Servite's one-sided victory over Long Beach Jordan in the first round of the Southern Section Pac-5 playoffs means the Friars play in the second round at
Crespi (Encino). That also means coach Troy Thomas – who won a title at Crespi as a senior defensive back in 1986 and a division title as a head coach in 2004 before joining Servite in 2005 – will be headed back to his old haunt.
Click here to view MaxPreps' California football playoff brackets.This will be the fourth consecutive season that the schools have played. Crespi won 13-10 in the 2007 semifinals, and in nonleague games, 21-20 in a 2008 while losing 38-28 in 2009.
"I think it's going to be a really good game, as all of them have been," Thomas said. "(Mission Viejo coach) Bob Johnson said something in the LA Times, 'It's the Pac-5 playoffs, every game is a game now. Anybody can beat anybody now.' That's what's great about our division. You look at some of the other divisions, the best team is going to roll everybody and not be challenge until the final. In our division, two league champions got beat by third-place teams. That shows the parity of our division, there are so many good coaching staffs and good teams that anybody can win. That's what's cool."
Third place Crespi beat Sunset League champion Los Alamitos, and third-place
Mater Dei (Santa Ana) beat Moore League champion Long Beach Poly in the first round. It sets up a second round pitting top-seeded
Mission Viejo (11-0) against
Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) (9-2) in the division's best game, along with Mater Dei (7-4) at
Tesoro (Rancho Santa Margarita) (8-3) and
Alemany (Mission Hills) (11-0) at
Lakewood (10-1).
Second-seeded
Servite (Anaheim) (11-0), the defending champion, has won 22 in a row and has been a much more dangerous team since
Malik Felton moved from wide receiver to running back. Since becoming a starter he ran for a season-low 70 yards – but on only nine carries – with two touchdowns in the 41-14 victory over Jordan in the first round. But in the previous four games – against St. John Bosco, Mater Dei, Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran – he had gained 682 yards (8.2 per carry) with seven touchdowns. He has now scored on runs of 11, 11, 87, 6, 37, 70, 15, 9 and 15 yards.
Felton also provided one of the classiest moments of the season after a 17-10 victory at Santa Margarita. After teams had exchanged handshakes and most of the Servite players had left the field, Felton stood about 10 feet away from Welch – who had had prostate cancer surgery a month earlier during a bye week in his team's schedule – while he was finishing up a post-game interview.
Finally, Santa Margarita Sports Information Director Adrian Peters interrupted: "This young man wants to say hi to you before he gets on the bus."
Felton began by saying he was proud of Welch and had been praying for him.
"Welch: Have you really? Have you really?
Felton: "Yes I have. Yes."
Welch: "Thank you."
Felton: "I heard about it. I was praying for you, hoped you were better. I'm happy that you're a lot better."
Welch: "I'm going to ask you a favor. Will you allow me to give you my gift? You don't have to wear it."
Welch then slipped off his wrist the blue rubber bracelet that he hands out to direct attention to prostate cancer awareness.
Felton: "I will wear it. I will wear it. It's an honor to me."
Welch: "I wear it. . . . Did you know that African Americans have a higher percentage of prostate cancer – that's what I have – than some others. Maybe between me and you, maybe we can save some lives. I would love that."
Felton: "Yes sir."
Welch: "But I'm very proud of you. Very proud of you."
Then they hugged twice, and Felton left for the bus, but not without making a second impression on Welch, first during the game, then after it. "That was pretty special," Welch said. "Wasn't that awesome?"
So what will Crespi (8-3) have to face in the Felton Express?
"He's marvelous," Welch said. "He's so quick, he can accelerate. You miss him and he is gone. What a class act. What a class act."
CURSED BY SERVITE?
You almost can't talk about another Servite victory in the playoffs without bringing up
Los Alamitos and its head coach, John Barnes, who suffered yet another playoff disappointment with his team's 28-14 loss at home to Crespi.
After losing to Long Beach Poly, 21-6, in the 2004 finals, Barnes accepted the head coaching job at Servite, went through the press conference, and then reneged later that day. Since that time, Los Alamitos has gone 0-5 in the playoffs (they tied for third place but missed the playoffs in 2007).
