Pac-5 Division Breakdown
November 15th, 2009, 12:40 pm · · posted by Steve Fryer
PAC-5 BREAKDOWN
The Breakdown: Pac-5 Division
Seeded teams: 1. Edison (10-0), Sunset League champions; 2. Mission Viejo (10-0), South Coast League champions; 3. Servite (9-1), Trinity League champions; 4. Lakewood (9-1) Moore League champions.
At-large: Newport Harbor (6-4), Sunset League
Darkhorse: Mater Dei (6-4). It’s kind of odd to label the Monarchs a darkhorse team, but they are. The Monarchs play a first-round away game, at Bishop Amat of La Puente, and that is a challenging assignment. A key to any success Mater Dei would have in the playoffs will be Max Wittek, a junior who emerged as the starter after a couple of weeks of nonleague play and has improved a great deal as the season progressed. Junior receiver Victor Blackwell is a major big-play threat.
Players to watch: Edison quarterback Matt Viles, Edison receiver Jeff Trojan, Edison linebacker Jordan Zumwalt, Mission Viejo defensive back Jake Marshall, Mission Viejo linebacker Tre Madden, Mission Viejo receiver Joey Branker, Servite quarterback Cody Fajardo, Servite receiver Chris Nicholls, Servite defensive back Michael Marcoux, Bishop Amat of La Puente quarterback Jerry McClanahan, Bishop Amat running back Jay Anderson, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks quarterback Ryan Kasdorf, Notre Dame running back Kenneth Boggs, Notre Dame receiver Tyler Thomas, Lakewood quarterback Jesse Scroggins, Dana Hills receiver/defensive back Chris Kearney, Dana Hills running back Brandon Howe, Mater Dei quarterback Max Wittek, Mater Dei receiver Victor Blackwell, San Clemente quarterback Chase Rettig, San Clemente running back David Espino, Los Alamitos running back Nick Richardson, Los Alamitos defensive back Josh Barut, Los Alamitos defensive back Robert Watson, Fountain Valley running back Kyle Middlebrooks, Fountain Valley linebacker Austin Nguyen, Orange Lutheran running back/linebacker Garrett Gilliland, Orange Lutheran running back Damani Wilson, Newport Harbor receiver/linebacker Cecil Whiteside, Newport Harbor running back Cedric Whitaker, Long Beach Wilson quarterback Brett Harper, Long Beach Poly running back Cory Westbrook, Long Beach Millikan running back Alden Darby.
Best first-round matchup: Orange Lutheran (6-4) at Dana Hills (8-2). Both were in last week’s top 10, with Dana Hills at No. 4 and Lutheran at No. 7. Dana Hills’ two losses were to the top two teams in the county, Edison and Mission Viejo. Lutheran beat Mater Dei, and three of its losses were to very good teams – Pickerington Central of Ohio, which is 10-2; Servite (9-1) and Redlands East Valley (10-0).
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Mater Dei probably has the toughest draw of the first round with the
9-1 Sera League champion Bishop Amat team. If they can get by Bishop Amat, and that’s a big if, watch out. Servite has the second toughest draw with a scrappy San clemente team but they should advance. Edison will advance and of course Mission Viejo with the softest game in the 1st round. I like OLU over Dana Hills Los Al over a rebuilding Poly, Lakewood over Newport Harbor,Notre Dame over Fountain Valley. If Mater dei is not able to get past Bisop Amat, watch out. They may be good enough to take it all. Edison and Servite are still the teams to beat but keep an eye on the winner of Mater Dei Amat.
J, That was a very funny post.
Toughest draw would go to Millikan, and then Wilson I would bet.
Servite with the 2nd toughest, Servite is the # 1 team from the Trinity, San Clemente is the # 3 team from South Coast, unless you meant San Clemente had the 2nd toughest draw that doesnt make sense.
“of course Mission Viejo with the softest game in the 1st round.” LOL bow biased is that statement. MV plays Wilson, the # 3 team in the Moore league, Edison plays Millikan, the # 4 team from the Moore league and just so happen to lose to Wilson 33-7. The “softest game” in the first round is Edison – Millikan. (as it should be – Edison gets that because they are the # 1 team)
By far the best 1st round match-ups in the PAC-5 are Dana Hills vs. OLU, and Los Al vs. LBP. All four programs are historically strong with DH being the new comer. However, Dana Hills is pretty good and I’m picking them for an upset of OLU. I’ve seen Los AL play a couple of times and their Defense is the best in OC, LBP won’t be able to adjust to the speed and size of Los Al. However, LBP has a history of winning games just because they have more heart. However, I’m still picking the Griffins in this one.
