There once was a rule you couldn’t play a league opponent in the first round of the football playoffs and everything should be done to avoid having league opponents meet before the semifinals.
Then came the competitive equity playoffs, where a computer algorithm ranks teams and ignores geography, league representation and head-to-head results. It means there could be plenty of rematches taking place throughout the Southern Section and City Section playoffs starting this week, and it’s one of the most difficult challenges in football to beat a team twice.
Unbeaten Mater Dei (9-0) was seeded No. 1 on Sunday for the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs and will be trying to duplicate its 15-0 season of 2017 when it swept league rival St. John Bosco in what has become almost a yearly two-game series. With six Trinity League teams in the 10-team Division 1 bracket, there could be lots of rematches unless public school powers Mission Viejo (10-0), Inglewood (10-0) and Corona Centennial (8-2) intervene. Centennial has already faced Mater Dei this season, so beware if there’s a rematch.
Retired coach Ed Croson was one of the best in figuring out how to win rematches when he was at Birmingham and Chaminade.
“It’s hard to beat somebody twice because kids subconsciously are saying in the back of their mind, ‘We’re better,’ where the others are saying, ‘We have something to prove.’ ”
In 2002, Birmingham lost to Taft 30-6 in league play, then beat the Toreadors in the City final 35-7. In 2013, Chaminade lost to Gardena Serra 36-0, then beat Serra in the section final 38-35. But in 2012, Chaminade beat Serra 28-20 in league, then lost to Serra 30-28 in the section final.
Croson admits he saved plays for the expected final against Serra in 2013. “We we knew we would be playing them at some point and we started working on a game plan and we didn’t tell the kids,” he said. “Every Sunday, part of the team meeting was Serra. We added a couple plays each week. The kids didn’t know.”
A rematch is happening in the opening round of the City Section Open Division playoffs, with Marine League rivals San Pedro and Banning facing off again after playing Oct. 18 at the Coliseum in a game won by San Pedro 34-33.
“I’ve been around the City a long time,” said San Pedro coach Corey Walsh, the son of legendary coach Mike Walsh. “When I was growing up, people really had a tough time beating a team twice, whether it was Taft-Birmingham, Crenshaw-Dorsey, San Pedro-Banning. It was like a spell. I don’t think that’s held quite as true lately.”
Mater Dei will face the winner of Sierra Canyon-Servite. No. 2-seeded St. John Bosco will face the winner of Santa Margarita-Inglewood. The other openers set for Nov. 15 are JSerra vs. No. 3 Orange Lutheran and Corona Centennial at No. 4 Mission Viejo in what could be called the public school championship game.
Asked if he saved any plays for the Division 1 playoffs when he faces another Trinity League opponent, St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said, “We definitely didn’t prepare ahead of time. We think the karma gods would get us.”
Murrieta Valley received the No. 1 seed in Division 2 and will be tough to stop now that quarterback Bear Bachmeier has returned from an injury. The Stanford-bound senior has played in the last two games in which Murrieta Valley scored 57 and 56 points.
Simi Valley is seeded No. 1 in Division 3 after earning a share of the Marmonte League title by upsetting Oaks Christian, where Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert used to coach. The Pioneers host Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, which received an at-large berth out of the Mission League after missing out last season.
There are 14 Southern Section divisions, with the Division 1 championship ending at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach later this month.
Let’s see if teams that lost the first time will win the rematch. That could be the story line for 2024.