Folsom, Pittsburg to meet Saturday

Folsom High will host 13-0 Pittsburg on the blue at 6 p.m. Saturday night for the right to play in the CIF State 1-A championship game the following weekend in southern California. Pittsburg has had an undefeated season, including a 37-21 win over a solid San Ramon Valley team in the North Coast Section Championship game. Pittsburg has played two teams the Bulldogs have played beating Granite Bay, 41-21 and Monterey Trail, 10-7, while Folsom (11-2) beat those teams by the scores of 28-20 and 35-0. These teams have played each other twice before in 2021 in Folsom and in 2022 at Pittsburg. Folsom won both games, 38-17 to 2021 and 23-15 a season ago. "Pittsburg is a really good team that beat up on every team they played, including San Ramon Valley," Folsom coach Paul Doherty said. "They're well-coached, super athletic and are fast and physical. They will definitely be a tough challenge, but that said I think we match-up well with them. How you match up with a team is such a critical aspect of the game and always an interesting component. Pittsburg is very aggressive and physical and will probably play some man on us, so we'll have to win some man-on-man battles. Pittsburg is more athletic and fast than they are technically sound. I feel good where we are at because I feel we can play a couple different brands of football and still be successful." The winner will play either St. Bonaventure or St. Augustine the following weekend in southern California for the state I-A championship.