No. 1 Vista Murrieta is playing on a different level than everyone else in the Inland Division right now with only Mission Viejo matching them for sheer dominance in their own league this year. At midseason, it looked like Vista Murrieta would be challenged in the back third of their schedule by Murrieta Mesa, Murrieta Valley and Chaparral. The Broncos won those three games by a combined score of 135-17 including back-to-back shutouts of Mesa and Chaparral to close out the season. Vista Murrieta opens with South Hills in the Inland Playoffs and the Huskies are coming off of a 57-7 blowout loss to Chino Hills. This one is going to be ugly on Friday.
No. 2 Mission Viejo may be the only team in the Southern Section that has had a run of dominance that compares to what Vista Murrieta did to its own league. The Diablos were downright diabolical in their 49-7 demolition of an El Toro squad who had padded its 9-0 record against less-than-stellar competition this year. The coaching committee in the CIF-SS voted the South Coast League the second-toughest league in the Southern Section this year. They were not watching the same games that I was. There's one team in the South Coast - its Mission Viejo and everyone else. Mission Viejo will handle a down Westlake squad this week before taking on a solid Bishop Amat team in round two.
No. 3 St. Bonaventure hadn't faced a decent team in over a month and the Seraphs came out of the gates a little slowly against Oaks Christian who road a wave of momentum into the Marmonte League Championship Game. The Lions jumped on St. Bonaventure early for a 21-0 lead before the Seraphs adjusted to the speed of the game and found themselves just before halftime. St. Bonaventure put a late touchdown on the board before entering the break and went on to score 30 unanswered. St. Bonaventure was named the No. 1 seed in the Pac-5 and takes on Cabrillo of the Moore League this week. The Moore League doesn't have a single team worthy of the Pac-5 playoffs this year and Cabrillo is going to be an early out.
No. 4 St. John Bosco had its own statement game on Friday in its 42-15 win over Santa Margarita to secure its first Trinity League Championship. Santa Margarita had been playing better since losing its MVP Johnny Stanton midway through the season, but they were no match for a focused Braves team. The Braves are trying to equal Vista Murrieta's feat of a year ago, having four wins taken away, but running the table in the playoffs. Bosco gets a Tesoro team that slid into Crespi's playoff spot as an at-large selection and the Braves will send the Titans home where they belonged.
No. 5 Corona Centennial played arguably its best game of the season in shellacking Santiago on Friday night. Santiago had won four straight and its only loss in the last two months was a 45-41 shootout with No. 6 Upland. Centennial hung 70 on the Sharks and has to be considered the favorite to win its half of the Inland Division starting with Los Osos of the Baseline Division this week.
No. 6 Upland has been one of the surprise teams of the season. The Scots lost its two leading rushers, its two leading receivers, and its two leading tacklers from its 2011 team that reached the Inland Semi-Finals. All Upland did this year was rip off another perfect season. Upland struggled on defense last week against Etiwanda after star defensive lineman Joe Mathis left the game with an injury. Upland should be able to handle Great Oak this week without him, but they'll need to be 100% if they're going to have a chance to advance out of their half of the bracket - which includes No. 1 Vista Murrieta.
No. 7 Mater Dei knew better than to take Servite lightly in its annual showdown and the Monarchs handled their business with the Friars in large part to their special teams play. Defensive back Jonathan Lockett opened Mater Dei's scoring with a kickoff return for a touchdown after the Monarch's offense had struggled early. Mater Dei's win secured the No. 2 spot in the Trinity League and a first-round matchup with Lakewood of the Moore League. Mater Dei shouldn't have any trouble with the Moore's No. 2 team.
No. 8 Oaks Christian came out hot against St. Bonaventure, but in a four-quarter game, the running attack of the Seraphs proved to be the difference. Oaks Christian has an explosive offense behind junior quarterback Brandon Dawkins and receivers Francis Owusu and Chris Davis. Now it gets fun for the Lions. With its move into the Pac-5, the playoffs are no longer a series of rematches for the Marmonte League and the Lions open the playoffs with a dangerous Notre Dame team in round one.
No. 9 Chaminade and Terrell Newby enjoyed league play more than any other team in the Southern Section this year. Newby scored eight touchdowns earlier this year against Harvard-Westlake and he had six in the first half alone last week against Cathedral. Cathedral was 8-1 coming into their game with Chaminade, but they were no match for the Newby express. In a stroke of good luck for the Eagles, the selection committee saw fit to put Serra and Lompoc on the same side of the bracket, giving No. 2 Chaminade the easiest path to the Western Division Finals.
No. 10 Lompoc has been playing for the playoffs all season. There wasn't a team on its regular season schedule that was going to challenge the Braves and it's no surprise Lompoc concluded its season with a 66-0 win over Cabrillo. But after inexplicably being left out of a bowl last year, the Braves have set their sights on a new CIF Championship with a move from the Northwest Division to the Western Division. If the Braves run the table again, they'll need to beat Serra in the semi-finals and Chaminade in the finals and the move to the Western Division should pay off with a Bowl selection.
