Division 1 football playoffs could be year of | College News

There as soon as was a rule you couldn’t play a league opponent within the first spherical of the football playoffs and every little thing ought to be carried out to keep away from having league opponents meet earlier than the semifinals.

Then got here the aggressive equity playoffs, the place a pc algorithm ranks groups and ignores geography, league illustration and head-to-head outcomes. It means there could be loads of rematches happening all through the Southern Section and City Section playoffs beginning this week, and it’s one of probably the most troublesome challenges in football to beat a crew twice.

Unbeaten Mater Dei (9-0) was seeded No. 1 on Sunday for the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs and can be attempting to duplicate its 15-0 season of 2017 when it swept league rival St. John Bosco in what has grow to be nearly a yearly two-game collection. With six Trinity League groups within the 10-team Division 1 bracket, there could be heaps of rematches except public college powers Mission Viejo (10-0), Inglewood (10-0) and Corona Centennial (8-2) intervene. Centennial has already confronted Mater Dei this season, so beware if there’s a rematch.

Retired coach Ed Croson was one of the best in determining how to win rematches when he was at Birmingham and Chaminade.

“It’s hard to beat somebody twice because kids subconsciously are saying in the back of their mind, ‘We’re better,’ where the others are saying, ‘We have something to prove.’ ”

In 2002, Birmingham misplaced to Taft 30-6 in league play, then beat the Toreadors within the City ultimate 35-7. In 2013, Chaminade misplaced to Gardena Serra 36-0, then beat Serra within the part ultimate 38-35. But in 2012, Chaminade beat Serra 28-20 in league, then misplaced to Serra 30-28 within the part ultimate.

Croson admits he saved performs for the anticipated ultimate towards Serra in 2013. “We we knew we would be playing them at some point and we started working on a game plan and we didn’t tell the kids,” he stated. “Every Sunday, part of the team meeting was Serra. We added a couple plays each week. The kids didn’t know.”

A rematch is going on within the opening spherical of the City Section Open Division playoffs, with Marine League rivals San Pedro and Banning dealing with off again after taking part in Oct. 18 on the Coliseum in a sport received by San Pedro 34-33.

“I’ve been around the City a long time,” stated San Pedro coach Corey Walsh, the son of legendary coach Mike Walsh. (*1*)

Mater Dei will face the winner of Sierra Canyon-Servite. No. 2-seeded St. John Bosco will face the winner of Santa Margarita-Inglewood. The different openers set for Nov. 15 are JSerra vs. No. 3 Orange Lutheran and Corona Centennial at No. 4 Mission Viejo in what could be known as the public college championship sport.

Asked if he saved any performs for the Division 1 playoffs when he faces one other Trinity League opponent, St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro stated, “We definitely didn’t prepare ahead of time. We think the karma gods would get us.”

Murrieta Valley obtained the No. 1 seed in Division 2 and can be robust to stop now that quarterback Bear Bachmeier has returned from an harm. The Stanford-bound senior has performed within the final two video games by which Murrieta Valley scored 57 and 56 factors.

Simi Valley is seeded No. 1 in Division 3 after incomes a share of the Marmonte League title by upsetting Oaks Christian, the place Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert used to educate. The Pioneers host Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, which obtained an at-large berth out of the Mission League after lacking out final season.

There are 14 Southern Section divisions, with the Division 1 championship ending at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach later this month.

Let’s see if groups that misplaced the primary time will win the rematch. That could be the story line for 2024.