SoCal High School Football Roundup: Pacifica Outguns Bishop Amat as CIF-SS Playoffs Open
Taylor Lee throws five touchdowns in a 56-50 shootout, unbeaten Orange falls to Chaparral, and Mater Dei vs. Centennial headlines next Friday's Division 1 quarterfinals.
One hundred and six points. Pacifica of Oxnard went into La Puente as the road team against Division 2's No. 2 seed and came out with a 56-50 win over Bishop Amat. It was the loudest result of the CIF Southern Section first round on Friday night (LA Times).
The Division 2 bracket stole the show because Division 1 took the night off. All eight D1 teams had byes, so Mater Dei, Santa Margarita and Sierra Canyon watched while D2 lost two of its biggest names in the first round. Orange came in unbeaten and is now done (High School On SI).
Game of the Week: Pacifica 56, Bishop Amat 50
Pacifica jumped out fast and led 21-7 after one quarter. Taylor Lee hit Alijah Royster for a 75-yard touchdown that made it clear this game would be decided by speed (SoCalFootball live recap).
Bishop Amat came back hard. Ayden Bias ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone, and the Lancers cut it to 35-28 at the break. Then Justin Clinton ran in from 8 yards to tie it at 35-35.
Lee didn't flinch. His fifth touchdown pass, a 16-yarder to Anthony Jacobs Jr., made it 49-41. The Pacifica defense supplied the turning point. With Amat chasing in the third quarter, Pacifica sacked the quarterback on fourth-and-11 to get the ball back. That was one of three sacks on the night (MaxPreps). Pacifica led 56-41 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Pacifica defense. Amat got to 56-43, then turned it over on downs with 8:23 left. Domenico Doran scored from 25 yards out with 2:07 left to make it 56-50, and the Lancers lined up for an onside kick. Pacifica held on.
The final numbers: Lee threw for 346 yards at 14.4 yards per attempt. Royster had 173 receiving yards and three touchdowns (MaxPreps). Amat also missed a 40-yard field goal, the kind of miss that decides a six-point game.
It's also the second straight year Pacifica has ended Bishop Amat's season, after a 28-7 win last fall (SoCalFootball). Pacifica is now 9-2 and plays Chaminade in the quarterfinals next Friday.
My take: Pacifica reaches the Division 2 final. A team that can score 56 on the road against a No. 2 seed won't go away quietly.
SoCal Spotlight
Chaparral 56, Orange 35 (D2). Orange came in 10-0 and lost to Chaparral, a 6-4 team seeded No. 1. Dane Weber threw two touchdown passes to Kiko Farinas and ran for at least three more. Farinas added an 86-yard touchdown run, and Chaparral piled up 342 rushing yards. Orange QB Star Thomas III had 240 yards and three touchdowns by midway through the second quarter, but Chaparral's ground game took over (SoCalFootball).
Chaminade 20, Corona del Mar 17 (D2). Chaminade trailed by 10 with five minutes left and won. Elijah Williams returned an interception for a touchdown with 3:21 left for the lead, and a strip-sack fumble recovery sealed it (SoCalFootball; LA Times).
Long Beach Poly 39, Norco 17 (D3). The Jackrabbits went on the road and beat the No. 2 seed by 22 (High School On SI).
Temecula Valley 38, Oaks Christian 31, OT. Temecula Valley won in overtime (VC Star; High School On SI).
Murrieta Valley 41, Crespi 39 (D3). Crespi came in 9-1 and lost by two points. Murrieta Valley moves on (SoCalFootball; LA Times).
SoCal Scoreboard
CIF Southern Section, first round (Friday unless noted)
D2: Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 20, Capistrano Valley 19
D2: Rancho Cucamonga 33, Crean Lutheran 24
D2: San Juan Hills 13, Tustin 10
D2: Palos Verdes 38, Serra 20
D3: San Jacinto 13, St. Bonaventure 6
D3: La Serna 42, Valencia 28
Chino Hills 28, Culver City 21
D6: St. Francis 46, Valley View 22
Thursday: La Habra 42, Etiwanda 35
Thursday: Barstow 41, Pacifica (Garden Grove) 14
CIF Los Angeles City Section, first round
D-I: Kennedy 57, Fairfax 22
D-I: Banning 62, Chatsworth 6
D-I: L.A. University 28, Granada Hills 26 (No. 9 seed over No. 8)
D-I: Sun Valley Poly 20, Marshall 0 (No. 12 seed over No. 5)
8-man: TEACH Tech 38, East Valley 34 (No. 8 seed over No. 1)
CIF San Diego Section
Scripps Ranch 31, Eastlake 17 (Eastlake came in 9-1)
Patrick Henry 38, Imperial 31
Holtville 32, Ramona 31
Scores: LA Times, High School On SI, SoCalFootball.
