Section football playoffs: Latest on Bellarmine and top 10 NCS and CCS matchups to watch

St. Ignatius junior wide receiver Hawkes Packard has 56 catches, 965 yards and nine touchdowns this season. (Courtesy of Paul Ghiglieri) With the news of legal maneuvering, the St. Ignatius football team has been practicing full force all week. And upon news Thursday morning that Bellarmine won a temporary injunction in a Santa Clara County Superior Court, the Wildcats couldn't be happier to be hosting a first-round Central Coast Section Open Division/Division 1 game Friday against the Bells. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at J.B. Murphy Field. The second-seeded Wildcats (8-2) beat seventh-seeded Bellarmine (6-4) at San Jose City College 26-7 on Oct. 16, their fourth straight win in the long-running series of West Catholic Athletic League powers. "The coaching staff has had them focused all week and the boys definitely wanted to play and not have a bye," St. Ignatius athletic director John Mulkerrins said. "Kids just want to play." Many figured Friday's game wouldn't even occur even with the court's temporary restraining order last week of a CCS decision on Nov. 2 to forfeit all six of Bellarmine's wins for using an ineligible sophomore player who had transferred to the school in the offseason. When the TRO by Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Panteha E. Saban was issued Nov. 6, the Bells regrouped and played their regular-season finale at Riordan Saturday, but admitted to being emotionally spent during a 56-14 defeat. With Bellarmine's wins temporarily restored, the CCS had no choice but to put the Bells back into the top division of the playoffs. With a second hearing set for Thursday, there lingered a possibility the court would favor the governing body of high school sports in the region, thus eliminating the Bells from the playoffs immediately and awarding St. Ignatius a forfeit victory. But the court wants to hear more and will make a final ruling on a future date. Bellarmine attorneys Brian J. McSweeney and Steven Braccini said in a statement: "We are pleased that the court recognized the unfairness of the process inherent in CCS." Texts to CCS commissioner Dave Grissom were not immediately returned. "We had a feeling with the extra evidence we heard that was on the table that this could happen," Mulkerrins said, adding that St. Ignatius head coach JaJuan Lawson "and the staff have done a great job building off last year's success and getting the players prepared every week. This week is no exception." The Wildcats graduated 38 seniors including eight all-WCAL players off last year's state-championship team that finished the season with seven straight wins after a 2-6 start. This year, behind a rugged defense and the offensive prowess of sophomore quarterback Isaac Liu (138 of 213, 1,977 yards, 16 touchdowns), senior running back Luke Tribolet (683 yard rushing, 12 TDs) and junior wideouts Hawkes Packard (56 catches, 965 yards, nine TDs) and Davion Moffett (40, 712, 7), they started the season 4-0 en route to a third-place 4-2 WCAL season. Packard, who is committed to Duke on a Lacrosse scholarship, has had at least five catches in eight games and over 100 yards receiving four times. He had seven catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the team's 42-38 win at Acalanes-Lafayette, the Chronicle's No. 7 team. "We had a lot of young guys step up big time in new roles," Mulkerrins said. "They really answered the call and the moment and hope to do more of it Friday." It's been a huge turnaround season for the Bells, after going 4-26 the previous three seasons and 1-20 in WCAL play. Top 10 section playoff matchups (all 7 p.m. Friday unless noted)North Coast Section1. Acalanes (9-1) at Pittsburg (7-3):This Open/D1 matchup and first time meeting between the longtime programs pits two offensive juggernauts that combine to average more than 800 yards per game. Acalanes quarterback Tyler Winkles (3,444 total yards, 46 touchdowns) and wideout/safety Finn Rivera (70 catches, 1,079 yards, 14 TDs) and Pittsburg receiver/cornerback Kenneth Ward are Chronicle Player of the Year nominees. 2. Monte Vista (8-2) at San Ramon Valley (9-1): Another Open/D1 game pits bitter Danville rivals who met last Friday, a 21-16 SRV road win to extend its narrow series lead to 34-31-1. 3. Antioch (8-2) vs. Vintage-Napa (9-1) at Napa Memorial Stadium:Though 50 miles and several counties away, this Division 2 matchup has a short, but strong history of great games with Vintage winning the last three games 30-26 (2023), 28-22 (2022) and 24-21 (2018). Vintage, with super sophomore Darrian Johnson (1,265 rushing yards, 19 touchdowns), loves to pound the ball. Antioch is more balanced with dual-threat quarterback Joshua Mason (1,550 total yards, 24 TDs). 4. Ukiah (8-2) at California-San Ramon (6-4): Paul Cronin's teams always like to throw the ball and this Ukiah team is no different with junior quarterback Jayden Bird (1,871 passing yards, 18 touchdowns). Top Division 2 seed California is led by junior QB Nicco Kovacs (122 of 203, 2,173, 26). 5. Campolindo-Moraga (6-4) at Windsor (8-2):Another Division 2 matchup, these programs have played five evenly matched games since 2016 with Campolindo holding a 3-1-1 edge. Windsor won the last game in 2024 (33-14) and the teams tied 14-14 in 2023. Central Coast Section1. Los Gatos (9-1) vs. Sacred Heart Cathedral (5-5) at City College of San Francisco, 1 p.m. Saturday:Somehow fifth Open/Division 1 seed Los Gatos, winner of eight straight, got seeded lower than No. 4 SHC, which has been riddled with injury late in the season under first-year coach Darius Bell. These programs have never met. Los Gatos has outscored opponents 365-181, while the Irish, with clearly a tougher schedule, has been outscored 188-180. 2. Palma-Salinas (8-2) at Serra (9-1), 1 p.m. Saturday:Another Open/D1 matchup clearly favors the host and top-seed Padres, but Palma features one of Northern California's top running backs in Eli Dukes (6,207 career yards, 77 touchdowns), a Davis commit. 3. Live Oak-Morgan Hill (8-2) at Burlingame (8-2):In Division 2 play, the visiting Acorns feature a high-powered offense that averages 36 points and nearly 400 yards per game, led by running back Gage Jones (4,127 career yards, 46 touchdowns). Burlingame, led by 25-year head coach John Philipopoulos, features DB Dylan Black who returned three interceptions for touchdowns in a 59-6 win over Hillsdale-San Mateo. The programs have met just twice, with Live Oak winning both games in 2018 (34-22) and 2019 (22-16). 4. Milpitas (8-2) at Palo Alto (5-5): Two programs with long, rich traditions are both on the comeback trail in this Division 3 matchup. Palo Alto was 0-10 last season while Milpitas was a combined 19-37 since 2020. Both are led by first-year coaches Reynard Elzey (Milpitas) and Edward Tonga (Palo Alto). The programs have combined for nine CCS titles. 5. Willow Glen-San Jose (8-2) at Carlmont-Belmont (6-4): In a Division 4 matchup, first-year Carlmont coach Antoine Evans has turned things around after going a combined 24-40 from 2019-25. Senior QB Brody Zirelli has thrown for 2,432 yards and 30 touchdowns, and receivers Austin Sotto and Dylan Sorensen have combined for 91 catches, more than 1,400 yards and 21 TDs.SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Section football playoffs: Latest on Bellarmine and top 10 NCS and CCS matchups to watch.