(PHOTO: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Mater Dei (Division 1), Huntington Beach (Division 5) and Beckman (Division 8) earned top seeds for the CIF Southern Section football playoffs that begin this week, CIF officials said Sunday.
The playoffs include 218 teams in 14 divisional brackets, according to CIF officials. This is the fourth year of competitive equity based individual school placement formulated by ratings from the Calpreps website.
Most games are scheduled for Friday, but could be moved to Thursday or Saturday if there are stadium conflicts. Four schools from the Garden Grove Unified School District have home games.
Under the new system, league champions are no longer guaranteed home games for the openers. Brea Olinda and Saddleback, both league champions, are on the road.
The No. 1-seeded teams in the playoffs are Mater Dei, Murrieta Valley, Simi Valley, St. Bonaventure, Huntington Beach, Muir, West Torrance, Beckman, Highland, St. Anthony, Don Lugo, Mary Star of the Sea, Gahr and Nordhoff.
The Division 1 bracket is a 16-team bracket with six teams receiving byes.
Games are scheduled for 7 p.m.
Trinity League champion Mater Dei (9-0) is top seeded, Trinity League runner-up St. John Bosco (9-1) is second, Trinity League No. 3 team Orange Lutheran (7-3) is third and Alpha League champion Mission Viejo (10-0) is seeded fourth.
Mater Dei, Centennial Corona, Mission Viejo, Orange Lutheran, JSerra and St. John Bosco all have byes.
Santa Margarita (4-6), an at-large entry from the Trinity League, hosts Inglewood (10-0) Friday night. Trinity League at-large team Servite (6-4) plays at Sierra Canyon (7-3).
A look at the other brackets:
DIVISION 2: Murrieta Valley (8-2) is seeded first. Bravo League champion San Juan Hills (9-1) is seeded fourth. Los Alamitos (5-5) and San Clemente (5-5) earned at-large berths.
DIVISION 3: Simi Valley (9-1) is the top-seed. Bravo League No. 3 team Villa Park (7-3) is second, Alpha League runner-up Edison (6-4) is third and Delta League runner-up Tustin (9-1) is fourth. Tustin hosts Loyola Friday.
Crean Lutheran, which finished second in the Epsilon League, is also in Division 3 and will play on the road against Moore League champion Long Beach Millikan (8-2).
DIVISION 4: St. Bonaventure (6-4) is seeded first, Delta League No. 3 team El Modena (8-2) is second and Delta League runner-up Capistrano Valley (8-2) is fourth.
DIVISION 5: Huntington Beach is top seed, Palos Verdes second, Moorpark third and La Serna fourth. Western (5-5), Foothill (5-5) and Trabuco Hills (5-5) earned at-large berths.
Kappa League champion Brea Olinda (10-0) plays at Palos Verdes (5-5) in the opener. Western plays at Huntington Beach.
DIVISION 6: Foxtrot League co-runner-up Dana Hills (8-2) is seeded second. Aliso Niguel (7-3) earned an at-large berth. Northwood, which tied for second in the Foxtrot League, also advanced and hosts Ayala at Irvine Stadium.
DIVISION 7: West Torrance (8-2) is top-seeded. There were no OC at-large entries. Marina, which tied for first place in the Lambda League, hosts Yucaipa (6-4) in the opening round.
DIVISION 8: Beckman (9-1) which shared the Lambda League title with Marina and Kennedy, is seeded first, Kappa League runner-up Segerstrom (7-3) is seeded second. Cypress (2-8) earned an at-large berth.
Beckman hosts Rancho Mirage (6-4) in the opener at Tustin most likely on Saturday. Segerstrom hosts Paramount (9-1) Friday. Paramount is the Mid-Cities League champion.
Irvine (6-4) the No. 2 team from the Iota League, plays at Los Osos (7-3). Los Osos is an at-large team from the Sierra League.
DIVISION 9: Highland (6-4) is top seeded. Sonora (6-4) earned an at-large berth.
DIVISION 10: St. Anthony (5-5) is the top seed. No at-large teams from OC were selected. Omicron League champion Pacifica (5-5) hosts La Canada (8-2) in the opener.
DIVISION 11: Don Lugo (5-5) is the top-seed and Sigma League champion Los Amigos is seeded third. Capistrano Valley Christian (5-5) earned an at-large berth. Portola (4-6), the No. 2 team from the Omicron League, plays at Don Lugo in the opener. Los Amigos (10-0) hosts Perris (7-3) in the opener.
DIVISION 12: Mary Star of the Sea (8-2) is the top seed. No OC teams earned at-large berths. Woodbridge, by virtue of winning its last two league games under acting Coach John Halagan, advances and plays at Palmdale (5-5). Palmdale is an at-large team from the Golden League.
DIVISION 13: Gahr (5-5) is the top seed. Tango League champion Anaheim is the No. 4 seed. There were no at-large berths. Calvary Chapel, the No. 3 team from the Sigma League, will be home for its opener vs. El Monte (6-4). Calvary Chapel plays home games at Segerstrom.
DIVISION 14: Nordhoff (7-3) earned the top seed. La Quinta (5-5) earned an at-large berth and will host Saddleback, the Zeta League champion in the opening round Thursday at Garden Grove. The Roadrunners, coached by Rob Thompson, will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Tango League runner-up Costa Mesa (7-3) is seeded fourth and will host Desert Christian Academy (9-1) in the opener.
Century, the No. 2 team from the Zeta League, will play at Arroyo. It’s Century’s first CIF playoff appearance since 2004. Godinez, which finished tied for second with Century in the Zeta League and was 5-5 overall, missed out on at-large berth. Two teams from the league advanced with Century moving on by virtue of Friday’s win over Godinez.
TO SEE THE CIF BRACKETS, CLICK HERE:
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—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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