'It’s playoff time': CIF-SS football playoff brackets released
The CIF-Southern Section released the much anticipated high school football playoff brackets on Sunday morning, bringing an end to the suspense regarding divisional pairings.
Seven total teams from the High Desert found themselves scattered within the 14 playoff divisions, with Oak Hills competing in the highest of all local teams.
The High Desert had six automatic qualifiers for the playoffs. The six-team Mojave River League received three automatic berths — Oak Hills, Hesperia and Apple Valley — while the Desert Sky League’s two berths are Barstow and Granite Hills.
Oak Hills, the three-time MRL champion, will begin their journey at the program’s second CIF-SS title with a home game against Beaumont (8-2).
Both teams faced off against Citrus Valley this year, with Oak Hills winning 24-19 on Sept. 8, while Beaumont lost 33-24 on Oct. 6.
Oak Hills head coach Robert Metzger is pleased with the Bulldogs entering the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in Division 3.
“I think it’s the best situation for us,” Metzger said. “I think we have a tough matchup. Beaumont has a great program and Jeff Steinberg is a great coach.”
Unexpectedly, Apple Valley and Hesperia will square off in the first round of the Division 5 playoffs.
The Scorpions received the division’s No. 3 seed and will host the Sun Devils in a rematch of an Oct. 5 thrilling 15-14 victory at Scorpion Stadium.
Hesperia head coach Casey Goodnough doesn’t believe that teams competing in the same league should be paired against each other in the first round of the playoffs.
Apple Valley head coach Kyle Godfrey agreed.
“From a High Desert guy growing up here and now raising a family here it’s obviously not ideal because I personally want as many local teams in the playoffs to go as far as possible,” Godfrey said. “It brings more eyes and more respect to our programs and our kids as a whole. These kids and coaches up here have earned it and the deeper you go in the playoffs the more it justifies the quality of programs we have up here. It would have been cool to see Hesperia in the semis, or finals. But we can only control what we can control. That’s on us to get a better seeding by winning one or two more games in the regular season.”
Regardless, the Scorpions know what to expect come Friday night. It’s the first playoff game for the Hesperia program since 2014.
“I expect Apple to be what they are, a well-coached and very physical team,” Goodnough said. “They have a lot of playoff experience and are used to this, so they will be very ready. This is new to our kids, so we are honored to be here and to host the game.”
Godfrey also expects another physical and tough game.
“This better mean everything to our kids. I know it does to the staff,” Godfrey said. “It’s playoff time. There is no backup plan.”
Granite Hills, fresh off capturing the program’s first-ever Desert Sky League title, is home against Salesian (9-1). Granite Hills beat Barstow in the season finale as the two teams battled for the league title.
Alex Gonzalez, who is in his ninth year as head coach at Granite Hills, welcomes the challenge of being in Division 7.
“I really don’t have much thought yet, don’t know too much about Salesian other than they are a good private school,” Gonzalez said before breaking down film Sunday morning. “We will be ready to go against a pretty good team.”
Barstow (7-3) was placed in Division 8 and enters as the No. 3 seed.
The Aztecs will be home for the first round against St. Pius/St. Matthius (4-5) and Barstow head coach Clayton Leleimene likes his chances against the uptempo offense as his players look to bounce back from the loss to Granite Hills.
“After the game I told the guys that I respected the emotions and to not bottle it in,” Leleimene said. “I told them to accept it and to get it out this weekend. I really spoke to our seniors and asked them to hone in on their inner strength to lead this team. We have one more opportunity. Half of the state had to pack up their bags and go home. I think they’ve really accepted that loss and flushed it away.”
In the six-team Manzanita League, Silver Valley (8-1) received a road game to start the playoffs, after an unbeaten 6-0 campaign, resulting in the program’s first league championship in nine seasons. Silver Valley last captured the Desert Mountain title in 2014 with a 7-0 league slate.
The Trojans are the area’s only league champion to begin the playoffs on the road, as they take on Walnut (4-6).
“This team wants it, the past nine weeks we found a way to stay healthy and get better week-to-week,” Silver Valley head coach Austin Crank said. “Every week, I tell our guys ‘This will be the toughest team we play.’ So I expect Walnut to be the toughest team we play.
The CIF-SS also awards at-large berths to some teams that didn’t automatically qualify. But there are several factors in the at-large berths, including a division not having enough qualifiers for a 16-team bracket.
Victor Valley is the only High Desert school to receive an at-large berth. The CIF-SS awarded 30 total at-large bids across the 14 divisions.
The Jackrabbits finished fourth place in the Desert Sky League standings, while third-place Adelanto didn’t receive an at-large berth.
This is the third straight year that Victor Valley (6-4) has drawn a home game in the first round as an at-large bid. The Jackrabbits host Western Christian on Friday.
“We are very happy about this and the great thing about the playoffs is that everyone is 0-0,” Victor Valley head coach Robert Kistner said. “We are excited, we are getting better and this is a great opportunity for us. We just gotta get to work and go here.”
Here’s a list of the first-round drawings for our local teams.
Division 3
Beaumont (8-2) at Oak Hills (9-1)
Division 5
Apple Valley (5-4) at Hesperia (9-1)
Division 7
Salesian (9-1) at Granite Hills (8-2)
Division 8
St. Pius/St. Matthias (4-5) at Barstow (7-3)
Division 12
Western Christian (6-4) at Victor Valley (6-4)
Division 13
Silver Valley (8-1) at Walnut (4-6)
Daily Press reporter Jose Quintero may be reached at 760-951-6274 or JQuintero@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @J0seQuintero, and on Instagram at @VVDailyPress_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: CIF-SS football playoff brackets released, 7 High Desert teams chosen
