Playoff shockers: Diamond (Ranch) in the rough
With the myriad rules concerning CIF playoff pairings - keeping first-place teams from playing anybody that finished higher than third place, preventing potential second-round matchups between teams in the same league, etc. - the top four teams in each bracket are the only ones CIF can truly seed.
Despite facing No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, Norco and Diamond Ranch advanced to the second round of the playoffs Friday night.
Norco, the Inland Division's at-large team, handed undefeated Rancho Verde a 19-9 loss Friday night while Diamond Ranch, whose record is still under .500 even with the playoff win, showed third-seeded Pacific League champ Pasadena Muir the door with a 21-7 victory in the Southeast Division's first round.
Diamond Ranch (5-6) is the equivalent of the 13th seed while Norco (7-4) is the 15th.
In my estimation, these were the two biggest upsets of the first round of the playoffs.

Clay Fowler has been covering high school sports for six years in California and Texas. He was born in Dallas, attended the University of Texas and worked in Central Texas before joining the Daily Bulletin staff in 2006.



tooooo beasttin....
Eduub #88 DR