The Griffins' loss to Crespi, the third-place team from the Serra League, was the first time in that span that the Griffins scored more than seven points in the five playoff games. They have been outscored 176-42 in that span.
Barnes, Orange County's winningest coach (288-93-10), has won 47 games since turning down Servite; his teams are 26-4 (.867) in nonleague games, 21-9 (.700) in league and 0-5 in the playoffs. Barnes' overall winning percentage the past six years is .723, slightly less than it was the previous 26 years overall (.755).
By comparison, over the same six-year span, Servite's on-field results (there was one loss that later became a victory by forfeit, and two forfeit victories over JSerra) have yielded a 52-16 record (.764) under Thomas. Although he has a worse nonleague record (22-8, .733) – owing to his propensity for scheduling more difficult opponents than Los Alamitos – he makes up for it on the backside: 19-4 (.826) and six consecutive championships in league, and 11-4 (.733) in the playoffs with a chance to add to it.
FROM THE INLAND DIVISION
If
Centennial (Corona) doesn't get challenged in the playoffs, at least it will have one juicy matchup. The second-round game against
Upland (8-3) pits the Huskies (11-0) against last year's Central Division champion. Over the weekend Upland defeated Chaparral, last year's Inland champion, 40-35. Centennial also played Chaparral, and won 45-12. Upland is a good bet to score at least three points on Centennial:
Jacob Van Ginkel kicked four field goals against Chaparral, giving him 13 on the season.
The Baseline League went 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs, including a 21-16 victory for
Etiwanda over Citrus Belt champion Redlands East Valley. The CBL was 0-3, including a 34-17 loss by Redlands, which was seeded higher than Norco. That game sets up an attractive second-round matchup between
Norco (9-2) and second-seeded
Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) (10-1). The game will be played at Norco, and that's not going to be an easy place for Vista Murrieta to win.
The only one of the four Big VIII teams to lose in the first round was Corona – despite scoring 42 points. Fourth-seeded
Chino Hills won a shootout, 70-42. Running back
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu committed to Oregon earlier in the day, and then followed with four touchdowns, including a kickoff return, in a game that was 49-42 heading into the fourth quarter. Chino Hills (9-2) will play at Etiwanda (6-5) in the second round, and third-seeded
Rancho Cucamonga (10-1) will play at
Roosevelt (Corona) (9-2), which won the first playoff game in its history with a 28-21 victory over Claremont.
FROM THE NORTHERN DIVISION
There's a big game this week in the Northern Division as top-seeded
Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) (10-1) plays at
Thousand Oaks (6-5). When they played earlier this season, Oaks Christian barely survived with a 28-26 victory as it turned back a 2-point conversion attempt with 35 seconds remaining. In that game, Thousand Oaks scored the final 19 points – all in the fourth quarter – to make it close. If Oaks is to survive, it will have to do a better job of containing Thousand Oaks'
Rickey Minyard and
Richard Mullaney. Minyard scored three touchdowns in the Lancers' 28-21 come-from-behind victory over Quartz Hill, and Mullaney has 101 pass receptions. Then again, if Thousand Oaks is to advance, it would do well not to fall 21 points behind.
All four seeded teams were easy winners.
Westlake and
St. Bonaventure (Ventura), who could match up in the semifinals, are both at home (meaning a coin flip will determine the home team for the semis); Westlake (10-1) hosts
Palos Verdes (Palos Verdes Estates) (10-1) and St. Bonny (10-1) hosts
Canyon (Canyon Country) (10-1).
On the other side of the bracket, fourth-seeded
Valencia (10-1) will have its hands full at
Moorpark (6-5) in what could provide the division's big upset: The combined record of the five teams that beat Moorpark was 47-7, and only one loss was by more than a touchdown. Valencia, led by quarterback
Alex Bishop and running back
Steven Manfro, can't get caught looking ahead to Oaks Christian. Last week Bishop threw five scoring passes – in the first half – and Manfro ran for three, giving him 39 touchdowns, in an easy victory over Highland-Palmdale.