Bishop Amat has a great team this year, and proved it by beating a very good Norte Dame team (I knew it!). If Mater Dei can some how shock BA and beat them in the first round it will be the biggest upset in the PAC-5 this year. I’m picking BA in this one, but everyone know MD plays big in the playoffs. Great game.
Also, Servite vs. San Clemente, look for a shoot out in this one. If Servite isn’t ready SC’s passing game is one of the best in the OC. Will it be an upset? Probably not.
Im going to laugh really really hard when lakewood runs the table on these orange county teams.
You’ve got a really good point. I’m pulling for Servite but I remember how Lakewood steamrolled us last year in the first round. They play crazy hard football.
So why then, are so many orange county teams in the playoffs anyway…. hmmm…..explain that.
Just for your info:
Pac 5 playoffs and 15 guaranteed playoff spots.
Serra has 2 spots – non of their teams in OC.
Moore has 4 spots – non of their teams are in OC.
Sunset has 3 spots – all in OC
South Coast has – 3 spots – all in OC
Trinity has – 3 spots, with 5 out of 6 teams in OC.
The only way for the NON OC teams to get to 8 spots in the playoffs is St John Bosco has to be one of the 3 teams in the Trinity and the At Large team has to come from either the Moore or Serra leagues.
Other then that, OC teams will ALWAYS have more teams in the Pac 5 playoffs then non OC teams and leagues
sorry that should be “none”, not “non of their”
Its an OC dominated divison. Look at it. the LA schools play in their own section. and its only the moore league and serra. I think lakewoods a good team i just dont know how good. and edison is a great team and dave white gets those boys to find a way to win. Scrappy games like the los al one or total destruction of a team like FV dont crown anyone just yet. I think edison wins this all but im not saying start making the trophies.
Mater Dei will not upset Bishop Amat this year! Amat has not lost a home game in two years under their new coach and they are a very hard hitting team. If you plan on attending the game make sure you pick up their program, get a in&out burger, get their early and enjoy. Amat has beat some big name teams such as St Bonnies, Notre dame, Alamany and others. Bishop Amat is the pride of the San Gabriel Valley and the game will most likely sell out.
Goodluck to both teams!
Amat 35
MD 17
Dana Hiils, looks to be ready. They had that nice tune up against, a solid Mission Viejo team. look for the Dolphins, to upset the lancers! in this first round.
I think that DH will find the Lancers to be cut from the same mold as MV and won’t get the break that they would like and it will be a surprise to many if OL comes out on the short end.
lakewood’s only loss was against the number 1 ranked team by la times. and it was a close game decided by one and with a questionable call. Im just saying its funny how everyone only thinks inside their little bubble in orange county. and just for the record, was it an orange county team that won it last year?…
Realism,
Get real, next you’ll be saying it is a republican conspiracy for OC teams to out number LA teams. Do you believe that there is partiality in OC vs LA teams? The league # s are set based on # of teams in the league and the at large is 1 team.
Lakewood, Poly and others are awesome teams year in and year out, so are some OC teams. It is cyclical IMHO.
peace out
UHWARRIOR: It’s nice to see a fan who has done their homework. Watching these teams play live rather than looking at press recaps is what it’s all about. I watched Dana play Edison and Mission Viejo. As much as I hate to say it, Mission looks to be a superior team.
okay here we go again, Lakewood is just like Mission. Lakewood’s schedule power isn’t good (38.88) that’s worse than Mission’s (45) and Edison’s is (99)
Hank you watched one game, have you watched all the games?Mission’s soft schedule and Edison’s hard schedule? Come on now it’s common sense.
He’s talking about watching Edison play Dana, and watching Mission play Dana, the only team that both Edison and Mission played.
lb poly will surprise los al 21-17
castleman, im just saying you guys are so fixated on oc teams. not some large conspiracy theory bro.
oh and…..
lbp 14-7 over los al
I know rankings don’t really mean much, but some very knowledgeable people do extensive research to rate the teams the best they can. Right now OC schools pretty much own the state rankings according to MaxPreps the top 3 (1,2,3) schools in the state are from OC (6 of the top 25). Edison, FV, Mater Dei have been crackin’ heads and crushing bones for decades. Lakewood better show NH some respect, their losses were to top ranked teams and the only reason they’re an at-large berth is from losing the coin flip for 3-way for 2nd in the Sunset League. NH will stomp LW @ home. 5 of OC top 10 are from the Sunset League which makes for a tough schedule. Seven of Edison’s game were against teams in OC’s top 10
I’m just sayin’