Canyon forfeited its win last week over El Dorado, the CIF-Southern Section confirmed today.
That guarantees Canyon will finish last in the four-team North Hills League. Yet the Comanches playoff chances still look good.
Canyon will not get a guaranteed playoff berth, no matter if Canyon beat Brea Olinda tonight. In fact, technically Canyon will be the last-place team in the four-team North Hills League.
But Canyon still is a strong contender to make the playoffs because the North Hills League informed the CIF-SS office today, hours after the forfeit was announced, that Canyon will be the league’s No. 3 team when it submits its order of playoff representatives to the office.
Canyon in that game, a 49-14 Comanches win last week in a North Hills League game, used a 14-year-old player who did not receive clearance from a licensed medical practioner to participate in varsity football.
Any player under 15 years of age must submit to the CIF-Southern Section office that letter, and a signed consent statement from the parents or legal guardian, in order to play varsity football.
The top two teams in the four-team North Hills League receive guaranteed playoff berths in the CIF-SS Southern Division. Brea has the league’s No. 1 position locked up. El Dorado and El Modena play each other tonight for the No. 2 spot.
Canyon will be in the pool of at-large candidates for one of the Southern Division’s two at-large berths.
Canyon likely will get one of those at-large berths because the at-large selection formula awards points for, among other criteria, stength of the league vs. other leagues in the division; and for strength of schedule. The overall, cumulative win-loss record of opponents determines strength of schedule.
Three of the top four teams in the Southern Division rankings are North Hills team — there is the strength of league advantage.
Canyon played a very challenging nonleague schedule that included San Juan Hills (8-1 going into tonight), Edison (6-3), Foothill (6-3) and Villa Park (10-0). No at-large contender in the Southern Division has played as many teams with records like those.
So Canyon very well could be on the list of at-large teams that the CIF-SS office releases Sunday, when it also releases playoff brackets for its 13 11-man football divisions.
Canyon, with a win tonight, probably would have been the top-seeded team in the Southern Division playoffs if not for the forfeit.
Canyon is No. 1 in the Southern Division rankings this week. A win over Brea probably would have assured that Canyon would have been the top-seeded team in the division when CIF-SS football playoff brackets are released Sunday.
The North Hills League standings now:
Brea Olinda 2-0
El Modena 1-1
El Dorado 1-1
Canyon 0-2
Today, the final night of the regular season: Canyon plays at Brea Olinda; El Modena plays El Dorado at Valencia HS.
El Modena beat Canyon — thus, even a Canyon win and an El Modena loss today would not have put Canyon into the No. 3 position until the league decided to act otherwise, which is the league’s right.
If Canyon wins and El Dorado loses, that puts both at 1-2 in league; El Dorado would still be, in the standings, ahead of Canyon, because of the forfeit win for El Dorado.
If the North Hills League made El Dorado it’s No. 3 and made Canyon No. 4, the CIF-SS at-large committe would have to select El Dorado for an at-large berth before it would select Canyon for one of the two at-large berths.
And there are a couple of teams in the Southern Division’s other leagues that would go ahead of El Dorado in the at-large pecking order. If, say, an Orange Coast League team was given the first at-large berth, and El Dorado given the second one then Canyon would be out of the playoffs.
The North Hills League’s decision to submit Canyon as its No. 3 team erased all of that.
Canyon goes to 4-5 overall. A team does not have to be .500 or better to be eligible for at-large berth consideration.
The leagues that are in the Southern Division, with guaranteed playoff berths per league in parentheses: Garden Grove (3); Golden West (3); North Hills (2); Orange (3); and Orange Coast (3). Again, two at-large berths in the 16-team bracket.
