As expected, both Chico High and Pleasant Valley earned first-round byes in the Northern Section Division II playoffs when they were announced Saturday morning.
The D-II playoffs will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
Red Bluff, coming off of a 17-14 loss at Shasta on Friday night, will open the NSCIF D-II playoffs at Foothill. The game is one of two D-II playoff games to open the NSCIF playoffs. The 5-5 Spartans enter as the No. 5 seed in the D-II bracket. Foothill, also 5-5, is the No. 4 seed. Foothill defeated Red Bluff 34-6 in the lone regular-season matchup on Oct. 13 in Palo Cedro.
Enterprise (4-6) comes in as the No. 6 seed and will play at No. 3 Shasta, which beat the Spartans with a double pass late in the 4th quarter on Friday night. The two Redding schools face off Oct. 13 at Enterprise and the Wolves defeated the Hornets 27-20.
The winner between Red Bluff and Foothill will play Eastern Athletic League champion and No. 1 seed Chico High (9-1) on November 17 at Chico High. The Shasta-Enterprise winner will travel to Pleasant Valley (7-3) to play the No. 2 seed on the same date.
Division III
The D-III playoffs will begin Friday night when No. 8 Central Valley travels to No. 1 University Prep. It will be the second weekend in a row that the two schools have met. The Panthers (9-1) beat the Falcons (3-7) 45-13 on Friday night.
Defending Northern Section champion and CIF Division 5-A state champion, and this year’s No. 2 Orland will open its title defense against the No. 7 West Valley on Friday in Orland. The Trojans are 8-1, while the Eagles are 3-7.
Also, on Friday night, No. 3 Gridley (7-3) will host No. 6 Live Oak (6-4), while No. 4 Pierce (7-3) will play host to Lassen (5-5).
All these games kick off at 7 p.m.
Division IV
Top-seeded Colusa (10-0) and No. 2 Winters (7-3) will get first-round byes, with first-round action starting Friday night.
No. 4 East Nicolaus (5-5) will host No. 5 Williams (3-7), while No. 3 Hamilton (8-2) will play host to No. 6 Trinity (4-6).
Both games start at 7 p.m.
Division V
There were no surprises in this D-V bracket, as 10-0 Portola will get the No. 1 seed and a bye, as will No. 2 Weed (8-2).
Los Molinos clinched the No. 4 seed with a 35-0 win over Etna to end the regular season. It was the fourth straight win for Los Molinos (7-3) and earned the Bulldogs a rematch with Fall River (7-3), a team they beat last Friday 32-28 in McArthur. It was the first win in school history over that school and was the first home loss for Fall River in eight seasons.
The winner gets Portola in the semifinals, and both teams lost to Portola this year. Los Molinos lost 44-0 on September 29, while Fall River lost at Portola 26-0 on Oct. 13.
Biggs (7-3) is the No. 3 seed and host No. 6 Modoc (4-6). Biggs closed its regular season with a 51-0 win over Mt. Shasta.
Both games in D-V on Friday night will start at 7 p.m.