LOS ALAMITOS – Opportunity arrived Sunday for Orange County high school football teams in a few different forms with the release of the CIF-Southern Section playoff pairings.
Rematches, at-large berths and chances for postseason glory were spread across numerous divisions. The first round begins Friday.
The anticipated Division 1 bracket delivered three games with heavy rematch themes.
South Coast League champion San Clemente (6-4) drew a home game against Murrieta Valley (6-4), which beat the Tritons 55-38 in Murrieta in early September.
Orange Lutheran (5-5), an at-large entry from the Trinity League, plays in the first round at No. 2 seed Centennial of Corona (10-0), which posted a 45-28 victory against the Lancers in late August.
And for the second consecutive year, JSerra (8-2) will open the playoffs at Long Beach Poly (8-2) at Veterans Stadium. The Jackrabbits beat the Lions 60-44 in a wild first-round game last November in Long Beach.
RELATED: Breakdowns, predictions for all 13 divisions
Division 2 and Division 4 also offer replays.
Edison (5-5) plays in the Division 2 first round at Sea View League champion San Juan Hills (7-3), which lost to the Chargers 33-14 in early September. Villa Park (10-0), seeded second in Division 4 behind No. 1 Corona del Mar, plays host to Yucaipa (5-5), which the Spartans defeated 28-12 in August.
San Juan Hills might approach its second chance the same way as the Tritons.
“It will be a great test to see if we have improved since we played (Murrieta Valley),” San Clemente coach Jaime Ortiz said Sunday. “They are a solid program with an explosive offense and tenacious defense. They are well-coached.”
The San Clemente-Murrieta Valley rematch quickly drew the television spot for Fox Sports West game of the week, but raised questions about Tritons quarterback Brendan Costello, who was injured in the league title-clinching victory against Mission Viejo on Oct 19.
“Costello is still not cleared,” Ortiz said of the Oklahoma State commit. “Hope to know by game time. … Drayton (Joseph) is ready if needed.”
The San Clemente-Murrieta Valley winner could meet top-seeded St. John Bosco (10-0), the Trinity League champion and top-ranked team in the nation by MaxPreps, in the second round.
Katella (Division 8) and Corona del Mar (Division 4) were the lone county teams to earn No. 1 seeds, while Villa Park (Division 4), St. Margaret’s (Division 6), Valencia (Division 7) and Laguna Beach (Division 12) took No. 2 seeds.
Trinity League runner-up Mater Dei (8-2) drew the No. 3 seed in Division 1 and a first-round playoff game at Valencia of Valencia (7-3), last season’s Division 2 runner-up to Oaks Christian. As expected, the Monarchs landed on the same side of the bracket as No. 2-seeded Centennial.
Mater Dei, the reigning Division 1 champion, also is positioned in the same quarter of the bracket as Mission Viejo. The Diablos (5-5) open Friday at Bishop Amat (9-1) in another top matchup. The winner could meet Mater Dei in the second round.
“I know (Bishop Amat) pretty well,” said Mission Viejo coach Chad Johnson, who faced the Lancers while the offensive coordinator at St. John Bosco. “Really well-coached team. Super disciplined, physical. … It’s a really cool stadium (at Bishop Amat). That’s going to be fun for us.”
Ocean View was one of eight county teams to earn an at-large berth. The Seahawks (9-1) finished in a three-way tie for first in the four-team Pac 4 League with Western and Laguna Beach, but grabbed the No. 4 seed in Division 11, one spot behind No. 3 Western.
The Seahawks play at Irvine (4-6) in a first round game Friday.
“Honestly, our whole staff can finally sigh,” Ocean View coach Luis Nunez said Sunday. “It’s been a long time coming and we are not taking this opportunity for granted.”
The game also offers an intriguing quarterback duel between Ocean View’s Noah Hickman and Irvine’s Marc Filia.
Fountain Valley (5-5), the fifth-place team from the Sunset League, also earned an at-large berth in Division 8 and will play at Orange Coast League champion Santa Ana (8-2) in an interesting first round game Friday at Santa Ana Stadium.
Saints coach Charlie TeGantvoort is a Fountain Valley graduate and served as a defensive coordinator under Barons coach Jimmy Nolan at Centennial of Compton and Carson.
“It’s going to be a good game,” TeGantvoort said. “They got some great speed.”
Serra of Gardena (5-5) grabbed the other at-large berth in Division 1, which left county-ranked Servite (4-5) out of the playoffs for the second time in four years. Assistant section commissioner Glenn Martinez said the Friars’ sub. 500 record hurt them when compared to other at-large candidates with .500 records.
“It hurt them,” Martinez of the Friars, who played nine games.
