberghini Field didn't dampen anyone's spirit. Grant outscored San Jacinto of the Inland Empire 36-34, and the celebration was on.
"Just so proud," Grant coach and Pacers alum Carl Reed said afterward. "Grant is back!"

McCray had two touchdown passes, giving him 50 on the season, one of the best single-season efforts in Sac-Joaquin history and the most in school history. His game winner to Kylan Ryan with seconds to go won it after San Jacinto's Dereun Dortch scored on a 5-yard run with less than a minute to go.

Semaj Mafu-Hart (4), Grant. Photo: Gary Jones

Malachi Brown (26), San Jacinto. Photo: Gary Jones

DIVISION 3-A
Laguna Hills 28, Bellarmine-San Jose 27

The Hawks rallied from a 20-point deficit to score three consecutive touchdowns for a stunning victory.
Bellarmine led 27-21 when Laguna Hills star running back Troy Leigber,on a fourth-and-two, ran 62 yards up the middle for a touchdown with seven minutes left. Luke Whitfield’s PAT kick gave the Hawks (15-1) the margin of victory.

The Bells were unable to enter Laguna Hills territory in the final seven minutes. It was a disappointing end to a Bellarmine season in which the Bells (8-7) were 3-6 until star running back Ben Pfaff got healthy. 

Pfaff was injured early in the West Catholic Athletic League season and the Bells lost four consecutive games, but returned to lead a five-game winning streak during which Bellarmine won a Central Coast Section Division II title and a NorCal 3-A championship.

“They just started making plays and we just didn’t respond,” Pfaff told the San Jose Mercury. “We started off strong and felt good going into the half, but they came out firing.”

Two touchdown runs by quarterback Nate Escalada, including a 47-yarder, staked the Bells to a 14-7 second-quarter lead. Escalada added two TD passes, including a 40-yard TD pass to Pfaff that gave the Bells a 27-7 halftime lead.

Leigber was dynamic for Laguna Hills, rushing for more than 120 yards. The Laguna Hills defense stiffened in the second half, holding Bellarmine to only 50 yards and no points.

DIVISION 4-AA
Escalon 28, Northwood-Irvine 7

Escalon has been a powerhouse since 1990, winning 12 Sac-Joaquin Section championships, including the last three in succession, and those state crowns, so this has been something of a habit.

Donovan Rozevink hit Ryan Lewis for a touchdown pass for a 7-0 first-quarter Escalon lead. It was tied at 7-7 at the half. It was all Cougars from there.

Logan Anderson's 49-yard touchdown run up the middle pushed Escalon up 14-7 with 8:50 left in the third. Ryker Peters had a 6-yard run for a 21-7 lead with 3:31 left in the quarter, and seconds later, 

Owen Nash returned an interception 33 yards to seal it for coach Andrew Beam, who replaced one of the section's great coaches in Mark Loureiro and kept on winning.

Peters finished the season with more than 2,100 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns as the Cougars closed with a 10-game winning streak. 

One of the two losses on the season was 29-14 to Hughson on Sept. 16. Escalon went 5-0 in the playoffs this season.

Hughson (SEE BELOW) finished state-ranked No. 1 in D5 in 1994 by Cal-Hi Sports, well before the start of the CIF state playoffs in 2006 but this one was earned on the field.

DIVISION 4-A
San Marin-Novato 32, Granada Hills Charter 8

San Marin (14-2) won its second consecutive state playoff bowl title game with a sterling defensive effort.

The host Mustangs crowded the line of scrimmage against the Highlanders’ Wing-T and made things difficult on the Granada Hills Charter offense which was averaging 422 rushing yards per game while not completing a pass all season.

San Marin scored all the points it needed in the first seven minutes of the first quarter, tallying on a Jimmy Hughes 50-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Timmel, a 72-yard touchdown run by Jonah Lozano, and a 5-yard touchdown run by Charles Singleton.

Dijon Stanley had the only touchdown for the Highlanders (12-3) on a long run. They also completed their first pass of the season but it was all for naught.

DIVISION 5-AA
Hughson 9, Muir-Pasadena 6

Muir committed five turnovers en route to its loss on the road to Hughson (13-2). The Mustangs (9-7) had three fumbles and two interceptions.

Muir cut the lead to three points in the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Mahki Clark. Hughson took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Liam Bridgeford’s 4-yard touchdown run.

Both teams struggled with wet conditions. Hughson added a safety to make it 9-0 when Muir’s punter couldn’t corral a snap near the goal line and, with defenders closing in, kicked the ball through the back of the end zone.

DIVISION 5-A
Orland 20, Shafter 7

Orland (15-0) withstood the wet conditions and the visiting Generals (11-5) to capture its first state title. 

Quarterback-safety Grant Foster once again did it all for the Trojans, rushing for two touchdowns — including a 65-yarder — and adding a pick 6 late in the third to go up by two touchdowns. 

GAME STORY | VIDEO

Foster also did it in special teams as a punter, pinning Shafter back to its 1-yard line and the Trojan defense did the rest. 

Christopher Espinoza had a touchdown run to start the scoring for Shafter (11-5). 

DIVISION 6-AA
Classical Academy-Escondido 7, Santa Teresa-San Jose 0

Classical Academy completed its ascension from 1-9 last season to winning a state playoff bowl title game by defeating host Santa Teresa. 

The Caimans (12-3) recorded their seventh shutout of the season on a cold, rainy night in San Jose. Their victory total is a school record.

Classical Academy scored in the second quarter after recovering a Saint fumble on the Santa Teresa 30. That set up Friday Pollard’s 5-yard touchdown run.

Santa Teresa won the Central Coast Section Division 5, defeating Branham of San Jose. The Saints (9-6) followed that with a victory against Palo Alto for the NorCal 6-AA title.

DIVISION 6-A
Atascadero 41, San Gabriel 0

Brothers Trey and Kane Cooks combined for five touchdowns to pace the Greyhounds (11-4) to their third consecutive playoff shutout and a state playoff bowl title.

Trey Cooks scored the only touchdown Atascadero needed with a 43-yard run. Kane Cooks followed that with 67-yard touchdown run to put the Greyhounds up 14-0.

Two more Trey Cooks TD runs and a fumble return for a touchdown by Diego Real put the game out of reach for San Gabriel (12-4) at 34-0.

DIVISION 7-AA
Pinole Valley 34, Mendota 21

According to Jesus Cano of the San Jose Mercury News, Larry McDonald's 36-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds left sealed it for the visiting Spartans (9-4). Ellis Shamsid-Deen had a touchdown run of 72 yards and caught TD passes of 38 and 26 yards from Maddux Wu. Mendota, of Fresno county, finished 9-6. This was a game played on Dec. 3.

DIVISION 7-A
Lincoln-San Francisco 54, Crenshaw-Los Angeles 6

At Kezar Stadium, Ricky Underwood and Jamelle Newman combined to rush for 337 yards and five touchdowns, leading the Mustangs (10-3) to their third state title in four seasons. GAME STORY

Aided by wet and rainy conditions that helped with Lincoln's power rushing attack, the Mustangs rushed for 437 yards while not throwing a single pass. It made for a long game and trip for the Cougars, who suited up just 21 players. 

They got a highlight-reel, juggling 36-yard touchdown catch by Roberto Salazar.