I was disappointed, but not shocked by the result of the first round playoff game of Valley View at Culver City in Division 11. Valley View won 69-43.
Culver City has the dubious distinction of scoring the most points in an 11 man Southern Section first round game this year...and losing. To be sure, the game was entertaining, if you like offense. The Centaurs even led a couple of times, but turnovers (2 pick 6's) and at least one fumble were certainly their undoing. Had they avoided those, they might have gotten close enough to steal the win, but they were never gonna dominate Valley View.
That team was big, 3 guys over 300 lbs, plus Culver City only has one over 250. In the second half, the telltale drive was a 91 yard, 19 play drive taking over 9 minutes by Valley View in which they mostly ran it up the gut. Culver had guys leaping over the top of the pile, everyone in the box they could spare, but just could not stop that freight train. Valley View's 230 lb fullback, Rudy Lovato was too much for Culver to handle behind that big O-line. The Centaur QB threw for 456 yards, but Valley View ran for 483.
Valley View moves on to host Rancho Alamitos (7-4). Rancho should be able to handle the size a little bit better than Culver and also has an effective passer. Their receivers do not look as talented as the Culver squad and I think when all is added up that Valley View should be winning this one, particularly playing at home.
Katella managed to beat Westminster a second time this year. They host 29 Palms. I don't know enough to comment any further than the fact that 29 Palms is not rated any where near Katella, so I expect Katella to breeze to a semi-final.
Arcadia looks like they dominated Oak Park, but they must travel to Quartz Hill and I am still having trouble having much respect for Pacific league teams. I am picking Quartz Hill to win.
Montebello was picked to be one of the Division 11 favorites. They easily handled Coachella Valley 38-14 and are 8 point favorites over Covina who barely got by Victor Valley 18-17. Covina has home field, but I don't think that will be enough.
What about the rest of the Ocean League?
El Segundo survived a tight match against Canyon of Anaheim 17-10 in Division 7. Cupcake El Segundo gave up more than 19 points only once this season, 24, to high scoring Culver City. They are well coached. If they are healthy, they should feature alternating QB's, not every quarter or series but EVERY PLAY. Both guys are serviceable, I like #7 a little better but it is their fullback, #10, and #26 on defense that are most impressive. #26 is a stud.
They will prefer to run the ball but can pass effectively enough to keep you honest. #7 is willing to scramble for first downs too. Their main RB is a bit smallish, but tough & quick. The back-up is even smaller, but perhaps speedier. Golden Valley's advantage may be that they face teams this good all season. Nothing new to them. Speed and revenge are the only thing that defeated El Segundo (10-1) in their one loss this year, but they have not faced a team as highly rated as Golden Valley either. This is my planned game to attend.
The Ocean League's Lawndale also survived in Division 6 play, easily beating local foe West Torrance 48-14. Calpreps projects a high scoring 1 point edge for Summit. Summit, 42-41 winners over West Covina, does appear to have the size to counter Lawndale, and they will need it. But if you can stop the Lawndale run game, you have chance to stop them as their QB is an inconsistent passer.
Both teams look like they will feature star running backs. Lawndale's sophomore Jordan Wilmore is listed as the 7th leading rusher in the Southern Section. Their QB's numbers look better than what I saw when they played El Segundo.
Summit looks like they are all about #7 RB Stephen Carr. They don't show any stats on this young man, but the video is impressive, and the last name is the same as the leading rusher in the CIF, Kenneth Carr. Relation? Cousin? I would guess Lawndale will assign a specific player to him because he looks like a special gamebreaking college division 1 type player. Summit appears to just barely do enough with passing to keep teams from locking down too tight on Carr. I would expect that Carr & the Summit size to be enough for a Summit win.
Culver City has the dubious distinction of scoring the most points in an 11 man Southern Section first round game this year...and losing. To be sure, the game was entertaining, if you like offense. The Centaurs even led a couple of times, but turnovers (2 pick 6's) and at least one fumble were certainly their undoing. Had they avoided those, they might have gotten close enough to steal the win, but they were never gonna dominate Valley View.
That team was big, 3 guys over 300 lbs, plus Culver City only has one over 250. In the second half, the telltale drive was a 91 yard, 19 play drive taking over 9 minutes by Valley View in which they mostly ran it up the gut. Culver had guys leaping over the top of the pile, everyone in the box they could spare, but just could not stop that freight train. Valley View's 230 lb fullback, Rudy Lovato was too much for Culver to handle behind that big O-line. The Centaur QB threw for 456 yards, but Valley View ran for 483.
Valley View moves on to host Rancho Alamitos (7-4). Rancho should be able to handle the size a little bit better than Culver and also has an effective passer. Their receivers do not look as talented as the Culver squad and I think when all is added up that Valley View should be winning this one, particularly playing at home.
Katella managed to beat Westminster a second time this year. They host 29 Palms. I don't know enough to comment any further than the fact that 29 Palms is not rated any where near Katella, so I expect Katella to breeze to a semi-final.
Arcadia looks like they dominated Oak Park, but they must travel to Quartz Hill and I am still having trouble having much respect for Pacific league teams. I am picking Quartz Hill to win.
Montebello was picked to be one of the Division 11 favorites. They easily handled Coachella Valley 38-14 and are 8 point favorites over Covina who barely got by Victor Valley 18-17. Covina has home field, but I don't think that will be enough.
What about the rest of the Ocean League?
El Segundo survived a tight match against Canyon of Anaheim 17-10 in Division 7. Cupcake El Segundo gave up more than 19 points only once this season, 24, to high scoring Culver City. They are well coached. If they are healthy, they should feature alternating QB's, not every quarter or series but EVERY PLAY. Both guys are serviceable, I like #7 a little better but it is their fullback, #10, and #26 on defense that are most impressive. #26 is a stud.
They will prefer to run the ball but can pass effectively enough to keep you honest. #7 is willing to scramble for first downs too. Their main RB is a bit smallish, but tough & quick. The back-up is even smaller, but perhaps speedier. Golden Valley's advantage may be that they face teams this good all season. Nothing new to them. Speed and revenge are the only thing that defeated El Segundo (10-1) in their one loss this year, but they have not faced a team as highly rated as Golden Valley either. This is my planned game to attend.
The Ocean League's Lawndale also survived in Division 6 play, easily beating local foe West Torrance 48-14. Calpreps projects a high scoring 1 point edge for Summit. Summit, 42-41 winners over West Covina, does appear to have the size to counter Lawndale, and they will need it. But if you can stop the Lawndale run game, you have chance to stop them as their QB is an inconsistent passer.
Both teams look like they will feature star running backs. Lawndale's sophomore Jordan Wilmore is listed as the 7th leading rusher in the Southern Section. Their QB's numbers look better than what I saw when they played El Segundo.
Summit looks like they are all about #7 RB Stephen Carr. They don't show any stats on this young man, but the video is impressive, and the last name is the same as the leading rusher in the CIF, Kenneth Carr. Relation? Cousin? I would guess Lawndale will assign a specific player to him because he looks like a special gamebreaking college division 1 type player. Summit appears to just barely do enough with passing to keep teams from locking down too tight on Carr. I would expect that Carr & the Summit size to be enough for a Summit win.
Last edited by a moderator:
