Fall playoff grouping brings change to all teams

When the CIF Southern Section office released its playoff groupings for the 2016 fall season, every football, boys’ water polo, girls’ volleyball and girls’ tennis program was affected in one way or another.

In those sports, leagues will now have their teams divided into different postseason divisions, much like the basketball playoffs are partitioned.

In football, the CIF office ditched named divisions in favor of numbered ones, a system last used in 2005, while every area team was moved down at least one division except for Angelus League stalwart St. Francis High.

The Golden Knights participated last season in the Southwest Division, Division V according to calpreps.com, but will move up to the 19-school Division III this fall.

“I’ve been keeping my fingers on the pulse of this for a while,” said St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds, a member of the CIF-SS Football Coaches Advisory Committee. “When the first leak came out in May and I saw that we were in Division II, I was concerned. I feel a little bit better now, but we still have our hands full.

“There’s some really good football teams in Division III and we’re just going to take it one step at a time.”

St. Francis moved up two divisions due to a system that awarded points for higher-division victories and losses, along with postseason wins and the league strength of schedule, according to calpreps.com, for the past two seasons.

In terms of total points, St. Francis is the area’s top-ranked squad and is No. 44 out of the entire 401-team CIF Southern Section with 453.27 points. Division 1 Corona Centennial is No. 1 with 538.36 points, while new 11-man program Upland Christian is No. 401.

Perhaps the move up to Division III is an omen of good things to come for the Golden Knights, who last competed at that level in 2009, when they finished second in the Mission League and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

The division change also means an almost completely new set of postseason foes. The only squads St. Francis has seen in the last few years that are in Division III are Whittier La Serna, league rival Cathedral and La Mirada. The Golden Knights are also the only team from the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys in their new division.

“They took geography out of the equation,” Bonds said. “The CIF was concerned about blowouts in the first round and they didn’t want any gimmes, so that means travel.”

All other local football teams dropped with Crescenta Valley moving from the Southwest Division (Division V) to Division VI.

“Travel might be the biggest thing,” Falcons Coach Paul Schilling said. “In the playoffs, home field might be a huge advantage.”

Crescenta Valley is in a 22-team division that includes squads from the Long Beach area, Inland Empire, Santa Clarita Valley, San Gabriel Valley and Lake Elsinore, among some of the wide-ranging locales.

Crescenta Valley is the next-highest ranking squad at No. 112 with 370.05 points.

There is some new hope at Glendale and Hoover as the programs are heading down from the Southwest Division to Division XIII.

“We’re really excited and if we can get to the playoffs, I think we can do some damage,” Glendale second-year Coach George Maiale said. “The problem is getting to the playoffs. Our division is so huge, it’s going to be difficult.”

No other division is larger than 84-school Division XIII, which only accepts 16 playoff berths.

Flintridge Prep, which dropped 11-man football in favor of the eight-man variety, was unaffected by the divisional realignment.

Outside of football, girls’ volleyball and tennis underwent changes as did boys’ water polo.

Girls’ volleyball did away with its 10 half divisions – consisting of AA and A – and instead has divisions numbered No. 1 through 10.

Reigning Mission League co-champion Flintridge Sacred Heart is the lone local team in any sport competing in the highest division as the Tologs are in Division I.

Glendale resides in Division IV, Hoover in Division V and Flintridge Prep in Division VI. Glendale Adventist, Holy Family and reigning Division V-A champion St. Monica Academy are all now in Division IX.

Boys’ water polo did not have any changes in the numbering or labeling of divisions and will remain with seven for 2016.

What did change for the local squads was their placement, as Pacific League-champion Crescenta Valley and runner-up Hoover both moved up from Division IV to Division II.

It was last year that the Falcons reached the Division IV championship game against Righetti, which took the giant leap to Division I.

“On one hand, I’m honored that our team is up in Division II, but on the other hand, wow, there are some very good teams in this division,” Crescenta Valley boys’ water polo Coach Jan Sakonju said. “When I heard that there would be seven divisions, I figured we’d stay at IV or even move up to Division III. I was surprised with Division II and it’s going to be a challenge.”

In an interesting twist, Glendale, which won a Division V title and reached the semifinal round from 2012-14, dropped from Division IV to Division VII.

Flintridge Prep saw no movement as it will remain in Division IV in 2016, although many of the teams within the division are different.

The biggest change in boys’ water polo, though, may be in the playoff pairings, as divisions one through three and seven remain in the usual 16-team bracket, while divisions four through six have been beefed up to 32-team brackets.

In girls’ tennis, Sunshine League co-champion Flintridge Sacred Heart will move up from Division IV to Division III.

Pacific League rivals Glendale and Hoover will move down from Division II to Division III and Flintridge Prep will take the elevator down from Division III to Division IV.