CIF California Bowl Championships Friday roundup: De La Salle, Lincoln win D1-AA regionals

Georgia-bound Roderick Robinson rushes for four touchdowns; De La Salle gets payback; McClymonds rushes for nearly 500 yards; Mater Dei Catholic wins 22-21

Author:
Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports and John Murphy
Updated:
Dec 5, 2022 12:31 AM EST
Original:
Dec 3, 2022

The CIF Bowl Championships began Friday with 13 games throughout California. The winners from the North and South will meet next week at sites to be determined, other than the top five divisions, which all meet at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

Here's a snapshot of results compiled by SBLive from a variety of sources including staff reporters/correspondents/photographers, internet feeds, coaches and California journalists.

FRIDAY

DIVISION 1–AA BRACKET

NORTH: De La Salle-Concord 17, Folsom 14

The Spartans (10-3) scored all their points in the second quarter that including 6-yard touchdown runs from Derrick Blanche (94 yards rushing) and Charles Greer (91) and let their defense do most of the work from there in a payback win over the host Bulldogs (12-2), who ended De La Salle's season last year 28-27 and beat it earlier this year, 24-20. GAME STORY | PHOTOS | VIDEO

SOUTH: Lincoln-San Diego 37, Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth 14

Lincoln coaches promised a victory and the Hornets delivered in a big way. When you have Georgia-bound running back Roderick Robinson that helps. He scored four touchdowns and Lincoln (12-1) dominated the Trailblazers (10-5) from the get-go. GAME STORY | PHOTOS | VIDEO

DIVISION 2–AA BRACKET

NORTH: McClymonds 49, Lemoore 35

Jaivian Thomas put the McClymonds Warriors (12-1) on his back, rushing 22 times for 307 yards and four touchdowns over the Central Section Division II champion Tigers n a game played in West Oakland. McClymonds ran for 515 yards and seven touchdowns in the victory that sent the Oakland Section Champions, which got 131 yards rushing and two TDs from Ferrari Miller Jr. Lemoore senior quarterback Ty Chambers threw for 483 yards and accounted for four touchdowns, and receivers Demel Turner (seven catches, 142 yards, two touchdowns) and Kobe Green (five, 119, 1) had big games. Lemoore ended 12-2. GAME STORY

SOUTH: Mater Dei Catholic-Chula Vista 22, Downey 21.

Mater Dei Catholic (9-4) intercepted quarterback Aidan Chiles late in the game to preserve the victory. Downey (12-3) led 21-8 early in the second quarter before a dramatic Mater Dei comeback. A short TD run by Anthony McMillan following an 87-yard pass from QB Domonic Nankill gave Mater Dei the lead.

DIVISION 3–AA BRACKET

NORTH: Grant-Sacramento 36, El Cerrito 7

JoJo McCray had two touchdown passes and a scoring run, and the defense bottled up a prolific Gauchos team that stormed to a 13-0 start to the season, to reach a CIF final for the second time in program history. Grant (11-2) trailed 7-0 and rolled from there as McCray, a senior quarterback who started every game during his team's 0-9 season in 2021, had a 4-yard scoring run, a 26-yard touchdown pass to Kenyon Shabazz and a 61-yard strike to Kyrell Goss-Pruitt to blow it open. McCray has 49 touchdown passes this season. El Cerrito's strength had been its defense. Grant's 2008 team became the first to win a CIF State Open Division championship, beating Long Beach Poly. The Pacers will host San Jacinto of Riverside County on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Del Paso Heights.

SOUTH: San Jacinto 49, University City-San Diego 45

Samuel Cooper’s 11-yard TD run with 2:20 left in the game gave University City a 45-42 lead with 2:20 left. But San Jacinto’s Dillon Gresham turned a short pass into a 46-yard TD reception to put the Tigers (13-2) in front by four points with 1:08 left. Gresham then secured the win on defense with an interception. University City finished 11-3.

DIVISION 4–AA BRACKET

NORTH: Escalon 42, Pleasant Valley-Chico 20

Running at will behind their vaunted wing-T attack, the Cougars of the Sac-Joaquin Section topped the top team in the entire Northern Section to reach their third CIF State championship since 2010. Donovan Rozevink had two touchdown passes and Logan Anderson two scoring runs for Escalon (12-3), which has won nine consecutive games and seeks to go 3-0 in CIF finals when it plays host to Northwood-Irvine on Dec. 10. Pleasant Valley finished 9-5. GAME STORY | VIDEO

SOUTH: Northwood-Irvine 10, Kennedy-Delano 7

Northwood (14-1) wins its 12th consecutive game to advance to a state playoff bowl final. Northwood led 10-0 at halftime on an Adam Harper rushing TD and a field goal that barely made it through the uprights. Northwood also intercepted Kennedy twice. Kennedy finished 11-3.

DIVISION 5–AA BRACKET

NORTH: Hughson 31, Ripon Christian 28

Alex Villarreal scored on a one-yard plunge with 11 seconds to go as the Huskies scored the final 21 points of the game to stun the Knights, a fellow member of the Sac-Joaquin Section. Ripon Christian (11-3) led 28-10 off an 85-yard kickoff return by Brady Grondz and Trey Fasani's nine-yard touchdown pass to Chase Beidleman before Hughson (12-2) charged back. Liam Bridgford cut it to 28-18 with a seven-yard run and a two-point conversion with seven minutes to go, and Robert McDaniel hit David Delgado for an 83-yard touchdown with four minutes left to pull to within 28-25. Hughson will host Muir-Pasadena on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m.

SOUTH: Muir-Pasadena 33, Palo Verde-Blythe 7

Muir (9-6) shrugged off the 400-plus mile round trip to Blythe and put the clamps on an offense that was averaging 48 points and more than 400 yards per game. Offensively, Jachai Pulley rushed for more than 200 yards and three TDs for Muir, which advances to its first state playoff bowl title game. Palo Verde finishes 13-2.

DIVISION 6–AA BRACKET

NORTH: Santa Teresa 30, Palo Alto 20

Joshua Reyes rushed for his second touchdown, a 1-yarder, early in the fourth quarter to give the Saints (9-5) the lead 24-20 and quarterback Jayden Arevalo added an insurance TD run late to give visiting Santa Teresa its first regional title. Palo Alto (7-7) led 7-0, 13-10 and 20-17, but Santa Teresa, which had never won a section title before this season, kept coming back. A 55-yard touchdown pass from Areval to Jeffrey Kent gave the Saints a 17-13 lead, before Palo Alto quarterback Declan Packer connected on a TD pass to Leon Unga to put the Vikings up 20-17 entering the fourth.

SOUTH: Classical Academy-Escondido 34, Lancaster 14

Classical Academy took advantage of an interception returned for a touchdown in the first half to defeat Lancaster 34-14. Classical Academy is now 11-3 and advances to a state playoff bowl title game. Lancaster finishes 9-6.