It's hard not to like Birmingham's chances of getting a south berth

When the state announces its south representative for the state Division I Bowl championship game between 3-4 p.m., Coach Ed Croson and running back Milton Knox are going to be very happy.

By virtue of Birmingham's 13-1 season, state commissioners will choose the City champion with the 13-game winning streak.

Instead of Long Beach Poly (13-1), the Pac-5 champion with the steel-plated defense.

Instead of Corona Centennial (13-1), the No. 1 ranked team in the Southland  by The Times -- and No. 2 in the state by CalHiSports.com behind Concord De La Salle.

Birmingham beat Poly head-to-head.

Birmingham lost to Crespi in Zero Week, but in the playoffs, Crespi dominated Mater Dei, which beat Centennial in a game that produced more offense than any in state history.

Mater Dei not only lost to Crespi, but during the regular season was beaten soundly by Orange Lutheran, which was beaten last week by Poly, 2-0 (a long snap went over the punters head, and he stepped out the back of the end zone).

Centennial's only trump card is its victory over Crespi, which was devalued by the Celts' 13-3 loss to Poly in the Pac-5 title game.

It's going to Birmingham. Birmingham.

Not that Birmingham-De La Salle is a bad choice, but it's not my first choice. I'd much rather see Centennial, with quarterback Matt Scott, running back Ryan Bass and a hurry-up offense that scored a season-low in a 31-24 victory over Fresno Clovis West, the only one of Centennial's victories by fewer than 21 points. In Saturday's Inland championship, Centennial scored 42 points for the 10th time in 14 games. They weren't playing slackers, either (neither did Birmingham nor Poly).

I have my doubts that Centennial could shut down De La Salle, but I would have those doubts no matter the opponent (although less so if DLS was playing Poly). However, I don't have any doubts that the Huskies can score against DLS. In other words, a DLS-Centennial game could end up very much like the 51-37 game Centennial played against Mater Dei. It was the Huskies' only loss of the season, and it wasn't without a controversial play that went against them at a pivotal time in the contest.

Birmingham's offense is not as potent as Centennial's.  Its defense is not as sharp as Poly's. It might not be as good as either. But as the last 15 weeks played out, it sure looks like the dominoes fell properly for Birmingham to get a bowl selection.

-- Martin Henderson

Comments

[Editor Bob]

How in the world can you question Birmingham's offense or defense compared to anybody's in the Southland? The Patriots averaged 42.4 points during the season, giving up only 8 a game. They improved their offense to 48 points a game during the playoffs, when they gave up only 4.7. Milton Knox is probably the best running back in City Section history (so why is he going to UCLA? C'mon, Milton, why?) and a Patriots-De La Salle matchup could be classic. I only hope the City Section fans come out to the Home Depot Center in support of their guys. A poor crowd showing could factor into future considerations for the south's representative to the state bowl championship games.

[highlander4life]

Not to mention the fact that LBP and Cenn. get more resources for their programs. City Section teams are like alchemists, they make gold with dirt.

Here's how the big (and common) opponents did against each team.
Centennial
Big losses: Mater Dai (lost to Crespi in Pac-5 quarterfinal)
Big wins: Crespi (lost to LBP in Pac-5 final, Dominguez (lost to Palmdale in Western semifinal), Norco (lost to REV in Inland quarterfinal), Clovis West (lost to Bakersfield in Central final), Chaparral (Inland semifinal)

Birmingham
Big losses: Crespi (lost to LBP in Pac-5 final)
Big wins: LBP (Pac-5 champion) Notre Dame (lost to Newport Harbor in Pac-5 quarterfinal) Dorsey (lost to Carson in Championship semifinal) Crenshaw (City semifinal) Carson (City final)

LBP
Big losses: Birmingham (City champion)
Big wins: Glenville (Ohio 4A State quarterfinal), Carson (lost to Birmingham in City final), Compton (lost to Edison in Pac-5 first round), Orange Lutheran (Pac-5 semi), Crespi (Pac-5 final)

Whoa. Makes you glad the BCS is all computerized.

[Martin Henderson]

Going into the playoffs, Centennial averaged 44.7 points on offense (more than Birmingham) and allowed 27.3. In the playoffs, the Huskies improved those numbers to 54.5 points on offense, (more than Birmingham) and 10.5 on defense. Birmingham is solid on both sides of the ball and a good choice to represent the South. I don't think there's any question that Poly's defense is better than Birmingham's (the Jackrabbits allowed only 5.3 points a game in the Pac-5 Division).

My personal preference leans toward Centennial, which ended the season ranked No. 1 by The Times and did nothing in the playoffs to undermine that ranking (it allowed .

It's going to be interesting to see how this goes down because there are going to be some terrific teams not getting an opportunity to play for a Bowl title.

And, by the way, I predicted Birmingham would be the choice.

[GeeDee]

I use to play for Birmingham and i have been to every game this year . It does not matter where Birmingham plays on the road at home in mars Birmingham has more fans then their opponent .Birmingham regularlly avg over 6,000 fans a game at Home. So that is one thing people do not have to worry about another thing you do not have to worry about is Birmingham Offense or Defense if Birmingham had the chance to play De La Salle they will show everyone why they are the top team in California period ... Birmingham 35 - De La Salle 13 ?

[Paul Nakamura]

I am outraged that Poly has been more or less pushed aside in favor of Birmingham by most nearly everybody.
Birmingham doesn't have to go through the same gauntlet that a Pac-5 team has to endure to reach the top. Yes, both teams had challenging preseason games and ended with only one loss each, but in postseason there is just no comparing the City Section with the Pac-5. Teams on the Pac-5 list constitute the vast majority of ANY California list (the Times' has 2 City teams, the other being Venice, while Pac-5 boasts 11, with Inland and Northern next with 4 each). Sure, the Jackrabbits lost to the Patriots in the preseason but after that, Poly has gone 12-0 all the way to the Pac-5 Championship. And Birmingham lost to Crespi, which fell easily to Poly (the score doesn't show the whole story). If the Jackrabbits had been playing the Patriots at the level that they are now, I'm sure it would be a different outcome.

[Miki/SidelineVideo]

Birmingham deserves to go to State but its going to go to Centennial based on Crespi game...Corona won, Bham lost a close one...case can be made for either team but i really want to see Knox, M&M twins, DC, X, Chukwu, De'Von, Croson (both of them) and this hot team...theyve been getting better every week, now at top of game... do their thing one more time...hope im wrong...we wont have the priviledge of seeing a prep squad this good for a long time. Thank you coach Croson and all the ballers 2004-2007.

[Miki/SidelineVideo]

Milt's going to Ucla because its a great school. Home of Jackie Robinson, Rafer Johnson, et al.

He's that kind of young man.

[Miki/SidelineVideo]

The Birmingham 20 Poly 7 outcome was not indicative of the almost total domination of Bham over the Jackrabbits...and, this was w/out X (Exavier Johnson) their outstanding running/passing QB...and other hurt or ineligible players...Birmingham has been getting stronger every week and is peaking right now...and what a cast of characters...young men with smarts and ability...they would argue good looks too...and media friendly...and a coach who will never embarass, only add class...but same can be said for rivals...i jus luv these Pats, sue me...shame they wont make it...Poly, Bham or Corona are all worthy. Whoa...!! just saw its Corona! Dang...ok fine, thats alright. Represent C House. Still would love to see one more game out of this great team!

[highlander4life]

Milton's smarter than I thought. He could be going to Florida or USC where he could take some underwater basket weaving major like sports management, but he's going to UCLA to do something with himself. Sucks they didn't go to state but I got respect for him.