The California Interscholastic Federation Sac-Joaquin Section has long been a staple for high-level high school sports. This section includes teams like Folsom High School, Sacramento High School and St. Mary’s High School, programs that have consistently ranked among the nation’s best. Playoff season is always the best, beginning with tight matchups at bigger stadiums.
This season, the section decided to try something new. Instead of having a full playoff bracket, they chose to cut it in half, eliminating eight teams from postseason contention. No sponsorships, weird brackets and late notice all factor into why the board members will need more planning next year. But the concept was an incredible idea.
The playoff bracket isn’t the only thing changing. Before the season even started, eight-man football was introduced, effective immediately. 8-man football removes three players from each side, a drastic shift from traditional 11-man football, which has been the standard since the sport began in 1897. The SJS made these adjustments because many smaller schools were struggling with decreasing roster sizes.
Thirteen schools agreed to adopt the new format. “This is a new change for the Sac-Joaquin Section this year. We’ve had issues with schools being unable to finish seasons and field teams, and it came to a head last year with several teams either dropping or not fielding tackle football teams,” said Will DeBoard, assistant commissioner for the section.
Delta High School in Clarksburg, for example, was only able to field 16 total players this season. Typical high school fields are 52 yards wide, but with fewer players on the field, the 8-man field shrinks to 40 yards wide.
With the smaller teams being a success, only a month before playoffs were set to begin, SJS administrators gathered and voted on another topic. To keep the playoffs the same or cut them in half?
The vote was nearly unanimous among the board of managers. Just last basketball season, the No. 11 seed El Capitan made a Cinderella run all the way to the section championship game, losing by just one point. With an eight-team bracket, that kind of run becomes impossible.
Members of the media, like Jordan Georgenson of Gold Country Media, had mixed opinions. “The bowl games could be cool. I don’t think the system needed fixing, though. If I were 16, I’d rather compete in a playoff game than a consolation bowl game.”
Why did the board want this change? Simple: to eliminate blowouts and unnecessary games. In 2024, there were only three upsets across 48 round-of-16 games. In those matchups, higher seeds outscored the lower seeds by a combined 819–396.
Bowl games are a big part of college football. Before the 2024 expansion, only four teams made the playoffs, so nearly every other qualifying team played in a bowl game, usually against an opponent of similar skill, competing for a trophy of their own.
The SJS tried to incorporate the same idea, aiming to create fair matchups, but some pairings raised eyebrows. Nineteen higher seeds won, while eight lower seeds pulled off wins which is still a clear advantage for the top teams, even though the goal was to be balanced.
Whitney High School, a team out of Rocklin, finished the regular season 2–8. They play in the Sierra Foothill League, the most competitive league in the section. Their opponent was the Franklin Wildcats, who went 7–3 and would’ve been a No. 9 or No. 10 seed under the old format. Whitney wouldn’t have qualified at all. Yet somehow, Whitney ended up as the higher seed—and got a home game.
This sparked frustration in the Franklin community.
“I don’t understand how Franklin, who won five more games, has to drive 50 minutes for a consolation game,” said Donald Leeper, a faculty member at Franklin.
Franklin went on to beat Whitney 52–27.
In college football, every bowl game has a sponsor, and that revenue goes directly to the participating schools.
“The idea for sponsorships was discussed,” said associate commissioner Jason Feuerbach. “With the turnaround being so fast between the vote and the games, our board of managers didn’t feel like it would realistically happen.”
The new rule was a great idea, just not executed well. With more planning and more time to prepare, the SJS could turn this into a tradition that creates lasting memories for the athletes who compete in it.
