Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now.
Southern California high school football coaches, players, fans, and even the pundits, were waiting to see what the CIF Southern Section was going to do with the Division 1 playoff field.
Would it be eight teams? Twelve? Four?
Sunday morning it was announced the field would be 10 teams, which includes six first-round byes with two ‘play-in’ games. Every Trinity League team except Servite is in the section’s top division.
The 10-team field created interesting pairings and surprising berths in the subsequent division (2-14).
The biggest shock of the morning was seeing Alemany get into the playoffs as an at-large from the Mission League. The Warriors went winless in league play and finished the season 2-7. Alemany played in the Division 2 final last year but will now host Temecula Valley (6-4) on Friday in Division 5.
“I’m surprised,” Alemany coach Casey Clausen said. “But I’m excited for the kids that we get to play bonus football.”
Alemany was ranked 65th in the Calpreps.com rankings with a 26.9 rating and a strength of schedule of 47. The Warriors’ opponents had a combined record of 62-29 this season. The team’s win over San Diego Lincoln (ranked No. 1 in the San Diego Section) at the beginning of the season might’ve been enough to get them in.
This morning’s Twitter Spaces discussing CIF-SS football playoff pairings was recorded. If you missed it, you can play it back! Thank you to those who tuned in.https://t.co/VGSpwODJqq
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) October 30, 2022
Notre Dame (4-6) also received an at-large berth in Division 5. The Knights will host Great Oak (6-4).
Chaminade (8-2), Bishop Amat (6-3), Serra (6-4), and Mission League champion Sierra Canyon (6-4), will all host games in the opening round of Division 2. Serra, which received No. 1 seed, will host Norco (6-4); Chaminade will host San Clemente (7-3); Sierra Canyon will host Warren (9-1); and Bishop Amat will host Murrieta Valley (6-4).
St. Bonaventure (7-3) will travel to Oak Hills (10-0) and Oaks Christian (7-3) will play at Rancho Cucamonga (8-2) in Division 2.
West Ranch and Thousand Oaks – both finishing 10-0 this season – were placed into Division 3. The No. 2-seeded Wildcats will host St. Pius (9-1) and the Lancers will travel to Chaparral (10-0).
Highland (9-1) – the Golden League champion – will travel to Cypress (10-0); Saugus (8-2) will host Millikan (4-6); Newbury Park (8-2) will host Mira Costa (8-2); and Valencia (5-5) will travel to Newport Harbor (6-4) in Division 4.
OTHER NOTABLE PAIRINGS
Calabasas (6-4) will host La Habra (6-4) in Division 6 after getting an at-large berth from the Marmonte League.
Hart (4-6) and Golden Valley (6-4) from the Foothill League will both play in Division 7 and each host Claremont (6-2) and Summit (5-5), respectively.
FULL SCHEDULE
LA CITY SECTION FOOTBALL PAIRINGS
Can you say three-peat?
The Birmingham Charter (6-4) football team will compete for the program’s third straight City Section Open Division title this postseason after receiving the No. 7 seed in the section’s top playoff bracket Saturday evening.
Despite going unbeaten in the West Valley League, and being the two-time defending champions, the Patriots will have to find its way back to the City final on the road due to the Calpreps.com rankings.
Related Articles
CIF-SS football playoff pairings and schedule for all 14 divisions
High school football live updates: CIF-SS playoff pairings announced
Campbell Hall girls volleyball team rallies past Roosevelt, advances to Division 4 final
CIF-SS girls volleyball playoffs: Saturday’s scores and matchups for championship games
Sierra Canyon girls volleyball advances to CIF-SS Division 1 final
Birmingham will travel to No. 2 Venice (7-2) on Thursday, Nov. 10 (due to Veteran’s Day Holiday) in the opening round. No. 1 San Pedro will host No. 8 Eagle Rock, No. 3 Banning will host No. 6 Roosevelt, and No. 4 Garfield will host No. 5 Franklin.
The Patriots have won seven City titles in their history.
In Division I, Granada Hills (7-2) will be the No. 1 seed and host No. 16 Canoga Park (6-4). The Highlanders finished second place in the West Valley League behind Birmingham thanks to the play of cousins Dijon and Darrell Stanley, who combined for more than 2,500 yards rushing this season. Canoga Park is the Valley Mission League champion for the first time since 1999.
Two other West Valley League teams were berthed into the Division I field. El Camino Real, the No. 4 seed, will host No. 13 Fairfax, No. 5 Cleveland seed, will host No. 12 Lincoln.
The Division I, II and III opening rounds begin this Friday, Nov. 4.
Monroe (8-1) is the No. 1 seed in Division II and Chatsworth (2-8) is the No. 1 seed in Division III. Monroe will host Taft. Chatsworth will host Diego Rivera.