San Dimas will host La Salle in Division 9
Friday November 8
DIV 4
Roosevelt (4-6 BIG VIII #3) at South Hills (5-5 Hacienda #3)
Two third place teams will be going at it. South Hills has the advantage of being at home. This isn’t Roosevelt (East LA) but instead Roosevelt (Eastvale). The Mustangs hail from the tough Big VIII league that features powers like Centennial and Norco. The Huskies were in a pretty strong league themselves in the Hacienda. The home field should get them over the top. South Hills survives.
South Hills 24 Roosevelt 21
Downey (4-6 SGV #3) at La Mirada (7-3 Suburban #2)
Downey has to be the best 4-6 team in the area. The Vikings are coming off one of the toughest losses you’ll ever see but they now can use that for motivation. Mike Moschetti has La Mirada back on track guiding the Matadors to a second place finish in the Suburban. This one could go either way. It’s a shame one of these two traditionally successful programs has to lose in the first round. The Matadores hold on.
La Mirada 28 Downey 27
DIV 5
El Modena (7-3 Crestview at large) at St. Paul (9-1 Del Rey #1)
This has been St. Paul’s year so far. Even when the Swordsmen lose they win as evidenced in a forfeit win over Narbonne. St. Paul rolled through the Del Rey League and the Swordsmen haven’t been tested since September. This is a team that went toe to toe with Sierra Canyon. El Modena will come to play but won’t go home happy. This team, an at large in the Crestview, simply doesn’t have enough firepower to match up with St. Paul. Swordsmen win handily.
St. Paul 38 El Modena 7
DIV 6
Warren (7-3 SGV #2) at La Serna (10-0 Del Rio #1)
Great local matchup. La Serna just ran the table and ran roughshod through the Del Rio. Warren took second in the San Gabriel Valley League with a memorable, dramatic win over rival Downey last week. These two teams met once before with La Serna blasting the Bears 50-6 on September 27. Don’t look for a blowout again. Warren has momentum now and is a better football team. That being said La Serna is still…well…La Serna. Lancers advance.
La Serna 34 Warren 24
DIV 7
Burbank (4-6 Pacific #3) at Don Lugo (4-6 Mt. Baldy #2T)
Probably not the way either team planned their season out back in August. Both teams finished with overall records of below .500. Burbank took third in the Pacific while Don Lugo tied for second in the Mt. Baldy. This is a pick ’em game. Burbank on paper played the tougher schedule. Don Lugo lost six of its first seven games before winning its last three. Burbank should have enough.
Burbank 21 Don Lugo 14
DIV 9
La Salle (6-4 Del Rey at large) at San Dimas (9-1 Valle Vista #1)
La Salle has had a nice bounce back year under first year head coach Ben Buys. The Lancers did have their problems in the Del Rey League but a six win season after last year’s disaster is a success. San Dimas lost two games on the field but got a win back when Whittier forfeited a win. The Saints do what they always do – pound the ball until they wear you down. That usually happens in the fourth quarter. La Salle will put up a fight but in the end San Dimas will run them over. The Lancers wont be able to stop the bleeding. San Dimas moves on.
San Dimas 35 La Salle 17
Bonita (8-2 Palomares #3) at Highland (7-3 Golden #2)
Bonita vs. Highland – Part 2. Last year Steve Bogan’s Bearcats fell to Highland in the Division 10 semi finals. This year they face them in the first round of Division 9. Bonita’s only two losses came in the Palomares League that has to be considered the best in the area. Ayala and Glendora which finished one-two in league are both capable of winning a CIF title. Highland again is a power. The Golden league prepares the Bulldogs for playoffs. Bogan and the Bearcats will be more than ready this time and they’ve seen this move before. This time it will have a different ending. Bonita gets the W.
Bonita 31 Highland 24
DIV 13
Diamond Bar (5-5 Mt. Baldy at large) at Alhambra (10-0 Almont #1) Moor Field
Alhambra, after a perfect regular season run now has their sights set on a CIF championship. Good year for Diamond Bar to get in the post season but the Brahmas have no shot of slowing down the Moors. Alhambra in a rout.
