All this recruitment has killed interest in prep football. Sure at Mater Dei and a couple other schools they still have a great following. Sports fans are frontrunners, that's no surprise and with parents Johnny has to be part of a winner no matter the cost if they can afford it. That's not the story at most high schools. If you attend other high school games there's hardly anyone there.
There's no suspense because it's the same teams over and over. The days where even a Mater Dei could get beat and beaten badly by say an Eisenhower in any given year are long gone. An overwhelming majority of public schools have absolutely no chance against the well funded private schools and liberal acceptance policies like at Mater Dei and St. John Bosco. Loyola is a school that has kept it real and look where they're at. That's what you get when you have standards where academics is a big reason why you're accepted into a school not necessarily because you are a superb athlete.
I don't like this new format of eight Division 1 teams. I can see why they did it though because in a round of 16 the first round matchups had become academic, a mere formality. I miss a 16 team field where you would see a wild card team reach the finals. Way back in 76 Fontana reached the finals as a 3rd place team in a 70 team field when it was 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A. You'll never ever see that again.
Even Long Beach Poly is just another team. The odds are stacked for the usual suspects. That's just a fact. You rarely see upsets now in the playoffs. So get ready for another St. John Bosco vs Mater Dei final where the winner will face DLS and wipe them out badly.
I enjoy fishing but would it really be fun if I caught a fish with every single cast? Part of the fun is not knowing... the element of surprise. There's no surprises in prep football anymore in the Southern Section or in the state of California.