Bulldogs top seed in Division I football playoffs for seventh straight season

A 62-21 win over Del Oro last Friday put a bow on Folsom's 9-1 regular season. The Bulldogs won all six Sierra Foothill League games for the sixth straight season, as the team wrapped up another league championship. The team's only loss came at the hands of De La Salle, 42-27. The only other game that was within three scores was the 36-33 win over Oak Ridge. Otherwise, Folsom handled everyone else easily. For that body of work, the Bulldogs earned the top seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs for the seventh straight season, and eighth overall, as they were the top-seed in the Division II playoffs in 2012. The last time the Bulldogs were not the top-seed in the playoffs was in 2011, when they earned the sixth seed in the Division II bracket after an 8-2 season. It's the last time the Bulldogs have lost more than one regular season game in a season. It was also the last time the Bulldogs have played a road playoff game in the section playoffs, a 42-28 win over Elk Grove in the semifinal round. Folsom will open the playoffs at home on the blue a week from Friday, against either eighth-seed Edison or ninth-seed Lincoln of Stockton. Both teams have won nine of 10 games this season, the same as the Bulldogs. Folsom met Edison a year ago in the second round of the playoffs and won, 64-28. "It's a super competitive Division I bracket," Folsom coach Paul Doherty said. "St. Mary's has played a really strong schedule; Inderkum is loaded with a bunch of athletes, and Oak Ridge top-notch, and played us possession for possession. Monterey Trial is always tough, and Davis won the Delta League. There are a lot of good teams." The Bulldogs have had a strong season, and the team has finished strongly with big wins over Granite Bay, Grant and Del Oro. Doherty knows they must be better in the postseason. "Our overall vibe has been better the last few weeks," Doherty said. "The kids are having fun, and we've been scoring a lot of points, but we're not executing in all facets. It's not too dissimilar to the team a season ago. The 2018 team played a lot better in the playoffs and that will be our challenge this year."