Crystal Creamery is honoring six Sac-Joaquin Section championship football teams with its commemorative milk cartons that are now available in grocery and convenience stores from Bakersfield to the Oregon border.
Included are SJS Division III champion Manteca High, Division IV champion Sierra and Division V champion Ripon, which went on to claim the California Interscholastic Federation Division 4-AA title.
“Crystal Creamery is proud to recognize these football champions on our commemorative cartons for achieving the highest honor in their sport,” said Brian Carden, Crystal Creamery’s senior director of sales.
“With these cartons, Crystal Creamery wants to provide a fun, lasting memory of a very special moment for each of the student athletes, their coaches and their families.”
While Crystal Creamery has done this for SJS champions annually since 2012, the Modesto-based company has expanded its sponsorship to include the Central and North Coast sections.
Manteca claimed its seventh section title with a 33-14 win over Placer in the Division III final and finished 11-3 after falling to Oakland powerhouse McClymonds in the CIF State Northern California Division 2-A Bowl Game.
Cross-town rival Sierra (11-4) upset the top two seeds on its way to claiming the SJS Division IV banner, its second overall, defeating Valley Oak League foe Oakdale 22-19 in the thrilling final. The Timberwolves lost to Rancho Cotate off Rohnert Park 10-0 in the Division 3-A NorCal Bowl.
Ripon (14-1) also won its second section crown but extended the historic postseason campaign to the state championship round. The Indians knocked off SJS Division V No. 1 seed Center 21-13 and dominated Northern Section giant Sutter 31-14 in the NorCal regional. They then edged out Highland of Palmdale 31-28 for their first state title and were named Cal-Hi Sports Small Schools Team of the Year.
Other section champions honored by Crystal Creamery:
Oak Ridge (SJS Division I), Elk Grove (SJS D-II), Escalon (SJS D-VI), Central (CS D-I), San Joaquin Memorial (CS D-II), Bakersfield Christian (CS D-III), Selma (CS D-IV), Caruthers (CS D-V), Bishop (CS D-VI), De La Salle (NCS D-I), Clayton Valley (NCS D-II), Rancho Cotate (NCS D-III), Cardinal Newman (NCS D-IV), Del Norte (NCS D-V), St. Bernard’s (NCS D-VI) and Salesian (NCS D-VII).
“We greatly appreciate Crystal Creamery’s sponsorship of the Sac-Joaquin Section. The cartons have become part of the tradition of winning a Section Championship,” SJS Commissioner Mike Garrison said. “It is a special trophy for these schools and teams to add to the trophy case.”