OCVarsity’s breakdown and prediction for Division 9 of the CIF-SS football playoffs.
DIVISION 9
Top seeded teams:
1. Valley Christian of Cerritos (8-2)
2. Antelope Valley (8-2)
3. Silverado (8-2)
4. Notre Dame of Riverside (7-3)
O.C. teams in this division:
Cypress (6-4)
Kennedy (5-5)
Woodbridge (4-6)
Analysis: The Empire League wound up getting five of its six teams into postseason, with Cypress and Kennedy both earning at-large bids in Division 9. The Fighting Irish drew top-seeded Valley Christian of Cerritos, while the Centurions see a familiar foe in Woodbridge. The two county teams opened the season against one another in week zero with Cypress edging out the Warriors, 20-14. With Cameron Covington, Jeremiah and Dominique Thompson, the Centurions have the athletes on the outside to make a deep run in the division. At 5-foot-6, 155 pounds, they’ve also got one of the pound-for-pound toughest players in Orange County in quarterback Alex Ashcraft. The problem comes when Cypress plays a team with size in the trenches. And in Woodbridge, it will see a physical squad who is going to run the football with bulldozing back, Connor McBride. Last week against Valencia, the Centurions saw Jahquon Speed rumble for 358 yards on the ground. McBride is going to get his touches this week, so expect the game to be decided at the line of scrimmage. Of all the teams in this bracket, the single most impressive victory any owns is Notre Dame of Riverside’s nonleague win over Tesoro, a Division 1 playoff team. Two of the Titans three losses were by way of forfeit. So as the No. 4 seed, they might be under-seeded.
Champion: Notre Dame of Riverside over Cypress
