Football: State bowl championships set to kickoff

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This weekend’s CIF State Football Bowl Championships kick off in 20 minutes at Home Depot Center in Carson with the Division IV game pitting one of the oldest schools in Northern California against one of the newest in Southern California.

Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (14-0), in just its third season of 11-man football, was selected to represent the South after routing Lancaster Paraclete 47-14 in the Southern Section East Valley Division finals. The Trailblazers average 46.1 points per game and are led by 1,000-yard rushers Xavier Menifield and Danny Jordan and quarterback Tyler Stewart, who has thrown for 2,245 yards and 32 touchdowns.

Le Grand, from a town of 1,650 people southeast of Merced, has had a football team since the 1920s and this year’s edition might be the school’s best ever--even better than last year’s team which won the program’s first section title.

The Sac-Joaquin Section champion Bulldogs are averaging a whopping 58.5 points per game and are led by Daniel Guizar, who has rushed for almost 2,000 yards and 35 touchdowns. Quarterback Alex Bucio has thrown for 2,344 yards and 49 touchdowns.

The Division IV game will be followed by the Division I showdown at 8 p.m. between Santa Margarita (12-2) and Bellarmine Prep of San Jose (12-1).

Stay logged in for live scoring updates from both games.

-- Steve Galluzzo