Championship week in the CIF Southern Section delivered all of the promise and drama expected. Rivals squared off in Lancaster and Orange County where playoff spots were on the line. Vista Murrieta showed that it's ready for the stiffer competition of the post season and Rio Hondo Prep continued its absolute dominance of the Prep League winning its sixth-straight League title.
Old Rivalries Die Hard
Chatsworth Sierra Canyon has given Lancaster Paraclete more problems than any other team in recent years. In last season’s Southern Section Championship, the Trailblazers rolled right over the Spirits, 47-14. This season, both teams moved from the East Valley Division to the Mid Valley Division and while both instantly became the teams to beat, they still remained rivals. The two teams played with opposite styles and opposite personalities, right down to the Kardashian sisters cheering on the sidelines of the Trailblazers games – there’s no Kardashians in Lancaster.
But Paraclete finally got the better of the Trailblazers this season in a 31-17 victory that earned them the Alpha League Championship. Down 7-0 after Xavier Menifield, a Northwestern commit, scored the first touchdown of the game, the Spirits rebounded by taking a 10-7 lead in the second. They continued to play fast, going up by as much as 23-7 early in the fourth quarter. They finally yielded a touchdown to the Trailblazers in the fourth but not enough time was left and Sierra Canyon’s 24-game win streak came to an end.
Paraclete (9-1, 6-0) and Sierra Canyon (9-1, 5-1) are part of a four-way tie at the top of the Mid Valley Division with San Marino and San Dimas.
Too Easy
For Vista Murrieta, the top-ranked team in the Southern Section and the third-ranked team in the country, the regular season was almost a breeze. Last night, the Broncos capped it with their second-straight shutout, this one a 38-0 drubbing of Temecula Chaparral, to remain perfect at 10-0 and 5-0 in the Southwestern League. Chaparral finished third at 7-3, 3-2.
Vista Murrieta started fast, with Kishawn Homes running for an 80-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to show the Pumas who was in charge. The Broncos then built a 24-0 lead at the half with the help of a great one-handed touchdown catch by Su’a Cravens. The USC commit finished with seven catches for 128 yards. A staunch defensive line gave up few yards to the Pumas, and the Broncos continued to roll, scoring their final touchdown with a short Kishawn Holmes run in the fourth.
A well-built Vista Murrieta squad is primed for a deep playoff run and comes into the postseason as the favorites for a Section Championship.
“It’s championship time,” head coach Coley Candaele told the North County Times. “We are not going to hold back now. We are going to put our bullets out there and see how far they can go.”
Trinity League Trials
One of the Trinity League’s biggest rivalries, Mater Dei and Servite, took the Angel Stadium field last night in very different places. Mater Dei came in with a shot to win the Trinity League and Servite was trying to finish out a rough season strong. It was the Monarchs that prevailed, although the League championship went to St. John Bosco, but a 36-22 win was good enough to give Mater Dei (8-2, 4-1) a second-place finish. Servite ended the season at 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the Trinity League, dropping the Friars to last place.
A field goal gave the Friars the first lead of the game but Mater Dei immediately responded. In the first quarter, Jonathan Lockett got loose, broke down the sidelines and made his defenders miss as he cruised into the end zone for an 89-yard touchdown. Servite put three more points on the board but the defense had a tough time controlling Lockett. Up 29-6, Lockett caught a punt and got to the sidelines again, running down 76 yards and cutting back into the end zone.
Servite rallied in the second half with a Justin Parcell's pick-six. After a Travis Waller touchdown and a safety by the Friars’ defense, Servite managed to cut the lead to 36-22. But time ran out for Servite, who officially closed the book on a down season.
Mater Dei is a likely playoff lock but will find out whether their season is extended Sunday.
More OC Action
Corona del Mar (8-2, 5-0) dominated Irvine Beckman (3-7, 2-3) Friday night to capture the Pacific Coast League title, winning 33-7.
At the end of the first quarter, quarterback Cayman Carter set up the Sea Kings with a few quick strike passes to get over midfield and on the first play of the second quarter, Bo St. Geme took a pass over the middle for a touchdown to give Corona del Mar a 7-0 lead.
But by the end of the quarter, the Sea Kings already had a 33-0 lead. In the second half, a lackluster offense ran out of gas. However, the defense still held up quite well, not allowing a touchdown to Beckman until late third quarter.
Championship-Worthy Performances
The once untouchable Santa Margarita has been the victim of injuries and fatigue late in the season. While the Eagles maintained their position as one of the top teams in the country and in the Southern Section (No. 9 ranking) after the loss of quarterback Johnny Stanton, Ryan Wolpin shouldered most of the load getting the job done on the ground. But a banged up Wolpin and a young Kyle Sweet, Stanton’s replacement, just couldn’t compete against a streaking St. John Bosco team. While Bosco’s record now stands at 6-4, in reality it’s 10-0 with five-straight Trinity League wins for its first-ever Trinity League championship. The Eagles, who started the season with such high hopes, finished third in the Trinity League but will likely get an at-large bid into the Pac-5 playoffs.
After two straight losses to Chaminade and Alemany, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame looked done for the season. But the Knights won their next two against a ranked Crespi team and Loyola to put them in position to win the Serra League. With the help of Khalfani Muhammad’s 261 rushing yards and four touchdowns, the Knights rallied to win the league and earn their first Pac-5 playoff berth since 2009.
Rio Hondo Prep continued their reign of the Prep League with an emphatic 49-0 win over Pasadena Poly. The Kares clinched their sixth-straight Prep League title and their seventh in eight seasons. Scoring on all but one possession in the first half, the Kares showed they are head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league and even Poly head coach Brendan McGrail feels that his team can learn a lot from watching the plays that the Kares ran against them.
“We can build from this,” McGrail said. “This film will be helpful to learn from because they are so good.”
McGrail’s Panthers, a lineup of mostly sophomores and juniors, overachieved this season with a 6-3 record that no one saw coming. But at 2-2 in the Prep League, they finished in third place behind Flintridge Prep. McGrail still feels that his team deserves a shot in the playoffs.
“We’ve come a long way,” McGrail said. “We knew we’d be young and I’m real proud of how far they’ve come.”
More Southern Section Scores
No. 2 Mission Viejo 49, El Toro 47
No. 3 St. Bonaventure 30, No. 7 Oaks Christian 21
No. 18 Tesoro 56, Chula Vista 17
No. 20 Palmdale 53, Eastside 6
San Marino 48, South Pasadena 8
Fountain Valley 31, Huntington Beach Marina 13
Camarillo 41, Oxnard Rio Mesa 6
Redlands East Valley 35, San Bernardino Cajon 14
Rancho Cucamonga 31, Alta Loma 6
Newport Harbor 31, Los Alamitos 28
Tustin 48, La Palma Kennedy 0
Mira Costa 3, Redondo Union 3
Long Beach Poly 35, Cabrillo 6
