Jalen Chatman and Narbonne are hitting their stride heading into football playoffs

As if trying to defeat unbeaten Harbor City Narbonne isn’t difficult enough for teams in the City Section Division I football playoffs, the steady improvement of junior quarterback Jalen Chatman is making the Gauchos an even bigger favorite.

“At the beginning of the year, he kind of struggled,” Narbonne Coach Manuel Douglas said of Chatman. “He was doing too much and turned the ball over. He’s calmed down and grown.”

Narbonne (10-0) received the No. 1 seed on Saturday for the Division I playoffs that begin on Thursday night. The Gauchos will face No. 16 seed Arleta. Dorsey was given the No. 2 seed, followed by San Pedro at No. 3 and Banning at No. 4.

Chatman rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns to go with 161 yards and three touchdowns passing in Narbonne’s 66-7 win over Banning on Friday night.

“The blocking was phenomenal,” Douglas said. “There’s a lot of things we can work on, but we are kind of hitting our stride.”

The key for Narbonne has been the players accepting that they’re playing one game at a time and not looking ahead.

“That’s what’s worked best for us,” Douglas said. “If we want to win a state championship, we need to win six more.”

The best first-round matchup could be Crenshaw at Venice. The two veteran coaches, Robert Garrett and Angelo Gasca, have been facing off for years.

In Division II, unbeaten Hawkins (9-0) received the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Los Angeles, No. 3 Westchester and No. 4 Grant.

Hawkins is under investigation by the City Section and Los Angeles Unified School District over an allegation regarding possible ineligible players. Because the investigation is still ongoing, the team will be allowed to participate in the playoffs. Hawkins was barred from last year’s playoffs because of ineligible players in 2014.

Franklin received the No. 1 seed in Division III, followed by Reseda, Torres and Chavez.

The championship games in Divisions I, II and III will be played on Dec. 3 at El Camino College.

Surprise for Dave White: Huntington Beach Edison Coach Dave White is stepping down after 31 years as head coach, and Edison supporters surprised him on Friday night in his final Sunset League game.

With the help of social media, particularly Facebook, dozens of his former players showed up to the game against Huntington Beach. There were players he hadn’t seen in 20 years.

“It was fantastic,” White said.

Edison is 9-1 and will learn on Sunday who its first-round opponent will be in the Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.

Kicking record: Manny Berz of Perris Citrus Hill broke the state record for most career field goals on Friday when he made No. 43 against Hemet.