Alhambra 42 Diamond Bar 14
Calpreps uses computers to crunch data and arrive at guesses concerning scores. Weather services use computers to crunch data and arrive at guesses about how it’s going to be outdoors. Neither is perfect, but most of us have no problem saying that the computerized weather predictions are still helpful. What’s the big deal in saying the same thing about Calpreps?
Lmao you should change your name to Del Rio League Blindman
Let’s talk Warren vs LS…
Some of you think that LS is not taking Warren seriously. We know they’re coming with a chip on their shoulders. LS is the team to beat but you guys need to remember we’re playing at home with all the LS fans in full force. You seem to forget that our offense AND defense are running on all cylinders! LS is ready!
I think the game will be more competitive than the last but LS will walk away with the victory.
If you want to see a great game get there early!
Here’s a quote from my favorite western movie of all time, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
“Come along and enjoy the spectacle”
The La Serna – Warren game is a rerun and the endings of re-runs do not change unless in the Twilight Zone. So a deeper dive in the ER-Compton fight. The once national powerhouse Tarbabes(yes that’s right) finds itself in the spot El Rancho was a few years ago only worse. Compton plays in the shadow of LB Poly and loses its talent to them. They have not had rare playoff game since 2008 so…this is a huge deal for the Compton faithful. Their last playoff win might be in the days of Leave it to Beaver. They are 6-4 this year with talent and speed at the skill positions. El Rancho can lose this one if they turn it over to often and special teams don’t take care of business. This one could be a barn burner.
This is how you look at it like boxing. D1 being the heavyweights and D14 being like the 115lbs guys. When it comes to P4P Lomachenko, Crawford and Canelo probably top 3 but Wilder and Fury would rag doll them in a fight and not where near the top 10.
So EM being higher ranked could be true at their weight class cause they dominate, but when you move up higher it gets tougher.
Formula based rankings and matchups are inaccurate. For example Maxpreps has El Monte ranked higher than Monrovia,San Dimas, Northview , El Rancho and Eastvale. Do you think that is accurate ? If that was a league, they would be 0-5 with a few Shalackings
These picks are solid…
An examination of the CIF site tells us that ticket prices for playoff games are still $10, same as last year. This is interesting, because the Whittier stadiums have been charging $10 for tickets all year, which means of course that they have been ripping us off. Now, they’ll have to settle for an $8 take, because CIF gets $2 per ticket. Watch them try to empty your pockets with a boosted parking rate. Best advice: don’t got to the La Serna game, it’s going to be a wipeout.
CIF also says that all games start at 7:30. Tim has always said to plan on 7:00, but I have to say that with 14 divisions and what seems like half of all SoCal teams playing, crowds will be small, so you can arrive at 7:30 with no problem.
I’m going to spend my 10,15,20 bucks on La Serna-Warren. 1st off does anybody know how much they are allowed to charge or is it the wild,wild west at the ticket booths and parking lots. That said I think the Lancers might be getting a queasy feeling in the pit of their stomachs despite what HAL predicts. Warren beat a very good Downey team and has got to be looking for some payback. Big La Serna base brings there beloved Lancers home.
Calpreps has South Hills over Roosevelt 27-24, La Mirada over Downey 28-22, St. Paul over El Modena 35-7, La Serna over Warren 44-14, Burbank over Don Lugo 28-12, Bonita over Highland 31-20, Alhambra over D-Bar 35-21, Monrovia over Santa Fe 34-7, ER over Compton 46-22, and Hemet over Arroyo 28-7.
With these numbers in hand, we can see that Warren-La Serna is NOT a “great local matchup”, and that the Diamond Bar Brahmas will give Alhambra more of a game than this site suspects. The best first-round game of all the above? It’s got to be Downey-La Mirada.
From T. Peterson: Yeah, we don’t base our predictions on Cal Preps. We’ve actually seen the teams play.