California CIF State high school football championship previews, storylines for each final

Can De La Salle hang with Mater Dei in the CIF State Open Division final? That's just one storyline ahead of this weekend's 15 state championship finals.

De La Salle QB Toa Faavae jukes a couple defenders on his way to a 12-yard scamper in Friday's 42-14 win over San Ramon Valley. / Photo: Dennis Lee

The high school football season in California will come to a close this weekend.

The game to cap it all off will be the CIF State Open Division final between No. 1-ranked Mater Dei and De La Salle on Saturday night at Saddleback College. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on Spectrum News 1/Spectrum SportsNet.

There will be 14 other CIF State finals on Friday and Saturday leading up to Saturday's big finale. The games will be played at three locations: Fullerton High, Long Beach City College and Saddleback.

High School on SI has provided important information on all 15 CIF State finals, including details on star players, matchup previews and/or storylines surrounding the programs heading into their respective state championship.

The following games are shown by location, day and kickoff times, starting with Saddleback College, Long Beach City College, and finally, Fullerton High.

SADDLEBACK COLLEGE

FRIDAY

4 p.m. | D2-AA: Sacramento Grant (11-3) vs. Oxnard Pacifica (11-4) — First one to 40 wins. Both teams are dynamic and like to throw the ball. Pacifica has QB Dom Duran and two standout wideouts in Savion Taylor (Cal Poly signee) and Isaiah Dillon (Fresno State). For Grant the trio is senior QB Luke Alexander with a pair of sophomore wide receivers in Koby ‘Cheese’ Shabazz and Zo Edwards. This game could be a shootout. Grant averages 36 points per game and Pacifica 31. PREVIEW

8 p.m. | D1-AA: Pittsburg (12-2) vs. Lincoln (11-2) — Pittsburg is after its first state title after losing twice in the finals (2017 and 2022). During its 100th season as a program, the Pirates are hoping for a different result. With five Division 1 signees, the team is still led by a 5-7 quarterback Marley Alcantara, who last week outplayed Folsom’s 5-star signal-caller Ryder Lyons. Can he do the same Friday going against another big-name QB in Oregon-bound Akili Smith Jr., whose dad by same name played at Oregon and was the No. 3 pick in the 1999 NFL Draft? Lincoln hopes to win its second D1-AA title in three years after knocking off De La Salle in 2022. PREVIEW

SATURDAY

11:30 a.m. | D2-A: Lincoln Twelve Bridges (14-0) vs. Palos Verdes (10-5) — Palos Verdes is led by sophomore QB Ryan Rakowski, who was one of California’s best freshman QBs last fall. Now, he’s got the Sea Kings playing for a CIF State title under the tutelage of savvy coach Guy Gardner. Twelve Bridges is brand new … to everything. The school opened in 2021 and varsity football rolled out in 2022. The program reaching a CIF State final in its third season is impressive. Running back Braeden Ward has 39 TDs. PREVIEW

3:30 p.m. | D1-A: Fresno Central (12-2) vs. Huntington Beach Edison (11-4) — Julius Gillick is back, and it feels like destiny. The Edison star running back was suspended from playing in the team’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 final due to a questionable second unsportsmanlike penalty in the semifinal. The Chargers won the title without him and Gillick returned in the regional final to run for 240 yards and three TDs. Central is an ultra-dynamic team that can pass and run. Sophomore QB Jelani Dippel has thrown for more than 3,000 yards and 39 TDs. Running back Brandon Smith is up to 1,800 yards rushing and 25 TDs. (FULL STORY) PREVIEW

8 p.m. | Open Division: De La Salle (12-0) vs. Mater Dei (12-0) — The De La Salle program is legendary with a famed 151-game win streak and state-most seven state titles, although the last one was in 2015. In the meantime, Mater Dei has emerged as one of, if not the preeminent program in the country, is currently ranked No. 1 team in America by High School on SI and needs a win to secure another national crown. (FULL PREVIEW)

Mater Dei beat De La Salle in this game in 2017 (52-21) and in 2018 (35-21) but before that the Spartans defeated the Monarchs four times 1998 (28-21), 1999 (42-0), 2000 (31-28) and 2001 (34-6). That’s ancient history. Combined with the fact the scores of the last three Southern California wipeouts over Serra, 44-7 (by Mater Dei) in 2021, 45-0 (by St. John Bosco) in 2022 and 35-0 by Mater Dei in 2023, the spread on this game is 41.

