Buhach draws rematch

The Buhach Colony High football team will face a familiar opponent when the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs begin on Friday.

The Thunder will face Lodi, which they beat 42-7 earlier this year.

"It's kind of a double-edge sword," Buhach Colony coach Kevin Swartwood said. "When we look at the film -- we traded the last two games -- they look a lot like they did on Sept. 15. So we have all the play cards drawn up. It's all the same.

"The other side of the coin is that they have extra motivation of being the underdog. They have the revenge factor and they have nothing to lose."

After finishing 10-0, the Thunder earned the top seed in the Division 2 bracket for the second straight year. It's again a loaded bracket with No. 2 Elk Grove (10-0), No. 3 Inderkum (9-1), No. 4 Vacaville (9-1), No. 5 St. Mary's (8-2) and No. 6 Folsom (8-2).

"It's an honor to get the No. 1 seed," Swartwood said. "It's a credit to the coaches and kids at BC. I don't think anyone thought we would get the No. 1 seed after last year. It was like, 'You had a nice run, but you lose all those seniors.'

"It took hard work to get back to this point. Now we have to back it up."

Le Grand (10-0) also got the No. 1 seed in Division 5. The Bulldogs' bid at a second straight section title will begin Nov. 18 when they host the winner of Rio Vista (8-2) and Delta (6-4).

Mariposa (6-4) will open the Division 5 playoffs on the road against No. 3 seed Highlands (8-2).

Los Banos is the No. 4 seed in Division 3 after winning the Western Athletic Conference championship. The Tigers (9-1) will host Vanden (7-3) on Friday.

Los Banos was moved from the third seed to No. 4 to keep Manteca from possibly meeting up with fellow Valley Oak League member Oakdale in the semifinals.

The move keeps the Tigers on the other side of the bracket from the favorite, No. 2 Del Oro (9-1).

"We figured they'd move us to four," Los Banos coach Dennis Stubbs said. "We were kind of surprised to get matched up with Vanden because I think that's the longest drive anybody has to make in the playoffs.

"We like our spot, but we don't know anything about Vanden. We have no common opponents. We know they are going to bring some athletes and their quarterback is an absolute stud."

Vanden quarterback Ben Scott has passed for 2,210 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Hilmar was moved up to the No. 3 seed in the Division 4 playoffs to put them on the opposite side of the bracket of top seed Escalon, which defeated the Yellowjackets 10-0 two weeks ago.

Hilmar will open up against No. 14 Linden (5-5) on Friday and will face the winner of No. 6 Ripon (8-2) and No. 11 Livingston (5-5) in the quarterfinals.