6 local football teams advance to CIF playoffs, with two earning seeds

How many teams would the CIF Southern Section take for Division 1 of this year’s high school football playoffs?

That was the subject of debate in recent weeks. The number ended up being 10 when the brackets were released Sunday — and the Edison Chargers are on the list.

Edison (9-1), the Sunset League runner-up, will host Trinity League at-large team Orange Lutheran (6-4) in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs on Friday at Huntington Beach High. The winner will play on the road against No. 2-seeded St. John Bosco next week.

The Chargers beat the Lancers 34-13 in a nonleague game on Sept. 2, though that game was tied entering the fourth quarter.

Five of the six Sunset League teams ended up making the postseason. Corona del Mar (7-3), the league’s third-place team, earned the No. 1 seed in Division 3 and will host Mountain West League runner-up Chino Hills Ayala (8-2) in its opener on Thursday night at Davidson Field. And Newport Harbor (6-4), which finished fourth and made the playoffs as an at-large entry, is the No. 2 seed in Division 4 and hosts Foothill League third-place finisher Valencia of Valencia (5-5) on Friday at the same venue.

Huntington Beach (5-5), which finished fifth in the Sunset League, travels to play Orange Coast League champion Orange (8-2) on Saturday night at El Modena High in a Division 6 first-round game.

Corona del Mar’s David Rasor runs the ball for a first down against Newport Harbor during this year’s Battle of the Bay game.

(Drew A. Kelley)

CdM coach Dan O’Shea said the section’s use of CalPreps in determining playoff brackets leads to an interesting Selection Sunday.

“I think all of us schools are ever guessing what division we fall into,” he said. “Certainly, it’s all predicated on how many teams they take in Division 1, whether it’s going to be four or eight or 10 or 12 or 16. That’s the million-dollar question ... But we’re thrilled to death. There’s nothing better than the CIF playoffs. Every day we wake up, the only things we focus on are beating Newport Harbor and chasing a ring in the CIF playoffs.”

Sailors coach Peter Lofthouse also noted that if there were 12 teams taken for Division 1, his team could have wound up in Division 3. Instead, they’re in Division 4, up two divisions from last year when Newport Harbor won the Division 6 title.

“The speed we face in our league, the physicality, the quality of the coaching and the talent, it prepares you for what you’re usually going to face in the playoffs,” Lofthouse said. “That helped us last year, even at 3-7 as an at-large [team]. I hope it’s going to pay off for us again and have us prepared for this time around. We’ve got a good matchup this week with Valencia here at home.”

Huntington Beach’s Daunte Bell runs upfield under pressure from Long Beach Wilson’s Kemarie Francis during a game on Sept. 1.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Huntington Beach coach Brett Brown said he feels good with where the Oilers are at headed into the playoffs. Senior quarterback Daunte Bell left Friday night’s 24-6 loss to Newport Harbor late with a minor ankle injury, but Brown said Bell should be good to go on Saturday.

Pac 4 League champion Laguna Beach (7-3) opens the Division 9 playoffs with a home game against Pioneer League third-place finisher West Torrance (5-5) on Friday night. The Breakers have won five straight games headed into the postseason.

In Division 13, Garden Grove League co-champion Los Amigos (8-2) hosts Mesquite League third-place team Arrowhead Christian (6-4) in a first-round game Friday night at Garden Grove High. The Lobos shared the league title with Rancho Alamitos, their first league crown since 2008.

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