LET THE GAMES BEGIN: Monrovia is one of four area teams to earn a top four seed when CIF-SS announced its playoff pairings on Sunday. The others are La Salle, Muir and Rio Hondo Prep. Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz.
The CIF-Southern Section announced its pairings for the divisional playoffs Sunday and there were a few surprises.
The big one was St. Francis receiving an at-large bid in the Western Division. But as expected, Monrovia, Muir, Rio Hondo Prep and La Salle all got seeded in their respective divisions.
The only surprise was Muir being No. 3 in the Southeast. The Mustangs, who have won seven consecutive games, were ranked No. 4 to begin next week, but benefited from a three-way tie in the San Gabriel League, which dropped Paramount down a peg. Muir will host California on Friday. The Condors pushed No. 2 seed La Serna last week before losing in overtime.
Arcadia is also in the division, but will have its hands full against top seed La Mirada.
Monrovia, as expected received the No. 2 seed in the Mid-Valley. The Wildcats, who host Viewpoint, are seeking their third consecutive division title, trying to match Temple City’s reign during the 1970s. Monrovia, if it wins a division title, will likely play in a state bowl game.
Rio Hondo Prep, seeking to repeat as a division champ, is the No. 2 seed in the Northeast. The Kares host Bell-Jeff in the first round. La Salle, which has gone from 1-9 last year to 10-0 this year, is No. 3 in the Northwest and will host Centennial/Compton.
St. Francis, despite being 4-6 and finishing fifth in the Mission League, received the second of two at-large bids in the Western Division. The Golden Knights are at No. 1 seed Lompoc in the first round.
Here’s the playoff schedule for area teams:
SOUTHEAST
California at No. 3 Muir
Arcadia at No. 1 La Mirada
NORTHEAST
Bell-Jeff at No. 2 Rio Hondo Prep
Flintridge Prep at Ribet Academy
MID-VALLEY
Temple City at Paraclete
Schurr at San Marino
Viewpoint at No. 2 Monrovia
NORTHWEST
Centennial/Compton at No. 3 La Salle
WESTERN
St. Francis at No. 1 Lompoc
By Aram Tolegian, SGVN
twitter.com/ChemicalAT
The Monrovia High School football team’s quest for a three-peat as CIF-SS Mid-Valley Division champion begins with the Wildcats not considered the favorite to win the division for a third consecutive season.
That honor went to Paraclete (9-1), which was given the top seed in the division when playoff pairings were announced on Sunday.
Monrovia (8-2) was made the division’s No. 2 seed and will host Viewpoint in Friday’s first round. Viewpoint was given an at-large berth after finishing 5-5 and in a three-way tie for third in the Alpha League.
“It’s a reward for our hard work, but to do what we want to do you have to beat the teams in front of you,” Monrovia head coach Ryan Maddox said. “Where your seeding is isn’t nearly as important as how you play.
“You can’t write history before it happens. You can’t worry about that stuff because that’s when you get caught.”
San Marino, which finished second in the Rio Hondo League and owns one of the best records in the division at 9-1, was unseeded and plays in the opposite half of the bracket from Monrovia.
The Titans were given a home game against Schurr (4-6), which finished in a second-place tie in the Almont League. San Marino’s path to the finals will be very difficult with top-seeded Paraclete (9-1) and No. 4-seeded San Dimas (9-1) in the same half of the bracket.
If San Marino and San Dimas win playoff openers, they will meet in the second round.
The two teams played in last year’s first round with San Dimas winning 31-21.
Rio Hondo League third-place finisher Temple City (5-5) drew the tough assignment of a road trip to Lancaster to face Paraclete.
The area’s biggest surprise team, La Salle (10-0), earned the No. 3 seed in the Northwest Division. The Del Rey League champion Lancers will be at home against Compton Centennial (3-7), which got an at-large berth after finishing fourth in the Pioneer League.
The Lancers are on the same side of the bracket as Nordhoff (9-1), which spent most of the season as the division’s
No. 1-ranked team before falling to Bishop Diego in the league title game. La Salle and Nordhoff are heavy favorites to meet in the semifinals on
Nov. 23.
“I’m happy,” first-year Lancers coach Russell Gordon said. “I felt that with zero losses, we would get the No. 2 seed, but it didn’t happen that way. We’re happy with our draw and ready to go.
“It’s great for the kids. They deserve it. They’ve had a rough two years and for them to bounce back like this is great.”
Muir’s reward for finishing 7-3 and winning the Pacific League was being given the No. 3 seed in the Southeast Division and a home game in the first round against California (8-2).
Arcadia had its shaky moments this season, but the Apaches (4-6) are in the playoffs. Their assignment is rough, though, with a road game against Southeast No. 1 seed La Mirada (8-1) in Friday’s first round.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was St. Francis, which finished 4-6 and fifth in the Mission League, getting an at-large berth in the Western Division.
But before anybody goes celebrating, the Knights have a long road trip to face No. 1-seeded Lompoc (10-0) on Friday night.
After winning the Prep League, Rio Hondo Prep (8-1) was given the No. 2 seed in the Northeast Division. The Kares will host at-large team Bell-Jeff (4-6).
Flintridge Prep (5-4) finished second in the Prep League behind Rio Hondo Prep and got a road game against Ribet Academy, which won the Arrowhead League and is 9-1.
