Things went according to plan for the top four seeds in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs Friday night, as all four cruised into the quarterfinals.
Top-seed Mater Dei, ranked #3 in the High School Football America Top 50 and #1 in our California and Southern California Top 25‘s, cruised past Tesoro 69-0. Once again, sophomore QB J.T. Daniels was nearly perfect, going 14-for-17 for 304 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Up next for the Monarchs is Vista Murrieta, a 38-24 winner over Bishop Amat.
CIF SS Division I High School Football Playoff Bracket
Second-seeded Corona Centennial, ranked #8 nationally and #2 in our state and SoCal rankings, rolled past JSerra 55-24. The Huskies were led by junior quarterback Tanner McKee, who tossed four TD passes. Over the last three weeks, JSerra has lost to national powers Mater Dei, St. John Bosco and now Corona Centennial.
Next-up for Corona Centennial is Chaminade, which pulled-off a surprisingly easy 50-14 win over Long Beach Poly. Chaminade junior running back T.J. Pledger led the blowout with five rushing touchdowns with 132 yards on the ground.
St. John Bosco, ranked #12 nationally and #3 in California and SoCal, used a strong defensive effort in its opening round 47-20 win over Upland. Bosco allowed the Scots to only 194 yards in total offense. Junior QB Re-al Mitchell threw for 292 yards.
Next-up for Bosco is Trinity League foe Santa Margarita, which advanced with a 27-14 win over Serra (Gardena). During league play, Bosco beat Santa Margarita 47-10.
Santa Margarita won its third straight behind running back Chad Magyar rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns.
The most interesting quarterfinal match-up will be between unbeatens Mission Viejo and Rancho Cucamonga.
Mission Viejo, ranked #29 nationally, beat Servite 49-28 behind Matt McDonald’s five touchdowns passes. Rancho Cucamonga beat Orange Lutheran 27-7.
So for those keeping score, the Trinity League, which placed all of its teams in the postseason, was 4-2 on the night.
