The road to a HS championship in Northern California begins this weekend as nine teams play for two top-level championships.

Jesuit will take on Dixon in the NorCal Varsity Gold single-school final Saturday morning at 9am at the Cherry Island Sports Complex in Rio Linda.

While the rest of the games Saturday and Sunday will be leading to a finals day on April 25, this game is for all of it. Jesuit (ranked #2 in single schools by Goff Rugby Report) has already beaten Dixon (#22) twice, 24-5 on February 21 and 37-14 on March 14. Dixon earned the right to play this game by beating Clayton Valley on April 4. It will be a well-contested game, but Jesuit, despite some injuries in the backline, has a big, tough forward pack and it’s that platform that should see them through.

In the multi-school Varsity Gold section, it’s quarterfinals on Saturday and semifinals on Sunday. With Mother Lode pulling out, top-seed Danville, ranked #1 by Goff Rugby Report, gets a bye to Sunday. 

Granite Bay (GRR #3) takes on North Bay (#27), Hayward (#28) plays Davis, and #34 Peninsula plays #6 Sierra Foothills. So obviously this is a huge meeting of ranked teams in one weekend.

The winner of Granite Bay v North Bay plays the winner of Hayward v Davis. Meanwhile, the winner of Pen Green v Sierra Foothills plays Danville.

The final is then slated for Saturday at St. Mary’s College in Moraga.

Of the three quarterfinals, Peninsula Green v. Sierra Foothills, despite the disparity in rankings, could be a close one. Peninsula Green has a reputation for finishing the season very strong, and in fact since losing to Hayward in late February they have recorded a series of blowout wins. So Sierra Foothills could be in for a surprise.

Granite Bay is playing very good rugby right now and beat Jesuit last week. They will have a solid forward corps, are dangerous in the lineout, and have a strong backline. They should beat North Bay. Hayward will be favored over Davis, which finished league play 4-3.

Also this weekend is the Varsity Silver playoffs. See here for more. Jesuit and Dixon play in a JV championship as well, while eight teams also play in a JV multi-school playoff: Los Gatos, Mother Lode, Peninsula Green, Granite Bay, Pleasanton, CK McCLatchy, Lamorinda, and SFGG.