It's our last weekend of games, and hosts Chace and Ben are trying not to get emotional. Instead, they pour their energy into an hour of CIF State Bowl conversation.  The show welcomes Cal-Hi Sports co-founder and editor Mark Tennis for the second time this season. As someone who maintains the most-recognized state football rankings, there's no better person to preview some of the biggest bowl matchups this weekend. Tennis shares his thoughts on the bowl games themselves as we reach the 15th anniversary of the CIF bowl era, and offers up a variety of insight on the five large division games being played at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo this Friday and Saturday.  Coach Terry Eidson makes his weekly appearance and shares his thoughts on Folsom's seismic NorCal regional win over De La Salle. He also empathizes with Serra-San Mateo coach Patrick Walsh who is preparing to face National No. 1 Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the Open Division bowl. Eidson has plenty of experience preparing for SoCal powerhouses, and revisits some unhappy memories to add insight to the process Serra is going through before Saturday's 8 p.m. kickoff. Finally, Chace, Ben and Coach Eidson share game picks for the final time this season. 

It's a jam-packed show this week as Chace and Ben revisit an entertaining weekend of section championships and the 24-hour guessing game of who the CIF would advance as NorCal's Open Division representative. The hosts also preview this weekend's slate of CIF NorCal regional games — and there's definitely some good ones.  Among the top games of the weekend is the Division I-AA regional featuring Folsom at De La Salle — a rematch from early October featuring SportStars' No. 1 and No. 3-ranked teams. Folsom twin brothers, Tyler and Josh Tremain, both join the show to talk about the Bulldogs' section championship win over Rocklin (which avenged an earlier defeat), and what they'll need to do if they want to do the same thing to the Spartans.  And in his weekly appearance, Coach Terry Eidson offers up a unique list of Thanksgiving favorites before sharing his thoughts on the CIF committee's choosing of Serra-San Mateo over De La Salle for the Open Division Bowl Championship. He also talks about his experiences serving on seeding committees.  Finally, there's plenty of the usual picks and analysis. Also, the hosts debut a new game called "Name That Team." NorCal's final week of football before state bowls starts here.

The show goes all out as it reviews an absolute wild weekend of semifinals while also previewing section championship weekend throughout Northern California. Hosts Chace and Ben welcome fellow SportStars colleague Ike Dodson. The magazine's Sac-Joaquin Section writer and photographer joins them for the greater portion of the show. He recounts being at Rocklin last Friday for the Thunder's 51-48 instant-classic comeback win over St. Mary's-Stockton, and sticks around for some "Fill The Gap" and the full game picks segment. Also, the show finally welcomes Dublin's "Rolling Ball of Butcher Knives" — TE/FB/LB, TJ Costello. TJ's already transitioned to hoops season, but visits to help the hosts breakdown the North Coast Section Div. II final between Foothill-Pleasanton and Campolindo-Moraga. And finally, the founder of our TJ Costello Fan Club, Coach Terry Eidson makes his weekly appearance. He shares thoughts on the best way for coaches to navigate a championship week, makes his weekly picks with a high level of self-deprecation, and is surprised to find himself smack dab in the middle of the hosts' feud over baked goods.

With long time foes De La Salle and Pittsburg meeting this week to decide the North Coast Section Open Division final, hosts Chace and Ben welcome DLS coach Justin Alumbaugh to the program. Together they chat about this year's Spartans team and its evolution after becoming the program's first team in 30 years to lose to a NorCal opponent. They also discuss the pros and cons of the coaching staff turnover of the past few years, and of course, the big matchup scheduled for this Saturday. They even work in some good chatter about Coach Terry Eidson. Eidson makes his regular appearance as well and returns the favor. He shares what led to Alumbaugh being Coach Bob Ladouceur's successor, why he himself didn't necessarily want the role, and the differences between coaching with Alumbaugh and with Lad.  Finally, the hosts themselves share discussion about this week's big games, and weigh in on the recent debate over the best method of creating fair and competitive playoff brackets. All of that, plus tons of predictions and analysis on this week's biggest playoff games. 

The postseason has now arrived for everybody, and the show is here for it! As the Sac-Joaquin Section rolls into its quarterfinals, hosts Chace and Ben welcome Monterey Trail-Elk Grove coach TJ Ewing to talk about a Mustangs teams that's gone from an 0-5 start to a dangerous 7-seed in the Division II field. Ewing shares about how the team persevered through its grueling nonleague schedule, and what he's expecting in his team's big matchup with Granite Bay on Friday.  Chace and Ben open the show by sharing thoughts on last week's big game between St. Francis-Mountain View and Serra-San Mateo, as well as some first impressions on both the North Coast and Central Coast Section tournament pairings across several divisions.  Coach Terry Eidson also makes his weekly appearance and shares thoughts on the newest way the North Coast Section is attempting to solve its "De La Salle Problem" when it comes to the postseason and attempting to provide other strong Division I teams a path to the CIF State Bowls.  Finally, both hosts and Coach Eidson each share their picks and predictions for several of the biggest playoff matchups of the weekend. 

