The rubber really hits the road for a lot of teams this week in that a lot of teams will be in league play this week. And while great preleague results are nice, the way the CIF has structured playoffs, it still matters where you finish in league. Culver City (3-2) had an easy victory over modest LA City school University, winning 35-7, a couple of weeks ago, but had to take on the much more formidable LA City Dorsey Dons last week. Dorsey was projected as the better team and looked it, except for turnovers. Dorsey's penchant for fumbles plus an interception returned for a TD kept Culver in the game threatening to steal the win late in the 4th quarter, but Dorsey was able to deny Culver when it mattered most. Dorsey clearly dominated the line of scrimmage and would have won handily without the turnovers.
Culver moves on to league play but things don't get any easier as they face the projected league champion El Segundo Eagles (5-0). El Segundo projects as an even better team than Dorsey. El Segundo is led by senior star running back Taz Tauaese who is averaging more than 130 yards a game and Culver struggled to contain the running against Dorsey. If Tauaese is healthy, this will be tough game to win. Culver counters with their potent passing offense averaging 288 yards a game and sometimes running that quick pace no huddle. A loss to El Segundo will not be a deathblow for Culver being it is the first league game, but ups the importance of the remaining 4 games in which they are likely to be favored.
The rest of the Ocean League has Hawthorne (1-4) at Beverly Hills (0-5) in what is likely the determiner of the last place team.
The other interesting game has Santa Monica (3-2) at Lawndale (2-3). Despite the records, Lawndale is a clear favorite in this one, but there is some bad blood between the two programs as former Santa Monica coach Travis Clark is now in his second year as head coach at Lawndale and several Santa Monica players somehow found their way to Lawndale last year. Lawndale ended up getting penalized for illegal transfers as some paperwork was not done properly. Santa Monica looks a little improved from last year and if they play with a chip on their shoulder, this could get interesting. Santa Monica used to be the perenniel power in the Ocean League so it is a surprise to see them struggling so much. The question is, will that continue or are they on the mend? A dominating victory by Lawndale means that they will challenge Culver for the likely 2cnd place position.
In Division 11, the CIF polls have Katella (5-0) at number one, and probably deservedly so. They will probably be unchallenged in league. Their problem is they are not gonna see any teams that are as good as the other top 8 teams that make the playoffs from this division. Arcadia has the highest power ranking according to calpreps.com, but it is unsure if they will even make it to the playoffs out of the Pacific Division. Their cautionary #9 ranking is justified. #2 Ramona (4-0-1) will probably fall to third place in league but that will likely still get them into the playoffs, but their power rating says they may make an early exit, whomever they face, in the playoffs.
#3 CreanLutheran (5-1) is playing Freelance. Their schedule has been soft except for a 35-7 spanking given to them by Aquinas (5-0). They should lose at least 2 of their last 3 after another easy game this week, against St. Monica (2-3). If they lose all 3 of their remaining after Friday, and that could happen, as Maranatha (2-2-1) appears to be a team close in capability, I wonder if that might affect their reputation come time to select playoff teams.#4 Oak Park (4-1) is still in non-league play because they play in the 4 team Canyon League. They are favored to win league. The biggest problem I see for them is that while they have a couple of powerful teams on their schedule, the rest were pretty week. There were no teams at about even strength with what they will face in league and so they have not had many close contests. Still, losing to El Segundo by just 11 points is kind of impressive. Simi Valley and Agoura are the most likely league opponents to have a shot at upsetting Oak Park. Culver City has the number 5 CIF ranking. They will need to make sure that they take care of business in the rest of league, even if they lose El Segundo, and that would get them into the playoffs against competition in which they might excel.
Culver moves on to league play but things don't get any easier as they face the projected league champion El Segundo Eagles (5-0). El Segundo projects as an even better team than Dorsey. El Segundo is led by senior star running back Taz Tauaese who is averaging more than 130 yards a game and Culver struggled to contain the running against Dorsey. If Tauaese is healthy, this will be tough game to win. Culver counters with their potent passing offense averaging 288 yards a game and sometimes running that quick pace no huddle. A loss to El Segundo will not be a deathblow for Culver being it is the first league game, but ups the importance of the remaining 4 games in which they are likely to be favored.
The rest of the Ocean League has Hawthorne (1-4) at Beverly Hills (0-5) in what is likely the determiner of the last place team.
The other interesting game has Santa Monica (3-2) at Lawndale (2-3). Despite the records, Lawndale is a clear favorite in this one, but there is some bad blood between the two programs as former Santa Monica coach Travis Clark is now in his second year as head coach at Lawndale and several Santa Monica players somehow found their way to Lawndale last year. Lawndale ended up getting penalized for illegal transfers as some paperwork was not done properly. Santa Monica looks a little improved from last year and if they play with a chip on their shoulder, this could get interesting. Santa Monica used to be the perenniel power in the Ocean League so it is a surprise to see them struggling so much. The question is, will that continue or are they on the mend? A dominating victory by Lawndale means that they will challenge Culver for the likely 2cnd place position.
In Division 11, the CIF polls have Katella (5-0) at number one, and probably deservedly so. They will probably be unchallenged in league. Their problem is they are not gonna see any teams that are as good as the other top 8 teams that make the playoffs from this division. Arcadia has the highest power ranking according to calpreps.com, but it is unsure if they will even make it to the playoffs out of the Pacific Division. Their cautionary #9 ranking is justified. #2 Ramona (4-0-1) will probably fall to third place in league but that will likely still get them into the playoffs, but their power rating says they may make an early exit, whomever they face, in the playoffs.
#3 CreanLutheran (5-1) is playing Freelance. Their schedule has been soft except for a 35-7 spanking given to them by Aquinas (5-0). They should lose at least 2 of their last 3 after another easy game this week, against St. Monica (2-3). If they lose all 3 of their remaining after Friday, and that could happen, as Maranatha (2-2-1) appears to be a team close in capability, I wonder if that might affect their reputation come time to select playoff teams.#4 Oak Park (4-1) is still in non-league play because they play in the 4 team Canyon League. They are favored to win league. The biggest problem I see for them is that while they have a couple of powerful teams on their schedule, the rest were pretty week. There were no teams at about even strength with what they will face in league and so they have not had many close contests. Still, losing to El Segundo by just 11 points is kind of impressive. Simi Valley and Agoura are the most likely league opponents to have a shot at upsetting Oak Park. Culver City has the number 5 CIF ranking. They will need to make sure that they take care of business in the rest of league, even if they lose El Segundo, and that would get them into the playoffs against competition in which they might excel.
