Air Force commit Cade Paterson (holding flag) is a senior at Centennial of Corona this season. He and the defense did a good job holding down the offense of Mission Viejo in Friday’s big win in the CIF Southern Section D1 playoffs. Photo: X.com.
Friday night’s matchup in the CIF Southern Section D1 quarterfinals between No. 4 seed Mission Viejo and No. 5 Corona Centennial was called a Public School Super Bowl by many in the Southern California media. But did Centennial’s 25-20 triumph over the Diablos wrap up another State Public School of the Year selection for the Huskies? Well, not exactly. Very likely, based on recent history, but Pittsburg from Northern California at least has a path to make it interesting. We also have highlights from all of the other major CIF section playoff games played around the state on Friday night.
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State Public School Team of the Year honors have been selected by Cal-Hi Sports since 2018. Through research of our final state rankings that go back for almost 50 years, there also have been public school No. 1 teams listed back to 1990.
The top two public school teams arguably from last year met on Friday in the CIF Southern Section D1 quarterfinals as unbeaten state No. 2 Mission Viejo hosted a Centennial (Corona) squad that has two losses, but both came when the Huskies were not at full strength. QB Husan Longstreet (Texas A&M commit) was the main player missing from early in the season due to an injury, but on Friday he was one of the major factors in head coach Matt Logan’s team posting a 25-20 victory over the Diablos.
Centennial (ranked No. 8 in the state coming in but likely now moving up to fourth) will now get to host national and state No. 1 Mater Dei of Santa Ana in next week’s semifinals. The Monarchs got a challenge in their quarterfinal on Friday, but prevailed 33-13 against Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth. They beat the Huskies, 42-28, to start their season in a game that Longstreet didn’t play in.
Mike Alberghini from Grant of Sacramento is the last head coach from a public school to lead a team to the CIF Open Division state title . Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
While Mission Viejo captured the CIF D1-AA state championship last season in an impressive run that also featured a CIFSS D2 title and a blowout win against CIF San Diego Section Open Division champ Granite Hills in the regional finals, the Diablos didn’t win in their league. San Clemente was the team that got a win in league over the Diablos, but then lost in its first playoff game to St. John Bosco in the CIFSS D1 playoffs. Most who do rankings rewarded Mission Viejo with a higher final ranking last season for what it did to end the season, including our own.
Centennial easily had to be the State Public School Team of the Year for 2023 since it lost by just 43-42 to St. John Bosco in the CIFSS D1 semifinals. It was the second time in three seasons (following 2021 when the Huskies lost by 21-16 to Mater Dei) that Logan’s program came close to beating one of the big two of Mater Dei or St. John Bosco in a CIFSS D1 playoff game. Those two (both private) have won every CIF Open title since 2016 and before that De La Salle of Concord (private) won six in seven years with Bosco breaking the run in 2013. The focus on a State Public School Team of the Year has been therefore more clear in recent years. The last public school to win the open division was Grant of Sacramento in 2008, but that was a year when the CIF chose De La Salle for D1 and Centennial got its only win against the Spartans in a state final and it was placed higher than Grant in the final rankings.
The Huskies are obviously on track to be State Public School Team of the Year again for 2024, which would make it 10 times for them since 2007 (shown as their first-ever selection). In that span, Mission Viejo has only been able to finish No. 1 once and that was in 2019 at 11-1. Folsom is the only other school to be State Public School of the Year more than once since 2007 and it’s been three times for the Bulldogs, including 2014 when they were 16-0 and won the CIF D1 championship and Centennial had a loss in the CIF Open final to De La Salle. Folsom also was on top for 2010 and 2020-21 (pandemic season).
Folsom has the personnel, size and ambition to go for an Open Division state berth this season, but the Bulldogs shot themselves in the foot for a realistic opportunity to get into that game by losing a 22-21 game in August to Serra of San Mateo. They’ve been on fire since then and are expected to win another CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 title. Folsom (No. 10 in the state) won on Friday night, 68-28, over Downey of Modesto in the quarterfinals.
The team still out there that does have a path to finish even in front of Centennial for the final state rankings is Pittsburg. While that’s not very likely considering the Northern California team has had no chance in recent CIF Open finals vs either Mater Dei or St. John Bosco, the Pirates are going to get to play 10-0 and state No. 5 De La Salle in next Friday’s CIF North Coast Section Open Division championship. DLS is favored (and why not with 31 straight NCS titles) but Pitt has the firepower to make it a battle plus the experience of already having a game against Bosco (35-14 loss in September). If the Pirates can pull off a win, it would then most likely be them getting the spot opposite the CIFSS D1 champ at the end of the season. The CIF may consider Folsom for that berth as well, but if it were to pick Folsom then it would have to also very likely have a DLS-Pitt rematch in the NorCal D1AA regional final. We don’t see that happening.
