CITY FOOTBALL PAIRINGS : Carson Top-Seeded in 4-A, Fairfax Is No. 1 in 3-A

Top-ranked Carson High is the top-seeded team in the City 4-A Division playoffs, and undefeated Fairfax is seeded first in the 3-A Division. The first round of the playoffs begin next Wednesday night. The City finishes the regular season Friday.

All 12 teams in 4-A qualify for the playoffs. Carson (8-1), second-seeded Banning (6-3), No. 3 Dorsey (7-2) and No. 4 Granada Hills (8-1), all have byes in the first round. Although Granada Hills has a better record than Dorsey, the Dons received the higher seeding by virtue of their 21-14 victory over the Highlanders earlier this season.

The bracketing makes it possible for a Dorsey-Carson rematch in the championship game, won by Dorsey last year, 26-15.

Fairfax (8-0) edged Sylmar (8-0) for the top seeding in 3-A. Fairfax will play host to Washington in the opening round; South Gate will play at Sylmar.

Garfield (7-1) is No. 3 and Locke (7-2) No. 4.

Of the 37 teams in 3-A, 16 qualify for the playoffs. Champions from the nine leagues advance along with the seven best second-place finishers. Second-place teams from the Western and the Mid Valley leagues will be excluded from the playoffs.

The two most evenly matched first-round games in 3-A appear to be Bell (5-2-1) at Belmont (7-1) and Lincoln (6-2-1) at Westchester (7-2).