CalPreps forecasted Mater Dei winning on Saturday, 44-3. How times have changed ... PREVIEW

LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE

FRIDAY

4 p.m. | D4-AA: Petaluma St. Vincent de Paul (13-1) vs. Palmdale Highland (11-4) — St. Vincent moves up two full divisions to go after its second straight state title but with junior QB Gabe Casanovas (3,500 total yards, 45 touchdowns) and RB Mason Caturegli (1,359 yards rushing, 27 TDs) handling the ball, the Mustangs are good hands. So is Highland with senior QB Justin Wyatt Jr., whose dad is the head coach. The Nevada signee has 5,500 career total yards and 78 touchdowns. He’s being recruited as a safety. PREVIEW

8 p.m. | D3-AA: Pleasanton Amador Valley (10-4) vs. Bakersfield Frontier (10-4) — Amador Valley continues a trend in the bowl games as a first-time section champion just two weeks ago. The Dons are led by one of Northern California's top quarterbacks in Oregon State commit Tristan Ti’a (3,758 yards passing, 76% completion rate, 32 TDs, 871 yards rushing, 18 TDs). Frontier rebounded from a 1-3 start carried largely by its defense that has recorded three shutouts led largely by linebacker Logan Slaton with team bests 102 tackles and 10 sacks. PREVIEW

SATURDAY

11 a.m. | D5-A: American Canyon (12-2) vs. Palmdale (10-5) — Second-year American Canyon coach said from the first day of practice this season he pointed to playing in December and the Wolves won the first section and regional championships behind the two-headed rushing monster of Andre Lopez (1,711 rushing yards, 22 TDs) and QB Mason Harris (1,551, 24), who has also passed for 1,200 yards and 13 TDs. Harris accounted for nearly 500 yards in the regional final.

Palmdale overcame a 1-4 start to win nine of 10, including a wild stretch of wins over Mary Star of the Sea (33-27 in OT), Carter (45-43) and last week Selma (41-38). In only 10 games, junior QB Joshua Suarez has thrown for 2,231 yards and 40 touchdowns. PREVIEW

3 p.m. | D4-A: Sonora (12-2) vs St. Pius X (6-9) — St. Pius was 1-9 in the regular season and takes on a throwback Sonora team that's thrown 103 passes all season. Four rushers with more than 600 yards, rushed for 66 touchdowns. Watching St. Pius on film, Sonora coach Kirk Clifton couldn’t believe it started 1-9: “They’re massive. They are way bigger than we are. I think our tallest lineman is 5-10 and everybody on their line is 6-4 and 300 pounds or bigger. …. And they look much faster. They have kids that run faster than our kids drive.” (FULL STORY) PREVIEW

7 p.m. | D3-A: Vanden (12-2) vs. Rio Hondo Prep (13-1) — Rio Hondo Prep, a school with just 71 boys (and just 120 enrollment) takes on another public school with 1,600 students and a roster filled with seniors with a QB who has thrown for 4,090 yards and accounted for 40 touchdowns. RHP has already taken down Warren (3,600 enrollment) and Poway (2,200). Will the tiny public slayers do it again?  (FULL STORY) PREVIEW

FULLERTON HIGH

FRIDAY

4 p.m.| D7-AA: Hayward Moreau Catholic (10-4) vs. Lindsay (10-5) — Moreau Catholic won its first North Coast Section championship last month and now is after its first state title behind 6-foot-4, 190-pound QB Jeremiah Charles who went 21-for-21 in passing attempts the last two games for 505 yards and six TDs. Old-school Lindsay, which has thrown just 27 passes all year, lost three straight late in October to drop to 5-5 but now has won five straight thanks largely to 2,000-yard rusher Jose Cortes. PREVIEW

8 p.m. | D5-AA: Carmel (14-0) vs. Lakeside El Capitan (11-3) — Northern California’s top college recruit, 6-foot-7, 285-pound tackle Jackson Lloyd led Carmel to its first Central Coast Section title since 2009, then the Alabama signee paved the way to a wild 42-41 regional win over defending state champion Acalanes, stopping a 2-point conversion on the game’s last play. El Capitan started the season 1-3 but rattled off 10 straight wins including 33-19 in the regional final over Silverado behind 308 yards passing and two touchdowns by Brandt Barker.  PREVIEW

SATURDAY

11 a.m. | D7-A: San Francisco Balboa (8-5) vs. Whittier Pioneer (10-5) — Balboa is after its second state title in four years after starting the season 0-4. Since then its defense has three shutouts and allowed 65 points in nine games. Pioneer quarterback Amiri Resendiz has rushed for 15 touchdowns and passed for 16, 13 of them to Jose Rojas. PREVIEW

3 p.m. | D6-A: Tuolumne Summerville (13-1) vs. Spring Valley Monte Vista (10-5) — A school of 450 students near Yosemite National Park traveled 140 miles to bring “some foothills toughness” to the San Francisco Bay Area said their coach Sean Leveroos to defeat Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton 45-28 in regional play. Monte Vista started the year 0-2 and 2-4 and won the San Diego Section Division 5 title as the 12th seed, beating the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th seeds along the way. Senior running back Alexander Villanueva has rushed for 2,709 yards and 14 TDs. PREVIEW

7 p.m. | D6-AA: Arcata (13-1) vs. Portola (9-6) — Arcata, located on the Northwest corner of the state near Cal Poly Humboldt, the school of 1,000 students was founded in 1894. Yet, last month the Tigers won their first NCS title behind 6-2, 185-pound junior QB Luke Lemke who has accounted for nearly 4,000 yards and 42 touchdowns. It took coach Peter Abe just seven seasons to get the new school in the state championship even after starting the season 0-5. Junior 6-2, 225-pound running back Timothy Grettenberg rushed for 166 yards and four touchdowns in a wild 35-34 overtime regional win over King/Drew. PREVIEW

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