Prep Rally: Football playoffs primed for plenty of revenge games

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. The high school football playoff pairings are out. There were no surprises in the highest division. Unbeaten Mater Dei is No. 1 for Southern Section Division 1. Narbonne received the No. 1 seeding in the City Section.

Postseason begins

It could be the year of the rematch in the football playoffs.

The Southern Section decided to put all six Trinity League teams in a 10-team Division 1 bracket. Rematches are definitely happening. It’s very tough to beat a team twice, so beware of the school that won the first time.

Here’s a report on some history of rematches.

Here’s the Southern Section pairings.

Narbonne received the City Section Open Division’s No. 1 seed even though the Gauchos have not played since Sept. 27 because of a boycott by four Marine League coaches forfeiting their games. Here’s the report on what Narbonne has been doing to prepare to play Dorsey after being off for seven weeks.

Here’s the City Section pairings.

Southern Section football

Defensive tackle Mikhal Johnson of Sierra Canyon makes his first ever reception on tackle-eligible play to score go-ahead touchdown in 21-20 win over Gardena Serra.

(Craig Weston)

Sierra Canyon won its third consecutive Mission League championship with a little help from defensive lineman Mikhal Johnson. Yes, he had a sack but it was his seven-yard touchdown catch — the first in his life — that gave the Trailblazers the winning score in a 21-20 win over Gardena Serra on a tackle-eligible play. Here’s the report.

Cathedral quarterback Jaden Jefferson looks to pass against St. Paul on Nov. 1, 2024.

(Nick Koza)

Cathedral won the Angelus League title in a 16-14 win over St. Paul. Here’s the report.

Sophomore quarterback Brady Edmunds continues to excel for Huntington Beach, passing for more than 300 yards for the seventh time in his career. Here’s the report.

Here’s the final regular season top 25 rankings by The Times.

Here’s the list of top performances from this past week.

City Section football

Running back Erick Stubbs led Bell to an Eastern League co-championship.

(Nick Koza)

Bell ended up sharing the Eastern League championship with Garfield after running back Erick Stubbs rushed for 283 yards in 34 carries and scored three touchdowns in a win over Huntington Park, coupled with Garfield’s loss to Legacy.

Birmingham will enter the Open Division playoffs with a 47-game City Section winning streak after a 52-0 win over Granada Hills to go 5-0 in the West Valley League.

Los Angeles won the Southern League title, its first since 2015. Arturo Arguello recorded 16 tackles, including six for losses, in a win over Sotomayor.

Dorsey wrapped up the Coliseum League title with a win over Washington Prep. Former Dorsey standout Stafon Johnson, now the head coach, has the Dons in the City Section Open Division playoffs.

For those who keep saying there is a lack of talent in City Section football, let me introduce you to some of the stars as they entered their final week of the regular season. Here’s the report.

Flag football

The stage is set for a fantastic inaugural Southern Section Division 1 championship game in girls’ flag football between Orange Lutheran and Newport Harbor on Saturday.

Here’s the report.

San Pedro is seeded No. 1 for the City Section Open Division flag football playoffs. Here’s the pairings.

The Southern Section will hold its first championship luncheon for girls flag football Wednesday in Long Beach. It’s similar to 11-man football, where all the finalists in the five divisions will be honored.

Eight-man team rising

Sherman Oaks CES teammates huddle during a practice on campus, where the field is more dirt than grass.

(Benjamin Royer / For The Times)

Sherman Oaks CES has resurrected its eight-man football team in the City Section and could be headed to a dream season.

Here’s the report.

Girls volleyball

It will be Sierra Canyon taking on Mater Dei for the Southern Section Division 1 girls’ volleyball championship on Saturday at Cerritos College after both schools won their pools.

In Division 2, Palos Verdes advances to the final against Murrieta Valley.

Here’s the link to complete results.

Here’s the link to City Section playoffs.

Baseball

The 2007 All-CIF team in baseball turned out to be pretty good. On Division 1, there was Freddie Freeman from El Modena and Austin Barnes from Riverside Poly, teammates on the 2024 World Series champion Dodgers. Also on the team from Lakewood was Travis d’Arnaud, who won a World Series with Freeman with the Braves.

On Division 3 was Giancarlo Stanton from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Sean Gilmartin from Crespi and Anthony Gose from Bellflower. There were other future major leaguers. Here’s the All-CIF team in 2007.

Notes ...

Crenshaw High is the site chosen by the City Section to host three championship flag football games on Nov. 23, along with the eight-man final. ...

Junior softball pitcher Jo Marsh of Orange Lutheran has committed to UCLA. She played last season at Los Alamitos. ...

Senior pitcher Ava Norton of Orange Lutheran has committed to Delta State. ...

Dionte West from Orange Vista has committed to Portland State football. ...

Terrell Stanley is the new track and field coach at Bishop Alemany. He was a highly successful assistant at Granada Hills, where he helped developed his son, Dijon, a standout running back at Utah. He inherits one of the state’s top sprinters, sophomore Demare Dezeurn. “He’s already great,” Stanley said. “I just want to put in a few tweaks.” ...

A football player at Santa Margarita filed a lawsuit alleging he was assaulted in the school locker room. Here’s the report. ...

Defensive end Cole Cogshell of Muir has committed to UCLA. He was previously committed to Brigham Young. ...

Infielder Connor Pink of Calabasas has committed to Grinnell College. ...

Junior softball player Dylan Fischer of Harvard-Westlake has committed to Harvard. ...

Former Taft basketball coach Derrick Taylor, who was supposed to be in his first season as coach at Gardena Serra, has resigned for health reasons. DeJon Frazier will be the interim coach. . . .

Former Hart standout Chris Valaika is the new hitting coach with the Cincinnati Reds. ...

Pitcher Aaron Jacobsen from Glendora has committed to Westmont College. ...

Here’s updated playoff pairings in water polo. ...

From the archives: Lonzo Ball

The three Ball brothers in 2016 at Chino Hills: Lonzo (left), LiAngelo and LaMelo.

(Los Angeles Times)

After a two-year hiatus because of injuries, former Chino Hills standout Lonzo Ball has returned to playing for the Chicago Bulls. Brother LaMelo has returned from his injury with the Charlotte Hornets.

Drafted in the first round by the Lakers after spending a year at UCLA, Lonzo Ball remains a top point guard when healthy.

Here’s a story from 2016 on Chino Hills finishing the season unbeaten and state champions.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on how playing youth rugby helped players on a high school football team.

From Myrgv.com, a story on Texas’ state sports authority has been given more power to investigate schools with excessive transfers.

From MaxPreps.com, a story on punishment for recruiting violations by a Texas girls’ basketball program.

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