CdM hits the road for CIF quarterfinals again
The quarterfinal round of the CIF Southern Section football playoffs has not been kind to Corona del Mar High the past two years.
The Sea Kings’ season has ended in the quarterfinals the last two times they made it this far. Each time CdM has lost in double digits on the road.
Coach Dan O’Shea and his Sea Kings have to travel for the quarterfinals again.
The Sea Kings are one of three programs in the area playing in the quarterfinals on Friday at 7 p.m. The Sea Kings (10-1) are the No. 3 seed in Division 4 and they’re at Ontario Colony (8-3).
Edison (10-1), the No. 2 seed in Division 3, plays host to Buena Park (10-1) at Cap Sheue Field, while Laguna Beach (7-4) has a home date with Boron (8-3), the No. 4 seed in Division 13.
Pacific Coast League champion CdM has a tough one with Colony, the second-place team from the Mt. Baldy League. There is one opponent that stands out on Colony’s schedule, and that is La Habra.
The Highlanders and Colony played on Sept. 23, and the nonleague contest went into double overtime, with host La Habra pulling out a 42-36 win. La Habra is the same program that went on the road to stun No. 3-seeded Westlake Village Oaks Christian, 35-28, in the opening round of the Division 2 playoffs last week.
La Habra is also the same team that lost to Buena Park in the Freeway League championship three weeks ago. And Buena Park beat CdM, 35-17, last year, eliminating the Sea Kings in the quarterfinals.
Buena Park, which won a league title for the first time in 22 years, will challenge Sunset League champion Edison. The Coyotes have an array of athletes that could cause problems for Coach Dave White’s Chargers.
The teams played last year during nonleague action, Edison shutting out Buena Park, 38-0, but White, in his 31st and final year in charge of Edison, said not to read too much into the result.
“Different year, different team, and we’re different,” White said. “I feel good, though. I think if we play our ‘A’ game we’re going to win.”
Coach John Shanahan has Laguna Beach believing it can knock off a league champion for the second time in as many weeks. The Breakers will be more rested than Boron, the Desert Mountain League champion.
The Bobcats have to travel 129 miles to get to Laguna Beach. A long road trip like that can take a toll on players.
Shanahan, who is in his first season at the helm of the Breakers, is trying to lead Laguna Beach to its first semifinal appearance in four years.
Getting to the semifinals for the first time in three years is the goal of CdM and Edison.
OILERS AND CHARGERS OPEN CIF STATE TOURNEY WITH SWEEPS
Huntington Beach and Edison are the only two local girls’ volleyball teams still alive in the CIF State Southern California Regional playoffs.
The top-seeded Oilers swept No. 16 Palisades, 25-12, 25-11, 25-18, in a Division I opener at home on Wednesday, while No. 2 Edison took care of No. 15 Granada Hills, 25-13, 25-21, 25-14, at home.
The only program in the area not making it out of the first round was Sage Hill (23-13). Claremont, the No. 11 seed in Division II, held on to beat the No. 6 Lightning, 25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 16-25, 17-15, on the road.
Huntington Beach and Edison are both at home on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Oilers (30-4) play Chula Vista Eastlake (23-8), a CIF San Diego Section Open Division quarterfinalist, and the Chargers (32-8) face Fresno Clovis West (35-10), a CIF Central Section Division I finalist.
