Come playoff time, the margin for error is awfully slim

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

If anything can be drawn from the first round of the Pac-5 playoffs, it’s this: There’s a pretty slim margin for error.

For Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, it wasn’t necessarily anything it did wrong. Its quarterback, Dayne Crist, pictured, had a concussion and couldn’t play. His understudy did fine, but what might Crist have done? Against a Newport Harbor squad that gave up 47 points a week ago, Notre Dame scored three. Now, a team that was ranked No. 2 in the division a couple of week ago is out of the playoffs, a 7-3 loser.

Or how about Lakewood. On the verge of upsetting Esperanza, it held a 17-14 lead and had the Aztecs pinned at their seven-yard line with 5:24 remaining. But Esperanza broke out its trick (passing) plays, which caught everyone by surprise. Just like that, Espy moves down the field without handing off the ball 15 times and scored the decisive touchdown. Lakewood was that close to beating the Sunset League co-champions. Instead, it’s a 20-17 loser.

Then there’s San Clemente. The Tritons, searching for a defining victory after years of finishing second to Mission Viejo in the South Coast League, looked as if they were peaking at the right time. Now, on the big stage, they looked as if they had a chance to upset third-seeded Servite. They led, 43-40, in the latter stages of the fourth quarter. But then the defense allowed Servite’s D.J. Shoemate to gain 60 of his 171 yards rushing on the decisive drive. Servite added an interception return for a touchdown at the end, and San Clemente’s upset hopes were a wash, 54-43.

From the outset, the Southern Section’s marquee division has shown that when it comes to survival of the fittest, sometimes there’s a thin line between victory and defeat. One injury, one play, one drive can be the difference in playing another day or turning in your pads the next morning.

-- Martin Hernderson

-- Image by Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times