CIFSS D1 Quarterfinal Highlights
Mater Dei 33, Sierra Canyon 13
The Trailblazers were down only 20-10 at halftime on a 12-yard TD run by Dane Dunn late in the second quarter, but the MD defense tends to give up nothing in the second half this season and the offense scored early in the third quarter and then there was a punt blocked by Troy Bishop that was picked up by Mykel Ramos for another score. Dash Beierly completed TD passes of 43 and 60 yards to sophomore Mark Bowman and Jordon Davison scored on a 77-yard run. Beierly did have an interception (only the first for him this season) and the one getting it was junior Madden Riordan of Sierra Canyon. Riordan ended with 10 for the season. With Mission Viejo’s loss, Mater Dei (10-0) also now has the state’s longest current win streak at 16 games and is the only CIF state champion from last season that has not lost this season. The Trailblazers finished 8-4 with all losses to MD, Bosco, Orange Lutheran and JSerra of the Trinity League but got a win against Servite of the Trinity League in the first round of the CIFSS playoffs last week.
T.J. Lateef has been the QB for the last three seasons at Orange Lutheran. He will play next at Nebraska. Photo: Jerry Kelly / oluathletics.org.
Centennial 25, Mission Viejo 20
Husan Longstreet did make some plays with his legs and his arm, but it was more about Centennial’s overall run game and its defense that helped the Huskies record the big win. Malachi Roby rushed for 189 yards and was key to the offense running off the last 4:51 of the game. The Huskies (9-2) had taken the lead at 25-20 late in the third quarter on a 10-yard run by Longstreet. Mission Viejo’s offense was prevented from touchdowns on two drives into the red zone, but the Diablos still took a 20-19 lead in the third quarter. They were behind 19-10 at halftime. They scored on a 47-yard TD pass from Luke Fahey to Cash Semonza, then there was fumble and they took a 20-19 lead on a 22-yard field goal by Caleb Sylvia. Mission Viejo had a chance to take the lead back in the fourth quarter, but on a fourth-and-goal play from the 2-yard line the Husky defense pressured QB Draiden Trudeau, a pass was tipped and it was intercepted by Fifita Tauteoli-Moore. The Diablos’ offense never got another chance. They will likely fall from second to sixth in the next overall state rankings with Centennial going up into the top four to join the other CIFSS D1 semifinalists.
St. John Bosco 31, Santa Margarita 29
With the exception of a bad night against Mater Dei, this version of the Braves has proven to be resilient with a capital R. Similar to a Trinity League game against Orange Lutheran when they were behind 10-0 at halftime, in this one head coach Jason Negro’s club (10-1) bounced back from a 23-10 deficit after the first drive of the second half. Santa Margarita scored with four minutes left on a 32-yard run by Trent Mosley, but failed on a two-point conversion and never got the ball back. That 19-10 deficit was overcome on a 22-yard TD pass from freshman QB Koa Malau’ulu to Madden Williams and then a 66-yard TD run by sophomore Malik Allen. The Braves then extended their lead to 31-23 on a 5-yard TD by Allen after Williams went up and pulled down a deep ball thrown by Malau’ulu. Mosley also had a 9-yard TD run to cap that drive to start the second half. Santa Margarita only finished 5-7, but had moved up to No. 6 in the state after a 44-8 win over Servite to close the regular season and a 59-26 win over previously unbeaten Inglewood in last week’s first round of the CIFSS D1 playoffs. The Eagles also had an earlier win over Centennial.
Lutheran (Orange) 42, JSerra (SJ Capistrano) 20
The Lancers gained their first appearance in the semifinals of the top division in the CIFSS since 2008 with their victory over the Lions. They improved to 8-3 with their losses all to top 10 nationally ranked teams (Mater Dei, Bosco & Bishop Gorman). OLu grabbed a 28-0 lead at halftime. The night began on a 58-yard punt return TD by Logan Gutierrez. QB T.J. Lateef later scored twice on the ground with 58 yards rushing and he completed 17 of 24 passes for 154 yards and one TD. Powerful fullback Steve Chavez had another strong outing as well. He rushed for 126 yards on 16 carries with two scores. JSerra did make a game of it in the third quarter, helped by a 38-yard interception return TD by Travis Jeffrey. Talented junior QB Ryan Hapkins had 141 yards passing and one TD for the Lions and he rushed for a score. JSerra ended 6-5, but will finish ahead of Sierra Canyon in the final rankings with a win over the Trailblazers and also will finish in front of current CIF San Diego Section frontrunner Lincoln no matter what the Hornets do the rest of the playoffs due to a head-to-head win.
