California: Old adage tested in Pac-5 high school football

Edison will play host to Dana Hills (9-2), which held a halftime lead against the Chargers before Edison scored a 34-17 victory behind Matt Viles' school-record 485 yards passing and Jeff Trojan's record-tying 13 receptions on Sept. 17.

Matt Viles, Edison

File photo by Louis Lopez

Servite will try to fend off Long Beach Poly (6-5), which the Friars defeated in Zero Week, 30-7, on Sept. 3. But Poly isn't the same inexperienced group it was then, and it has made some personnel moves that include moving receiver Kaelin Clay to running back; he rushed 18 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns last week in Poly's first signature victory of the season, 24-7, over Los Alamitos.

The other team looking to go two-for-two is Laguna Hills (9-2), the third-seeded team in the Southern Division and also the defending champion, which posted a 33-14 victory over Santa Ana Segerstrom (7-4) in Week 2.

But does the adage really hold true?

Servite Coach Troy Thomas doesn't buy into it, and over the past decade, Edison has disproven it three times.

Edison defeated Servite in a nonleague game, and then in the playoffs, in 2000 and 2006; the Chargers defeated Santa Ana Mater Dei twice in 2001.

"That's what I told the team on Monday: We've beaten them once, we know how to do it," Edison coach Dave White said. "It's a chess match a little, to see how they'll change and what they'll have to do. They're better than they were eight weeks ago, and we are too. I still feel if we play our best, we'll win."

One reason Edison is better: Linebacker Jordan Zumwalt, two-time Sunset League defensive player of the year, missed the first game against Dana Hills.

On the surface, Dana Hills and Poly might be the more motivated teams, "revenge" being the operative word. But at this stage of the season, teams such as Edison, Servite and Laguna Hills can dig from within.

"It's the playoffs, so you lose and you go home," said Thomas, who hopes to guide Servite to its first title since winning back-to-back in 1982 and '83. "Motivation at this point of the year really isn't a factor."

Anyone who has seen quarterback Cody Fajardo and receiver Chris Nicholls knows Servite won't lack motivation when it steps on the field.

"We played them so long ago, we're both very different," Thomas said. "We're not looking back on the first game, but what (Poly has) done more recently, like we would of any team."

White agrees.

"At this stage, teams aren't going to change a whole lot," he said. "Dana Hills just beat a pretty good Orange Lutheran team, 30-10, and I don't think they're going to change too much.

"I'm sure they think they're going to win, and that's the only way you're going to win. It will be two confident teams. The last eight teams in the Pac-5 are confident right now. Everyone thinks they have a chance to win."

Even though Long Beach Poly (6-5) was rebuilding and was getting beat more often than it has in decades, the Jackrabbits were an opponent no team in the Pac-5 Division wanted to draw in the first round. The Jackrabbits have won more section championships than any other program, and the proud Poly heritage would probably count for something once the games mattered.

Living the nightmare was Los Alamitos (8-3), which often competes for the same elite athletes as Poly.

Poly upset Los Alamitos, 24-7, in what some called the Dylan Lagarde Bowl. Lagarde, a sophomore who transferred schools midseason, started the first three nonleague games for Poly and the last four league games for Los Alamitos.

Naturally, he was a target of his former teammates. The defense sacked Lagarde four times, including once for a safety, and had a pass intercepted. He completed 8-of-18 passes for 81 yards and one touchdown.

It might have turned out different if not for a big play by the Poly defense on Los Alamitos running back Nick Richardson, who was instrumental in the Griffins' success this season. The score was tied at 7-7and Los Alamitos was driving; at the end of a seven-yard run that would have given Los Alamitos a first down, Richardson fumbled at the 2-yard line after a monstrous hit. Poly recovered, and Los Alamitos never did.

Pasadena Muir nearly pulled off an incredible upset before falling to defending Southeast Division champion Covina Charter Oak, 20-19. Top-seeded Charter Oak took a 20-0 lead with 8:27 left in the game before Jarron Williams passed for three touchdowns in a furious comeback that nearly turned the division on its head. Williams passed 30 yards to Ormoni Duncan on a fourth-and-18 play to make it a one-point game. Muir rightfully went for the two-point conversion and the victory, but it failed when Williams' QB draw was snuffed out by Keith Smith.

It was a great performance by Muir (4-6), which won four of its final five games just to make the playoffs and reportedly has eight players back on offense and six on defense next season.

