Video: Top 10 national Games of the Week De La Salle vs. St. John Bosco is the No. 1 contest.
At long last, there are 14.
The California Interscholastic Federation re-established state football championship games in 2006, and after 13 seasons, a record 14 divisions and games have been established.
It started with just three title games, played at the Home Depot Center in Carson, and through many morphs, alterations and competitive-equity considerations, the top top five Divisions play at Cerritos College-Norwalk in Southern California on Friday and Saturday.
The other nine divisions and games are slated Saturday in Northern California.
SEE ALL SCORES UPDATES BELOW
The marquee matchup is the Open Division contest, and as has been the case 12 of the previous 13 games, De La Salle (Concord) represents the North. The 28-time defending North Coast Section champions have played in 13 state-title games overall, winning seven.
At one point, the Spartans dominated the games, but over the last three seasons have been dominated themselves, once by Saturday's opponent St. John Bosco, and the last two seasons by Mater Dei (Santa Ana).
If De La Salle expects payback, it won't come easy. In fact, the MaxPreps computer projections, say the Spartans are 18-point underdogs to Bosco (12-1), the top-ranked team in the nation. The Braves' confidence is at an all-time high since their stunning 39-34 win over previous No. 1 Mater Dei on Nov. 30. The computer projects Bosco to win 42-24.
But there is plenty of intrigue and remarkable individual talent in the other 13 games. Among them:
• In the D1-A title game at Cerritos College, Washington-bound quarterback
Ethan Garbers (4,479 yards passing, 67 touchdowns) leads a 15-0 Corona del Mar team against a Serra (San Mateo) squad that has missed its dynamic quarterback
Daylin Mclemore since Oct. 25 with a broken collarbone. The Padres (13-1) have used a variety of weapons and a stingy defense to win league, section and regional titles, but will need a huge effort to slow down the remarkable combination of Garbers to Stanford-bound
John Humphreys (101 catches, 1,916 yards, 31 touchdowns).
• In the D2-A game, the productive Pacifica linebacker tandem of
Caleb McCullough and
Brad Bichard (combined 406 tackles) will try to catch the tremendous quickness and speed of McClymonds (11-0), which has won three straight state titles at lower levels.
• Could there be a more versatile player than Bishop Union's
Luke McClean, who leads his team into the 6-A title game at Salesian-Richmond? The 6-foot, 175-pound senior is the ultimate Swiss army knife, as he leads his team in passing (879 yards), rushing (1,173 yards), touchdowns (18), interceptions (five) and tackles (89), while being fourth in receptions (16) and second in TD catches (4). He's also the team's punter, kicker and primary punt-kickoff returner.
