The top playoff games on this week’s schedule:

Fullerton (8-2) vs. Pacifica (5-4-1)
Friday, 7 p.m. at Fullerton District Stadium

Outlook: The Indians finished second in the Freeway League and the Mariners were second in the Empire League.

The key to this game is simple, can anybody stop Joseph Hill? Fullerton’s senior running back has been on a tear down the stretch rushing for 845 yards in his last four games. He has scored 13 rushing touchdowns during that span.

That is what is facing the Pacifica defense.

The Mariners opened the regular season 1-3-1 before winning four consecutive games heading into the showdown with Cypress.

After losing to Cypress, Pacifica closed the regular season with a 28-23 victory over Valencia.

The Mariners will need to get a big night from its ground attack led by Luther Tolbert (565 yards) and Joel Willis (505). If that happens and if the line is able to keep Fullerton linebacker Dominic Greco from wreaking havoc, then look for quarterback Mario Nava (115 of 191 passes, 1,399 yards and 10 touchdowns) to have a big night.

If there are any easy nights in the Southwest Division, then this is definitely not one of them.

Click on the links below to check out the rest of The Calhoun Six:

Dana Hills vs. Orange Lutheran

Long Beach Poly vs. Los Alamitos

Mater Dei vs. Bishop Amat

Servite vs. San Clemente

El Toro vs. Villa Park

Slide show: Calhoun’s Players to Watch in the first-round playoff games.

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