The closest any football team has come to matching the Tracy High team on the field was the Bulldogs’ 27-24 win at Los Banos in the first game of the season.

On Friday, the Bulldogs and the Tigers will meet again in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs at Wayne Schneider Stadium.

This time, Tracy (11-0) and Los Banos (8-3) will face off in a matchup of league champions. The Tigers finished their regular season in first place in the Central California Conference and edged past Modesto, 27-26, in overtime in the first round of playoffs last week.

The teams’ first meeting in September was the only time this season any squad has come within two touchdowns of the Bulldogs. Tracy has won all but three of its games by more than 21 points, and the 14-3 lead the Tigers had at halftime is the biggest lead any team has had over Tracy this year.

Tracy found its spark in the third quarter of that game and hasn’t looked back. The Bulldogs, led by quarterback Casey Wichman and running backs Depray Celestine and Jordan Strong, took an 18-17 lead into the fourth quarter — the difference being a 2-point conversion for Tracy on the Bulldogs’ first touchdown — and a safety at the start of the fourth gave Tracy the 3-point lead.

“There’s no doubt it was the tightest game of the year,” Tracy coach Mark Stroup said.

“We’ve beaten some good teams since we beat Los Banos. I think we’ll play better than the first time we played them, and my guess is they feel the same way.”

He added that Los Banos set up a tough schedule this year, with its other losses including a 39-7 loss to St. Mary’s and a 6-3 loss to Merced on a night when some key starters were missing.

Even as Tracy brings a diverse offense to the field, the Bulldogs showed again in last week’s 55-24 win over the Enochs Eagles that their defense can shut down capable opponents, too. When Tracy let down its guard at the end of the second quarter, the Eagles racked up three touchdowns in three minutes.

One of those scores, a 32-yard touchdown run, was part of the 47 total rushing yards Tracy allowed. Enochs quarterback Christian Kahler completed 8-of-27 passes for 73 yards, and the Bulldogs’ defense, led by D.J. Damon and Ricky Diaz, sacked Kahler five times for losses totaling 27 yards.

“We’ve improved our defense,” Stroup said. “Now we’ve got to get our defense at the same level as our offense is at to move forward in the playoffs.”

Tracy’s league rival, Lincoln, was bumped out of the playoffs in the first round as Burbank High of Sacramento beat the Trojans, 25-23. The winner of the Burbank vs. Monterey Trail game Friday will face the winner of Tracy vs. Los Banos.

At a glance

• WHAT: Tracy vs. Los Banos, Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs, round two

• WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday (gates open at 5 p.m.)

• WHERE: Wayne Schneider Stadium, 315 E. 11th St.