FROM THE WESTERN DIVISION
In what turned out to be an unusually competitive first round of games, five of the eight contests in the Western Division were decided by a touchdown or less, including second-seeded
Dominguez (Compton) with a 28-25 victory over at-large St. Francis on the strength of the running and passing of
Chris Brown. Willie Donerson, the Dominguez coach, told the Long Beach Press Telegram: "We had the same attitude tonight like we did in the San Gabriel Valley League, thinking nobody can beat us, and tonight we almost lost. Hopefully this game will change these kids' attitude."
Dominguez will play at
Arroyo Grande, a 27-20 winner over Rio Mesa. Other winners of close games were
Atascadero, 13-6 over Ventura;
Inglewood, 22-17 over Downey; and
Camarillo, 23-22 over Dos Pueblos.
Top seeded
Serra (Gardena) (11-0) cruised against Beverly Hills, 48-7, and will play at Camarillo (8-3); Atascadero (9-2) will play at third-seeded
Chaminade (West Hills) (10-1); and Inglewood (9-2) will play at fourth-seeded
Paso Robles (9-2).
FROM THE CENTRAL DIVISION
Corona wasn't the only team that scored a lot of points and lost. In the Central Division,
La Sierra (Riverside) – the fourth-place entry from the Inland Valley League, was beaten by second-seeded
Palm Springs, 54-49. It may have served as an example of why some teams appear to be running up the score, because Palm Springs coach Steve Fabian pulled back with a 37-point lead and rested running back
Nephi Garcia. La Sierra scored 32 points in the fourth quarter. "I started the game 57 years old and I ended it 83," Fabian told the Palm Springs Desert Sun.
The four seeded teams are still alive, but third-seeded
Arlington (Riverside) is the only one playing a home game, against
Cajon (San Bernardino);
Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley) (11-0) is at
San Gorgonio (San Bernardino) (7-4), Palm Springs (10-1) is at
Colton (8-3) and
La Quinta (8-2) is at
Chino (11-0).
NOTABLE PLAYOFF RESULTS
In the Mid-Valley division, teams seeded No. 1 and 3 were ousted in the first round. Top-seeded Azusa, previously unbeaten, fell to
Village Christian (Sun Valley) 31-24; once-beaten Arroyo was taken out by
San Dimas, 21-14. Both winners were at-large teams. The interesting thing about Azusa's loss was that it had allowed only 30 points through its first 10 games. In the final minute of that game,
Kyle Custer passed two yards to
Josh Rolls for a game-winning touchdown. Fourth-seeded
Covina (10-1) is going to be tested this week against
Whittier Christian (La Habra), whose
Stephen Anderson has passed for 23 touchdowns with six interceptions this season.
FROM THE CITY SECTION
Dion Willis had a nice night, carrying 11 times for 161 yards to lead top-seeded
Carson past Sylmar, 42-6, in the first round of the City Section Division I playoffs. Willis laid down the law right away: He scored on a 70-yard run on the game's first offensive play.
After a slow start,
Narbonne (Harbor City) got through its first round game with a decisive 60-19 victory over Jordan-Los Angeles. That sets the stage for a notable second round game between Narbonne (6-5) and second-seeded
Crenshaw (Los Angeles) (9-2), a rematch of last year's final won by Crenshaw, 34-14. Narbonne has played some teams tough this year, including three-point losses to Long Beach Poly and top-seeded Carson. If the Gauchos can match that effort – and taking the first quarter off is not considered matching that effort – it will at least make the game at Crenshaw interesting.
The top eight true seeds advanced in the City Section, setting up these other games on Friday:
Garfield (Los Angeles) (7-4) at Carson (9-2),
San Pedro (8-3) at No. 3
Venice (Los Angeles), and
Taft (Woodland Hills) (8-3) vs. No. 4
Dorsey (Los Angeles) (10-1) at Rancho Cienega Park.
Martin Henderson is a reporter for Patch.com. He began covering Southland preps in 1993 for the Los Angeles Times, and has written for several papers including the Orange County Register and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. He offers up motorsports opinions at racescribe.wordpress.com. You can reach him at southlandpreps@yahoo.com.
