The Sac-Joaquin Section playoff brackets have been announced, and Denair High School will see a familiar face in the opening round of the Division 7 playoffs.

The fifth-seeded Coyotes will take on No. 4 Mariposa, a rematch of their Oct. 10 encounter when the Grizzlies came away with a 24-23 overtime victory at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds.

Denair will make another 80-minute trip to Mariposa on Nov. 14. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

“We’re OK with our seeding and our first-round opponent,” said DHS head coach Anthony Armas. “We were ranked fifth by MaxPreps after Friday and we figured we’d stay there. We’re happy we get a second chance with Mariposa. Things didn’t go the way we would’ve liked in the first go ’round.”

The SJS adopted a new postseason format for football, taking MaxPreps’ top eight ranked teams in each division and placing them into a three-round postseason tournament. Meanwhile, the 9-16 teams in those rankings will be paired for a bowl game that will be their final action of the season, win or lose.

All bowl games will be played this Friday night, with the regular games kicking off the following week. While some playoff teams would rather maintain their momentum and roll straight into the playoffs instead of having a week off, Armas welcomes the rest.

“We’re OK with it,” said Armas. “At this point in the season, we’ll take any time we can get to get healthy and prepare.”

The Coyotes closed the regular season with a 59-34 win over a stubborn Waterford squad, improving their record to 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the Southern League to secure a share of the conference title with Mariposa and Stone Ridge Christian (Merced).

Bryson Salazar rushed for 292 yards on 14 carries – a staggering 21 yards per attempt – and five touchdowns, while teammate Degan Butler (who owns the school’s single-game rushing record with 315 yards) had 105 yards and three TDs on 20 carries.