The girls’ southern section volleyball playoff pairings were released on Saturday. There’s an important question in Division 1: will an opponent make the unbeaten Los Angeles Marymount (28-0) sweat a little?
The Sailors have been dominant so far, led by their two Stanford-bound seniors, Elia Rubin and Kelly Belardi, and Kerry Keefe from Duke. They are the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Santa Ana Mater Dei (29-4), No. 3 Lakewood (23-3), and No. 4. Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (26-7).
Marymount drew a bye in the first round and met the winner Redondo Union vs. Studio City Harvard-Westlake in the quarterfinals on October 27th. The first round game starts on Thursday.
Special teams galore: It was a weekend to score points on punt returns and kickoff returns in high school football. The Special Teams game was either very good or very bad.
Here is the review of Friday evening:
-Chatsworth’s Tommy An had kickoff returns of 82 and 95 yards for touchdowns against Woodland Hills El Camino Real. El Camino Real’s Dorian Jefferson also gave back a kickoff for a touchdown.
– Arlis Boardingham from Lake Balboa Birmingham had punt returns of 65 and 52 yards for touchdowns against Granada Hills.
– Moses Ross of Palisades gave the prelude for a touchdown against Hamilton back.
– LA Lincoln’s Jaden Rattay had a punt return for a touchdown.
– In the Moore League, Long Beach Poly’s Daylen Austin returned a punt for a touchdown while Long Beach Poly’s Jordan Washington returned a kickoff for a touchdown to Jordan.
– Oxnard Pacifica’s Josh Joyner had two punt returns for touchdowns against Lompoc.
– Corona Centennial’s Jaden Mickey returned an 85-yard kick for a touchdown against Norco, which opened a competitive game.
– Camarillo’s Brandon Contreras returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
– Panorama City St. Genevieve’s Jason Canales returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown.
– Mission Viejo’s Mikey Matthews returned a punt from midfield for a touchdown.
It was so bad for kickers and punters that Norco’s Kyle Crum hit the ball twice in a single game (apparently it’s legal). Gardena Serra returned a blocked punt for a touchdown.
On the run: Coaches Dean Herrington (La Cañada St. Francis), Scott Altenberg (Gardena Serra) and Casey Clausen (Mission Hills Bishop Alemany) love to play the ball but have turned to running for important wins. St. Francis had an 18-game drive against Santa Fe Springs St. Paul, 17 of which were runs. Serra defeated West Hills Chaminade with only 10 attempts to pass. Bishop Alemany defeated La Puente Bishop Amat with just four attempts to pass and more than 100 yards of rush from Floyd Chalk and Jaylen Thompson.
“That’s the new rage,” said Altenberg, giggling.
Golden supremacy: Palmdale Highland (6-2, 5-0) appears to be heading for another Golden League title after beating Palmdale 20-14. Brandon Johnson stormed for 246 yards and scored two touchdowns.
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Unbeaten Yorba Linda: Yorba Linda is 8-0 after a 30:27 win over the previously undefeated Santa Ana Foothill. Tyler Kovalcin scored the winning touchdown 11 seconds to go.
Perfection: Birmingham started the season 5-0 against the Southern Section but are 3-0 against the City Section and beat them 148-0. When asked if his team would allow points for the rest of the season coach Jim Rose said: “I hope not.”
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