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Monday, Nov. 16, 2009
Football playoffs set to start Friday
Bring on Stockton St. Mary's.
That's the way Kevin Swartwood feels as Buhach Colony prepares for its first football playoff game in school history.
Swartwood's boys will travel to Stockton on Friday to face undefeated St. Mary's, ranked No. 3 in Northern California.
"We drew the best and that's OK with us," said Swartwood, whose team earned the No. 16 seed in the Division II playoffs. "If you're going to advance in the playoffs, you're going to have to play them some time. No one is going to give us a chance. That's fine. Our goal is to go up there and be competitive."
Seven local teams qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.
Fresh off winning its first Central California Conference championship Friday, Los Banos (7-3) earned the No. 8 seed and will host Modesto Metro Conference champion Modesto (7-3) on Friday. It's Los Banos' first home playoff game since 2000.
Atwater (7-3) will join Buhach Colony in a loaded Division II field that includes three 10-0 teams in St. Mary's, Rocklin and Grant, the 2008 Open Division state champion. No. 11 Atwater will face No. 7 Stagg at Chavez High in the first round.
"If you look at Division II versus Division I, if given the choice, we'd take Division I in a heartbeat," Swartwood said. "They're not in the same boat. They're a different caliber of teams."
Livingston (6-4) will open up against Lincoln of Lincoln (10-0) in the Division IV-A bracket, and Hilmar (8-2) will square off against Escalon (9-1) in the Division IV-B bracket. The winners from each side of the bracket will play for the section title.
Mariposa and Le Grand are both alive in the Division V playoffs. No. 4 Mariposa (5-5) will host No. 5 Lindhurst (5-5). Meanwhile, No. 2 Le Grand (6-4) receives a first-round bye and will host the winner of the Highlands-Denair game next week.
In the Central Section, Dos Palos (5-5) enters the playoffs as the No. 6 seed and will host Central Valley Christian in the first round of the Division IV playoffs.
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