Playing on the road, Thousand Oaks (5-6) went for the two-point conversion but the pass was intercepted by Zach Tartabull to preserve a 28-27 victory for Valencia (11-0). The Lancers weren't done; they recovered an onside kick, but four passes fell incomplete to close it out.

The Southern Section has done a pretty good job in the past with seeding the top four teams for football, but anything can happen. Things that were mostly bad happened to these teams that weren't expected to be gone after the first round.

Western Division: No. 2 Culver City (9-2) was beaten 64-27 by Compton Dominguez (5-5).

Central: No. 3 Elsinore (8-3) was beaten 42-13 by Chino Hills (9-2).

Eastern: No. 1 Perris Citrus Hill (10-1) was beaten 48-36 by Fontana Summit (7-5), which ended Citrus Hill's 38-game winning streak and a bid for a third consecutive title; No. 3 Victorville Silverado (8-3) was beaten 48-27 by Apple Valley (7-5).

Mid-Valley: No. 4 El Monte Arroyo (8-3) was beaten 27-24 by La Habra Whittier Christian (8-3).

East Valley: No. 3 Lake Isabella Kern Valley (9-2) was beaten 21-19 by freelance at-large opponent Hesperia Oak Hills (9-2).

Anything can happen on the road, and all four seeded teams from three divisions will be on the road in the second round of playoffs.

In the Southeast playoffs, Charter Oak, which barely escaped the first round with a 20-19 victory over Pasadena Muir, will play at West Covina (7-4), No. 4 Burbank (9-2) is at Whittier California, No. 3 Montebello Schurr (9-1-1) is at Pomona Diamond Ranch (5-6) and No. 2 Covina South Hills (9-2) is at La Crescenta Crescenta Valley (8-3).

In the Southern Division, No. 1 Garden Grove (11-0) is at Irvine Beckman (7-3-1), No. 4 Norwalk (10-1) is at Westminster (7-4), No. 3 Laguna Hills (9-2) is at Santa Ana Segerstrom (7-4) and No. 2 La Mirada (10-1) is at Garden Grove Santiago (9-2). Segerstrom scored a 41-35 come-from-behind overtime upset of defending finalist Lakewood Mayfair.

In the Northeast Division, No. 1 Rio Hondo Prep (11-0) is at San Juan Capistrano Saddleback Valley Christian (7-4), No. 4 Mojave (8-2) is at L.A. Salesian (5-6), No. 3 Boron (9-2) is at Palos Verdes Peninsula Chadwick (10-1), and No. 2 Temecula Linfield Christian (11-0) is at Pasadena Poly (7-4).

All four leagues in the Inland Division went 2-2 in the first round of playoffs, showing enormous parity in a division that's wide open. But elsewhere in the Southern Section, there were leagues that distinguished themselves by dominating the first round of the playoffs. Here's a look at the records of the respective leagues throughout the Southern Section.

Central: Baseline 4-0, Mt. Baldy 2-1, San Andreas 1-2, Sierra 1-2, Sunbelt 0-3.

Eastern: Sunkist 3-0 (including Summit's upset of top-seeded Perris Citrus Hill, 48-36), Mojave River 3-0, Desert Valley 2-1, Desert Sky 0-3, Mountain Pass 0-3.

East Valley: Christian 2-0, Freelance 1-0 (Oak Hills), Frontier 2-1, Academy 1-1, Alpha 1-2, High Desert 1-2, DeAnza 0-2.

Inland: Big VIII 2-2, Citrus Belt 2-2, Inland Valley 2-2, Southwestern 2-2.

Mid Valley: Olympic 3-0 (doesn't have a seeded team in the bracket), Rio Hondo 2-1, Valle Vista 2-1, Mission Valley 0-3, Montview 1-3.

Northeast: Prep 3-0, Desert Mountain 2-1, Big Sky 1-2, Santa Fe 1-2, San Joaquin 1-3.

Northern: Marmonte 3-1 (only loss was fourth-place Thousand Oaks to No. 1 Valencia, 28-27), Channel 2-1, Pacific View 2-1, Foothill 1-2, PAC-7 0-3.

Northwest: Del Rey 3-0, Los Padres 3-1 (only loss was against Westlake Village Oaks Christian), Tri-Valley 1-2 (Oaks Christian was the league's only winner), Pioneer 1-2, Camino Real 0-3.