NCS Open Semifinal Highlights
De La Salle (Concord) 42, San Marin (Novato) 10
The new CIF North Coast Section playoff format going by competitive equity for its top division is only going to mean a school that previously did well in a lower division is going to get romped in the first round by the Spartans instead of a larger enrollment school from a league of more traditional large school teams. DLS, keep in mind, has dominated in NCS football that no program has for that long of a time in state/national history. It will be a 32nd straight NCS title if the Spartans (11-0) win in next week’s NCS Open final vs Pittsburg. QB Toa Faavae had a 26-yard TD run and threw a TD pass to Landon Cook to lead the offense. Dominic Kelley set up the first TD on a 44-yard run and later scored on a 5-yard run.
Pittsburg 35, Clayton Valley (Concord) 14
In the NCS playoff format, the losing team in next week’s Open Division final is not done for the season. It will play on for the section’s D1 championship the following week (projected to be San Ramon Valley of Danville). The Pirates didn’t get to play DLS in last year’s NCS Open final despite being unbeaten because SRV nearly beat the Spartans (lost in overtime) in the regular season. Pitt then topped SRV to win the D1 section title. The Wolves won in their game on Friday, 35-7, over California of San Ramon. Against Clayton Valley, the Pirates (10-1 with just the one loss to Bosco) displayed the pass-rush balance that will be a challenge for the DLS defense to stop. QB Marley Alcantara went 10 of 17 passing for 193 yards and three TDs. RB Jamar Searcy rushed for 167 yards and two TDs on 29 carries.
Quinn Martinez helped break the game open for Manteca on Friday night vs Rodriguez with a punt return touchdown. Photo: Mark Tennis.
More Top Divisional Section Playoff Highlights
The CIF San Diego Section Open Division final next week will be between top seed Lincoln and No. 2 seed Cathedral Catholic. Both schools have won recent CIF D1-AA state titles. Lincoln (9-2) needed overtime to get past Mission Hills of San Marcos, 13-7, on Friday. Cathedral Catholic (9-2) had an easier time of it in a 27-6 triumph over previously unbeaten La Costa Canyon.
We have St. Ignatius of San Francisco ranked higher than Cathedral Catholic in the state because the Wildcats have a head-to-head win over the Dons. SI played in the Central Coast Section Open Division semis on Friday and earned a lopsided 45-7 victory against Salinas. The top seed will now try to avenge one of its two losses in a matchup next week in the title game vs St. Francis of Mountain View. The Lancers (9-2 with losses to De La Salle and Archbishop Riordan) advanced on Friday with a 24-14 victory over Valley Christian of San Jose.
Avenging a loss also will be on the table in the CIF Central Section D1AA final next week that will match top seed Clovis East and No. 3 seed Central of Fresno. Central already avenged one of its two losses this season on Friday in the semifinals with a 27-10 triumph vs defending champion Clovis North. The Grizzlies will now try to do the same vs the Timberwolves, who won on Friday 47-13 over Clovis in their semifinal contest. Clovis North won in the regular season, 26-21, over Central.
The Sac-Joaquin Section doesn’t have open divisions or competitive equity like other CIF sections. As mentioned previously, Folsom is expected to roll in D1 and won on Friday in the semifinals, 68-28, over Downey of Modesto. The D2 bracket is more where the action is. We checked out the early part of 10-1 Manteca’s 58-18 win vs previously unbeaten Rodriguez of Fairfield and will have more on that in our next overall State TOP 50 rankings package. The Buffs will now play top seed Rocklin in the semifinals. The Thunder (9-2) won on Friday, 49-14, vs Elk Grove. The other two semifinalists, St. Mary’s of Stockton (9-2 and only lost 38-35 to De La Salle) and Grant of Sacramento (8-3 with only losses to DLS, Clovis East & Lincoln of San Diego), also both won easily on Friday. St. Mary’s topped Vacaville, 43-7. Grant blasted Jesuit of Carmichael, 49-7.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
