NCS FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: A LOOK BACK- A LOOK AHEAD

Posted Dec 10 2009 3:07PM - By Jeff Patterson, MyBASC.com
Category: Football

SF BAY AREA, California - This weekend, the North Coast Section football championships will be played at various venues around the Bay Area. There are some familiar faces playing such a perennial powerhouse De La Salle, who go for their 16th straight NCS crown when they face Pittsburgh High at Dublin High Saturday night. In Division II, Eureka squares off against Montgomery at Rancho Cotati High and Encinal High will play for the Division III crown against Marin Catholic.

For the most part, these were the teams that the NCS selection committee thought would be playing for a spot in the state title game to be played next weekend at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

However, there is a major Cinderella story playing out in the Division I game with the #10 seeded Pittsburgh High Pirates looking to pull the biggest upset in NCS football history with a win over top-seeded De La Salle.
The Pirates enter this game with tremendous confidence considering their road to the finals. First, they beat San Ramon High on the road, then stunned #2 seed Deer Valley on their home field, and came home and beat #11 seed Washington High to punch their ticket to the football version of March Madness. On any given Sunday, or in this case, Saturday, anything can happen.

Just ask some of the members of the Kennedy-Richmond 1984 3A championship team that pulled an upset of arch-rival El Cerrito 18-16 at the Oakland Coliseum. MK Productions recently premiered a documentary on that game and the impact it had on the NCS playoff seeding.

First, it was the one and only matchup of two teams from the same league in the championship game. Second, that would not have happen had the playoff format not been changed at the start of the year to allow league runner-ups to participate in the playoffs. El Cerrito finished 10-1 in the Richmond-Berkeley Athletic League, including a 41-0 thrashing of the Eagles on their home field during regular season. Kennedy finished second with a 7-3, but was playing very well down the stretch. According to then NCS Commissioner Paul Gaddini, the Kennedy victory validated the decision to expand the playoffs.

This year, the NCS has expanded the playoff again with five enrollment-based sections totaling 70 teams. Most of the bigger divisions had 16 teams in the bracket. The larger playoff format included teams with losing records, 9 teams with a .500 record, and included many blowouts. Seeds 13-16 went 1-13 during the opening weekend and were outscored 568-168 combined. The only team to pull the upset was College Park, who defeated #3 seed Amador Valley.

College Park has a history of pulling the first round upset. In 2003, I called the NCS first round between then #8 seed College Park and #1 seed Alameda at Thompson Field. That game was an absolute shoot out with big plays from the star players Brandon Fragger and Tavis Ve’e. College Park won 44-38 and ruined the Hornets dream season.

Another first round upset I called was 1999 game between #8 seed St. Mary’s and top-seeded El Cerrito Gauchos. The St. Mary’s Panthers, led by a spirited effort by running back Tristin George knocked off the Gauchos at home 13-6. The cold, rainy Bay night played to the advantage of the Panthers. The Gauchos were unable to contain the running game of the Panthers and got out of their game plan to run the ball and control the clock.
El Cerrito legend Frank Milo had to be thinking once bitten, twice shy the following year when his #1 seeded team lost to Campolindo 28-20. The Cougars were able to keep it close, hit some key plays, and ran the clock down for an improbable win.

The NCS has a rich history of lower seeded teams catching fire at the right time and having the chance to play for a championship. In a twist of irony, the College Park upset has helped Pittsburgh to get to this point. Without the upset, Pitt probably would have had to play a third straight playoff road game against #3 seed Amador Valley. Instead, they played at home against a lower seed.

I have witnessed the excitement of the underdog pulling an absolute stunner with great effort, solid execution, timely plays, and a little luck. But above all, those teams played with tremendous heart. They played with a nothing to lose attitude and went out and seized the moment. That is what the Pirates are looking forward to, a chance to shock the world. Not that they will. The odds are stacked against them. But that’s why they play the game.