Football: Lobbying begins for state bowl berths

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Santa Margarita Coach Harry Welch has told OCVarsity.com, ‘To say that the Pac-5 Division champion wouldn’t be in a state bowl game, it would be to me, a shame and probably not the right thing. No one is playing better than San Clemente and Santa Margarita now.’

Unfortunately for the Pac-5, Inland Division finalists Corona Centennial and Vista Murrieta are just as deserving, if not more so, than the Pac-5 finalists.

Santa Margarita’s big problem if it wins the Pac-5 is that it lost to Mater Dei in a Trinity League game. Centennial defeated Mater Dei in a nonleague game. And in selecting bowl participants, when it comes to breaking ties, a common opponent is usually used to separate close decisions.

Vista Murrieta has a chance to be 14-0 on the field and will have beaten in consecutive games unbeaten Upland and 12-1 Centennial. This season, that would be as impressive as Santa Margarita defeating Long Beach Poly and Mission Viejo in back-to-back games.

This is one of the few seasons the Inland Division can match up favorably against the Pac-5. Yes, Santa Margarita and San Clemente are playing as well as anyone in the playoffs, but that’s no reason to ignore what happened in the regular season. San Clemente lost to Mission Viejo, which lost to Redlands East Valley, which lost to Ranch Cucamonga, which lost to Centennial. That matters since there is no playoff system to resolve which teams make it to a bowl game.

Let’s wait and see what happens on Friday and Saturday.

-- Eric Sondheimer