Football Playoffs Taking on Look of a Track Meet

The year of the running back in local high school football goes one better this week with the start of the playoffs, especially in the Southern Section’s Big Five Conference, where big rushing match-ups can be seen in just about every game leading up to the Dec. 12 championship game at Anaheim Stadium.

In the first round alone, George Hemingway and Colton (7-3) will meet Leonard Russell and Long Beach Poly (7-2) at Long Beach Wilson High, while Russell White and fourth-seeded Encino Crespi (9-1) will square off against Kaleaph Carter and Huntington Beach Edison (8-2) at Birmingham High in Van Nuys.

Those four are joined in the top half of the 16-team bracket by Eric Bieniemy of No. 1 La Puente Bishop Amat (10-0) and Marvin Montgomery of Long Beach Jordan (5-4), with Derek Brown of Anaheim Servite (7-3) and Oscar Meza of Bellflower St. John Bosco (10-0) standing out in the bottom half.

The Russell-Hemingway showdown is surely the most attractive, at least on marquee value--a pair of big, physical senior runners who will be among the most heavily recruited players in the state, if not the country.

Brown, the slashing sophomore who broke the 300-yard plateau last Thursday, meets Fontana (9-1), the third-seeded team. The Steelers’ only loss came against City power Wilmington Banning, ranked No. 1 in California, in Week 1.

Second-seeded St. John Bosco, champion of the year’s best league, the Del Rey, will play host to Redlands (6-4), an at-large entrant out of the Citrus Belt League. Bishop Amat, The Times’ top-ranked team in the Southern Section since beating Long Beach Poly in the second week, plays host to Westminster, which came back from a disastrous start to finish 5-4-1 and in third place in the Sunset League. Jordan travels to Rialto to play Eisenhower (8-2).

The match-ups can only get more attractive in the quarterfinals next week.

A capsule look at the rest of the Southern Section opening-round lineup, with the seeded teams listed in order:

SOUTHERN--El Toro (10-0) against Anaheim Canyon (5-5) at Mission Viejo High. Surprising Anaheim Loara (9-0-1) against Culver City (7-3) at Glover Stadium in Anaheim. Los Alamitos (9-1) against Santa Ana Foothill (6-4) at Cerritos Gahr. Santa Ana (9-1) against Compton Dominguez (6-2-2) at Santa Ana Stadium.

COASTAL--Pasadena Muir (10-0) against Newbury Park (5-4-1) at Pasadena City College, or, if it rains, Glendale High. Oxnard (10-0) against Arcadia (6-4). Antelope Valley (8-1-1) against Ventura (6-3-1). Canyon Country Canyon (9-1) against Goleta Dos Pueblos (5-4-1).

NORTHWESTERN--Temple City (10-0) against Miraleste (6-2-2). Newhall Hart (9-1) against Arroyo Grande (6-4) at College of the Canyons. Redondo (8-2) against L.A. Murphy (7-2-1). Burbank Burroughs (8-1-1) against Inglewood Morningside (6-3).

CENTRAL--Placentia Valencia (8-1-1) against Fountain Valley Los Amigos (6-4). Tustin (8-2) against Anaheim Western (6-4). La Habra (6-3) against University High of Irvine (6-4). Santa Ana Saddleback (9-1) against Norwalk (6-4) Saturday at Santa Ana Bowl.

EASTERN--Ramona (9-1) against Pico Rivera El Rancho (6-4). Bell Gardens (10-0) against Perris (7-3). Hacienda Heights Los Altos (9-1) against Covina (8-2). Covina Northview (8-2) against Upland (7-3) at Covina District Stadium.

SOUTHEASTERN--Central (10-0) against El Monte (4-6). Arroyo (8-2) against San Bernardino (6-4). Cajon (8-2) against Brawley (3-6-1). Baldwin Park (7-3) against Montclair (4-6).

DESERT-MOUNTAIN--Bloomington (10-0) against Canoga Park Chaminade (4-5-1). North Hollywood Harvard (9-1) against Riverside Notre Dame (6-4) at Valley College. Riverside La Sierra (9-1) against Laguna Beach (8-2) at Riverside City College. Atascadero (7-2-1) against Santa Clara (4-5).

INLAND--Bishop (10-0) against Boron (5-5). Cerritos Valley Christian (8-1) against Paraclete (7-3). Trona (5-4) against Tehachapi (9-1). Carpinteria (8-2) against Paramount Brethren (7-3) at Carpinteria Junior High.

Banning High of Wilmington (9-0), winner of eight City football titles in the last 10 years, is top-seeded in the 4-A Division pairings announced Sunday.

First-round games are scheduled Friday at 7:30 p.m., semifinals Dec. 5 and finals Dec. 11 and 12.

Banning earned the No. 1 position by defeating league rival Carson, 37-10, last Saturday in the Pacific League title game.

Carson (8-1) is seeded No. 3 behind either Granada Hills (8-0-1) or Kennedy of Granada Hills (5-3-1), whichever one wins today’s coin flip to determine the No. 1 team in the Valley League. Both schools were 4-0-1 in league, tying in their game, 7-7.

In the 3-A Division, Sunset League champion Canoga Park (6-3) is seeded No. 1, followed by Garfield (7-2) of the Freeway League and Manual Arts (6-2) of the Crosstown League.

Pac-8 League champion University (8-1), which won its first league title since 1957, is the top-seeded team in the 2-A Division. Eastern League titlist Los Angeles (7-1-1) is second-seeded and Northern League champion Eagle Rock (4-4-1) is the third-seeded team.

One wild card playoff game using the California tiebreaker is scheduled today to fill out the three eight-team brackets.

In the 4-A, Crenshaw (5-4) and Gardena (2-7) of the Pacific League meet at Hamilton High at 3 p.m. with the winner advancing to play Granada Hills or Kennedy in the first round of the playoffs.