All Kickoffs are at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise indicated:
Friday November 26
DIV 9
St. Margaret’s (9-4) at Colony (6-6)
Colony was a team that nobody expected to be here. The Titans were 3-6 at the end of the regular season and seemed done for 2021. Three games later and suddenly they’re in the CIF Finals. Last week Colony’s defense shut down Ventura 28-0. St. Margaret’s beat San Dimas 38-28 two weeks ago before knocking off Claremont last week. The Titans defense makes a big play late and escapes with the win. Head Coach Brian Zavala wins his first title.
Colony 28 St. Margaret’s 24
DIV 10
St. Anthony (9-4) at Northview (7-6) (Covina District Field)
Northview knows how Colony feels. The Vikings lost five of their first six games including four in row at one point. The only person who thought Northview was still alive was head coach Marcel Perez. “We’ve gone through a lot this year,” Perez said before the San Dimas game October 22. “But now we’re completely healthy and ready to go.” The Vikes won that one 21-7, and although they stumbled by one point the next week against Los Altos when they pulled their starters early, they’ve won three straight three weeks in the playoffs. Last week they beat a Palmdale team by two touchdowns on the road, the same Palmdale team that dropped 58 on Covina the week before. St. Anthony has averaged 46 points per game in its three playoff games. Northview’s defense stymied a powerful Kaiser running game and then shut down potent Palmdale. They Vikings do it again this week. Look for Cheo Medina to have a big game on the ground. Vikings raise the Division 9 hardware.
Northview 34 St. Anthony 31
Saturday November 27
DIV 4
Long Beach Poly (10-3) at St. Francis (10-2)
St. Francis has played a schedule that can stack up to anybody. The Golden Knights only losses came against Damien in Week 1 and Loyola by three points in Angelus League play. Last week they shut out an explosive La Serna team. Long Beach Poly actually lost its first two games but when the opponents are Mission Viejo and Serra that tends to happen. The Jackrabbits haven’t lost since September when they fell to Centennial. Home field will play a big part but that won’t be enough for the Golden Knights. They simply won’t be able to keep up with the Jackrabbits. LB Poly wins the chip.
Long Beach Poly 35 St. Francis 24
A couple of years ago I seen a much more talented Warren team coach by Raul Lara lose to a not as talented Northview team. The only way St. Anthony’s win is if they have double the talent than Northview. Coach Lara only wins if he has double the talent or he moves on to the next job. I seen him at LB Poly and at that time Poly was sending players to the NFL more than any other school. He would barely win with all that NFL talent and would lose to schools that would have no NFL talent. I don’t know who is going to win tonight but I would not put my money on St Anthony’s.
St Anthony will take the W
All playoff games from division 3 on down are really losers brackets the way it is arranged now. If NCAA worked like CIF USC would get a playoff spot and a major bowl game.
Records of 6-6 and 7-6 in the finals. C’mon and these teams might be CIF champs. With the athlete’s that Colony gets, they should be in D4 or D3 like Glendora, but they underachieved so much they were rewarded D9 and a walk through to the finals. You can make this argument with half these teams in the finals, Poly, Jordan, Arlington, etc… Next year these smart coaches will make adjustments that will teach bad habits like Northview did in their final game and pull all the starters in the second half and lose the game to play in D10.
You lose to Serra, Mission Viejo, and Corona Centennial and your in Division 4! Something is wrong with system!