That's what ocvarsity.com's Carlos Arias had called the possibility of a five-way tie in the Sunset League, a possibility that came to be. Edison, Esperanza, Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor all had 3-2 league records when the regular season ended last week. Head-to-head competition is the first way to break ties, but all of those teams had defeated each other in various "A beat B, B beat C, C beat A" ways that head-to-head did not untangle the mess. The late-great Larry Doyle led the construction of the league constitution when he was Marina's athletic director, but even he did not foresee the need for a clause that would settle a five-way tie. So the league improvised. The five school names were placed in a bowl, an independent observer pulled three names out of the bowl in the Edison weight room, the order of names being pulled being the order of the top three representatives: 1.Esperanza, 2. Fountain Valley, 3. Los Alamitos. Because Edison beat Newport Harbor, Edison was No. 4 and Harbor was No. 5. So Edison was the league's candidate for the Pac-5 at-large berth, which went to Bishop Amat of La Puente. Newport Harbor, 7-3 and a county top 10 team that won its final three league games, the only Sunset team to do so, was out of the running. Doomsday, indeed.

For the second year in a row, major fires struck the county during football season. The effect on football is incredibly minute compared to damage and suffering, but the effect is there. The homes of two Esperanza players were destroyed, a Canyon player's home was damaged, and evacuations were required of others at those schools and perhaps more. Canyon, El Dorado and Esperanza were limited to walk-throughs and film study as they prepare for playoff games this week. El Dorado is scheduled to play Thursday at Valencia High against Huntington Beach, but if the Golden Hawks can't practice today, they might play somewhere else on Friday.

He wasn't playing quarterback, but Brandon Turner made the two crucial passes for Orange Lutheran in its 24-21 victory over Mater Dei and All-American quarterback Matt Barkley. A receiver on the roster, Turner first took a snap on a fake punt and connected with Davonte Anderson for a 15-yard gain and a first down. On the next play, a double-pass, Turner threw to Exavier Edwards for a 48-yard touchown pass.

HOW I VOTED IN THE TOP 10

It was impossible to sort it out perfectly. But here it is: 1. Tesoro; 2. Servite; 3. Orange Lutheran; 4. Mater Dei; 5. Mission Viejo; 6. San Clemente; 7. Newport Harbor; 8. Los Alamitos; 9. Edison; 10. Fountain Valley.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com