Nov. 4, 2024

There was no shock but still a lot of excitement Sunday afternoon when it was announced that the unbeaten Hughson Huskies earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Sac-Joaquin Section Division 5 playoffs.

Coach Shaun King had gathered his players and coaches for a pizza party at Reeder Hall on the Hughson campus. The 10-0 Huskies – who won their first Trans-Valley League championship since 1998 – were the odds-on favorites to earn the coveted top seed and one of four first-round byes when the playoffs kick off this Friday.

Still, when the formal announcement came, a roar went up in the room.

“It’s not a surprise, but it’s still special,” said King, whose team was moved up to Division 5 this year after claiming back-to-back Section Division 6 titles the past two years and a State Division 5-AA championship in 2022.

The Huskies won’t play again until Nov. 15, when they will host the winner of this week’s game between No. 8 El Dorado (5-5) of Placerville and No. 9 Lincoln (7-3).

“We had no idea who was going to be the eighth and ninth seeds,” said King, who will go with his coaches to scout both schools Friday. “We don’t know anything about them.”

The other half of Hughson’s bracket includes No. 4 Union Mine (8-2) of El Dorado, who also has a bye this week. Union Mine will host the winner of No. 5 Casa Roble (6-4) of Orangevale and No. 12 Foothill (6-4) of Sacramento.

Because Modesto Christian forfeited to Hughson last week, King and his coaching staff had a free Friday to scout potential playoff opponents. They drove to Sutter to watch it clinch the No. 2 seed in Division 5 by defeating Casa Robles 42-21 in the rain. Sutter (9-1) is a familiar foe to Hughson. The two teams met in the Division 6 semifinals last year, with Hughson winning on the road against the top seed 21-14.

This season, Sutter’s side of the bracket this time includes No. 3 Lathrop (9-1), which will face the winner of No. 6 Hilmar (4-6) and No. 11 Livingston (5-5), as well as No. 7 Oakmont (7-3) of Roseville against No. 10 Dixon (5-5). The winner of that game gets Sutter in the second round.

“I look at my bracket and the two seed looks like a good bracket to be in,” King said. “We have Casa at No. 5. If it wasn’t raining last Friday, they might have had a different outcome against Sutter. Casa won D5 last year. And Union Mine (the fifth seed) looks like a good opponent also.”

Hughson almost found a school to replace Modesto Christian last week. King and Athletic Director Justice Futch had discussions as late as Wednesday with officials from Bear River of Grass Valley, who also had an opponent decide not to play.

“We talked but they didn’t want to play us,” King said. “I was trying to do everything I could to get a game. I was willing to go there. They’re 8-2, but they’re not getting a bye like we are (the Bruins play Ripon Christian this week in the Division 6 playoffs).”

Instead of a long drive to Grass Valley, the Huskies settled for a short week of practice, with mixed results.

“We practiced on Tuesday, but it was horrible,” King admitted. “I was bored. If I’m bored, I know the team’s bored.”

He mixed some drills with a 7-on-7 competition on Wednesday, then gave his players the next two days off. This week, they’ll practice through Wednesday, then have a group outing bowling Thursday night at the Ten Pin Fun Center in Turlock. The players will form teams to go against each other … and their coaches.

“It’s about team bonding and staying together, and we’ll still be competing,” King said.

By the time Hughson takes the field again, it will have had a three-week break between games. That could be concerning for some coaches, but not King.

“You know what? I still feel good about where the team is at,” he said. “If we weren’t such a veteran, mature team, I would be more worried. When it’s time to hit the field again, I think we’ll be ready.”