Christmas comes early to San Mateo this week as Serra High hosts St. Francis-Mountain View in a massive game that will determine a number of things, including: NorCal's No. 1-ranked team, the top seed in the Central Coast Section Open Div. playoffs and, oh yeah, the West Catholic Athletic League championship. Serra coach Patrick Walsh joins the show this week to talk about the Padres' 8-0 season so far, what getting ready for this game has been like, and what he expects this coming Saturday.  As an added bonus, weekly guest Coach Terry Eidson makes an extra appearance this week to join in on the chat with Coach Walsh, his former player and coaching colleague. Eidson also records his own segment and discusses Inglewood High's controversial 106-0 blowout in the Southern Section last week while also making picks on a few games. (And maybe adding a horse racing tip!)  Hosts Chace and Ben chat about their games from last week and spend time discussing the opening week of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. And of course, they make several picks and predictions as well. What a week!    

This week, Chace and Ben welcome Rocklin High senior receiver Nathan Kent to the show. Kent talks to the guys about the Thunder clinching the Sierra Foothill League championship last week, how the team has overcome multiple injuries, and what it will take to add more 2021 hardware to the trophy case.  The show also embraces the Halloween Spirit this week as Ben answers some spooky-themed NorCal football questions. For instance, what's the offensive line best fit for creating one's escape path in a Zombie apocalypse?  Finally, after Northern California's 30 straight hours of rain, the hosts go down memory lane with weekly guest Terry Eidson to recall the most extreme weather games they've experienced first-hand. And, per usual, all three offer up weekly game picks and predictions for a week chock full of big games.  

This week's show points its focus toward the North Bay as hosts Chace and Ben welcome Windsor High coach Paul Cronin. Coach Cronin passed his own high school coach and mentor, Ed Lloyd, in career wins last week with victory No. 218. And if No. 219 comes this week, it's going to be heavily bittersweet. That's because his undefeated Jaguars team will host his old school, Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa, in a big North Bay League showdown Friday night.  Cronin sits down to discuss what his milestone win felt like, how emotionally taxing it's been just preparing for Cardinal Newman, and the things that have gone right for a Windsor team that debuted at No.  17 in SportStars' NorCal Football Rankings this week.  Chatter between Chace and Ben this week includes Chace adding his thoughts about Clayton Valley-Concord after covering its upset of San Ramon Valley-Danville. They also throw some props to Rocklin for its big win last week and discuss which program has the best chance to finish as the Sac-Joaquin Section's top team when all is said and done. The show also welcomes weekly guest Terry Eidson back to the show. Coach Eidson shares about his experience of returning to the sideline in an official capacity for one week to help a shorthanded De La Salle staff. He also updates us on the exploits of his fantasy football team he co-manages with Pittsburg High coach Victor Galli, and delivers his usual three picks on games from this week's NorCal slate. 

The De La Salle game at Folsom has come and gone. Chace and Ben discuss De La Salle's win and the fallout as it pertains to the larger NorCal landscape. The hosts actually cover a handful of big picture topics as we get closer to the end of the regular season, doing so as part of a new feature they call "Play or Punt." Coach Terry Eidson makes his weekly appearance and shares his views on De La Salle's win before the guys pick his brain about the least appreciated third phase of a football game: special teams. After more than three decades of building a top notch special teams unit within the Spartans program, he had a few thoughts on the matter.  Finally, all three make their weekly predictions, which included picks on several big matchups in the Sac-Joaquin Section this week. Also, if you think William Shatner going to space escaped mention in this episode, you'd be sadly mistaken. Beam into this episode! Football talk awaits.

Wednesday Oct. 6, marks the 20th anniversary of what is arguably considered California's most significant high school football game of all time — and some have made a case it's the nation's most significant high school football game to date. It was the first ever meeting between the nation's top two ranked teams. This special bonus episode features four guests: Two who coached in the game, one who played in the game and one who reported on the game.   Host Long Beach Poly was ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today, despite the fact that its opponent, De La Salle-Concord, was entering with a national-record winning streak of 116 games. A few other rankings had it flipped, but still. The game reportedly sold 17,000 tickets and 121 media credentials were issued, which included such publications as Sports Illustrated and the New York Times. A combined nine future NFL players took the field that night (including the player who joined us for this show).  Regular listeners of this podcast are aware that longtime De La Salle assistant coach Terry Eidson is a weekly visitor to our show. And we couldn't let the anniversary pass without seeing if he could roundup some of his closest friends for a chat about the monumental game. He certainly came through. Hosts Chace and Ben welcome legendary Spartans head coach Bob Ladouceur, former De La Salle star QB Matt Gutierrez, one-time De La Salle beat writer for the Contra Costa Times, Joe Stiglich, and of course Coach Eidson.