Rough seas in the Ocean League

There has been some rough water in the Ocean League the past couple of days, and the wake created by an altercation involving Inglewood and Morningside could still wash over the Southern Section Western Division playoffs.

Even as league entries for the playoffs were given to the Southern Section office Saturday morning, the game Friday between the Sentinels and the Monarchs that was suspended by referees because of the altercation was still being reviewed by Jerry Chabola, the president of the South Bay Athletic Assn.

An encouraging season for West Ranch

If West Ranch was playing in almost any other league other than the Foothill League, there's a good chance it would be playing again this Friday. But the Wildcats won't, even though they closed out their second varsity season with a 42-21 victory over Golden Valley last Friday.

The victory marked West Ranch's first-ever Foothill League triumph (they played as a freelance team in 2006) and don't expect the Wildcats to hide in the shadows of the Santa Clarita Valley titans forever.

Roosevelt coach can't believe his good fortune

Call it Classic II. Or Classic Rewind.

Garfield and Roosevelt will meet a second time this year, and there's more at stake than East L.A. bragging rights. The teams will face each other in the first round of the Invitational playoffs. Garfield (7-3) is seeded second, Roosevelt (5-5) is seeded 15th.

Roosevelt, which beat Garfield, 23-15, on Nov. 2, was not one of the original 16 teams selected for the Invitational bracket. But Jefferson, Garfield's scheduled playoff opponent, did not exchange game film with Garfield by the Saturday deadline of 1 p.m., so Roosevelt, the first alternate team, replaced Jefferson.

"I went from the lowest low to the highest high in the span of a half hour," Roosevelt Coach Javier Cid said. "I thought we would get in, and when we didn't, I was devastated. And of all the teams not to show to exchange film, it was the one playing Garfield."

-- Mike Terry

-- Image from www.usarec.army.mil

Hats off to Crespi, and Notre Dame

As Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney tipped his cap to Crespi, so I say hats off to him.

It would have been so easy for Rooney to qualify his team's 23-3 loss to Crespi on Friday night by pointing out that the Knights' offense was short-handed in the absence of senior quarterback Dayne Crist, who missed some of the second quarter and all of the second half with a concussion.

But true to the kind of even-keeled, matter-of-fact coach Rooney has always been, he took the post-game talk in another direction.

Quartz Hill's young team is progressing quickly

Even though Coach Pat Degnan described his boys "as basically a really good J.V. team" at the beginning of Golden League play, it seems Quartz Hill has grown up a lot over the last seven weeks.

With its thrilling, 27-24 overtime victory over cross-Valley rival Highland on Friday, the Rebels secured second place behind Palmdale with their sixth-consecutive win. They had already clinched their first postseason berth since 1995 heading into the game, but it's good to see RB Deslonde Brown's one-yard TD run in overtime coupled with his 138-yard rushing performance will give the Rebels a much-better playoff seeding.

Gutsy play shows how much Alemany has changed

When the decision came to kick an extra point or win a share of the Mission League title on a successful two-point conversion, the answer was easy for Alemany Coach Dean Herrington (pictured).

"We had to go for two," Herrington said. "It wouldn't be fair for either team with the league championship on the line."

Besides, Herrington was confident about his team's chances. "We were really confident with the play we went with and I was pretty sure it'd work."

The play didn't unfold as planned, but RB Antonio Bray made a sharp cut after he found a hole in the opposing defense and ran into the end zone, giving the Warriors a 22-21 victory over Chaminade and a share of its first league title since 1998. More importantly, the victory also gave the Warriors the league's top seeding for the playoffs.

Eagle Rock seeded No. 1 in Invitational pairings

City Invitational Division pairings

First round, Thursday, 7 p.m.

No. 16 Huntington Park at No. 1 Eagle Rock

No. 9 North Hollywood at No. 8 Monroe

No. 12 Reseda at No. 5 Franklin

No. 13 University at No. 4 Marshall

No. 14 Wilson at No. 3 Fairfax

No. 11 Los Angeles at No. 6 South East

No. 10 Hamilton at No. 7 El Camino Real

No. 15 Roosevelt (replacing Jefferson) at No. 2 Garfield

Notes: Quarterfinals, Nov. 21; semifinals, Nov. 30; Championship, Dec. 7, at the Coliseum.

-- Mike Terry

Thompson carries Vikings into the postseason

No. 25 Valencia's dominating, 31-9 victory over No. 24 Canyon for the Foothill League's final playoff spot was the regional shocker of the night, as far as I'm concerned.

I think everybody pegged Valencia as the favorite, but I thought the Vikings would just squeak past the defending Division I state bowl champs by the slimmest of margins. After all, I didn't think a team coming off back-to-back divisional titles and five consecutive postseason appearances would go down easily.

The week that was in Ventura County

With the playoffs right around the corner, there were several impressive performances turned in on the football field this week, and the timing for postseason hopefuls couldn't have been better considering the Southern Section pairings will be released Sunday. So without further delay, let's take a quick look at who left the biggest impression on the powers that be.

Status quo: St. Bonaventure has been the front-runner in both the Channel League and Northern Division races the entire season and the Seraphs' 55-3 victory over Buena on Friday didn't tarnish their reputation one bit. Now the fun begins. Hart, Saugus and, perhaps, Newbury Park could prove to be tests in the playoffs, though I have a funny feeling that Darrell Scott & Co. will prevail in the end. St. Bonnie is just too tough. 

Brea upsets its way into playoff berth

Congratulations have to go out to Brea Olinda, which defeated Tustin, 28-15, and qualified for the playoffs as the Century League's third-place team. By my count, that's two upsets for the Wildcats, who also defeated El Modena this season.

Had Tustin won, it would have finished second in league and far exceeded its own expectations. Instead, Tustin shared fourth place and will miss the playoffs. So much for stealing one. That honor, instead, belonged to Brea (4-6, 3-2), which won three of its final four games.

The highlight Friday, perhaps, was Dakota Hopkins' 69-yard scoring reception from Kyle Essington. It gave him 49 catches on the season, breaking the school record. He added another before the night was over.

-- Martin Henderson

-- Editor Bob: Hmmm, maybe when it happens twice, you can't call them "upsets." Right, Wildcats?