NCS football playoffs limited to just 8 teams in each bracket

Petaluma, Casa Grande in different divisions|

Days of teams with one or two wins making the North Coast Section football playoffs have gone the way of the dinosaur.

Under a new format adopted by the North Coast Section for use this season, there will be seven divisions, eight if you count 8-person football. Only eight teams from each bracket will make the playoffs, which will last three weeks, beginning Nov. 8-9 and concluding with championship games on Nov. 22-23.

The division placement of each school was complicated by the NCS never before having seven divisions. Each division was created not solely on enrollment, but based on a system called “competitive equity” using MaxPreps rankings from 2013-2018.

Under the new alignment, Casa Grande will play in Division 3 with American Canyon from its Vine Valley Athletic League, along with Alameda, Arroyo, Benicia, Bishop O’Dowd, El Cerrito, Hayward, Jesse Bethel, Las Lomas, Montgomery, Northgate, Novato, Rancho Cotate, Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Washington and Windsor.

Petaluma will be the only VVAL school in Division 4 that also includes Acalanes, Cardinal Newman, Concord, Kennedy-Fremont, Maria Carrillo, Marin Catholic, Mt. Diablo, Newark Memorial, Piner, Richmond, Tamalpais, Tennyson and Vallejo.

St. Vincent is in Division 7 along with Berean Christian, California School for the Deaf, Clear Lake, Cloverdale, El Molino, Ferndale, Healdsburg, Hoopa Valley, John Swett, McKinleyville, Oakland Military Institute, Salesian, St. Helena, Stellar Prep and Willits.

In Division 1 that was formerly called the Open Division are Amador Valley, Antioch, Berkeley, California, De La Salle, Dougherty Valley, Freedom, Heritage, James Logan, Liberty, Monte Vista, Pittsburg and San Ramon Valley.

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