December 25, 2024

OC Sports Zone: Community First

Top seeds and a look ahead to this week’s CIF high school football playoffs (brackets)

Seven Orange County teams earned top seeds in the CIF football playoffs announced Sunday. The opening round games are Friday at 7 p.m. Some games could be played on Thursday or Saturday if the same teams use one stadium.

So far, two Thursday games have been scheduled.

CLICK HERE FOR FIRST ROUND OC PLAYOFF GAMES

CLICK HERE FOR REACTION FROM OC COACHES

—HIGHLIGHTS:

—-There are 218 teams in 14 divisional brackets. It’s the second year of competitive equity based individual school placement based on ratings from the CalPreps website, officials said.

—The No. 1-seeded teams include Mater Dei, Serra, Corona del Mar, Camarillo, Villa Park, San
Juan Hills, Mayfair, Brentwood, La Quinta/La Quinta, Santa Ana, Capistrano Valley Christian, Lancaster, Bishop Montgomery and Bolsa Grande.

—Mater Dei (10-0) is seeded first in Division 1, St. John Bosco (9-1) second, Centennial Corona (9-1) third and Los Alamitos (8-2) fourth. Mater Dei has a first round bye and will face the winner of the Santa Margarita vs. JSerra game on Friday, Nov. 11. That opening game will be a Santa Margarita home games.

Long Beach Poly, Los Alamitos, Centennial Corona, Mission Viejo and St. John Bosco all have byes. Orange Lutheran faces Edison in the opener. Edison is the home team.

There are 10 teams in Division 1, but a 16-team bracket is set up with byes. The Division 1 championship game is Friday, Nov. 25 at the Rose Bowl.

—Coach Dan O’Shea’s Corona del Mar Sea Kings (7-3) are seeded first in Division 3. CdM finished third in the Sunset League. El Modena is third and Yorba Linda fourth. CdM hosts Ayala in the opening round. Coach Dan O’Shea said Monday the game will be Thursday night at Newport Harbor, the Sea Kings home field.

—Two OC teams are seeded in Division 4: Newport Harbor is second and Cypress third. Newport Harbor hosts Valencia of Valencia and Cypress will host Highland in the first round. Athletic officials announced the game will be at Glover Stadium Friday night.

—Orange League champion Western earned a home game against Buena Friday night in Division 7. The Pioneers go in as the seventh seed, said Coach Dan Davidson.

—Villa Park is seeded first in Division 5. The Spartans will host Murrieta Mesa in the opening round.

—-San Juan Hills is seeded first in Division 6 and will host Palm Desert.

—-Santa Ana, the Orange Coast League No. 2 team, is seeded first in Division 10 and will host Fillmore in the opening round. Dana Hills, the No. 2 team from the Pacific Coast League, is seeded second. Sonora is seeded fourth.

—Capistrano Valley Christian, the champion from the Mesquite League, is seeded first in Division 11, Westminster is second and Segerstrom fourth. CVC will host Chino in the opening round. Segerstrom will host St. Margaret’s in the opening round.

—Bolsa Grande, the No. 3 team from the Garden Grove League, is seeded first in Division 14. Bolsa Grande will host Duarte in the opening round. The game will be Thursday at 7 p.m.

—Northwood, the Pacific Coast League champion, did not get a home game in the CIF Division 8 as Coach JC Clarke had hoped. The Timberwolves (9-1) play at Monrovia against the Rio Hondo League champions (8-2). Northwood won the Division 11 title last season but moves up to Division 8 this season. The Timberwolves did not receive a top four seed.

—Laguna Hills, the No. 2 team from the Pacific Coast League, will be on the road against Eisenhower (7-3) an at-large team from the Sunkist League.

—Orange Coast League champion Orange is home against Huntington Beach, the Sunset League at-large team, in Division 6.

—Crean Lutheran, making its first playoff appearance since 2017, gets a home game in Division 8 against Aliso Niguel. The Saints, coached by Rick Curtis, finished second in the Empire League. Aliso Niguel is an at-large team from the Sea View League.

—Irvine (4-6) did not receive an at-large berth. Coach Tom Ricci confirmed the Vaqueros applied for entry into the playoffs.

—Tustin, the third place team from the Empire League, opens on the road at Muir of Pasadena.

—Portola, the top team from the Pacific Hills League, is on the road to face Rialto in the CIF Division 12 bracket. Coach Peter Abe’s team finished 2-1 in league play.

—El Modena will host Pasadena Thursday night at El Modena in a Division 3 first round game.

—Santa Ana Valley, the No. 2 team from the Orange League, plays at Victor Valley in the opening round of Division 12.;

—Woodbridge, the No. 2 team from the Pacific Hills League, will be on the road at Rim of the World, Athletic Director Rick Gibson confirmed. The Warriors, coached by Aaron Craver, had a solid run in the playoffs last year. They finished 2-1 in the Pacific Hills League this season.

—All teams in the Irvine Unified School District, including PCL champion Northwood, will be on the road for the first week.

—Garden Grove will host Moreno Valley on Thursday night in a Division 9 first round game.

—Los Amigos qualified in Division 13 and will host Arrowhead Christian in the opening round.

CLICK HERE FOR BRACKETS FOR ALL DIVISIONS

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