Western Division
First-Round Games
Gahr (6-4) at St. Francis (8-2)
The pairings weren't kind to the Gladiators, who get Mission League runner-up St. Francis in the first round. The Golden Knights, the fifth seed, are a very solid team, their only losses coming to league champ Alemany, 13-7, and Pac-5 contender Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 28-24. Offensively, they are very balanced. QB Justin Posthuma is a dual threat. He has thrown for 1,784 yards and 14 TDs and rushed for 563 yards and eight more scores. The running game, led by Dietrich Riley (680 yards, 9 TDs), has totaled 1,756 yards. It's no secret that defense is Gahr's weak spot, and the Gladiators had big-time trouble early in the year when facing another dual-threat QB, Kennedy's Andy Peterson. Although they prefer it, the Gladiators, the No. 2 team out of the San Gabriel Valley League, will simply need to make the game a shootout to win it. And why not? Gahr has the best passing attack in the state behind QB Casey Nielsen (3,954 yards, 38 TDs, 11 INTs), WR Shaan Johnson (68 catches, 1,379 yards, 14 TDs) and RB Brenton Allen (653 yards from scrimmage over five games since coming back from an injury).
West Torrance (7-3) at Warren (9-1)
When asked about West Torrance, Warren coach Chris Benadom said, "They are very similar to us." Maybe in terms of what the Warriors like to do on the field, but certainly not their personnel. West, the No. 3 team out of the Bay League, has nothing like Bears standout RB Jesse Callier, who has run for an area-leading 2,632 yards and scored 236 of Warren's 411 points. Callier will have another big game in this first-round matchup, as no team has been able to hold the University of Washington-bound senior to less than 149 yards. "Like I've said before, we'll ride that horse until we can't ride him anymore," Benadom said. Defense will be the key to how far the San Gabriel Valley League champs can go in the playoffs. The Bears were awarded the No. 6 seed despite only losing once, a 42-28 setback at undefeated Vista Murrieta, which is ranked fifth in the state.
Dominguez (4-5) at Culver City (9-1)
The Dons won three straight games to claim third place in the SGVL and a playoff berth, and their reward was a first-round game with the high-scoring Ocean League champion Centaurs. Culver City, seeded second, averages 42 points per game behind QB Marquel Carter (2,732 yards, 28 TDs, 9 INTs). "It'll be difficult because they spread it out all over the field," Dominguez coach Willie Donerson said. Kind of like what SGVL rival Gahr does. "Similar," Donerson said, "but they like to run the ball more." The Dons did a pretty fair job against Gahr, but the Centaurs' ground game - led by Edwin Tillman (814 yards, 8TDs) and Carter (491 yards, 16 TDs) - will leave Dominguez decide to hold the safeties back in coverage or bring them up to help against the run. "Pick your poison," Donerson said. The one thing the Dominguez defense, which needs big games from LBs Will Gregory and Stanley Taylor and DBs Aaron Williams and John Bell, will do is come hard at Carter. "We'll rush the passer. Other teams have sat back and him do what he wants," Donerson said. "We are going to send more guys than they can block." And the plan on the other side of the ball for the Dons, who run more a spread offense now? "We will try to outscore them, if that's possible," said Donerson, whose team averages just 20 points per game. "Or we'll try to control the ball, but we haven't been able to do that very well."
Leave a comment