Segerstrom earns another important first

Look out for the Jags: Segerstrom made its first playoff appearance last year, and on Friday the Jaguars clinched their first league title in just their fourth year of varsity football by beating Westminster, 42-28. Westminster had won 30 consecutive Golden West League games and had won the league title outright every season since 2004. The Jaguars are scoring 45 points a game in Golden West League games, relying on the three-man rushing attack of Aaron Amrine, Justin Mills and Matt Navarro behind a sturdy offensive line. Coach Mike Maceranka has piloted Segerstrom to a steady ascent from its 1-9 finish in 2006, its first varsity season.

All-O.C. running backs: The competition for All-Orange County first- and second-team running backs is very tough. Tustin's Anthony Wilkerson, the county's leader rusher almost all season, is a great blend of speed and power, as is La Habra's Joshua Quezada. Fountain Valley's Kyle Middlebrooks has everything you'd want in a back, too, and he also might be the best pass-catching back in the county. You won't find quicker backs than Akeelie Muhammad of Cypress and Nick Richardson of Los Alamitos. Santa Ana Valley's Darius Nacoste broke the school rushing record held by a legend, Myron White. Sorting out such a deep corps of running backs for All-County is going to be quite a chore.

Do or die for Mater Dei: Mater Dei has not missed the playoffs since 1987, two years before Bruce Rollinson became the Monarchs' coach. They are tied in the Trinity League with St. John Bosco of Bellflower for third place, the league's final guaranteed playoff berth. The team that finishes as the No. 4 team will be 5-5 and is not going to get the Pac-5 Division's one at-large berth. Mater Dei controls its destiny. The Monarchs play at St. John Bosco on Friday.

Who gets the at-large berths? There is no at-large berth in the Southern Division. In the Pac-5, look for the No. 3 team from the four-team Serra League to get it, which means the Fountain Valley-Los Alamitos game might be a do-or-die game, too. In the Southwest, it probably will be the No. 4 team from the Century League that gets the one at-large berth. It is very doubtful that county teams will get at-large berths in the East Valley and Northeast divisions. At-large teams, seedings and first-round pairings will be published on ocvarsity.com when they are released Sunday.

Edison vs. Mission Viejo? Both are 9-0 overall and 4-0 in very good leagues, with Edison undefeated in the Sunset League and Mission Viejo unbeaten in the South Coast. Should Mission Viejo actually be No. 1 in the county instead of Edison? A problem the voters have is Mission's schedule, with all five of the Diablos' nonleague opponents being non-Orange County teams with a cumulative record of 20-25. Edison's nonleague opponents are 28-14, and there are three teams in the current county top 10 in there – Dana Hills, Mater Dei and Servite. Plus, the Sunset League is deeper than the South Coast. Nothing against Mission Viejo, which has been completely impressive, but Edison deserves that No. 1 ranking. Maybe we will get to see Edison vs. Mission Viejo in the Pac-5 playoffs.