The Fine Print

When Ocean View High takes on Kennedy of La Palma Friday, the game

will mark the school’s first postseason apperance since the 1990 season.

“Things are hopping around here on campus...everybody is excited,” said

Ocean View Coach Harold Eggers...

When Marina travels to Rialto to battle 9-1 Eisenhower, the Vikings will

be playing their first playoff game since 1992...

If Marina is to defeat Eisenhower, the Vikings will need to hang on to

the ball. In their last two games - both losses, Marina fumbled the ball

a total of 11 times...

Eisenhower won the 1993 Division I crown, routing Mater Dei, 56-3, in the

final...

The Eagle rushing tandem of Mario McDowell and Donta Jackson, who operate

out a hybrid version of the wing T, have combined to rush for 1,812 yards

and 26 touchdowns...

Fountain Valley’s last postseason trip came just a year ago, when the

Barons dropped a 30-14 first-round decision to eventual champion Mater

Dei...

The Barons will be taking on a top-seeded Long Beach Poly squad (10-0)

that will be looking to win its second Division I title in three years.

Last year, the Jackrabbits fell to Mater Dei, 33-26, in the championship

game. The Monarchs’ defensive coordinator in that contest? Current

Fountain Valley head coach Eric Johnson...

Friday’s game at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach will continue a chess

match between Johnson and Poly Coach Jerry Jaso. In the last three years,

Mater Dei and Long Beach Poly have stood in each other’s way during

postseason play, with Johnson and the Monarchs owning a 2-1 edge during

that span...

Fountain Valley will be returning to the scene of one of its most

inspiration efforts of the season when they travel to Veterans Stadium.

Back on Oct. 28, the banged-up Barons pinned a 34-27 upset on Los

Alamitos. It turned out to be the only loss of the season for the

Griffins...

This, supposedly, was a rebuilding year for a sophomore-laden Long Beach

Poly team, yet the Jackrabbits went 10-0, anyway. Poly had lost 11

players to Division I scholarships - including six to the Pac-10

Conference, from last year’s runner-up team...

Poly’s star of the future, school officials say, will be sophomore

running back Hershel Dennis, who has rushed for a little more than 1,000

yards this year...

Although the Jackrabbits are averaging close to 32 points a game, it’s

the Poly defense that has stolen this year’s show. In 10 games, it has posted two shutouts and has held four other opponents to 10 points or

less...

How talented is Poly’s defense? Middle linebacker Reggie Butler and free

safety Marley Tucker, a pair of seniors and Poly’s top two tacklers,

started as sophomores on the Jackrabbits’ ‘97 CIF championship team...

Poly opened the 1999 season with a 19-14 victory over three-time

defending San Diego Section Division I champion Vista...

Kennedy finished second to Loara in the Empire League race. One of the

Fighting Irish’s three regular-season losses was to the Saxons, the two

others came to playoff-bound Pacifica and Sunset League winner Los

Alamitos, the latter by just six points...

Edison junior running back Darryl Poston established a new school

single-season touchdown record this year with 28. He ran for three scores

during last Friday’s 35-14 victory over Huntington Beach to rush past

Kerwin Bell in the record book. Bell, who ran for 26 games during the

1979 season, did so in 14 games. That record stood for 20 years, but

Poston needed just 10 games this year to eclipse that mark.