The Orange County media poll that creates the Register’s county top 10 ended two weeks ago with Mater Dei and Mission Viejo tied at No. 1.
Some people aren’t happy about that, especially with Mission Viejo having won a CIF-Southern Section championship and then advancing to a CIF State championship game.
Mater Dei and Mission Viejo each were No. 1 on the ballots of five of the 10 media members who vote in the poll.
This panelist’s ballot had Mater Dei at No. 1 because Mater Dei beat Tesoro by a larger margin than did Mission Viejo. Mater Dei beat Tesoro by 21 points. Mission Viejo beat Tesoro by six points.
It has been revealed to me that there is a way to show that Mission Viejo should be No. 1. And it goes like this …
Mater Dei lost to JSerra, which lost to Servite, which lost to Bishop Amat of La Puente, which lost to Serra of Gardena, which lost to Chaminade of North Hills, which lost to Redlands East Valley, which lost to Rancho Verde of Moreno Valley, which lost to Citrus Hill of Perris, which lost to Murrieta Valley, which lost to Mission Viejo.
So there’s one argument for Mission Viejo being No. 1. Wasn’t that easy?
Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:
• Supporters of high school kids playing 16 games often state that if there are state championships in other sports like basketball and girls volleyball there should be state championships in football, and they also state the players want to keep playing beyond section finals. Well, nobody is making a movie about concussions in basketball and girls volleyball, and high school kids also want to drive 60 mph in a school zone, but that doesn’t mean we should let them.
• The Mission Viejo vs. Bellarmine Prep of San Jose CIF State Division 1AA championship game will be televised live Friday at 8 p.m. by Time Warner Cable SportsNet and streamed live at twccommunity.com.
• Centennial of Corona, which beat St. John Bosco in the CIF-Southern Section Open Division championship football game, did not have to play in the regional round. Centennial, and tis CIF State Open Division opponent, De La Salle of Concord, were seeded into the CIF State Open Division game. Centennial-De La Salle will be on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and streamed live at twccommunity.com on Saturday at 8 p.m.
• The average margin of victory in the 12 CIF Southern Regional Championship football games last week was 12 points.
• CalHiSports.com has a list of what its staff decided are the 50 best high school football teams in California history. Included were Anaheim’s 1956 team; the Mater Dei teams of ’94, ’96 and ’98; Mission Viejo, 2004; and Servite, 1982. Eight of the 50 best teams were De La Salle teams of various seasons.
• Mater Dei offensive lineman Frank Martin and senior linebacker Curtis Robinson are nominees for the Glenn Davis Award, which is part of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game that will be played Jan. 8 in San Antonio. Martin and Robinson have been selected to the game, as have quarterback KJ Costello and receiver Dylan Crawford of Santa Margarita, and offensive lineman Luke Wattenberg of JSerra.
• The Register All-Orange County football team will be published in the Dec. 26 newspaper and will be available Dec. 25 at ocvarsity.com. Selecting these teams is the most difficult task our staff undertakes. All-league football teams will be published simultaneously.
• Mater Dei linebacker Jedediah Smith made an official visit to West Point over the weekend.
• Today is the final day that football coaches and athletic directors can submit their teams’ scholar-athletes to be honored by the National Football Foundation-Orange County Chapter’s Scholar-Athlete Dinner. Names can be submitted to NFF-OC Chapter president Steve McKay at mckayz@msn.com. Players must be all-league first team while maintaining a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. Community college and Chapman players also are eligible.
• Rick Curtis, recently fired as coach at Santa Margarita after two seasons, believes a false perception exists that he was ousted because he did something ethically or morally wrong. No, Curtis was fired because high expectations for the 2015 season were not met. The Eagles finished 5-5 overall and in last place in the Trinity League.
• Curtis is pursuing the coaching jobs at Esperanza and Laguna Hills.
• Myron Miller, who has returned to the football head coaching position at Tustin, said the Tillers will not rely upon the double-wing offense his Tustin teams ran when they would rarely throw the football. He said with Sagel Simon, who threw for 575 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore this season, at quarterback, Tustin will employ a passing game. We shall see.
• Admission for the CIF State Championships Division 5A football game, Saddleback Valley Christian vs. St. Bernard’s of Eureka, at Laguna Hills on Saturday at 6 p.m. is $12 for adults and $8 for students with valid student identification and for children 13 and younger. Admission for the Mission Viejo game Friday and for other games at Sacramento State is $15 for adults and $10 for students with valid student identification and for children 13 and younger. Parking at Sacramento State is $10 for cars, $25 for RVs.
• The boys basketball Gary Raya/Irvine World News Tournament has a pair of excellent semifinals Friday at Northwood: Esperanza (6-3) vs. Edison (7-1, No. 8 in the county top 10), 5:30 p.m.; and Northwood (5-4) vs. El Toro (7-2), 7 p.m.
• When Mater Dei’s boys basketball team plays in the Beach Ball Classic, Dec. 26-31 at Myrtle Beach, S.C., the Monarchs might play the No. 1 team in the nation. Montverde Academy of Florida, No. 1 in USA Today’s national rankings, also is in the 16-team tournament that annually is among the more prestigious basketball events in the country.
