Northwood clinches a share of league title, but CIF playoff picture still up in the air

Northwood High School players celebrate Friday after winning the Dennis Toohey Fence Post Trophy. The trophy goes annually to the top team in Irvine. It’s the first time since 2012 has won the Fence Post. (Photo courtesy Northwood athletics).

Northwood High School’s football team earned a share of the Pacific Coast League title Friday night with a 31-7 victory over Irvine at Portola.

But the league race will go down to the final week with three teams still in the running for the league title. All the games are Friday at 7 p.m.

The Pacific Coast League is the upper tier four-team league within the Pacific Coast Conference.

Northwood (8-1, 2-0) can wrap up the league title outright with a victory over Dana Hills Friday at Irvine Stadium, confirmed Mark Cunningham, Irvine Unified School District Athletic Director.

It gets a bit more complicated if Dana Hills (6-3, 1-1) defeats Northwood. That would leave both teams tied for first place and Dana Hills would have the edge with a win over the Timberwolves, led by running back Adam Harper and quarterback Eugene Miyata.

The other game next Friday has Irvine (4-5, 0-2) playing at Laguna Hills (8-1, 1-1). If Laguna Hills defeats Irvine and Dana Hills beats Northwood, there would be a three-way tie for first.

Here’s how Cunningham explained how the playoff representatives would be determined if the event of a three-way tie:

“If there was a three-way tie there would be a coin toss and one team would be eliminated (for seedings purposes),” he said. “Then, who won between the remaining two teams. The winner would be the number one seed and the loser the number two seed.

“All three teams would be co-league champs but that would have no bearing on CIF playoffs. The number three team could apply for an at-large berth as could Irvine if they so desire.

“Last year, Newport Harbor was the fourth place team in the Sunset League. They applied for an at-large berth and at 3-7 were eligible for a playoff spot. They then went on to win a CIF championship.”

So Coach Tom Ricci’s Irvine team could still apply for a playoff berth even if it finished 0-3 in league. With a win, the Vaqueros would be 5-5 overall and would possibly improve their playoff chances.

Based on last year, it appears that Northwood, Laguna Hills and Dana Hills are headed to the playoffs with excellent overall records.

The playoff picture for the Pacific Coast Conference’s other division, the Pacific Hills League, is more clear with Portola clinching the top seed after a 13-10 victory over Woodbridge and University’s 21-14 victory over Beckman.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com