Cardinal Newman meets Rancho Cotate Friday in high school football playoff semifinal game

Seven teams representing the Redwood Empire will be in action this weekend when the North Coast Section football playoffs resume with semifinal games.

Two of the games will feature teams from the same league meeting in a playoff rematch, and in one case - Cardinal Newman against Rancho Cotate in Division 3 - the game is a “re-rematch,” an unusual if not unique case of teams playing for a third time in a single season.

The Rancho-Newman game tonight at Santa Rosa Junior College is the headline matchup.

The Cougars won the first meeting - a quickly arranged October exhibition after the North Bay wildfires wiped out part of the regular season - while the Cardinals won the regular-season finale earlier this month to claim the North Bay League championship.

The winner will advance to next weekend’s championship game against either Marin Catholic or Bishop O’Dowd, who play in the other Division 3 semifinal game, on Saturday night.

Also tonight, in Division 5, North Central League I rivals Middletown and Kelseyville will meet with a berth in the championship game at stake. The two teams met on Sept. 15 at Kelseyville in their first league game and the visiting Mustangs escaped with a 7-6 victory.

Also tonight, in Division 2, fifth-seeded Windsor travels to Campolindo to meet the division’s top-ranked team.

There are two games on the Saturday schedule featuring Redwood Empire teams. In Division 2, sixth-seeded Ukiah is at second-seeded Granada, and in Division 5, fourth-seeded Clear Lake travels to play top-seeded St. Patrick/St. Vincent.

All playoff games are scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.

TONIGHT

All kickoffs at 7 p.m.

(seedings in parentheses)

Division 2

(5) Windsor at (1) Campolindo

Division 3

(2) Cardinal Newman vs. (3) Rancho Cotate at SRJC

Division 5

(2) Middletown vs. (3) Kelseyville

SATURDAY

Division 2

(6) Ukiah at (2) Granada

Division 5

(4) Clear Lake at (1) St. Patrick/St. Vincent