National Top 25 Watch
MaxPreps rankings as of Nov. 2 (rankings; MaxPreps Top 25 scoreboard):
1. St. Thomas Aquinas (FL): idle
2. Santa Margarita (CA): idle (D1 bye)
3. Buford (GA): beat Central Gwinnett 57-0
4. Sierra Canyon (CA): idle (D1 bye)
5. IMG Academy (FL): idle
6. Columbus (FL): idle
7. Bishop Gorman (NV): beat CIVICA
8. Allen (TX): beat Walnut Grove on Thursday to clinch the district title
9. Baylor (TN): idle
10. Carrollton (GA): idle
11. Thomas County Central (GA): won 52-7 at Northside (Warner Robins)
12. North Crowley (TX): beat Red Oak 62-3
13. Mater Dei (CA): idle (D1 bye)
14. Brownsburg (IN): beat Ben Davis 42-7
15. Hough (NC): idle
16. De La Salle (CA): won 56-7 at Granite Bay
17. Chaminade-Madonna (FL): idle
18. Central Catholic (PA): idle
19. St. Augustine (LA): beat Archbishop Rummel 35-22
20. St. John Bosco (CA): idle (D1 bye)
21. Prattville (AL): idle
22. Trinity (KY): beat Pleasure Ridge Park 49-0
23. Folsom (CA): won 56-38 at Jesuit
24. Centennial (Corona, CA): idle (D1 bye)
25. Thompson (AL): idle
Nobody in the Top 25 lost. The biggest test came in New Orleans, where St. Augustine trailed Rummel 22-15 late in the third quarter, then scored the last 20 points to finish its first unbeaten regular season since 1987. Brownsburg has now won 30 straight (MaxPreps).
Players Who Popped
Taylor Lee, QB, Pacifica: 346 passing yards, five TD passes, 14.4 yards per attempt in the 56-50 win (MaxPreps; SoCalFootball)
Alijah Royster, WR, Pacifica: 173 receiving yards and three TDs, including a 75-yarder (MaxPreps)
Ayden Bias, RB, Bishop Amat: 156 rushing yards and two TDs in the first half (SoCalFootball)
Dane Weber, QB, Chaparral: two TD passes and at least three rushing TDs in the 56-35 win over Orange (SoCalFootball)
Kiko Farinas, Chaparral: two TD catches plus an 86-yard TD run (SoCalFootball)
Mason Maddox, St. Francis: TD catches of 20 and 70 yards from Vito Schiada, plus an interception (SoCalFootball)
Elijah Williams, Chaminade: the go-ahead pick-six with 3:21 left (SoCalFootball)
Next Week's Game of the Week: Centennial (7-3) at Mater Dei (8-2)
The Division 1 bracket finally gets going, and the quarterfinal round opens with a matchup between two Top 25 teams. Mater Dei (No. 13 nationally in MaxPreps) hosts Centennial of Corona (No. 24) on Friday, Nov. 13, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. (SoCalFootball bracket; MaxPreps rankings).
The Monarchs are the No. 3 seed and come in hot after beating St. John Bosco 36-35. High School Football America ranks the two teams No. 4 and No. 5 in California (HSFA; High School On SI pairings). In an eight-team bracket, there's no easy round.
Also on the Radar (Friday, Nov. 13)
Mission Viejo (8-1) at Sierra Canyon (10-0), D1 quarterfinal. Sierra Canyon is the No. 2 seed (High School On SI).
San Clemente (8-1) at Santa Margarita (10-0), D1 quarterfinal. Santa Margarita is the No. 1 seed and No. 2 nationally in MaxPreps.
Orange Lutheran (5-5) at St. John Bosco (7-3), D1 quarterfinal.
Pacifica vs. Chaminade, D2 quarterfinal. The Game of the Week winner meets the team that came back to win in the final five minutes (MaxPreps).
Your Call
Four D1 quarterfinals, one Friday night. Which seed goes home first: Santa Margarita, Sierra Canyon, Mater Dei or St. John Bosco? Drop your pick in the comments, and follow HSPrepSports.com for every CIF-SS playoff score next Friday.
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