Local flag football teams have found quick success in their inaugural seasons. The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoff brackets were released on Friday, revealing that four teams will play in the postseason, including three on their home fields when action across all divisions gets underway Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The highest seed among those qualifiers is Pitman, the Central California Athletic League’s first ever champion with a 18-2 overall and 13-2 conference record. They were given the fifth-seed in the Division 1 bracket and will kick off their playoff run at home against No. 12 Granite Bay, who are 11-6 overall and went 9-5 in the Sierra Foothill League.
The Pride ended the season with two wins following a gut-wrenching, 7-6, loss to rival Turlock on Oct 16. On Monday they blew out Modesto 71-0 before ending their CCAL campaign with a come-from-behind, 27-18, win over Gregori.
“We ended the season, I think, in the most fitting way,” said head coach Matthew Vasconcelos. “We had the opportunity to run it back with Gregori, and I like the way that our team responded in the second half being down 12-0. I'm just really proud that every time we get into a situation where it feels like it's probably the biggest moment of our season, our girls have just responded, and that gives our team and our coaches confidence going into this playoffs.
“We've played with the lead, we've been down now and we've come back. I think we can find ways to win ball games, as long as we stay together, which is what they've shown that they can do. I think we can play with anybody.”
As for Turlock, they are the seeded 10th, but instead of a long trip to Sacramento or Stockton, they will ride the bus south to Atwater to take on the No. 7 Falcons, who went 16-4 overall and undefeated in the Central California Conference. The Bulldogs were runners-up to the Pride in the CCAL with a 10-5 record. They went 16-7 counting non-conference games.
Over in the Trans-Valley League, the games on the gridiron were just as competitive as the ones put on by their male counterparts on Friday nights. It was evident in the final standings, which had a three-way tie for first place between Hughson, Orestimba and Escalon, each finishing with 8-2 conference records.
After a 13-6 season, the Huskies were handed the No. 7 seed in the Division 4 bracket, meaning they will travel to play the No. 10 Mariposa Grizzlies (13-10, 7-1 Southern Athletic League).
Also sneaking into the D-4 playoffs to represent the TVL was Hilmar, which were 8-18 overall and 2-8 in league play. They were assigned the 15th seed and will travel to Dixon to take on the second-seeded Rams, who are 14-2 on the year.
