After Round 1: Reporter outpicks coach, by one game

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Diamond Bar Coach Roddy Layton and I were tied after Friday’s game. We had correctly predicted wins by El Dorado, Foothill, South Hills, Trabuco Hills and Charter Oak and incorrectly chose West Covina and H.H. Wilson to lose.

It all came down to Saturday’s game between Bellflower and El Toro. I had El Toro and Roddy had Bellflower --- and El Toro won, 41-13.

So after Round 1:

Reporter: 6-2.
Coach: 5-3.

But I have a weird feeling that my lead won’t last long. I’m predicting that our predictions will once again mirror each other with the exception of one game, the South Hills-Foothill game. I’m going to go with Foothill while Roddy (I think) will go with South Hills.

That makes me uneasy. Foothill has been hot and cold all season and could easily go cold on Friday.

South Hills did score 59 points but also gave up 33 points to La Mirada. Hmmm?

‘Don’t sleep on South Hills,’ Roddy says. ‘Defense should be back next week and they can put up a lot of points.’

My head is saying Foothill, but my gut is telling me South Hills. What to do?

Check back on Wednesday when I’ll unveil our quarterfinals selections, along with Roddy’s expanded in-depth analysis.

-- Jaime Cardenas