 Tesoro's Bryant Chirinos brings down Los Alamitos quarterback Clark Evans during the Titans' 23-7 victory over the Griffins on Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER |
Fryer breaks down CIF first-round action
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Find final scores, a look at the second round, upsets, slide shows and much more.
The first round was the last round for two top-seeded Orange County teams.
Foothill was the No. 1-seeded team in the Southwest Division, and Saddleback Valley Christian was No. 1 in the Northeast of the CIF-Southern Section football playoffs.
Foothill lost to Pacifica, 35-7. Saddleback Valley Christian, one of three county teams that were undefeated going into the playoffs, lost to Mojave, 35-14.
And the surprising losses did not stop there.
Canyon, the No. 3 team from the Century League, beat Empire League champion Cypress, 35-17.
Servite, seeded fourth in the Pac-5 Division, lost to Lakewood in overtime, 35-34.
Servite coach Troy Thomas is going to get second-guessed for weeks about his decision for the final play of the game. After scoring its second overtime touchdown, the Friars lined up for the extra-point kick, but Lakewood was offsides. The penalty moved the ball halfway to the goal line, 1½ yards from the stripe.
Thomas decided to go for two points and the victory. A pass by quarterback Cody Fajardo was a bit low but not too low, but it was not caught, either dropped or tipped away.
If the play worked, everyone would talk about how gutsy the call was, and how Thomas showed the depth of faith he had in his players. But it did not work, so now some people will suggest Servite should have gone for the tie and put the onus on its defense, which had shut out Lakewood in the second half.
Another topic of discussion will be one-sided scores. La Habra hammered Anaheim, 83-0. On Thursday, Tustin beat Magnolia, 76-26.
I was not at Anaheim-La Habra, so I cannot comment too much on that one. But I was at Magnolia-Tustin.
With a huge lead already in the fourth quarter, Tustin went for it on fourth down and converted. Magnolia kept star running back Robert Cruz, and other starters, in the game even though the outcome was obvious.
Tustin coach Myron Miller said he would not put third-stringers, mostly sophomores, in the game to face Magnolia's seasoned and larger seniors. So both teams had starters on the field even with Tustin so far ahead. It was something of an impasse between the two coaches as the game became more lopsided.
The result is this: kids were humiliated, and two adult leaders were unable to reach an understanding that would have allowed the kids to retain their pride and integrity.
One game had two adult leaders who understand each other quite well. That was the game we called the Barnes Bowl, Los Alamitos vs. Tesoro, John Barnes of Los Alamitos coaching against son Brian Barnes' Tesoro team.
Tesoro won, 23-7, in a Pac-5 game closer than that score indicates. Tesoro scored in the final minute on an interception return by Preston King, and there was a Los Alamitos lost fumble when it trailed Tesoro by only two points, 9-7.
The highlight of Los Alamitos-Tesoro might have been the pregame coin toss. Anita Barnes, wife of one coach and mother of the other, was the one who flipped the coin. Los Alamitos won the toss – but deferred.
St. Margaret's won again to stretch its wining streak to 39 games, the second-highest streak in county history. The record is 41 games, set by Mission Viejo in 2003.
There are two first-round playoff games that feature Orange County teams tonight: Trabuco Hills-Valencia in the Southwest Division; and Irvine-Westminster at Estancia in the Southern Division.
Next week's schedule for the second round of the playoffs has some outstanding games on it: Mater Dei at Tesoro; Notre Dame of Sherman Oak against Orange Lutheran; Esperanza vs. Long Beach Poly; and all of the Southwest Division games including Tustin-Pacifica; Fullerton-Canyon, in the Southwest; La Habra-El Dorado, two CIF football champions last year, also in the Southwest.
Two county teams that were seeded No. 1 did win – Laguna Hills in the Southern Division, and St. Margaret's in the East Valley.
But only four teams in the final county top 10 still are playing: No. 1 Tesoro; No. 3 Orange Lutheran; No. 4 Mater Dei; and No. 5 Mission Viejo.
It was that kind of night. It's been that kind of year, really.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
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