Pac-5: Serra 2-0, South Coast 2-1, Sunset 2-2, Moore 2-2, Trinity 1-2.

Southeast: Miramonte 2-1, San Antonio 2-1, Pacific 2-2, Almont 1-2, Del Rio 1-2.

Southern: Garden Grove 2-1, Suburban 2-1, Pacific Coast 2-1, Golden West 2-1, Orange Coast 0-3.

Southwest: Sea View 3-0, Century 2-1, Empire 2-2 (losses were to the two top-seeded teams, La Habra and Tustin), Freeway 1-2, Orange 0-3.

Western: Mission 3-0, Bay 2-1, San Gabriel Valley 2-1, Golden 1-3, Ocean 0-3.

Cooper had 210 yards and three touchdowns against Summit before leaving with a sprained ankle early in the second half and trailing 28-22.

Cooper will probably drop further down the list: Chaffey's Ronald Douglas (2,435 yards, 22 TDs) and second-seeded Tustin's Anthony Wilkerson (2,322 yards, 34 TDs) are still alive in the playoffs.

Nielsen's receiver, Shaan Johnson, finished with 76 receptions, making him No. 1 in the Southland and No. 6 in the state, with 14 TDs.

One of the great coaches in the history of Orange County football had his season ended with a first-round loss. Terry Henigan announced he was retiring after this season, and that became official after Irvine was upset by Westminster, 20-16. Irvine (7-4) won three titles under Henigan, who coached there for 29 years. His record is 219-41-6.

Westminster (7-4) went for broke to send Henigan home early. The Lions trailed, 16-13, when Robert Camacho threw a halfback pass that was completed to Tarik Rayford. Actually, the pass was tipped by the intended receiver and a defender, but Rayford was in the right spot at the right time and snared the ball as it reached the ground to complete a 23-yard scoring pass with nine seconds remaining. Rayford said he was a decoy on the play but was looking to grab a deflection if necessary.

It was necessary, and he got the benefit of the doubt from the official.

Outstanding sophomore DaVonte Young of Irvine left the game with an injured shoulder in the second quarter with Irvine holding a 10-0 lead.

"It was a great game," Henigan told the Orange County Register. "I'm proud of our guys. I have too many great memories to feel sad about it. I had a great time."

Has there been a team with more drama this seasons than Woodland Hills Taft?

Morgan's not the only issue facing Taft. Leading receiver Donnel Robinson is reportedly scheduled to miss the first quarter for disciplinary reasons, and quarterback Bam Goodall is questionable after feeling dizzy in last week's game.

On the other side of the bracket, L.A. Locke is at second-seeded Carson (9-2) and Harbor City Narbonne (6-5) is at third-seeded Venice (10-1).

Russell Otis, the former Compton Dominguez boys basketball coach who won six state titles from 1987-2008, is scheduled to be in court again on Dec. 1, at which time prosecutors will announce whether they will retry Otis on a felony sex charge of meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose, a charge that deadlocked 10-2 in favor of conviction at Otis' trial earlier this month. Otis' attorneys will appeal a misdemeanor conviction of child molestation stemming from hundreds of text messages sent to one of his players. The misdemeanor will require Otis, 46, to register as a sex offender the rest of his life.

The MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national ranking is well represented by Southland teams as they prepare for the basketball season next week.

In boys rankings, Westchester is ranked No. 7, Taft is No. 12 and Santa Ana Mater Dei is No. 15. In the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings, which are computer-based, Westchester is No. 1, Mater Dei is No. 12, L.A. Fairfax is No. 24 and Taft is No. 58.

On the girls side, Mater Dei is No. 1 in the Xcellent 25, followed by No. 5 Brea Olinda and No. 8 Long Beach Poly; in the Freeman rankings, Brea is No. 1, Mater Dei is No. 2, Poly is No. 4 and San Bernardino Cajon is No. 6.

Five freshmen boys who are football and basketball players at Long Beach Poly were arrested on suspicion of sexual battery; they allegedly circled and groped two freshman girls. The boys were released to the custody of their parents.

"These students are facing some signficant disciplinary measures for it. We don't turn a blind eye to that sort of thing," said Chris Eftychiou, a spokesperson for Long Beach Unified Schools.

Three were reportedly suspended for five days, two others moved to alternative schools.