All-Baseline League final in the Inland Division?
The Baseline League has experienced an intraleague CIF championship game twice in the last three years. Of course, both of those occurrences were in a Central Division devoid of Corona Centennial and Vista Murrieta, among others.
This season, Baseline League champion Upland and second-place Rancho Cucamonga, whose only loss this season came to Upland, find themselves one win away from playing each other for a title in the Inland Division.
Third-seeded Upland, which demolished Sierra League champion Charter Oak, 51-13, in the quarterfinals, faces off with No. 2 seed Vista Murrieta on Friday. Rancho Cucamonga, which took Vista Murrieta to double overtime in last year's semifinal, faces top-seeded Corona Centennial in the other semifinal following a 9-6 defeat of fourth-seeded Redlands East Valley.
Rancho Cucamonga defeated Upland in the 2008 Central Division championship game a year before Upland bested Los Osos in the 2009 Central Division title game.
An all-Baseline League championship game this year would take on new significance considering the competition in the Inland Division is arguably the best in Southern California.
The Central Division does retain hope for a local matchup in the finals after fourth-seeded Colony and Carter advanced past the quarterfinals with victories by a combined four points. Identical to the Baseline League teams, Colony and Carter must defeat the top two seeds in order to face each other in the final.
Mt. Baldy League champion Colony, a 31-28 quarterfinal winner over Inland Valley League fourth-place finisher Moreno Valley, will take on No. 1 seed Rancho Verde in the semifinals. Colony knows a little something about winning CIF titles after back-to-back crowns in 2006 and 2007.
Carter, which cost itself an undefeated league and the top playoff seed out of the San Andreas League with a loss to Cajon in the reagular season finale, has recovered nicely in the postseason. After a first-round blowout, the Lions ousted No. 3 seed Riverside La Sierra with a 15-14 win on Friday. Carter may well be the most difficult opponent second-seeded Palm Springs has faced all season when the two meet in the semifnals.

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.



Rancho vs Upland in the CIF finals would be awesome!
Both teams have tough games ahead of them. Upland should get the win over VM if they play mistake free football as they have been playing.
Rancho I don't see beating CC, they aren't scoring very many points these past games and you have to score to beat CC.
Rancho took on REV and controlled the game. IF rancho plays the same as they did with REV, and the coaches open up the playbook, they have a great chance of winning over CC. Should be some great football.
Rancho you did not control the game, you got lucky on a fumble in the endzone, should have been a touchdown and the Rev had the ball inside the 5 yard line with a first down and didnt make the right call(coaches error)-
Only TD was from your QB- you were shut down all night. Rev does have trouble scoring against good teams, the Rev defense slammed the door shut on you for only 9 points.
You guys don't have a playbook to open up- you will either air it out in desperation or run and get snuffed for no gain. You will play scared and CC is playing you on a neutral field. You have to travel like us to another field and you will feel the pressure all night.
Your D will never get off the field so with school in session there will be no no no resting like last week. Hope your boys can learn 30 more new plays, because we have your whole season, thanks to some friends of yours. So go ahead and make our day--
lots of rancho haters out this week. last i looked isnt rancho still playing.
ranchos defense stepped up, blame on rev's coaching or whatever, rev's still turning their stuff in.
youre right, rancho will get blown out, lose by 30 points, why bother showing up right? centennial's already won.
Sorry but no Baseline teams in the finals. It will be CC vs VM. Rancho will get blown out and VM's team is too disciplined for Upland to beat.
LIL BYRDIE SAYS:
Vista Murrieta has found a new weapon and a weakness to Upland... #21 up the middle all night long. The middle linebackers couldn't tackle the Charter Oak 5ft 7 175lbs running back. So there is no way they can tackle the 6ft 2 215 lbs running back of Vista Murrieta. No need to run outside, Upland has some great D-ends and very athletic outside Linbackers.
Vista Murrieta will control the Middle all night long and control the game..
Haters?? Or Cry babys??? Look REV fans You could not score a touchdown..2 fieldgoals... We had 3 turnovers and a 8 yd punt that gave you the ball at the 20 yd line..2 FG's is all you could muster...We had a fumble at the 5 yd line just like you did at the 1 yd line...Either team could of won that game, but RC Did, so turn your gear in and do your christmas shopping..
I dont know if RC can beat CC, but we will show up and give it our best effort..We did go to basic offense against REV, I guess to try and control the clock (IDK)...That game was the least amount of passes we have thrown all year.. I know we need to score to beat CC and hopefully we can put up at least 35, so we have a chance to win..
That's why they play the game, you never know whats going to happen. Go SCOTS!
@doctrk ~ No hater here, but you have to admit, although RC has been winning, they haven't been winning the way they did the year before. To go from that type of dominance to where they are now, seeds that doubt. Personally I'd love to see the Baseline players in the finals, but RC's play isn't going to get them past Centennial, much less out of the first half.
I've said all season, to be the best, you have to beat the best. The best is Centennial and until you cross that bridge there, by default, most folks will give CC the benefit of the doubt. It is what it is.
If anyone from the IE looks like they could give CC a run would be... and I'm coughing having to say this (Upland Fan... lol) is the men in skirts, Upland. However, they have to get past Vista Mur first. It's the playoff's now. Season wins/losses don't count.
Fight On!
Not so fast..
You know I will agree with you. I also agree Vista Murrieta is no push over. I liked our odds a lot more before their game against JW North. That running back they have may cause us some problems. We have to use our speed and team tackle this kid. He looked like a man playing with boys.
Vista Murrieta props to you guys for saving this guy for the Playoffs.....
Not so fast...
You know I'm gonna agree with you! First, Rancho will slow down CC but they aren't putting up points. You have to score to bead CC and Rancho isn't doing that.
Upland, I liked our odds a whole lot more before I saw the JW north VM highlights. There RB is a beast and may cause some problems for us if we don't team tackle. We have to use our speed and make a lil adjustments for this game.
It's a forgone conclusion that Centennial will not win this year. The only ones that don't seem to realize it are Centennial fans. The Champ will come out of the bottom bracket this year. The last two undefeated teams in the Inland will have to duke it out. Based on common opponents, Upland seems to have the edge, but VM is always tough.
@keak, what crystal ball have you been looking into? It's a forgone conclusion?? Until you knock out the champ, the champ gets the benefit of the doubt. Knock'em out and you get to wear the belt, until then you're just talking.
@upland, I agree. Your LBs are gonna have to fill those holes and stuff the run. Force VM to go to the air. They're WRs are nice, but yours are better, which means I think your DBs are better. Either way, gang tackling is the key otherwise it'll be a long night.
I like the Upland vs CC matchup, but I said that already.
@ Tc4t...lots of what ifs but REV still lost. As I saw the game there were what ifs, dropped balls, turn overs and missed opportunities by both teams, RC still dominated on both ends and out coached REV. your right, the play book does need to be opened up, no disagreement there. And yes...in post season anything can happen.