Bosco, Poly lead area teams into CIF-SS playoffs
The Press-Telegram area are well-represented in the CIF Southern Section football playoffs as 17 of the area's 27 teams received postseason berths when the pairings were announced Sunday morning.
St. John Bosco (9-1) is the No. 1 seed in Division 1, which is comprised of eight teams. The Braves will host No. 8 San Clemente (9-1) in the first round on Nov. 10.
Divisions 2-14 all have 16-team brackets and first-round games on Friday at 7 p.m., unless otherwise noted.
Here is a look at the first-round matchups for the area teams:
Division 1
SAN CLEMENTE (9-1) AT ST. JOHN BOSCO (9-1), NOV. 10
The Braves, who went undefeated in the Trinity League, will try to win the Division 1 title in back-to-back seasons.
“We are excited about playing a league champion who we really respect in San Clemente,” St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said. “They are one of the most wellcoached football teams in South OC.
“We will need to be able to stop their vaunted run game and find a way to slow down running back Aiden Rubin who's rushed for nearly 2,000 yards.
Offensively, we will have to be able to control the football and eliminate mistakes against their stingy defense.
Lastly, we have to be able to match their physicality on both sides of the ball. They play an oldschool brand of football that is hard to match up against. We have our work cut out for us.”
Division 2
POLY (9-1) VS. VISTA MURRIETA (6-4) AT VETERANS STADIUM, FRIDAY
The Jackrabbits, once projected as the No. 5 seed in the Division 1 playoffs, enter the postseason as the No. 2 seed in Division 2 after going undefeated in the Moore League.
“I understood we have no control of that from the beginning of the season,” Poly coach Stephen Barbee said. “Something that we tried to do at the beginning of all our seasons since I've been at Long Beach Poly, we've tried to schedule some of the best teams in Southern California
and the nation on our schedule.
“This past year, we scheduled a Division 1 state champ (Konawaena) out of Hawaii. We won that. We lost to the No. 1 team in the nation right now up in Oregon, Bishop Gorman (60-15 loss on Aug. 25). We played both perennial top 10 teams in the state in Serra and Mission Viejo and we were able to win those. We could have done nothing more than what we did to be very honest.”
Barbee said it's time for his team to turn their page from not playing in Division 1 and focus on their first-round matchup against Vista Murrieta in the Division 2 playoffs.
“Ultimately, this Division 2 bracket is loaded with incredibly talented teams that will make for an extremely exciting playoff run,” Barbee said.
However, Barbee said that does not mean his team will not be motivated by being slotted in Division 2 instead of Division 1.
“We set our schedule to be in Division 1,” Barbee said. “We understand what our (Moore) league entails.
“We are in our league and there's nothing we can do about that. We continue to try to schedule some of the toughest nonleague schedules around and we'll continue to do that moving forward. Again, this is something that is completely out of our reach and we had no say in what division we were in, so until you bring in a human factor into this or a lot of these at-large teams that didn't even get an automatic qualifier, send them home to be very honest. If you're not an automatic bid, we had teams that are 5-5 ahead of us.”
LOS ALAMITOS (8-2) VS. UPLAND (82) AT WESTMINSTER HIGH, FRIDAY
The Griffins enter the Division 2 playoffs after going undefeated in the Sunset League.
“I think D2 is loaded with great high school football teams,” Los Alamitos coach Ray Fenton said. “Every first-round game is a great matchup between two really good high school teams.
“I think it's what CIF had envisioned when they went to this model, 16-team brackets of great high school football teams. D2 looks like the best matchups across the board.”
Division 3
MILLIKAN (7-3) VS. VILLA PARK (9-1) AT EL MODENA HIGH, FRIDAY
The Rams enter the Division 3 playoffs as the Moore League's second-place team, having lost 26-23 in overtime to Long Beach Poly on Sept. 29. Millikan was surprised when it learned it will play Villa Park in the first round.
“It's so tough not knowing who you're playing, looking on Twitter and looking at the projections and doing it ourselves,” Millikan coach Romeo Pellum said.
