State football playoffs: Righetti has more history in its sights

Dec. 4—After a historic achievement in the CIF Central Section playoffs, the Righetti football team isn't quite done yet.

The Warriors won the Santa Maria Valley's first divisional title last week, beating Madera Liberty 34-7 to capture the CIF Central Section Division 5 championship.

Now Righetti (5-8) will play for a spot in a state championship game. The Warriors play at Irvine Northwood (9-5) at Irvine High School Saturday night. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.

The winner of this game will play the winner of the Redding University Prep-Atherton Sacred Heart game for the CIF State Division 5A championship on Saturday, Dec. 11. University Prep and Sacred Heart play at 1 p.m. Saturday in Atherton.

The Righetti-Northwood winner will play at the University Prep-Sacred Heart winner as the North is hosting title games this year.

Righetti made the state playoffs after winning four times as many games during its playoff run than it did during the regular season.

The Warriors rolled through the Central Section's Division 5 competition, winning its four playoff games by a combined 123-37.

Northwood won the CIF Southern Section Division 11 title even though the Timberwolves weren't a top seed in the division. They beat Long Beach Jordan 37-14 in the title game after beating Moreno Valley Vista del Lago 16-12 in the Division 11 semifinals. Northwood routed Riverside Poly 48-20 in the quarterfinals after knocking off Big Bear 35-21 in the first round.

The Timberwolves have won seven straight following a 56-30 non-league loss to Dana Point Dana Hills on Oct. 8.

Per the Orange County Register, Northwood's Adam Harper had 214 rushing yards on 34 carries in the win over Jordan last week. He also had an interception on defense. Harper is a 5-foot-11, 180-pound junior. Harper had four rushing touchdowns in the playoff win over Big Bear.

Eugene Miyata is the team's starting quarterback.

Northwood is not a perennially strong football program. When the Timberwolves beat Irvine Beckman, it clinched the school's first league title in football since 2003. The last time Northwood had made a divisional final was in 2005, when the Timberwolves lost to Tesoro in the Division IX championship game.

Righetti had never won a CIF championship in football before last week's win. The Warriors did make the CIF Central Section Division 2 title game in 2018, falling to Tulare Union.

The Warriors are led by a good group of seniors, including Cooper Bagby and Elias Martinez, who both start at receiver and defensive back. Bagby is more of a possession receiver and is the physical presence on defense at strong safety. Bagby also makes sure the Warriors are lined up right on defense.

Martinez is the big-play threat at receiver. He caught a touchdown pass from junior quarterback Abel McCormack last week. Martinez is the team's lockdown cornerback.

Then there's Ryan Boivin, who head coach Tony Payne has called the "face of the franchise."

Boivin has lived up to Payne's billing in the postseason. Boivin's powerful running style was too much for the Division 5 competition to handle throughout the postseason. The senior has been money in goal-line situations with him even taking direct snaps in for scores. He scored two rushing touchdowns last week.

"I'm super excited that we get another chance to play football," Boivin said this week. "It's going to be difficult traveling to Irvine, but it'll be something new and it's something I'm looking forward to. I don't want this ride to end."

Boivin also had two rushing touchdowns in the playoff win over Coalinga. He rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown in the semifinal win over Bakersfield Ridgeview.

Boivin also plays middle linebacker.

Payne has also lauded the return of Malachi Broome, a senior offensive lineman who missed all of the regular season with an injury, but has come back to shore up the offensive front for Righetti.

"He's a game-changer," Boivin said of Broome returning to the lineup. "It gives us so much confidence having him back out there and he deserves it more than anyone I've ever known to play football."

The play of McCormack also can't be overlooked. McCormack has filled in for starter Braden Claborn, who was knocked out of the Arroyo Grande game with a leg injury that turned out to be a torn ACL. McCormack has gotten better week after week, making timely throws to give the running game room to operate.

"It feels great knowing I progressed every single week and worked hard and it showed out on the field," McCormack said. "It just made the team better overall. I definitely felt way more comfortable as the season went along. I started trusting the guys and they started trusting me. It went a long way."

The Righetti defense also scored twice last week in the title game win over Liberty. Brian Monighetti, a junior linebacker, got the scoring started after he intercepted a tipped pass and returned it for a 25-yard touchdown.

Senior Hayden Baichtal also made a big play, scooping up a fumble and returning it 40 yards for a score in the second half that helped seal up Righetti's title win.

Northwood figures to be stiffer competition than what the Warriors have faced in the Central Section playoffs. CalPreps, whose computer formula was used to rank teams for the playoffs this year, has the Timberwolves beating the Warriors 27-21 in its computer projections.