Troy Mott said it would be an honor for his football team to one day accept a bid to play in the biggest game of the year, the CIF State Championship Bowl.

Unfortunately for Napa High, 2007 won’t be that year, despite the Indians winning their first CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I title.

Section commissioners from around the state Sunday selected undefeated and nationally ranked De La Salle-Concord (12-0) to represent Northern California in the Division I state title game.

The Spartans, who won their 16th consecutive North Coast Section title Saturday night with a 37-0 blowout of California-San Ramon, will advance to play Centennial-Corona in one of the three CIF State Football Championship Bowl Games presented by Farmers Insurance set to take place Dec. 15 at Home Depot Center in Carson.

“The selection committee made a commitment to a complete process during which all 47 schools were presented by their respective commissioner and discussed thoroughly,” said CIF Executive Director Marie M. Ishida. “I applaud the other 41 section champions for their performances this season.”

De La Salle has been ranked No. 1 in multiple polls and in Northern California for most of the season. Nine of its 12 games were against teams that advanced to their section playoffs. The Spartans were dominant throughout the NCS playoffs, recording shutouts in two of their last three games.

“De La Salle is who they are,” Mott said Sunday. “They’re a pretty darn good football program and I’m sure that they’re more than deserving of the nomination. My hat’s off to them. But this does nothing to take away the accomplishments we had this year. I certainly would have loved to take this team. I know this team and I know that they would be motivated and excited to keep playing. Who knows down the road what will happen? We want to just take it year by year. But there’s no doubt that if that day ever came, we’d be honored to accept that bid to play and represent our community and our school in that game. That would be just a wonderful thing for everyone involved.”

A 38-36 win over St. Mary’s-Stockton in the finals of the Sac-Joaquin playoffs capped a 13-1 season for Napa, the Monticello Empire League champion which was ranked No. 17 in the state’s Top 25 poll coming into the game, according to Cal-Hi Sports. John Boyett had a huge game, running for three touchdowns, passing for another, throwing a two-point conversion pass, rolling up 314 yards of total offense, and leading the Indians on a game-clinching 54-yard drive in four plays that ended with Jake Croxdale bursting through the line on a 23-yard TD run with 6:50 to go.

Boyett also picked up key first downs on Napa’s last possession as the Indians ran out the clock, sparking a joyous celebration that continued well after the game ended.

“Our football program should be very, very proud of just the fact that we’re in the running for such a prestigious honor to represent the north in a state bowl game,” said Mott. “We’re very, very happy. Our kids are very proud of what they’ve accomplished this year. We feel really good about what we’ve accomplished this year and our kids should feel good about themselves.

“I’m just really, really proud to be their coach. It’s a great memory for not just our team, but our community. I can’t speak enough about just our alumni and the amazing people that have gotten behind us. We’re just going to ride it for a while and enjoy it.”

To be eligible for state championship bowl games, teams must have been their respective CIF section champion. There were a total of 47 section champions — 23 from Northern California and 24 from Southern California.

Guidelines — all weighted equally — used to select the teams included won-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition and common opponents. Various rankings and media reports also were used as informational sources in the selection process. Margin of victory or anticipated fan support were not factors in team selection.

“Never at any point was margin of victory discussed, nor should it ever be one of the criteria in high school sports,” event director Ken Gunn said in a teleconference. “Every team was talked about. The commissioners did a great job of talking about every team. Every team that was on there, the commissioners talked about.

“I was impressed with the selection committee. They showed depth of knowledge, thorough evaluation of all potential entrants and worked exceptionally well together.”

All three state championship games, which involve six teams, will be played Dec. 15 at Home Depot Center in Carson. The Division III game will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by Division II at 3:30 p.m. and the Division I contest at 7:30 p.m.

A Week 2 nonleague loss to Granite Bay (37-26) may have hurt Napa’s chances.

“We did everything we feel like we could have done,” said Mott. “Obviously, we could have had one more win against Granite Bay. But at that time in the year we really hadn’t been thinking about the state bowl game at all and were really just focused on small goals and one week at a time. Now here at the end, to be considered for it and to be in the running for it, is an honor in itself.”

Napa won four straight playoff games, coming from behind in the semifinals to beat Elk Grove (28-24) and then coming back four different times to beat St. Mary’s (12-2 overall), which got a big game from Cody Vaz. He threw for 294 yards with five touchdown passes.

“From my perspective, it’s just been amazing to watch our kids fight through adversity,” Mott said. “All the things that you want to teach them as a teacher and a coach, they displayed it in the last two weeks. It’s just so gratifying to be able to see these young men overcome adversity, stay together and fight together to the very end. And then to be rewarded both weeks with wins is just amazing.”

Assistant coach Jerry Dunlap said: “This program’s worked so hard. What an outstanding group of kids to work with. They’re just absolutely awesome.”

Novato (13-0), a Marin County Athletic League school, faces Oceanside (11-1) in the Div. II game. Central Catholic-Modesto (11-1-1) and St. Bonaventure-Ventura (13-1) meet in the Div. III game.

Novato was the Class 2A champion from the North Coast Section. Novato was victorious over previously undefeated Del Norte and Las Lomas-Walnut Creek in the semifinals and finals, respectively. The Hornets are 35-3 over the last three seasons and are currently riding a 25-game win streak. Seven of their 13 wins were against teams that reached the NCS playoffs.

Strength of schedule plays a big part in the selection process, said Ishida.

“One loss is not going to keep you out from consideration,” said Ishida. “We clearly look at their record.”

The CIF will vote in January on continuing the state bowl games and also expanding the field to five divisions. Officials are also looking into potential sites in Northern California that could host the games.

All games will be broadcast live on FSN Prime Ticket (Southern California) and FSN Bay Area (Northern California), with the lone exception being the Division III game, which will be shown live on FSN Bay Area Plus, available on satellite or digital cable.

Tickets are available at the Home Depot Center Box Office, local TicketMaster outlets or ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for high school students (with a valid ASB card), seniors (60 years and older) and children. All tickets are for general admission seating and are valid for all three games.