“It just shows it's unpredictable. It's hard to figure it out and no one will truly know until CIF decides who is in Division 1 and it will go from there.”
WARREN (8-2) AT TUSTIN (10-0), FRIDAY
The Bears enter the Division 3 playoffs as the back-to-back Gateway League champions.
“I think we have a tough draw,” Warren coach Kevin Pearson said. “Tustin and us are the only firstplace teams to play each other in the first round, so it's going to be tough for both of us.
“It's a competitive matchup. They have really good athletes on both sides of the ball. On offense, we'll have to slow down their running back, who is really fast and put pressure on their quarterback who has some really good targets. Always in the playoffs, you have to be very well disciplined, play with great effort and take care of the football.”
Division 4
DOWNEY (8-2) AT CAPISTRANO VALLEY (7-3), FRIDAY
Division 7
MAYFAIR (7-3) VS. VILLAGE CHRISTIAN (7-3) AT BELLFLOWER HIGH, FRIDAY
“It's always great to host playoff games,” Mayfair coach Derek Bedell said. “Coach (Richard) Broussard does a really good job up at Village Christian . ... We don't know too much about them but I know it will be a challenge. They play in a good league and we'll take (Sunday afternoon) to figure it out.”
Bedell knows bettering last season's postseason run to the Division7 semifinals will rest on his team's strengths, which are athleticism and quarterback play from junior Jeremiah Calvin.
“I think leaning on who we are as an athletic group is going to help us,” Bedell said.
One of the Monsoons' standout two-way players this season has been sophomore receiver/defensive back Chaz Gilbreath. He had four receptions for 160 yards and two touchdowns in Mayfair's 49-29 win against Norwalk on Friday. On defense, Gilbreath had four tackles, one tackle for loss, and recovered a fumble and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown.
“The best part about it for us is he's only a sophomore, so (we're expecting) great things from him in the playoffs and we're going to have to lean on him,” Bedell said. LAKEWOOD (5-5) AT ML KING (6-4), FRIDAY
“We are excited to be in our division,” Lakewood coach Justin Utupo said. “ML King is a good football program. They are coached well and have talent at every position.”
JORDAN (7-3) AT CHINO (10-0), FRIDAY
Division 8
TAHQUITZ (8-2) AT ST. ANTHONY (82), FRIDAY
The Saints enter the playoffs as the undefeated Del Rey League champions.
“Obviously, limiting mistakes and controlling the line of scrimmage (is paramount),” St. Anthony coach Raul Lara.
ST. PIUS X-ST. MATTHIAS (4-5) AT BARSTOW (7-3), FRIDAY
The Warriors enter the playoffs as the second-place Del Rey League team. Coach Devah Thomas said he was surprised to learn his team will play at Barstow in the first round.
“First-round matchup, I didn't see us playing them and we have to go very far, but welcome to the CIFSS playoffs,” Thomas said. “We have to execute and play as a team. Do all the right things and play fast.”
Division 9
KAISER (7-3) AT DOMINGUEZ (6-4), FRIDAY
“(Kaiser) looks athletic,” Dominguez coach Deon Toliver said. “We need to play mistake-free football.”
Division 11
BELLFLOWER (7-3) AT PALMDALE (64), FRIDAY
The Buccaneers, who were the Division 11 runners-up last season, enter the playoffs as the back-toback Mid-Cities League champions for the first time since the 1980s.
“Palmdale always has a ton of talent, and this year is no different,” Bellflower coach Jason Miller said. “They could easily be in Division 7 or 8.
“Obviously, the challenge of a long road trip is another obstacle. Hopefully, the distance will bring us together and keep us focused. Winning will take our most disciplined effort of the year.”
GAHR (7-3) AT QUARTZ HILL (7-3), FRIDAY
Division 12
CERRITOS (5-5) AT FILLMORE (7-3), FRIDAY
Division 14
TEMECULA PREP (5-5) AT ARTESIA (6-4), FRIDAY
WEBB (7-1) AT LYNWOOD (5-5), FRIDAY